GT: Triple Eight to contest full 2015 BES

The Triple Eight BMW team will make its full-time move into the international GT ranks with a two-car assault on the Blancpain Endurance Series in 2015.

Triple Eight Racing will field a pair of BMW Z4 GT3s in the five-round series, which incorporates the Spa 24 Hours in July. Team regulars Joe Osborne and Lee Mowle and Triple Eight Driver Development racer Ryan Ratcliffe will share an entry in the Pro-Am class, while the line-up of the second car is currently being put together.

Triple Eight revealed its intention to expand on its participation in the British GT Championship last season and took part in two BES races and one in the sister Blancpain Sprint Series over the course of 2014.

Team boss Ian Harrison initially favored a move into the BSS, but it has now decided to run in the endurance series. Mowle, who is a shareholder in Triple Eight, selected the BES because it gives him the chance to race on some classic circuits.

"The Spa 24 is one of those races you just want to do as a driver. Add to that Monza, Ricard and the Nurburgring, plus Silverstone, and it's a great series," he explained.

British Touring Car Championship stalwart Triple Eight entered the GT ranks in 2013 and has now set up a separate GT division under former Trackspeed team manager Keith Cheetham.

The team will remain in the British GT Championship in 2015 and has so far only confirmed one car to be raced by Osborne and Mowle.

LEONARD ASTON FIRMS UP BES PLANS

Leonard Motorsport, which joined the BES last year in partnership with Aston Martin Racing, has announced its return to the series.

Two-time Porsche Carrera Cup GB champion Michael Meadows, who contested two races with the team last season, will race for the full season alongside Stuart Leonard and Paul Wilson.

Originally on Autosport.com