Liona Theobald to make GT Cup debut

Entering her third season of circuit racing, Liona Theobald is set to make her GT Cup debut in a SVG Motorsport-operated Ginetta GT4, having made significant improvements last year in Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT Championship.

Entering her third season of circuit racing, Liona Theobald is set to make her GT Cup debut in a SVG Motorsport-operated Ginetta GT4, in a GTH class entry alongside James Townsend.

Theobald had stepped up to the GT Pro class of the Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT Championship in 2023, where she enjoyed a highly positive campaign. Despite missing the round at Cadwell Park, in fact, Theobald finished sixth in the GT Pro championship standings – with her race pace a particular highlight.

The 18-year-old British driver first stepped in a race car in 2021, when she completed a handful of test days in a Ginetta before entering the Ginetta Junior Winter Series – a two day racing event that prepared her for the 2022 racing debut.

In 2022 Theobald in fact contested her first full-time season in Ginetta Juniors, with Assetto Motorsport. In a year of continuous improvement, she finished 23rd out of 31 drivers, in a highly competitive field. She was also selected as one of the 20 promising young talents to be enrolled in the Motorsport UK's Academy Programme.

Liona then enjoyed a season of development in the Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT Championship in 2023, with the season finale at Donington Park being her most successful round: a season’s best in qualifying highlighted her single lap improvement, in a year which has seen her race pace be on par with those of a greater experience level. At both Brands Hatch and Donington, Theobald narrowly missed out on claiming a fastest lap.

Her improvement is yet another encouraging sign of her progression up the sportscar ladder, as she now moves to the highly popular GT Cup championship, where she will drive the #86 Ginetta GT4 – again with the support of SVG Motorsport.

"I believe that GT Cup is a brilliant next step for me in my racing career with longer races, pit stops and working stronger together as a team", Theobald commented. "I am very excited to work with James, and I am positive we are going to be a competitive pairing throughout the season!"

"For a second year, I am also excited to be working with Team SVG again, building on what we learnt last year and taking on new challenges."

The 2024 season is set to kick-off in April at Donington, for the first of seven race meetings.