VARIED PLACE, THE EVO FAST FLEET. Coupe, roadster, estate, supercar, SUV; and a neat Panda 100HP and near300,000-mile Lamborghini pop into its pages from time to time, too. What it's been missing is a racing car. Until now. This is the Ginetta G56 GTA, and this summer, it's ours.
GTA stands for GT Academy, and it represents one of the first rungs on the Ginetta racing ladder. The Leeds-based road and, predominantly, race car manufacturer has become one of the pillars of British motorsport since the brand came under the control of Lawrence Tomlinson in 2005. The Ginetta Junior championship is now established as one of the must-drive routeways for stars of the future, with alumni including Lando Norris and Jamie Chadwick, and in adult motorsport the company's G50 model (and G55 evolution) has become one of the most successful GT4 racing cars in history.
That's now evolved into this latest car, the G56. And the GT Academy is Ginetta's recently introduced one-make series aimed at both novice and intermediate adult drivers. There are two classes: the GTA class for drivers with race experience, and the Rookie class for drivers new to motorsport.
We'll be taking part in two rounds of the 2023 championship, and I'll be sharing the car at different stages with evo staff writer Yousuf Ashraf. I've been lucky to race occasionally over the last few years, while Yousuf has plenty of kart and sim racing experience but will be competing in a car for the first time, so between us we fit the GTA and Rookie class profiles neatly.
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Esta historia es de la edición July 2023 de Evo UK.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
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BEST BUYS BMW M CARS
THE PERFORMANCE CAR LANDSCAPE WOULD HAVE looked very different over the last five decades without BMW. Its M division, founded in 1972, has produced some of the best driver’s cars ever to hit the road, and in the process has provided a stream of benchmark models for its rivals to chase. In recent years, stricter emissions regulations, downsizing and electrification have seen some of those rival cars falter, yet by and large BMW’s M machines have remained strong. In fact, some rank among the greatest the department has made think of the eCoty-winning M2 CS and M5 CS while others are the only options worth recommending in their respective segments. Price tags have risen with performance, however, putting those latest offerings out of reach for many, but the marque’s popularity means there are numerous earlier M models available on the second-hand market for far more attainable figures. Here are four of our favourites.
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