Harrogate duo John Bintcliffe and Jay Palmer, plus Matt Bell, from Barningham near Richmond, attended the annual Autosports International Show at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham.

Bintcliffe, aged 44, and Palmer, 38, will share an Audi R8 LMS together while Bell, 21, co-drives a second Audi with American Mike Guasch for United Autosports in the 2011 Avon Tyres British GT Championship.

Bintcliffe drove for Audi Sport UK in the British Touring Car Championship in the mid-1990s and is making a return to competitive race driving after a 13-year absence to team-up with close friend Palmer.

Meanwhile Bell, who competed for Leeds-based United Autosports in the team’s maiden FIA GT3 European Championship campaign, will dovetail his British GT series commitments with a second consecutive year in the FIA series.

Bintcliffe and Palmer will sample the 180mph Audi R8 LMS on a race track for the first time at Navarra next month with Bell also using the two-day “exclusive” test at the Spanish venue to reacclimatise himself to the GT3 class sportscar. The 14-race British series begins on Easter Monday – April 25 – at Oulton Park, Cheshire.

Hampshire-based Draper Tools is a new sponsorship partner for both of the team’s two championship programmes.