Tom Emson has started preparations for the maiden International GT Open season - and he has no intentions of making up the numbers.

Emson from Etchinghill, near Folkestone, will drive the Elite Motorsport team’s brand-new Ferrari 296 GT3 with the campaign beginning in Portimao, Portugal, on Sunday, April 27, and his hopes are high.

He said: “We will be competitive, as long as we get our heads around the car as fast as we can.

“I know my team-mate, Tom Lebbon, is fast and I know I’m fast. If we put everything together, we will be very competitive.

“I should be looking to win races, get podiums and, potentially, challenge for the title.

“I just want to prove to myself I’m fast in the GT3 car - and I want to prove that to everyone else.”

Drivers will also travel to Belgium, Germany, Hungary, France, Austria and Spain before the season finale in Monza, Italy, in mid-October.

Confirmation Emson is going into the Ferrari 296 GT3 came in January, the same month Lewis Hamilton made his Ferrari F1 testing debut.

“I was one of the first ones they (Elite) came to about getting a deal signed for this year,” he said.

“They wanted me in the car, which was nice, and my team-mate, who I get on really well with, is also in the team with me.

“He wanted me and I wanted him so the team works really well. We have all been working with each other for the past few years.

"It all gels really nicely.”

While Emson is still only 22, he has plenty of racing experience.

He had raced in a variety of Ginetta Championships from 2017 until 2022 with Elite before he moved into GT4, contesting the European Series over the past two years.

Emson took pole at the first-ever GT race held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in 2024, as well as earning two top-five finishes in Monza.

He explained: “I’ve been with Elite Motorsport since 2018 and I’ve literally been with them since the start of my racing career.

“Ginetta Juniors, which I’m now coaching myself, was where I sort of started when I was probably 15.

“I’ve been progressing up with them up to GT4 and, now, into GT3. I’ve been with them the entire way.

“I have had options from other teams, but I have just worked with Elite so well that it was the right move for me to move into GT3 with them.”

There’s been plenty of work for Emson and his team to go through since the car arrived in early February.

He stated: “Obviously, we need to learn the new car.

“We have never been in something that, I guess, is this technical. The GT4 is still very much a road car, but it has little extra features that a race car would have, so a bit more in terms of traction control options.

“You can turn it off or change how much the traction control cuts in - the same with ABS - and a lot of the components in the GT4 are solely based around the road car.

“With the GT3, it’s a race car, built for a race car, with loads of different traction control options and loads of different set-ups we can have.

"So, not only will it be tough for the drivers, like myself, to get our heads around how it all works but, also, it’ll be a challenge for the team.

“They need to know how the car works and all the different options that we can have.

“But knowing the knowledge they have, I’m fairly sure we will be able to do a couple of test days and then we’ll be fairly set.”

As well as his own racing, Emson is also inspiring the next generation.

He noted: “My coaching is in Caterhams and stuff, and other smaller categories, where people are just starting out.

“I’ve been with Junior Ginetta, which I used to race at the start of my career. They’re 14-year-olds to 17-year-olds.

"Some have done quite a bit of karting and some have done no karting.

“Basically, I’m putting my life in their hands! We go around the track at 120mph - but it’s good fun.

“I love to see the progression people make, especially if they haven’t done anything before. They can go from 10 seconds off the pace to being one of the fastest kids.

“I find it satisfying, seeing them progress up and being as fast as possible, knowing I was in the same position.”