BILLERICAY racing driver Daniel Brown is preparing for the biggest weekend of his career so far.

The 22-year-old driver will be piloting the Gulf Racing Aston Martin Vantage GTE at Silverstone as he makes his debut in the European Le Mans Series (ELMS).

It is a step up in class for Brown but he is relishing the opportunity at the full-length Silverstone GP circuit on Saturday.

"I am hugely excited for this weekend," Brown said. "After five years of racing in the GT3 category, I am now making the step up into the GTE class.

"To be driving an Aston Martin at a British circuit in front of my home crowd makes it that bit more exciting. I can't wait to get on track!"

Brown will be partnering 2013 GTE-AM world champion Stuart Hall and experienced gentleman driver Roald Goethe for the four-hour endurance race at the famous Northamptonshire circuit.

They will be in the highly modified GTE class against 12 other Gran Turismo cars, although Brown's car will be the only Aston Martin in a field primarily featuring Ferrai 458s and Porche 911s.

The car is wearing the famous sky blue and orange Gulf Oil colours in a race that will also feature two other classes, LMP2 Le Mans prototypes and the GT3 category featuring cars closer to production specification.

Brown drove an 888Optimum BMW Z4 GT3 car last season in the British GT Championship but has switched to ELMS. Following a successful pre-season testing programme he is now looking forward to the weekend.

There are two practice sessions on Friday, with qualifying on Saturday morning ahead of the four-hour race in the afternoon.