Optimum return to Dubai 24H seeking fourth victory in eight years

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With an impressive record in the 24H of Dubai, Optimum Motorsport return to one of the most challenging events on the motorsport calendar this week (10-12 January) for the eighth straight season, seeking a fourth victory at the UAE venue.

This year the team will field the #432 Ginetta G55 with Jack Butel, Brent Millage, Lew Proctor and Russ Olivant sharing driving duties in the GT4 class as the team look to add to wins secured in 2012, 2015 and 2017.

Jack has recently raced LMP3 machinery in the UK with Speedworks and is keen to get plenty of off-season mileage completed in preparation for his 2019 campaign.

Lew has previously raced in the British GT Championship and is taking on the challenge of the 24H of Dubai to gain experience in the endurance racing scene.

Brent is already very much at home in Ginetta race car, having competed in GT Cup in the UK in 2016 and 2017 with success. The British racer finished runner-up in the championship in 2017 and most recently competed in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo European championship.Russ recently won the Race of Remembrance in Anglesey and has a background in Caterham racing while Lewis competed against Optimum Motorsport this year in the British GT championship, securing two podium positions en route to seventh position in the GT4 Silver standings.

Round one of the 2019 Creventic 24H Series gets underway with unofficial testing starting on Monday, with the first official session and qualifying on Thursday 10 January. The 24H race gets underway on Friday at 15.00 local time, 11.00 GMT.

‍Shaun Goff, Team Principal

‍“We’re delighted to have put together a programme to start the 2019 season off in Dubai. The Ginetta G55 is very much a known quantity for us, so there will be no surprises and we go into the event with a strong base setup. We have three drivers who are all keen to race hard and with the package we have, we hope to be in contention to take our fourth victory in Dubai.”

‍Jack Butel

‍“This will be my first time competing in a GT4 car, so I’m very much looking forward to it. The great thing about doing this event is the mileage and seat time that we will all get and that can only be a benefit for the season ahead. My teammates all have a good understanding of the GT4 package, so we believe that we can get a good result. It’s a good team to race with their track record there so we head into the event confident of a strong showing.”

‍Brent Millage

‍“Honestly, I’m excited and nervous. I’ve never tackled anything of this magnitude before and to have the opportunity at 62 years of age is great. Optimum have a great deal of experience which I am sure will help me!“As a racer, my hope is always to win, and I have three very capable teammates. However, my approach will remain as it has done over recent seasons and that is ‘to finish first, first you have to finish’ which has given me two good championship finishes in 2016 and 2017. I will not be the fastest but will try hard to keep my end up for the team.”