Barwell Motorsport has unveiled the first details of its new GT3 Heritage campaign for this season, comprising an initial two-car attack across two series and featuring a well-known driver line-up.
The Surrey team will compete in rounds of both the GT3 Legends (organised by Motor Racing Legends) and the new GT3 Revival Series, launched by leading historic racing organiser Peter Auto and the SRO Motorsports Group.
Barwell will field both its ‘Ecurie Ecosse’ British GT Championship-winning BMW Z4 GT3 Evo and the ex Peter Kox ‘Rhino’s Leipert’ Lamborghini Gallardo LP560 FL2 GT3 initially, and work is already underway to fully rebuild and restore its former ex-Neil Foster/Jonny Reid New Zealand GT3 Championship-winning Audi R8 LMS Ultra, with a view to adding that to the line-up later in the season.
The GT3 Heritage team will make its competitive debut at Circuit Paul Ricard in southern France, where the BMW and Lamborghini will contest the first GT3 Revival races (April 10-12), held in support of the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS. The team will then contest the GT3 Legends races held at the Donington Historic Festival (May 1-3) before then returning to France for the jewel in the GT3 Revival Series crown, the Le Mans Classic Legend, which takes place on the full Circuit de la Sarthe over the July 2-5. The team is also working on an entry to the GT3 Legends grid for the BRDC Classic (formerly Silverstone Classic) at Silverstone (July 24-26) with details set to be confirmed closer to the event.
The 2026 schedule comes to a close with the GT3 Revival Series finale at Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona (October 2-4), where the Lamborghini is currently confirmed to compete, and could be joined by the other cars.
With an exciting series of races already confirmed, the team also boasts an impressive driver line-up, featuring some familiar faces.
The BMW Z4 GT3 Evo will be chiefly handled by Peter Moulsdale across all three events. The highly-regarded Britcar racer will be joined at Paul Ricard by British GT regular Matt Topham, and by former British Touring Car driver and multiple British GT3 race-winner Liam Griffin for Donington Park. The team currently still has a fantastic opportunity for a suitably qualified and funded ‘Am’ driver to partner Moulsdale for the Le Mans Classic, which promises to be the blue riband event of the year and provides drivers with a rare chance of competing on the famous 13.6 km Le Mans 24 Hour track.
The Lamborghini Gallardo LP560 FL2 will be handled by Adam Balon and Phil Keen. Followers of Barwell need little introduction to this pair, who have racked up an envious amount of British GT victories between them. As a pairing they finished third in the championship together in 2020 aboard a Barwell-operated Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo. Balon then went on to star alongside Sandy Mitchell, claiming third overall in 2021 and then second in 2022.
Keen is one of the most successful drivers in British GT history with 19 race wins, and is an incredibly versatile GT3 driver, having previously been a member of the Lamborghini Squadra Corse factory driver line-up. Having achieved so much during this era of GT3 competition, Keen is sure to be an invaluable asset to the team.
As for the cars, the Ecurie Ecosse/Black Bull BMW Z4 GT3 Evo is a long-term member of the Barwell stable, having carried Marco Attard to the 2014 British GT Championship crown, following its third-place finish in the GTC Class standings of the 2013 European Le Mans Series, as well as being a Pro-Am class podium finisher at the Spa 24 Hours in both 2014 and 2015.
The Lamborghini Gallardo LP560 FL2 is a new addition. Built by Reiter Engineering and powered by a naturally aspirated 5.2-litre V10, the car, chassis number 10-7-1001 originally ran with the factory-supported Rhino’s Team Leipert in the German ADAC Masters in 2013-14 in the hands of factory driver Peter Kox, as well as contesting International GT Open events and premier endurance races such as the Dubai 24 Hours and Barcelona 24 Hours.
Both cars will run in their restored period liveries, with the BMW carrying the iconic Ecurie Ecosse/Black Bull colours and the Lamborghini its renowned white/gold/black Rhino’s scheme. More details on the Audi project will be released in the coming weeks.
“We’re delighted to get the ball rolling for our GT3 Heritage department and confirm the first set of events, and reveal some very exciting driver line-ups. A huge amount of work has gone into establishing the GT3 Heritage department and everybody is raring to get going.
“The BMW Z4 is a car that we know inside-out, and one we’ve enjoyed huge success with. Across Peter, Matt and Liam we have three very experienced, very capable drivers we know well and will no doubt be out for class wins at every event they do. We’ve fully rebuilt and recommissioned the Lamborghini Gallardo since it arrived and it will be great to see that out running again in its original colours. Adam and Phil were just the perfect pairing for that car, having achieved so much with us in the Huracan, it will be nice to turn the clock back and go for some glory in the Gallardo. Plus, it’s great to continue our strong partnership with Lamborghini into this department too.
“We’re also working hard behind the scenes on the Audi project, which will essentially be a ground-up rebuild of one of the last R8 LMS Ultra chassis ever made. It’s very exciting and great to see the ex-championship-winning car taking shape that bit more every day in the workshop. With a few more events still to be confirmed, our GT3 Heritage schedule is likely to grow as the season goes on and we cannot wait to get started.”
Initial 2026 GT3 Heritage Schedule
April 10-12 Circuit Paul Ricard, FRA, GT3 Revival Series
BMW Z4: Peter Moulsdale/Matt Topham
Lamborghini Gallardo: Adam Balon/Phil Keen
May 1-3 Donington Park, GBR, GT3 Legends
BMW Z4: Peter Moulsdale/Liam Griffin
Lamborghini Gallardo: Adam Balon/Phil Keen
July 2-5 Le Mans Classic Legend, FRA, GT3 Revival Series
BMW Z4: Peter Moulsdale/TBA
Lamborghini Gallardo: Adam Balon
October 2-4: Barcelona, ESP, GT3 Revival Series
Lamborghini Gallardo: Adam Balon/Phil Keen
