Jenson Button to race at Silverstone in British GT

Jenson Button will race in next month’s British GT Championship round at Silverstone, making a one-off appearance for his own team, Jenson Team Rocket RJN.

The 2009 Formula 1 champion will make his debut in the series, alongside his friend and co-team owner, Le Mans LMP2 winner Chris Buncombe.

The pair will drive a McLaren 720S GT3 in the three-hour race on November 8; the team’s second entry.

Michael O’Brien and James Baldwin, winner of last year’s World’s Fastest Gamer competition, are competing for title honours in their Team Rocket Mclaren at the Silverstone season finale.

“This will be my first taste of a GT3 car but I’m really looking forward it,” said Button. “It will be lovely to join our team and lining-up in the McLaren 720S with my best buddy Chris Buncombe. It’s great to come back and race on UK soil again – a big thank you to our partners that have made this possible.

“It’s a shame that this final round of the British GT Championship will be without the fans but I hope they will tune in to follow our progress!”

Since Button’s final F1 race at Monaco in 2017, he has won the Japanese Super GT Championship and raced at Le Mans, in the Baja 1000 and in DTM.

The last time he won at Silverstone was in 1999, when he was racing on British GT’s support bill in British F3.