Successful BMW Z4 GT3 will return in the hands of original driver Oliver Bryant

The British GT championship-winning BMW Z4 GT3 will return to racing this season – in historic competition.

Marco Attard took the Barwell Motorsport-run Ecurie Ecosse BMW to the 2014 British GT drivers’ crown with two victories, mainly sharing with Alexander Sims.

The duo then took the car to the runner-up spot the following year, having scored another brace of successes.

The BMW also contested the Blancpain Endurance Series in 2014 and 2015. The September 2015 BES round at the Nurburgring is believed to have been the car’s last competitive outing, driven by Oliver Bryant, Alasdair McCaig and Devon Modell.

Historic racing ace Bryant, who also won the Silverstone British GT round with the Z4 in 2013 alongside Attard, drove it in the GT3 demonstration at the Goodwood Members’ Meeting last weekend.

He now plans to race the car, which survived the recent fires near Pasadena while in storage, at the Silverstone Festival in August.

“We’ve just got it back from America, I shook it down and remembered where all the switches were,” said Bryant.

“It’s great to have it back out and we’ll race it at Silverstone, 12 years after we won with it there. Even my old race suit is in date – just!

“We have good memories of the car. It feels surreal to now be driving it in historics.

“The BMW is cool and it’s such a good-looking livery. It’s a little sluggish in a straight line but, if we can qualify at the front, it can go well – like we did in 2013.”

Former British GT and historic racer Jon Minshaw used a similar BMW to win the Masters GT Trophy at last year’s Silverstone Festival.

As well as the GT3 demonstration, the global category – which was introduced in 2006 – was celebrated by a special shootout at Goodwood.

Triple World Touring Car champion Andy Priaulx drove a 2012 BMW Z4 to third in the Sunday contest won by Andrew Jordan in a Chevrolet Corvette Z06.R from the same year.