Ashley Seward Motorsport has taken delivery of a brand-new BMW M4 GT4, and the team is hoping to enter it in the second round of the Monochrome GT4 Australia Series at The Bend in May.
The new M4 has just arrived from Germany, and is identical in specification to the ASM-run Tim Leahey owned BMW that took both Am class victories in the historic opening round of the GT4 series at Phillip Island recently.
The M4 GT4 is the fourth of its kind to land into Australia, following Leahey’s example, run by Ashley Seward Motorsport. Another is owned and run by Randall Racing, and the fourth is raced by Steve Jakiz and his step son Ryder Quinn.
With stock of the highly-sought after M4 GT4s in short supply, ASM took the plunge to purchase the new car. The team is aiming to sell it, with options to house, prepare and maintain the car for a new customer.
Seward’s team, based in Dandenong, Victoria, currently owns and prepares racing cars for drivers competing in Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia, GT4, Carrera Cup, Sprint Challenge, TCR Australia and Toyota 86 Series.
The next round of the Monochrome GT4 Australia Series will be held at The Bend on May 31-June 2.
QUOTES
Ashley Seward
Team owner, ASM
“We want to see the new BMW M4 on track and we are currently fielding interest from those looking to buy it,” said Seward.
“Our aim is to run a two-car BMW team, to work alongside Time Leahey’s car. We feel that the two-car team model is certainly the way to go.
“We had the opportunity to buy the car, and we knew that they were starting to be hard to get, so we bought it when it came available. Ideally, we’d like someone to purchase the car for us to run alongside Tim.
“Tim and I both believe that GT4 is a great class and there’s a good future in it. The value of the equipment versus the value of track time is one of the best you’ll see in Australian motorsport. It’s a great class for the businessman racer.
“And there are great options for the owners too. They can drive it themselves for the whole weekend, like Tim does in the Am class, or the category allows the Am driver or car owner to share seat time with a young driver (Pro-Am class).
“GT4 is a different journey, compared to other sports car options in Australia. There’s different ways to compete, and there’s a great variety of brands on the market. That variety also gives competitors options for costs too. Not all cars are priced the same.
“We enjoyed a great first round at Phillip Island. We were in the Am class, but he ran up the front and finished third outright in Saturday's race. It proved that a good bronze driver can be very competitive.”