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James Townsend Interview

Simon Hawkins | Published on 5/4/2026

Meet the Teams

A Series of interviews and articles for AMOC with drivers, owners and pit crew from across the full spectrum of Aston Martin Racing (AMR).

Driver James Townsend

AMR Partner Team - Townsend Racing – Powered by Fox Motorsport

James Townsend (centre) discussing strategy with co driver Joe Wheeler (right).
Credit SRO Motorsports: British GT

The 2026 British GT Championship will be a highly entertaining and competitive series this year with five different Aston Martin Racing (AMR) teams challenging for either GT3 or GT4 honours. Early testing at Silverstone in March indicated that this will be a hyper competitive season, especially in the GT4 category where just over 1 second separates the entire field.

Right in the mix will be James Townsend (Townsend Racing) partnering with Essex based Fox Motorsport.

James is founder and CEO of KONTOR, a boutique commercial real estate advisory business based in London. Aside from brokering multi-million pound transactions, he has been slowly building a reputation as one the UK’s most competitive bronze drivers.

With 10 years competitive racing behind him, James is keen to build a long term and highly ambitious racing future with Aston Martin. James has reunited with Fox for a full season in the 2026 British GT Championship racing a brand-new Aston Martin Vantage GT4, presented in a striking crimson and pink livery, which broke cover in February this year.

The new partnership with AMR also underlines Fox Motorsport’s position as one of the UK’s premier GT4 teams and creates another step on its racing ladder that is also set to feature the GB4 Championship for entry-level single-seaters in 2026.

Striking crimson and pink livery launched in February 2026.
Credit. Townsend Racing

James testing at Silverstone (March 2026)
Credit SRO Motorsports: British GT

Speaking in February this year James states:
“This is the biggest thing I’ve done in motorsport, so creating Townsend Racing powered by Fox Motorsport and reuniting with the team I’ve achieved most of my successes with, was a no-brainer. This is part of a multi-year strategy to push forwards with my own racing career and to create and strengthen a real relationship with one of the most iconic sportscar manufacturers of all time in Aston Martin. Who knows where this could lead in the future…”

The British GT Media Day (31 March 2026) allowed all the teams an opportunity for some valuable free testing times and to meet with the motorsport press.

Speaking that day at the SRO press conference James said:

I started in Ginetta Racing 10 years ago and raced in all of the various programmes along the way to finally be sitting here for a full British GT Championship season, having been pushing towards this over the last 3 years. I am really keen to build a strong and long term relationship with Aston Martin and looking to move on to race in the GT3 class and beyond. Working with Aston Martin has been a big passion of mine.

Townsend Racing is the commercial front end of the relationship with Fox Motorsport taking care of track operations, allowing me to work with an experienced team. 2026 will be our first full year together and we are on a steep learning curve but we hope to secure a few podiums with a view to strongly challenge for the championship in the coming years. Joe and myself want to ultimately become BRDC members.

James speaking at the SRO Press Conference, British GT Championship.
Credit SRO Motorsports: British GT

Joe Wheeler Credit SRO Motorsports: British GT

Partnering with James this year in the GT4 Pro – Am class will be Joe Wheeler, the 22-year-old having raced in the series since 2022.

Joe made his competitive debut in the Junior Saloon Car Championship in 2019 and then moved into Ginetta Juniors before graduating to British GT and recording five GT4 Pro-Am podiums through 2023 and ’25, with a race-winning season in between in the McLaren Trophy Europe.

James & Joe driving the Ginetta in the 2025 British GT Championship
Credit SRO Motorsports: British GT

James & Joe driving the Ginetta in the 2023 British GT Championship
Credit SRO Motorsports: British GT

James’s passion for Aston Martin is not just for the race cars. He owns two Aston Martins which include his daily, a rather muddy DBX and a very rare ‘1 of 200’ 2018 Vantage AMR in ultramarine black with full carbon fibre aero pack and titanium sports exhaust.

James on why he loves the brand so much and enjoying them as a daily driver

I've been a long time admirer of the Aston Martin brand and its racing heritage. My overarching memory is Jonny Adam & Darren Turner winning Le Mans in 2017 in the GTE class - it sparked my interest in racing and to now share a track with both those Aston Martin legends is a dream come true. Having been an owner of multiple Vantages over the years, practicality has since become priority with a large dog and two young children I've swapped to the DBX to accommodate my family. Its the perfect blend of SUV practicality and sports car performance - and less boring than a Range Rover.

AMOC will be reporting on the progress of James and the team over the coming season with updates in AM Monthly and on the website.

James’s Vantage AMR & DBX.
Credit James Townsend

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