Disabled driver Littler set to campaign Aston Martin GT3 in 2016

Pete Littler will become the first disabled driver to race in British GT next season after entering an unmodified Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3.

The 51-year-old competed on the championship’s support bill this year as part of the Volkswagen Racing Cup after making his return to competitive motorsport for the first time since suffering a military injury in 2004.

Littler, who also enjoyed a successful national and international rally career until retiring from the sport in 2002, is classified as 40% disabled after losing the lower section of his right leg. He also has false hips and a pin in his lower back.

Prodrive mechanics will be assisting Littler’s PFL Motorsport outfit, while Hyundai’s former WRC team manager Paul Risbridger heads up the squad.

Littler, whose Pro co-driver has yet to be named, confirmed his rally links had played a part in the decision to jump from VWs to British GT.

“The first time I drove a competition car with my false leg was last year, and I fell immediately in love with it, so next year we're stepping it up,” he told Autosport.

“I started speaking to Prodrive in the summer and a lot of the engineers that I used to rally with are still working there so it was like being part of the family, and it's spurred me on to make this jump into British GT.

“I considered GT4, but the noise, power and thrill of GT3 is just something very special.”


Littler, whose Aston Martin has required no modifications, believes his British GT programme will further emphasise that barriers no longer exist when it comes to injury and disability.

“The biggest modification was when I asked the engineers to cut 10mm off my spare leg because I was struggling to withdraw it from the throttle,” he said. “Due to it being a sequential gearbox I have no clutch to use and I'm used to left-foot braking from rallying. It's easier to drive the GT3 than my road car!

“I struggle for feel with the throttle, but as Niki Lauda says ‘you feel a race car through your arse’. I can feel the revs and response through the chassis so you adapt quickly.

“Next season is about showing how disability can be put behind you and getting on with things as normal. We're not going in to be also-rans - we want to win. It'll be a big learning curve, but we have the right people and experience in the team to make some waves.”