Jessica Bäckman joins GT4 Europe for guest appearance in Monza

In preparation for her first GT4 season in ADAC GT4 Germany, Jessica Bäckman joins the first round of the GT4 European series in Monza alongside her brother Andreas. It will be the first race weekend where the siblings will share a car together.

Swedish racing star Jessica Bäckman will made a guest appearance in the European GT4 Championship at the season opener at Monza this weekend, as she is set to team up with her brother Andreas to prepare for their first season in GT4 competitions.

The Swedish siblings are known for their racing careers and successes in TCR series, having most recently competed in TCR Germany and STCC. For both, it will be their first season in GT4 machinery and the first season together sharing a car.

To prepare for the upcoming season in ADAC GT4 Germany - which starts at Oschersleben in May - the duo will take the start in Monza, first round of the GT4 European Championship, ni the #19 proSport Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4, in the Silver category.

Jessica has raced in five TCR series, collecting podiums 4 of them. She finished second with four wins, nine podiums, two pole positions and three fastest laps in 2022, her most successful season to date. She has recently been announced as part of the Aston Martin Racing Driver Academy programme.

Andreas Bäckman contested the STCC championship last year, finishing third overall with three wins, two pole positions, seven podiums and three fastest laps to his name.

At Monza, the Bäckman siblings approach a weekend full of learnings, in a completely different form of racing to what they were used to. While both are about to kick-off their first full season in GT4, Jessica has previously started a race weekend in GT Winter Series, in a with ProSport entry together with Gabriela Jílková. She was second in both her sprint and in the endurance race.

In Monza, they will focus on learning as much as they can ahead of their debut in ADAC GT4 in Germany.

"It will be very exciting to finally get to drive the first race with Andreas", commented Jessica. "We have been to some tests, and we work very well together, it will be fun now to see how we stack up against our competitors."

"But we are humble about the debut as we will face 51 other drivers who are the best from all over Europe, it will be a good test to see what we need to work more on, we are here to give everything."

The weekend at the Temple of Speed will start on Friday with two free practice sessions followed by qualifying and race 1 on Saturday and race 2 on Sunday.

Jessica has previously raced at the iconic Italian track in 2019 and 2020, in TCR Europe, finishing seventh as her best result.

After the first private practice day on Thursday, Jessica and Andreas set the 14th fastest time in an over 50 car field, eighth among the Silver class entries.