British reputed GT team Steller Motorsport will make its debut in th International GT Open with a wildcard appearance in the next round at the Circuit de Catalunya on 20–21 September. The team will field its Corvette Z06 GT3 R, with Canadian brothers Daniel and Adam Ali behind the wheel.
19-year-old Daniel Ali has been a regular with Steller Motorsport this season, racing with the team in GT World Challenge Europe. He will be joined by his older brother, Adam, who brings race-winning pedigree, despite only turning 21 years of age earlier this year.
The young driver from Toronto has tasted victory in the European Le Mans Series over the last two seasons, and has twice finished runner-up in the LMP3 standings. He also boasts GT racing experience, having made the switch to the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup this season.
Daniel Ali said, “I am very excited to compete in the International GT Open. I have driven at Barcelona many times, though never in a GT car. However, I am looking forward to bringing my prior experience into this event. It's also going to be very special as, for the first time, I will be competing with my brother as a teammate rather than a competitor, and I'm excited to go racing and working with Adam for the first time since our karting days.”
Adam Ali commented, “I am very much looking forward to working with Steller Motorsport. The Corvette has been a strong platform worldwide since its debut season and I'm excited to drive it, and hopefully we can enjoy some success with it at Barcelona. Of course, I’m also looking forward to racing alongside my brother, Daniel, this is going to be special for both of us.”
Steller Motorsport team manager, Max Daymond, added, “It’s going to be exciting to have the brothers racing together in the Corvette, and a good experience for us as a team to compete in International GT Open. It’s also a chance for us to compete on a more level playing field. Mostly, we’ve been visiting circuits for the first time this season with our new Corvette, but we spent a lot of time in Barcelona during preseason and this should give us a strong starting point going into the race weekend. That said, we will have to handle the switch to Michelin tyres for this event, however, we have run in GT3 with Michelin tyres before, so we can draw on that knowledge to help with setup. We saw how much having prior circuit experience with the car helps earlier in the season, when we finished on the podium at Paul Ricard, another circuit where we had completed many laps in preseason. So, it’ll be good to have a base setting to build on when we race in GT Open.”