September’s final round of the 2026 British GT Championship will now also see the end of another era within that domestic GT sporting arena as Andrew Howard today confirms his competitive driving retirement from the sport at the end of this season.
Racing this year with another of his and his Beechdean AMR’s many home-grown success stories in Aston Martin Racing factory driver Ross Gunn aboard his #007 AMR Vantage, this news seals a racing career for Howard that stretched back over twenty-seven years.
Being one of those much needed ‘Gentleman Drivers’ within the modern GT racing environment where success on track is in no comparison to their success needed off track in order to place both themselves and their chosen resident Pro into that racing situation in the first place, this decision could not have been easy for him.
Indeed, only last weekend at the British GT’s round at Snetterton did we have a brief exchange across the paddock about the possibilities of him getting aboard some of his V12 powered AMR weaponry next year that he said, “but I’m having so much fun this year!!”
Over the years, we have seen Howard progress up the racing ladder from his initial Mini Miglia Challenge efforts back in 2002 through to then GT4 racing a few years later, into the new GT3 platform for the first time in British GT in 2009 before reaching the then pinnacle of the GT racing platform in the GTE class for the first time in 2015. The last six – seven years of his career have been back within the GT3 class and particularly within the British GT Championship where he has won either his class or overall title three times now. Winning the European Le Mans Series GTE Drivers Championship alongside Darren Turner and Alex McDowall would surely be the highlight to his career?
Anyway – that is for later this year but for Howard, Gunn and the team, after two challenging races last time out at Snetterton, they will have just two – two-hour races left to their British GT campaign later next month within which to overcome their existing points deficits (both in the overall and Pro-Am Driver championships) if there is to be any repeat in history if there is to be any fairytale type ending to this chapter – but stranger things have happened!!
This is not the end - just the first page in another chapter in the story of Beechdean Motorsport.
Photo credits – Team / Phil Hay
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