Aussie TV star keen on overseas GT tilt
Australian TV star and GT driver Grant Denyer has set his sights on some of the world’s biggest endurance events, as he looks to take his racing overseas.
#59 McLaren 650S GT3: Jonathan Webb, Grant Denyer
GrandPrix Media
Denyer is best know in Australia for his TV hosting prowess, having shot to mainstream fame as a weather man on breakfast TV before heading up popular shows such as Family Feud and The Great Australian Spelling Bee.
However, the 39 year old is also an accomplished semi-professional race driver. His 15-year career has included stints in V8 Utes, MINI Challenge, and the second-tier Supercars Dunlop Series – as well as three Bathurst 1000 starts.
While he has now scaled back his racing thanks to his TV commitments, Denyer has settled into a plum Australian GT ride in a Tekno Autosports McLaren. He currently leads the Australian Endurance Championship, the long-distance portion of the Australian GT Championship, alongside teammate Nathan Morcom.
And, having already dipped in his toe into overseas waters with a Nurburgring 24 Hour outing back in 2009, he says he has his sights on more overseas GT races.
“I’m loving the GTs at the moment. I love the cars, how to drive them, how to get the most out of them,” he told Motorsport.com.
“Leading the Australian Endurance Championship is something I’m pretty proud of. But I’ve always wanted to do some of those big overseas 24 Hour events like Spa, Nurburgring, Le Mans. They are such cool cars, and to take them on some of the biggest tracks in Europe, that’s bucket list material.
“If we can build together a package with Tekno one day, or through the McLaren alliance, to go in there as a fast amateur would be sweet.
“I think as the Bathurst 12 Hour gets bigger, there’s more attention on this part of the world market for GT3 racing. You only have to look at how spectacular Shane van Gisbergen has been for McLaren overseas. So as the size of the Bathurst 12 Hour increases, more opportunities will open up.
“And it would be great to exploit that, particularly while things are going well for our championship.”
Denyer made a comeback to the Dunlop Series for the 250-kilometre race at Bathurst earlier this month, sharing an Eggleston Motorsport Commodore with Taz Douglas. But Denyer says it’s not the start of a Supercars comeback, with his TV commitments making it too difficult to compete even in the second-tier series.
“I have to keep in mind that I have a full-time job as a TV presenter,” he added. “And I have to be realistic about that, which is why I gave up doing the Dunlop Series in 2009.
“But I’m finding I can dip in and out of the GT stuff, as a full-time Network 10 employee, and still do a great job in a car on the weekend. There’s room for it in my life.”
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