Chad Racing is to return to the Avon Tyres British GT Championship this season with a Ferrari 430 and two drivers with extensive experience of both the car and international sportscar racing, it has been announced.

The Italian machine will be handled by Paul Warren and Chris Hyman, and team manager Piers Masarati believes the duo will prove to be a useful combination.

“They raced a 430 in the FIA GT Championship in 2007 and 2008, know the car and love to race competitively,” he underlined. “We hope for podiums on a regular basis and will be working hard to establish a stable and competitive car, as we did last year for Peter Bamford and Matt Griffin.”

Ferraris won seven of last year's 14 British GT races, and Warren is hopeful that he and Hyman – who met whilst racing Formula Palmer Audi single-seaters – will be able to take advantage of that winning pedigree.

“We both enjoyed driving the 430 in FIA GTs, and we are looking forward to racing one in the UK,” he revealed. “We found in the international championship that, with business commitments preventing us from testing ahead of the events, we were at a disadvantage to the many professional drivers taking part.

“We both know the British tracks well, the car is superb to drive and very competitive – and we are looking forward to the coming season.”

Chad will be dovetailing its British GT campaign with its works Kia Belgian touring car programme, whilst 2005 British GT3 Champion Masarati continues in his role as manager of the successful Portuguese A1GP squad.

The 2009 British GT Championship will blast into action at Oulton Park in Cheshire over the Easter weekend (11-13 April).