Dumfries and Galloway Race Ace aiming for seventh career championship title – Ross Wylie will defend his GT Cup GTO Championship title in 2022. The 30-year-old from Thornhill near Dumfries scored nine GTO podiums including six victories on his way to title success last year along with co-driver Paul Bailey.
British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) Full Member Wylie claimed the “crown” driving a variety of notable sportscars including a Brabham, Ferrari and McLaren last year, each one prepared by SB Race Engineering.
The plan this season is to race the Brabham BT62 Competition which Wylie has been involved with from an early stage of its competition life. Ross, who made his GT Cup debut in 2019, embarks on his 19th year of motorsport competition having begun karting in 2004.
During the course of last season, Wylie twice made history for the legendary Brabham marque. Having achieved the first-ever class victory for a “customer” Brabham BT62 Competition in June, Ross went on to achieve a first outright race victory in the world for the sleek machine at Silverstone in August.
The success marked the Flying Scotsman’s sixth career championship title in the past seven years havingpreviously won the Britcar Endurance C2 Championship (2020), Britcar Endurance Championship Sprint S1 (2018), Britcar Endurance Championship outright plus Class 1 title (2017) and British GT4 Championship (2014).
Regulations allow “sporting driver” Bailey to contest all 14-races with “professional” race ace Wylie restricted to the seven, 50-minute “pit-stop” races that feature compulsory driver changes. The opening rounds get underway at Donington Park over 9-10 April.
• Photographs courtesy of GTCup
Ross Wylie (GB):
Age 30. Born & Lives Thornhill nr Dumfries, Scotland:
“I’m very much looking forward to racing the unique Brabham again in an attempt to successfully defend the GTO title with Paul. I was involved with the early development of the Brabham and it’s always a thrill to get behind the wheel of this rare sportscar.
“Last year was the Brabham’s first competitive season and so not surprisingly, because of the newness of the car, we encountered a few teething issues during the season. But hopefully we have put those to bed and we can have a good crack and claim more success for the iconic Brabham brand.”
• Photographs courtesy of GTCup
