Wayne Boyd reckons next weekend’s Gulf 12 Hours in Abu Dhabi could open the door to a full season in GT3 should results work in his, John Schauerman and Matt Bell’s favour.
Boyd will share a Ferrari 296 GT3 run by Switzerland-based team Kessel Racing for the mammoth endurance event, which takes place next Sunday at the Yas Marina Circuit.
The opportunity to take part in the light-into-darkness fixture came about following talks with Boyd’s former co-driver at United Autosports, America’s Schauerman. Completing the line-up is professional UK driver Bell, who previously represented Bently Racing in GT3.
“I am really looking forward to it,” said Boyd.
“I have been looking at GT options for a while now — and not because I don’t want to keep racing in LMP3 but I’ve been doing it for quite some time now — and it would be nice to try another option and see how I get on with it.
“John, who retired at the end of last year, decided that he wanted to come back and do some racing. We tested a couple of options at Portimão in October and we both really enjoyed the time we had in the Ferrari with Kessel Racing, so we did another test at Paul Ricard just a few weeks ago and afterwards a deal came together to do the Gulf 12 Hours.
“It is a fantastic race and there is a serious amount of drive time which is pretty good for us all, really. It will give me and John a good idea of what it is all about and how it all works, how competitive we can be, and if there is anything possible for next season,” he added.
Boyd’s expectations of a strong showing at Yas Marina have been fuelled by his time spent testing the Prancing Horse-badged car, which is a potent force in GT series the world over.
“It is a new car and I am really enjoying it to be honest,” he added. “It’s quite different from the Prototype stuff but GT cars have come on a huge way in the last few years and the Ferrari is really, really nice to drive.
“I have been to Abu Dhabi before for the Asian Le Mans Cup a couple of years ago when we won the Championship, so I know the circuit as well.
“It is going to be a long race but also a high level of competition so we need to do a good job, especially if we are to be there at the end. We will see how testing goes this coming week. As always, we are not going there with any other expectation except to win.”
In recent years, Boyd, from Templepatrick in County Antrim, has been a regular fixture in the LMP3 prototype division with United Autosports before switching to Nielsen Racing for this season where he represented the British squad in the Michelin Le Mans Cup.