Gary Ayles (born September 25, 1964) is a

Racecar Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

driver born in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. Ayles raced in the British F3 championship in the late 1980s before making the switch to touring car racing. He competed in the

British Touring Car Championship The Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by TOCA TOCA, formally trading as BARC (TOCA) Ltd, is an organiser of motorsport events in ...

in 1991 driving for

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

alongside

Andy Rouse Andrew Rouse (born 2 December 1947) is a British racing driver, most notably in the British Saloon Car Championship. He won the BSCC in 1975, 1983, 1984 and 1985. Andy Rouse is one of the most successful drivers ever to appear in the BSCC. His ...

, and filled in for one race in 1992. He was offered a drive with the factory

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...

team in the Superturismo series as teammate to

Fabrizio Giovanardi Fabrizio Giovanardi (born 14 December 1966 in Sassuolo) is an Italian racing driver. During his career he has won ten touring car titles, including European and British crowns making him the most successful touring car driver worldwide. He has s ...

. In his three years with the team he finished runner up in the championship in 1992 to the Italian and scored several wins during his time in the series against such names as

Gabriele Tarquini Gabriele Tarquini (born 2 March 1962) is an Italian racing driver. He participated in 78 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on May 3, 1987. He scored a single championship point, and holds the record for the most failed attempts to qualify. He ...

Roberto Ravaglia Roberto Ravaglia (born 26 May 1957 in Venice, Italy) is a former auto racing driver, who currently runs ROAL Motorsport, who operate a Chevrolet operation in the World Touring Car Championship. Before retiring in 1997, he was one of the most succ ...

and

Emanuele Pirro Emanuele Pirro (born 12 January 1962) is an Italian racing driver who has raced in Formula One, touring cars and in endurance races such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans which he has won a total of five times. Two times Italian Karting Champion (19 ...

. For 1995, he drove for the factory-backed Ferrari Club Italia team in the 1995 BPR Global GT Series, driving a Ferrari F40. Ayles returned to the BTCC in 1996, again driving for Andy Rouse in a

Nissan , trade name, trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells ...

, but did not enjoy the same success. In 1997 he raced a

McLaren F1 GTR The McLaren F1 GTR is the racing variant of the McLaren F1 sports car first produced in 1995 for grand touring style racing, such as the BPR Global GT Series, FIA GT Championship, JGTC, and British GT Championship. It was powered by the natur ...

in the 1997 FIA GT Championship for Parabolica Motorsport. The team achieved a brace of top six finishes against the factory teams, regularly the top privateers. This car is replicated within the video game

Project CARS 3 ''Project CARS 3'' is a racing video game developed by Codemasters subsidiary Slightly Mad Studios and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It was first released on 28 August 2020 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The game ...

. The year also included a one-off outing at Silverstone in the 1997

British GT Championship The British GT Championship is a sports car racing series based predominantly in the United Kingdom. The series was originally created by the British Racing Drivers' Club in 1993 and, for its first two seasons, was known as the National Sports GT ...

, where he took the overall victory. He has entered the Le Mans 24hr four times with a best finish of 9th in the LMGT1 class and 18th overall at the

1995 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 63rd Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 17 and 18 June 1995 in one of the wettest races in the event's history with about 17 hours of steady rain. The race was won by the #59 McLaren F1 GTR driven by J ...

driving a Ferrari F40. Ayles became a team owner in 2000, when he established

GA Motorsport Gary Ayles (born September 25, 1964) is a Racecar driver born in the United Kingdom. Ayles raced in the British F3 championship in the late 1980s before making the switch to touring car racing. He competed in the British Touring Car Championship ...

, which has entered cars in the BTCC since 2000, racing as Team Sureterm for much of 2004. At the beginning of 2005, Ayles sold his share in the team to Mike Thompson, which Thompson since rebranded as

Quest Racing Quest Racing is a UK auto racing team headed by Mike Thompson, the squad having been rebranded from its former guise as GA Motorsports when Thompson bought the controlling stake from original founder Gary Ayles. In mid-2006 the team began running ...

. After planning to enter a new team in 2006, he formed the

A-Tech Gary Ayles (born September 25, 1964) is a Racecar driver born in the United Kingdom. Ayles raced in the British F3 championship in the late 1980s before making the switch to touring car racing. He competed in the British Touring Car Championship ...

team, which entered the BTCC for 2007, with a pair of

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." ...

s for

David Pinkney David Pinkney is a British businessman and auto racing driver. He competed in the British Touring Car Championship on and off between 1989 and 2011. Racing career James Weaver talked David into racing and he started out in the Uniroyal Saloon ...

and Richard Marsh. Currently (2011) he is involved with Lotus UK's GT4 race programme with the Evora. He co-owns a heritage vehicle shipping and delivery company, Bespoke Handling.

Racing record

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position - 1 point awarded all in 1996 only) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap - 1 point awarded 1988–1989 in class) # – Race was stopped due of heavy rain. No points were awarded. ‡ Endurance driver.

Complete Italian Touring Car Championship results

References

External links

Profile on Historic Racing
British Touring Car Championship drivers British racing drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers British Formula 3000 Championship drivers 1965 births Living people {{UK-autoracing-bio-stub