The Dubai-based company, GP Extreme, has restructured its activities and at the beginning of 2019 it launched GPX Racing, its competitions offshoot. It has chosen the new generation Porsche 911 GT3 R to tackle the forthcoming season with new ambitions in the international concert of Grand Touring racing. The team managed by former European FIA GT3 runner-up, Pierre-Brice Mena, is preparing to take on a double challenge: the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup and the 24H Series, which GPX Racing has already kicked off on home turf in the Dubai 24 Hours.
The Blancpain programme is now done and dusted with a Porsche 911 GT3 R in an eye-opening Gulf livery. The team which is aiming for honours in the Silver Cup comprises Stuart Hall and Jordan Grogor, who are both as experienced as they’re quick, plus young Benjamin Goethe who has joined them straight from Karts and F4.
British ace Stuart Hall is 34 years of age and has started the Le Mans 24 Hours on six occasions finishing fourth overall in 2007 in a Pescarolo LM P1. In 2013, he also won the LM GTE Am title in the context of the FIA WEC. “We’re hoping to put on a good show in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, which is without doubt the toughest GT series in the world. But it’s clear that we’re not there just to make up numbers! I know Benjamin Goethe well as I’ve been his coach in karts and then in F4; now I’m going to continue giving him the benefit of my advice as his team-mate. I think he’s ready after the tests we did in the winter. He’s worked really hard. I raced pretty often with his father, Roald Goethe, the creator of the famous Rofgo car collection, so we’re keeping it in the family!”
Thirty-seven-year-old Jordan Grogor is South African and lives in Dubai. He’s built up an excellent reputation for himself in endurance events in the Middle East that includes two class victories in the Dubai 24 Hours and a podium finish in the overall classification in the Gulf 12 Hours. He also put on some stand-out performances in Blancpain Endurance between 2013 and 2015. “We’re taking a huge step forward by entering for the Blancpain GT Series, the pinnacle in the GT3 category. We’re starting out determined to fight at the front, but we also have to be humble given the level of competitiveness in this championship. So we’re going to take the races as they come and strive to give our absolute best.”
Benjamin Goethe is an English-born Danish, and will be only 16 years old at Monza, but he already accumulated a lot of experience in karts before taking his first steps in a racing car in the Spanish F4 Championship last year. “I really love GT racing and I’ve done a lot of testing in the Renault RS01 this winter. I’m learning a great deal thanks to the advice of my coach, Stuart Hall. We’ve worked on the Monza layout on the simulator together. I’m tackling this season with enthusiasm and I think we’re in with a good chance.”
The GPX Racing team principal is a Frenchman, Pierre-Brice Mena. At the age of thirty he has decided to go pitside after shining in single-seaters, Caterham, GT4 and GT3.
“I’m discovering another aspect of motor sport that’s also very exciting even if the responsibilities are not the same as when you’re behind the wheel. I’ve been lucky enough to count on solid partners to manage this project and make it successful. I began working on it a year ago. It’s very interesting to see it taking shape, things falling into place and starting to come alive in the paddock and at the circuits. Now, we just have to get on with the job to become a well-known team that’s recognised in the prestigious and very demanding world of international GT racing. The level in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup is high, but we have a great driver line-up, a fantastic team and a super motor car. So all the right ingredients are in place. In our first season our main aim is to be among the front-runners and fight for the podium. Scoring a win would be a bonus. We’re determined to move up the ladder and our ultimate objective in the mid-term is to take part in the Le Mans 24 Hours.”
The Blancpain Endurance Series will kick off at Monza on 13-14 April and the details of GPX Racing’s programme in the 24H Series “Championship of the Continents” will be announced in the near future.
