http://www.astonmartin.com/AMR Partner Team NewsAMR NewsRacingNewsPublic Newsle mansGTEModels urn:uuid:68327a34-81ba-6ceb-9402-ff00007a0a98 AMR Partner Team NewsAMR NewsAston Martin’s new Vantage GT3 secured its first podium finish in the season-ending Gulf 12 Hours endurance race at the Yas Marina Circuit, in Abu Dhabi.Mon, 17 Dec 2018 10:14:07 Z<p><em><img src="http://cdntbs.astonmartin.com/sitefinity/racing-news/_a7r7894-racing.jpg?sfvrsn=0" title="_A7R7894-RACING" /><br /> Saturday 15 December, Abu Dhabi:</em> Aston Martin&rsquo;s new Vantage GT3 secured its first podium finish in the season-ending Gulf 12 Hours endurance race at the Yas Marina Circuit, in Abu Dhabi.</p> <p>Aston Martin partner team Beechdean AMR took the accolade by finishing third in the GT3 Pro Am class and seventh overall with its four-man line-up of team owner Andrew Howard (GB), Aston Martin Racing reserve driver Ross Gunn (GB), Chris Dyson (US) and Hamaid al Masaood (UAE).</p> <p>&ldquo;This is absolutely brilliant,&rdquo; said Howard. &ldquo;To be able to record the first podium for the new Aston Martin Vantage is amazing. The car is just fantastic, and especially in these conditions to drive a brand new car for 12 hours and finish on the podium against well-developed opposition is a great testament to it. Ergonomically, the cabin and the driving position is much better than the previous car. It is a pleasure to drive and when you are doing an endurance racing that&rsquo;s what you want.&rdquo;</p> <p>Gunn added: &ldquo;To get the first podium is great way for me to end the season. Now we need to keep working on it over the winter because 2019 can be a big year for the Vantage GT3.&rdquo;</p> <p>It was nearly a double-podium celebration for the car, as Oman Racing by TF Sport narrowly missed out on third place overall, settling for fourth. The car, driven by three-time Le Mans 24 Hours class winner Darren Turner (GB) and reigning British GT champion Jonny Adam (GB) along with Ahmad al Harthy (OMN), suffered a delay because of a small issue in its first pitstop that cost it a lap to its rivals. Fighting back, the team finished less than half a minute away from the podium.</p> <p>Turner said: &ldquo;We fought our way back up to fourth and we were closing in on third, but we simply ran out of time. I think if we had had another stint we would have caught them. Without that issue at the first stop I&rsquo;m sure we would have been on the podium. A great deal of information has been learned about the new GT3 in hot conditions which was one of the main reasons for racing here.&rdquo;</p> <p>The same issue also delayed a third Vantage GT3 run by Blancpain Endurance Series race-winners R-Motorsport and ultimately put it out of contention despite strong pace from its drivers Jake Dennis (GB), Marvin Kirchh&ouml;fer (GER) and Ricky Collard (GB).</p> <p>The new Vantage GT4 run by the works team and driven by a British quartet of Mark Farmer, Tom Canning, Ollie Wilkinson and Adrian Willmott starred in qualifying taking pole on its debut in the GT4 class. But any hopes of a repeat in the race were dashed when it was hit by a rival on the first lap and required lengthy repairs. Accident damage aside though the car ran faultlessly to finish fourth in first race.&nbsp;</p> <p>President of Aston Martin Racing, David King said: &ldquo;We are delighted that the Vantage GT3 continues to make strides forward in competitiveness and driveability. For a partner team to deliver a podium on its first race with the car is very satisfying and there is evidence to suggest that only bad luck stopped us achieving more. The GT4 ran trouble-free from a reliability point of view for the whole weekend and we&rsquo;re very happy with the pace. It performed better than we&rsquo;d even anticipated and with that driver line-up it was a potential victory contender. But from a testing point of view it couldn&rsquo;t have been better, and that fundamentally is why we came here.&rdquo;</p>urn:uuid:0a0c7a34-81ba-6ceb-9402-ff00007a0a98 AMR NewsAston Martin Lagonda and Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Hilton’s (NYSE: HLT) iconic luxury hotel brand, announce a new, four-year, global partnership, bringing two enduring icons of global luxury together to launch a new era of performance and hospitality. The two brands promise a season of unforgettable opportunities, bringing together impressive destinations, exceptional service and the world’s most dynamic and beautiful luxury sports cars. Tue, 04 Dec 2018 11:12:52 Z<em><img src="http://cdntbs.astonmartin.com/sitefinity/news-images/aston-martin---waldorf-astoria-(1)-news.jpg?sfvrsn=0" title="Aston-Martin-&amp;amp;-Waldorf-Astoria-(1)-NEWS" /> <p> 4 December 2018, Cannes, France:</em> Aston Martin Lagonda and Waldorf Astoria Hotels &amp; Resorts, Hilton&rsquo;s (NYSE: HLT) iconic luxury hotel brand, announce a new, four-year, global partnership, bringing two enduring icons of global luxury together to launch a new era of performance and hospitality. The two brands promise a season of unforgettable opportunities, bringing together impressive destinations, exceptional service and the world&rsquo;s most dynamic and beautiful luxury sports cars.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br /> <br /> &nbsp;&ldquo;Aston Martin Lagonda was a natural choice for a partnership of this magnitude,&rdquo; said Dino Michael, global head, Waldorf Astoria Hotels &amp; Resorts, Hilton. &ldquo;At Waldorf Astoria, experience and service are at the core of everything we do, and this partnership offers a rare opportunity for our guests to live unforgettable at our properties around the globe.&rdquo;<br /> <br /> Simon Sproule, Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer &amp; President, Aston Martin Partnerships said: &ldquo;This partnership opens both brands up to new and exciting opportunities. Aston Martin Lagonda and Waldorf Astoria share a passion for creating beautiful experiences for our customers, rooted in the joy of travel and discovery. Together, we can create memorable journeys that combine the best in global hospitality and driving pleasure.&rdquo;&nbsp;<br /> <br /> From exclusive guest access to Aston Martin&rsquo;s most recent cars, to bespoke drive and stay packages in some of the most sought-after destinations in the Waldorf Astoria portfolio, the collaboration combines the exceptional standards of sophistication and service that are at the heart of both brands. For example, the combination of Waldorf Astoria's legendary service with Aston Martin Lagonda's access to the world of iconic motorsport will bring a luxurious new angle to automotive events and activities.<br /> <br /> <strong>Waldorf Astoria Driving Experiences</strong><br /> Beginning in 2019, Waldorf Astoria Driving Experience weekends will present hotel guests with a variety of Aston Martin&rsquo;s latest models to sample along carefully tailored routes. These bookable sessions will be led by Aston Martin's team of professional drivers, giving Waldorf Astoria guests an expertly curated opportunity to explore the unmatched performance, refined craftsmanship and exhilarating driving sensation delivery by Aston Martin.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> <strong>Enjoy the Automotive Calendar in Style</strong><br /> Waldorf Astoria is proud to be the official hotel partner for Aston Martin Racing, currently enjoying a highly competitive debut season with the new Aston Martin Vantage GTE. Following the Vantage GTE&rsquo;s maiden victory at the 6 Hours of Shanghai in November, Aston Martin Racing promises more thrilling races to come. Waldorf Astoria will be offering its guests VIP hospitality at some of these fixtures, including the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans in France (June 15 &ndash; 16, 2019). Guests will also be able to enjoy unique access to premium automotive events like the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in California (August 18, 2019), as well as other leading international auto shows.<br /> <br /> <strong>New Aston Martin Art of Living Driving Experiences</strong><br /> The Art of Living by Aston Martin program offers one-of-a-kind drive and stay packages, four of which will be hosted in Waldorf Astoria destinations across the globe during 2019. These events will pair the Waldorf Astoria&rsquo;s exceptional levels of accommodation and service with the unparalleled experience of an Aston Martin drive.&nbsp;<br /> &nbsp;<br /> To learn more about the Waldorf Astoria partnership with Aston Martin or to book experiences, please call 1-800- 1-800-925-3673. For additional information about Art of Living by Aston Martin packages please visit www.astonmartinartofliving.com.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> Follow guest experiences on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with the hashtags #LiveUnforgettable and #WaldorfDrive. For more information about Waldorf Astoria Hotels &amp; Resorts, please visit www.waldorfastoria.com or http://news.waldorfastoria.com.</p>urn:uuid:7bff7934-81ba-6ceb-9402-ff00007a0a98 AMR Partner Team NewsAMR NewsThe new Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTE recorded its maiden FIA World Endurance Championship victory with a perfectly-judged performance by Danish drivers Nicki Thiim and Marco Sørensen in the 6 Hours of Shanghai. The 2016 FIA WEC GTE Pro champions, navigated their way through no less than five safety cars, and had to contend with two red flag stoppages (for 90 minutes) because of torrential and persistent rain, to bring home the win for the #95 Vantage GTE.Mon, 19 Nov 2018 09:16:29 Z<p><em><img src="http://cdntbs.astonmartin.com/sitefinity/racing-news/china-2018-wec-podium-news.jpg?sfvrsn=0" title="china-2018-wec-podium-NEWS" /><br /> Sunday 18 November, Shanghai</em>: The new Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTE recorded its maiden FIA World Endurance Championship victory with a perfectly-judged performance by Danish drivers Nicki Thiim and Marco S&oslash;rensen in the 6 Hours of Shanghai. The 2016 FIA WEC GTE Pro champions, navigated their way through no less than five safety cars, and had to contend with two red flag stoppages (for 90 minutes) because of torrential and persistent rain, to bring home the win for the #95 Vantage GTE.</p> <p>Aston Martin was the class of the GTE Pro field all day in difficult conditions and ran one-two, with the sister #97 car driven by Maxime Martin (BEL) and Alex Lynn (GB) also leading at different stages of the event. With an hour to go there was a possibility of a clean sweep at the top of the podium, but earlier in the race the team had chosen to split the two cars&rsquo; strategy to optimise its chances for victory. This meant that the #97 had to change to its final set of wet tyres earlier than the #95 for the final stint, leaving them struggling for grip when a further rain shower came at the end of the race and they finished fourth.</p> <p>So it was down to the #95 to contend for the win as the weather and the light deteriorated, making conditions treacherous. But following on from a typically committed and hard-charging middle stint from Thiim, S&oslash;rensen maintained his composure and delivered a historic victory despite the increased pressure of another late-race safety car.</p> <p>&ldquo;It was definitely a long race in very difficult conditions,&rdquo; said S&oslash;rensen afterwards. &ldquo;We are super happy that we got the first win for the new car; in fact it was so quick today that it seemed we were almost fighting for the overall victory! The team has worked so hard and it has been a challenging start to the Super Season, so it feels great to finish 2018 with a win and go into the winter focussed on optimising the car even more before Sebring next year.&rdquo;</p> <p>Thiim added: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a huge learning curve for the team with this new Vantage GTE and to be standing here on top of the podium after all the work we&rsquo;ve put in is a really emotional feeling. The whole team delivered today. We had the most competitive car, the strategy was spot on and everyone worked perfectly together to bring this result. I&rsquo;m super-proud not only to be a part of the Aston Martin family but to be able to help deliver the first win for the Aston Martin Vantage GTE. It&rsquo;s been one chaotic race, but the end of it has produced the perfect result!&rdquo;</p> <p>This was the first win for the &lsquo;Dane Train&rsquo; since Mexico in 2017. Coincidentally the Vantage GTE&rsquo;s first win comes at the same venue as that of its predecessor &ndash; the V8 Vantage GTE &ndash; which won here back in 2012. Aston Martin Racing has always shone in China and the team has had a car finish in either first or second at every Shanghai race in either GTE Pro or Am.</p> <p>Aston Martin Racing Managing Director John Gaw said: &ldquo;Obviously it is great for us to record the first victory for the new Aston Martin Vantage GTE. It took Porsche 15 attempts to win with their brand new GTE car and we&rsquo;ve managed it after just four! It was maybe the most complicated race there has been in the FIA WEC. It was also one of the most competitive GTE Pro races &ndash; outside of Le Mans &ndash; because there were 11 cars in the class; which was a first. It was also a big boost for us to know that we were on exactly the same Michelin tyre as our immediate competition and today we had the fastest car. I&rsquo;m delighted for everyone but I feel a bit sorry for the #97 crew who also drove extremely well. We decided this weekend to ensure that we didn&rsquo;t have both cars on the same strategy to stay in contention at all times because we were going for the win. This actually put the #95 on a sub-optimal strategy initially, but it meant the #97 had to run a full stint on worn wets at the end of the race.&rdquo;</p> <p>In GTE Am, the reigning world champions Paul Dalla Lana (CDN), Pedro Lamy (GB) and Mathias Lauda (A) finished in fifth position in the #98 Aston Martin V8 Vantage after starting the race from pole position. The points they earned in China, moved them to second in the championship, and combined with a penalty given to the erstwhile class points leader closed the gap to 20 points (less than a race win) off the championship lead.</p> The next round of the championship, the 1000 Miles of Sebring in the USA, takes place on Sunday, 15 March, 2019.urn:uuid:77007a34-81ba-6ceb-9402-ff00007a0a98 AMR NewsThe new Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTE will start the 6 Hours of Shanghai, the fifth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, from third and sixth on the GTE Pro class grid.Sat, 17 Nov 2018 19:27:00 Z<p><em><img src="http://cdntbs.astonmartin.com/sitefinity/racing-news/3882_nd_wec2018_shanghai-news.jpg?sfvrsn=0" title="3882_ND_WEC2018_Shanghai-NEWS" /><br /> Saturday 17 November, Shanghai</em>: The new Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTE will start the 6 Hours of Shanghai, the fifth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, from third and sixth on the GTE Pro class grid.</p> <p>The #95 Aston Martin Vantage GTE driven by Danish duo Nicki Thiim and Marco S&oslash;rensen set the fastest time in FP3 (the only dry practice on the Chinese circuit this year), raising hopes of repeating the pole position the team achieved in Fuji last month. But as track conditions improved surprisingly quickly during the 20-minute qualifying session, it was actually the sister #97 Vantage GTE of Alex Lynn (GB) and Maxime Martin (BEL) that qualified third with the Belgian&rsquo;s late flyer sealing the position and bumping the &lsquo;Dane Train&rsquo; to sixth.</p> <p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m pleased,&rdquo; said Martin. &ldquo;My first run wasn&rsquo;t that good, but I have never been here before and I had little experience on new tyres in free practice. We went for a second run which was much better. That, combined with Alex&rsquo;s great lap time put us P3, which we are delighted with.&rdquo;</p> <p>Thiim, whose team-mate S&oslash;rensen was delayed by a slower car on his flying lap, added: &ldquo;It was one of those sessions where the track just improved massively which caused a bit of a surprise. My lap was really good, even when there was low grip, it was good enough for P2 until the track improved by over a second in the last couple of minutes. We are expecting rain tomorrow, which will mix everything up and the good news is that our car is very strong in wet conditions so I am actually very excited about this.&rdquo;</p> <p>In GTE Am, the #98 V8 Vantage GTE shared by Paul Dalla Lana (CDN), Pedro Lamy (POR) and Mathias Lauda (A) maintained its extraordinary run of success at Shanghai. This was the sixth consecutive pole for Aston Martin Racing in the class, the fifth straight pole for the #98 car and the fourth in a row for the reigning class champions. It also means that out of a possible 14 pole positions across both classes, Aston Martin Racing has taken 10!</p> <p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m feeling proud and relieved,&rdquo; said Dalla Lana, reflecting on the lap Lamy delivered late-on to clinch the team&rsquo;s first pole position of the season. &ldquo;Pedro really deserves the kudos, because he made the difference, but this is also the first pole for our car since this time last year. This track has always suited us and our car uses its tyres well here. Tomorrow is going to be challenging with the weather, but we are in the best position we can be going into the race!&rdquo;</p> <p>Aston Martin Racing Managing Director John Gaw said: &ldquo;It was a really unusual qualifying session in that the track got an awful lot quicker just in the last two minutes. I&rsquo;ve never seen that before in an FIA WEC qualifying session, so the people that were running latest got a big benefit from that. Overall it&rsquo;s looking pretty good. All the cars are quite close, and we are expecting rain tomorrow so it should be a good race. I&rsquo;m delighted with the GTE Am pole and I&rsquo;m very pleased for Pedro, he deserved it. We&rsquo;ve had an Aston Martin on the podium every time we&rsquo;ve raced at Shanghai so that&rsquo;s a streak we&rsquo;re aiming to keep up tomorrow.&rdquo;</p> <p>The 6 Hours of Shanghai begins at 11:00 local time on Sunday, 18 November.</p>urn:uuid:c1f57934-81ba-6ceb-9402-ff00007a0a98 AMR NewsAston Martin Racing is looking to end 2018 on a high in this weekend’s Chinese round of the FIA World Endurance Championship – the last competitive outing for the Aston Martin Vantage GTE this year.Tue, 13 Nov 2018 10:54:53 Z<img src="http://cdntbs.astonmartin.com/sitefinity/racing-news/4331_nd_wec2018_fuji_news.jpg?sfvrsn=0" title="4331_ND_WEC2018_Fuji_NEWS" /> <p><em>Tuesday 13 November, Shanghai International Circuit:</em> Aston Martin Racing is looking to end 2018 on a high in this weekend&rsquo;s Chinese round of the FIA World Endurance Championship &ndash; the last competitive outing for the Aston Martin Vantage GTE this year.</p> <p>The new car enjoyed its strongest showing yet at Fuji Speedway, in Japan, last time out where it took the GTE Pro class pole and led one-two in damp conditions for the first hour before going on to secure its fourth double-points finish of the season. And now looking ahead to Shanghai, where an Aston Martin Racing Vantage has featured on every podium since the championship began in 2012, the team&rsquo;s drivers are confident the upward trend will continue.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>&ldquo;I would say I am even more motivated now that we have the first pole for the car,&rdquo; said Nicki Thiim, who shared the Fuji pole-winning #95 Aston Martin Vantage with fellow Dane Marco S&oslash;rensen. &ldquo;The potential is being unlocked and there is so much more to come. China is a great place to go, especially the track which is a big challenge. There are lots of high speed corners that suit our new Aston Martin Vantage GTE so I&rsquo;m sure we are going to be strong. If you take the average of all the GTE PRO cars it is so close now that one mistake can put you out of contention, but that&rsquo;s why it is the best class in the FIA WEC.&rdquo;</p> <p>This race marks Maxime Martin&rsquo;s first visit to China, and the Belgian, who shares the #97 Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTE with Alex Lynn (GB) believes the tireless work of the team and its technical partners Michelin and Total is really beginning to pay dividends with the new car.&nbsp;</p> <p>&ldquo;Like in Fuji, this is my first trip to Shanghai so there is a lot to learn about the circuit, the event and the local culture,&rdquo; said Martin. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s also the first time the Vantage GTE will have raced there so this is an exciting challenge. We showed a lot of promise in Fuji and we are really motivated to make sure we finish 2018 with a strong result. We believe Shanghai should suit our car and the team has always gone well there in the past so we are really looking forward to it.&rdquo;</p> <p>Aston Martin Racing Team Principal Paul Howarth added, &ldquo;We unlocked more potential from the car in Fuji and maintained our strong reliability record. But we are now at the halfway point of the season and it&rsquo;s vital that we maximise the points offered from Shanghai. Our focus is on maintaining this upward competitive momentum we showed in Japan and securing a podium so that we can head into the winter with a high level of confidence.&rdquo;</p> <p>The defending 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship GTE Am title-holders Paul Dalla Lana (C), Pedro Lamy and Mathias Lauda (A) have enjoyed an extraordinary run of success in China in the past. They won in 2017 and &rsquo;16, and finished second in 2015. Indeed the #98 car also won in 2014! Another podium in Fuji last time out with the evergreen Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE allowed them to close the gap to the points leaders, so a strong result in China is critical to their Super Season campaign. The similar TF Sport car driven by Salih Yoluc (TUR), Charlie Eastwood (GB) and Aston Martin Racing factory driver Jonny Adam (GB) have recorded three second places in the championship so far and must be considered a strong threat again this weekend.</p> <p>The 6 Hours of Shanghai begins at 11:00 local time on Sunday, 18 November.</p>urn:uuid:a0db7934-81ba-6ceb-9402-ff00007a0a98 AMR NewsThree of Aston Martin Racing’s most valued partner teams will have the opportunity to race the new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 for the first time when they participate in the Gulf 12 Hours event at the Yas Marina Circuit, in Abu Dhabi, on December 15. Tue, 30 Oct 2018 13:01:34 Z<p><em><img src="http://cdntbs.astonmartin.com/sitefinity/racing-news/aston-gt3-2019_oman-racing_reflection-news.jpg?sfvrsn=0" title="Aston-GT3-2019_Oman-Racing_Reflection-news" /><br /> Tuesday 30 October, Gaydon</em>: Three of Aston Martin Racing&rsquo;s most valued partner teams will have the opportunity to race the new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 for the first time when they participate in the Gulf 12 Hours event at the Yas Marina Circuit, in Abu Dhabi, on December 15.&nbsp;</p> <p>Oman Racing with TF Sport spearheads the Aston Martin challenge in the PRO class, having finished third overall in the event in 2015, and second in the PRO/AM class last year. The team features two works drivers; three-time Le Mans class winner Darren Turner (GB) and team regular Jonny Adam (GB) in its line-up alongside Ahmad Al Harthy (OM).</p> <p>TF Sport, which campaigns an Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE in the FIA World Endurance Championship and ran V12 Vantage GT3s in the 2018 Blancpain Endurance Series and British GT Championships, has already confirmed it will race the new Vantage GT3 in the UK next year.</p> <p>Alongside TF Sport in the PRO class will be R-Motorsport, a winner and record three-time consecutive pole setter on its debut season in the Blancpain Endurance Series with the V12 Vantage GT3 and a loyal long-time campaigner of Aston Martin racing cars. This entry will be a contender for victory on its race debut and will run with regular drivers Jake Dennis (GB) and Marvin Kirchh&ouml;fer (GER). A third driver is yet to be confirmed.</p> <p>In the PRO AM class and another team making its race debut is Beechdean AMR, running a Vantage GT3 for two-time British GT and European Le Mans Series champion Andrew Howard (GB), Humaid al Masaood (UAE), Chris Dyson (USA) and works driver Ross Gunn (GB).</p> <p>TF Sport team principal Tom Ferrier said: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s an honour to be among the first customers to race the new Aston Martin Vantage GT3, a car for which we have high hopes. We&rsquo;ve already committed to racing it in the British GT Championship in 2019 and we&rsquo;re excited to find out what the car is capable of in competitive conditions in the Gulf 12 Hours.&rdquo;</p> <p>Beechdean AMR team owner Andrew Howard said: &ldquo;Having been the first team to run the outgoing multiple race and championship winning Vantage, it is a real privilege to be part of a line-up with the first AM drivers to race the new Vantage GT3. We have been lucky enough to test the prototype and if that is anything to go by, then it will be as big a leap from the current car as the Vantage was from the glorious DBRS9. Another great step forward by Aston Martin.&rdquo;</p> <p>R-Motorsport team principal Florian Kamelger said: &ldquo;We are really excited to run the new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 on its debut outing outside Europe. The challenging event in Abu Dhabi will give us the best opportunity to test the car in a long-distance race before we run it in 2019.&rdquo;</p> <p>Aston Martin Racing President David King said: &ldquo;Handing the keys of the new Vantage GT3s to our top partner teams to race in Abu Dhabi is the next critical step in the car&rsquo;s development ahead of its planned homologation early next year. The Vantage GT3 has performed exceptionally well in its test and development programme to date and proved highly competitive on its N&uuml;rburgring Nordschleife debut in October. Primarily a car built for top level customers to race, we&rsquo;re confident it will be a potent force in the Gulf 12 Hours and the feedback from our partner teams will no doubt be invaluable in refining the car prior to wider customer team supply next year.&rdquo;</p> <p>The eighth edition of the Gulf 12 Hours, which comprises two six-hour races, takes place on 15 December from 0900 local time.</p>urn:uuid:30c67934-81ba-6ceb-9402-ff00007a0a98 AMR NewsThe new Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTE took another important step towards victory in the FIA World Endurance Championship in Japan. While still only four races old, the new Aston Martin comfortably led the early stages of the 6 Hours of Fuji and went on to secure another double-points finish.Sun, 14 Oct 2018 19:11:00 Z<p><em><img src="http://cdntbs.astonmartin.com/sitefinity/racing-news/4412_dg_wec2018_fujinews.jpg?sfvrsn=0" title="4412_DG_WEC2018_FujiNEWS" /><br /> Sunday 14 October, Fuji Speedway:</em> The new Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTE took another important step towards victory in the FIA World Endurance Championship in Japan. While still only four races old, the new Aston Martin comfortably led the early stages of the 6 Hours of Fuji and went on to secure another double-points finish. </p> <p>Having registered its first pole position for the GTE Pro class, Nicki Thiim (DEN) dominated the start of the race in wet conditions driving the #95 &lsquo;DaneTrain&rsquo; he shares with Marco S&oslash;rensen (DEN). Not only was Thiim the fastest in the rain, his team-mate Maxime Martin (BEL) &ndash; making his Fuji Speedway debut &ndash; quickly moved to second in the #97 co-driven by Alex Lynn (GB).</p> <p>Then following a lengthy safety car period, the team made an aggressive strategy call to remain on wet tyres. However a combination of bad fortune as the track dried out and another incident that extended the FCY meant that when the cars switched to dry weather tyres, they were unable to maintain that class-leading pace and eventually finished the race sixth (#95) and ninth (#97).</p> <p>Nicki Thiim said afterwards: &ldquo;The whole weekend has actually been positive, and to get pole was fantastic. Coming in to the race we knew it was going to be tricky with the weather conditions, but we had awesome pace in the wet and we had by far the fastest car out there. The long safety car period cost us the time we lost was just impossible to recover given the high class level of manufacturers here.&rdquo;</p> <p>Marco S&oslash;rensen added: &ldquo;It was nice to see the Aston Martin Vantage GTE up at the top of the scoreboard. We had great wet weather pace and if the rain had continued all the way through it could have worked in our favour. In the dry we still have some work to do regarding set-up and tyre management. But it&rsquo;s early in the car&rsquo;s life and we&rsquo;ve shown now that we will get there.&rdquo;</p> <p>Aston Martin Racing Managing Director John Gaw said: &ldquo;This weekend in Japan we&rsquo;ve demonstrated that we can we mix it with the best of the manufacturers in qualifying and to see the car on pole position was encouraging. We have also seen that the car has class-leading pace across a stint in wet and intermediate conditions. We still have work to do in dry conditions across a full stint. We have taken more data from this weekend to go back and analyse fully to find out how we close the gap in these conditions.&rdquo;</p> <p>The GTE Am class once again saw the evergreen Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE show its class, as partner team TF Sport took its second podium in as many races with works driver Jonny Adam (GB), Salih Yoluc (TUR) and Charlie Eastwood (GB) finishing third. Right behind them were the reigning class champions Paul Dalla Lana (CDN), Mathias Lauda (A) and Pedro Lamy (POR) in the Aston Martin Racing version, following an eventful run to fourth place.</p> <p>The next round of the FIA WEC takes place at Shanghai International Circuit for the 6 Hours of Shanghai on Sunday, 18 November.</p>urn:uuid:99c57934-81ba-6ceb-9402-ff00007a0a98 RacingNewsAMR NewsThe new Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTE recorded its first pole position at the Fuji International Speedway during qualifying for the fourth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship in Japan on Saturday.Sat, 13 Oct 2018 22:01:00 Z<p><em><img src="http://cdntbs.astonmartin.com/sitefinity/racing-news/6292_nd_wec2018_fujinews.jpg?sfvrsn=0" title="6292_ND_WEC2018_FujiNEWS" /><br /> Saturday 13 October, Fuji Speedway: </em>The new Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTE recorded its first pole position at the Fuji International Speedway during qualifying for the fourth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship in Japan on Saturday.</p> <p>The 2016 world champions, Nicki Thiim and Marco S&oslash;rensen, delivered a combined qualifying time of 1m36.093s which was good enough to secure the pole by 0.182s. The Danish pair had shown strong pace during free practice on the 4.563-mile circuit, and after Thiim set the fastest time in the first part of the session he then had to nervously watch on as S&oslash;rensen calmly produced a lap that put the #95 &lsquo;DaneTrain&rsquo; beyond reach of the opposition.</p> <p>&ldquo;This is an amazing feeling,&rdquo; said Thiim. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a long time since I have been this excited. When Marco was out there I just wanted it so badly. This is only the car&rsquo;s fourth race and it&rsquo;s still brand new so this is tremendous progress, especially since Spa. It&rsquo;s a great joy to drive around here, which is a high-speed track, and really use the potential of the new car. I&rsquo;m so proud of the team and it is fantastic to give them something back.&rdquo;</p> <p>The new Vantage GTE made its race debut at Spa-Francorchamps in May, replacing the old V8 Vantage GTE. S&oslash;rensen explained that the new car&rsquo;s wider performance window had allowed Aston Martin Racing to make great progress at Fuji.</p> <p>&ldquo;It is an honour to have the first pole position for the new Vantage and it&rsquo;s just nice to see everyone so happy,&rdquo; said S&oslash;rensen. &ldquo;I think we have never enjoyed this kind of pace advantage in Fuji like that which we are showing this year. It will be interesting to see tomorrow if we can maintain it through the race. If we can, we should be able to fight for the win. We have improved the car in every area, and we have just kept on moving forward. Now we can fight.&rdquo;</p> <p>Alex Lynn (GB) and Maxime Martin (BEL) in the sister #97 Aston Martin Vantage qualified third, emphasising the pace of the car in Japan. &ldquo;Big congratulations to our sister car in the #95 in pole position,&rdquo; said Lynn. &ldquo;I think honestly this is a great place for both cars to be starting. It&rsquo;s looking like we could get some rain and then it will dry out and that will make for a great race.&rdquo;</p> <p>Completing the 1-2-3 set with second position, the reigning GTE AM world champions, Paul Dalla Lana (CDN), Pedro Lamy (POR) and Mathias Lauda (A) just missed out on the class pole by 0.064s. &ldquo;I thought we had it there and it is super-frustrating to miss out by that tight a margin, but kudos to our team. We spent a lot of time between Silverstone and here improving the car and getting the set-up right and I think we have got a great race car.&rdquo;</p> <p>Aston Martin Racing Managing Director John Gaw said: &ldquo;To see the car deliver on its potential is hugely satisfying as is the impact this result has had on the team. We knew from the numbers that it was always possible, but until you do it they are just numbers. It just takes the team on now to another level. What was really pleasing was to see the execution by the team. Not one of the drivers received a track limits penalty and that level of execution is really important because you have to get everything perfect to be on pole position.&rdquo;</p> <p>The 6 Hours of Fuji begins at 11:00 local time on Sunday, 14 October.</p>urn:uuid:8caf7934-81ba-6ceb-9402-ff00007a0a98 AMR NewsAston Martin Racing’s new FIA World Endurance Championship challenger – the Vantage GTE – heads East in search of its first podium this weekend, as the Super Season goes racing at Fuji Speedway in Japan.Tue, 09 Oct 2018 12:00:13 Z<p><em><img src="http://cdntbs.astonmartin.com/sitefinity/racing-news/13489_nd_wec2018_lemans-news.jpg?sfvrsn=0" title="13489_ND_WEC2018_LeMans-NEWS" /><br /> Tuesday 9 October, Fuji Speedway</em>: Aston Martin Racing&rsquo;s new FIA World Endurance Championship challenger &ndash; the Vantage GTE &ndash; heads East in search of its first podium this weekend, as the Super Season goes racing at Fuji Speedway in Japan.</p> <p>Following a highly encouraging performance in the previous round at Silverstone in August, where the new car qualified on the GTE Pro class front row and was a podium contender, the team aims to turn that upward momentum into success this weekend.</p> <p>&ldquo;This car is now really finding its feet and I think I speak for all of us when I say that we are really excited to go racing again in the FIA WEC,&rdquo; said Alex Lynn (GB), who shares the #97 Vantage GTE with Maxime Martin (BEL) who is making his first trip to Japan. &ldquo;There are more improvements to come from the Aston Martin Vantage GTE and hopefully on Sunday we will have shown the world what we are capable of. The target is a podium. We were one place away from that at Silverstone, so if we can achieve it this weekend we will be over the moon.&rdquo;</p> <p>So far both the #97 and the sister #95 &lsquo;Dane Train&rsquo;, driven by Danish duo Nicki Thiim and Marco S&oslash;rensen, have scored points in all three rounds. This is a testament to the tireless work of the team and its technical partners Michelin and Total which continue to unlock more of potential from the car. But as we go to Japan, always a favourite among the drivers with its challenging sweeping nature and super-enthusiastic fans, Thiim is looking to turn pace in to a points haul.</p> <p>&ldquo;Fuji is the first real overseas race of the WEC this year,&rdquo; said Thiim. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s always an adventure going somewhere else and seeing a different country of fans. There is an amazing crowd in Japan. We are looking forward to a good result and this is the point in the championship where we really have to start getting the maximum out of the car. We are always going for the win, but a podium is minimum and this is definitely what we are aiming for here. I think the whole team has made another step, we saw that in Silverstone, and for sure for in Japan it is even bigger.&rdquo;</p> <p>Aston Martin Racing Team Principal Paul Howarth added, &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve show strong reliability so far, but with 10% of the points for the championship available in Fuji we must maximise our potential. The weather may play a role, and we quite often face variable conditions in Japan, but this is a factor for everyone. Our focus is on maintaining the momentum gained in Silverstone and building on it to achieve the best results. As this championship matures, so it becomes ever more important for us to ensure we get everything right on the track and in the pits and leave nothing on the table.&rdquo;</p> <p>The defending 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship GTE Am title-holders go to Fuji aiming to re-establish themselves as the team to beat, having won the opening round in Spa and led convincingly at Le Mans. The #98 Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE, driven by Paul Dalla Lana (C), Pedro Lamy (P) and Mathias Lauda (A), have form in Japan, having won the race in 2016 and finished second the year before that. The similar TF Sport car driven by Salih Yoluc (TUR), Charlie Eastwood (GB) and Aston Martin Racing factory driver Jonny Adam (GB) finished a brilliant third last time out at Silverstone and will once again be a threat in Japan.</p> <p>The 6 Hours of Fuji begins at 11:00 local time on Sunday, 14 October.</p>urn:uuid:9fac7934-81ba-6ceb-9402-ff00007a0a98 AMR NewsThe new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 has starred on its debut at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, recording pole position and finishing fourth overall in Round 8 of the VLN Endurance Championship.Mon, 08 Oct 2018 09:50:08 Z<p><em><img src="http://cdntbs.astonmartin.com/sitefinity/racing-news/nurburgring-news-2018.jpg?sfvrsn=0" title="nurburgring-news-2018" /><br /> Sunday 6 October, N&uuml;rburgring</em>: The new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 has starred on its debut at the N&uuml;rburgring Nordschleife, recording pole position and finishing fourth overall in Round 8 of the VLN Endurance Championship.</p> <p>The new car ran faultlessly in the hands of three-times Le Mans winner Darren Turner (GB) and 2016 Spa-Francorchamps 24-Hours winner Maxime Martin (BEL) throughout the four-hour event. Running in full GT3-specification, against like-for-like opposition for the first time, the Vantage GT3 also clinched victory in the SPX class which caters for un-homologated vehicles.</p> <p>According to VLN regulations, SPX cars have to start at the back of the Group 1 grid and add 20 seconds to each pitstop. Despite these regulated performance penalties, Turner brought the car home just over minute behind his third-placed rival in a late chase, after Martin had charged through the pack in the early stages.</p> <p>Fellow Aston Martin Racing works driver Ross Gunn, teamed with Aston Martin Lagonda high performance test driver Chris Goodwin in an AMR Performance Centre prepared V8 Vantage, completed his maiden race on the Nordschleife. Finishing fourth in the SP8 class, they earned vital points in their quest to earn a VLN license to compete in future N&uuml;rburgring 24 Hours races.</p> <p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s hugely exciting to be mixing it at the front from the word go with all the new Aston Martin GT3. It&rsquo;s performance shows just how much hard work has gone into the programme from everyone at Aston Martin and Aston Martin Racing,&rdquo; said Turner. &ldquo;The first time you compete in a race with a new car around the Nordschleife, it is about getting the car to the flag. So the fact that we had no reliability issues is a big tick in the box. The massive positive however is the car taking pole position and then fighting back through to fourth, and having a class win is a nice bonus! What a great start for the new GT3 car and everyone at Aston Martin Racing can be very proud of that.&rdquo;</p> <p>Martin added: &ldquo;This has been a really good day. Compared with the old car the Vantage GT3 is definitely a big step forward. But it is also a young car so there are a lot of parameters we will improve further which is normal for a new project and especially here on the N&uuml;rburgring Nordschleife. So there is still a bit of work to do, but the base is really good and I am really confident that the car will be competitive.&rdquo;</p> <p>Aston Martin Racing President David King said: &ldquo;We are delighted with the performance of the new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 on its N&uuml;rburgring Nordscheife debut. It takes a lot of hard work to make a car competitive here so to finish fourth is a testament to the amazing effort all the team has put into this car. Given the conditions, pole position was a bit of good fortune with the timing of all the Code 60s around the track, but it is great way to start the car&rsquo;s history! And then it has gone on to underline its potential in the race, running on the same pace as the regular GT3s. Just to record a finish in a four-hour race here is fantastic. It&rsquo;s a pretty brave thing to race a new car publicly before it has been signed off and homologated, particularly here, in front of the most competitive GT market. So given that we have started at the back of the grid and raced through with 60 seconds of pit stop handicaps. We can very proud of what we have achieved.&rdquo;</p>urn:uuid:16a97934-81ba-6ceb-9402-ff00007a0a98 AMR Partner Team NewsAMR NewsAston Martin Racing will give the new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 its N&uuml;rburgring Nordschleife race debut in round eight of the VLN Endurance Championship, a four-hour race which takes place on 6 October.Thu, 27 Sep 2018 12:45:00 Z<p><em><img src="http://cdntbs.astonmartin.com/sitefinity/news-images/06440_cl_wec2018_lemans-news.jpg?sfvrsn=0" title="06440_CL_WEC2018_LeMans-NEWS" /><br /> Thursday 27 September, Gaydon</em>: Aston Martin Racing will give the new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 its N&uuml;rburgring Nordschleife race debut in round eight of the VLN Endurance Championship, a four-hour race which takes place on 6 October.</p> <p>The event marks the first occasion the car, driven by three-times Le Mans class winner Darren Turner (GB) and 2016 N&uuml;rburgring 24 Hours winner Maxime Martin (BEL), will have been matched against GT3 opposition.</p> <p>The Vantage will race in full GT3 specification, but is not yet homologated, so will run&nbsp; in the VLN&rsquo;s unique SPX class and hence will be subject to mandatory pitstops that are longer than those for the SP9 (standard GT3) entrants. The car is now at an advanced stage of development prior to its March 2019 homologation date, and the purpose of entering this race is to give Aston Martin Racing vital information as to its performance and durability in race conditions on what is considered the most challenging racing environment.</p> <p>The Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 will be joined by two N&uuml;rburgring-based AMR Performance Centre prepared Vantages that will both feature works drivers. Turner will switch between the GT3 and a V12 Vantage he will share with German drivers J&uuml;rgen Kroner and Marco M&uuml;ller. While Aston Martin Lagonda high performance test driver Chris Goodwin and Aston Martin Racing test and reserve driver Ross Gunn will share a Vantage GT4 as they begin the process of gaining their full VLN licenses for future programmes.</p> <p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a great honour for me to be first to race the new Vantage GT3 at the N&uuml;rburgring,&rdquo; said Turner. &ldquo;The Nordschleife is like a spiritual home for GT racing so to be there at the start of a new programme is really special. It&rsquo;s a circuit that presents a huge challenge for the cars and it&rsquo;s where we need to be racing to find and extend the limits of the Vantage GT3. It&rsquo;s always great to be a part of the early stages of a development process, and the fact that we are already taking it racing says a lot about its potential and the confidence we have in it. The early signs are that it is going to be race winner in the not too distant future.&rdquo;</p> <p>Maxime Martin added: &ldquo;Last time we were there with the old car (the V12 Vantage GT3) we finished P4 so I can&rsquo;t wait to find out what the new car can do. It&rsquo;s a great challenge and being part of the development of the new car is awesome. In terms of what to expect, we have some basis of understanding from the FIA World Endurance Championship GTE version, so it will be interesting to see how the new car will react to this kind of track. There is so much going on at the Nordschleife with its mix of high and low speed corners and all the bumps. It is definitely the toughest track in the world. If the car is quick there, we can be sure it is fast everywhere.&rdquo;</p> <p>Aston Martin Racing President David King said: &ldquo;This is the next necessary step in the development of the new Vantage GT3. The programme is now at an advanced stage and it is time to measure the car&rsquo;s performance against those it is likely to come against in 2019. With our extensive experience of the N&uuml;rburgring Nordschleife, it is the perfect place to test the car in a competitive environment as we sharpen areas of its development ahead of its homologation.&rdquo;</p>urn:uuid:1f977934-81ba-6ceb-9402-ff00007a0a98 AMR Partner Team NewsAMR News<p><em><img src="http://cdntbs.astonmartin.com/sitefinity/racing-news/british-gt-news.jpg?sfvrsn=0" title="british-gt-news" /><br /> Sunday 23 September, Donington Park</em>: Aston Martin drivers Flick Haigh and Jonny Adam clinched the 2018 British GT Championship title at Donington Park in a historic day for the sport.</p> <p>Haigh became the first woman to be crowned outright British GT champion in a stellar year racing the Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 alongside Optimum Motorsport team-mate Adam. Her debut season in the series included the first pole position and victory for a woman in the season-opener at Oulton Park in April, followed by another at Brands Hatch last month.</p> <p>Having come into Donington with a 27.5-point lead over their nearest rivals, and with two other cars still in title contention, Haigh and Adam needed to secure sixth position or higher to confirm their status as champions. In the end, they brought the car home fourth overall following a tough examination of race-craft under pressure, ensuring that Optimum won a championship in their first year as an Aston Martin Racing partner.</p> <p>The result also confirmed Adam as the most successful driver in the series&rsquo; history, with a third title (to add to those he won in 2015 and 2016), and a victory tally of 14 wins in 80 race starts in the domestic series. The 34-year-old Scot is also the only driver to have won the title with three different teams and drivers, though all in the Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3.</p> <p>Aston Martin Racing partner team TF Sport claimed the Teams&rsquo; Championship, and almost the final race victory for the venerable V12 Vantage GT3, which is set to be replaced as Aston Martin&rsquo;s frontline customer programme machine by the new Vantage GT3 in 2019. Works driver Nicki Thiim and Mark Farmer drove brilliantly on the Dane&rsquo;s first visit to Donington. Thiim took the lead halfway through his stint to ensure the &lsquo;Old Lady&rsquo; crossed the line first, but was denied victory by a penalty.</p> <p>Haigh said: &ldquo;I had never driven an Aston Martin until the start of this year, but Jonny is incredible and he knows the car inside out. He&rsquo;s helped the team and myself learn the car which was really important, and his work with me in the simulator really brought my driving on. To win when the car is seven years old and being replaced next year is fantastic, and I&rsquo;m incredibly proud to be part of that story. The thought that a woman had never won the championship hadn&rsquo;t even crossed my mind because I have come up through the levels of motorsport and have always seen women around. It wasn&rsquo;t until Oulton Park that I realised there aren&rsquo;t as many as I thought at this level. I feel as though I have been embraced by the public and the paddock and that I am respected as a driver. That gives me a lot of confidence, and I hope it inspires anyone considering getting in to motorsport because the community really does open arms to women and men. This feels like the start of a journey. I started racing 11 years ago and I always wanted to make something of it, this year has just proved to me that I am with a really good brand and I&rsquo;m excited about the future.&rdquo;</p> <p>Adam said: &ldquo;Flick has done a great job this year. Optimum was a new team to Aston Martin at the beginning of the year, but they believe massively in the brand. To see Flick put in so much effort behind the scenes off-track, and with the level at the front being quite high now, to have achieved this is great. It was a weird last lap because obviously it was potentially my last lap in this car so that was a nice feeling passing the chequered flag knowing we had won the championship with it. I&rsquo;m very proud to be the most successful driver in the history of the championship and to have done it all with Aston Martin only makes it all the more special&rdquo;</p> <p>Aston Martin Racing President David King added: &ldquo;This is a tremendous result for Flick Haigh, Jonny Adam and Optimum Motorsport. In their first year with the brand, Flick and Optimum have delivered all we could have hoped for, and proved along with all our other customers just how competitive the old V12 Vantage GT3 still is in its seventh and final year of competition. There is not much more to say about Jonny that we didn&rsquo;t already know, but a third title is no less than he deserves. As for the &lsquo;Old Lady&rsquo;, we shall miss her, and it is a testament to the durability and competitiveness of the car that in its final race it finished first on the road, clinched two championships and won six out of nine races this season. The new Vantage GT3 and GT4s have a great deal to live up to.&rdquo;</p>Sun, 23 Sep 2018 21:00:00 Zurn:uuid:e9957934-81ba-6ceb-9402-ff00007a0a98 AMR NewsAston Martin Racing’s V12 Vantage GT3 stands on the brink of a glorious send off as it heads in to the British GT Championship finale at Donington Park on Sunday as firm favourite.Fri, 21 Sep 2018 10:49:25 Z<p><em><img src="http://cdntbs.astonmartin.com/sitefinity/racing-news/jonnyflick.jpg?sfvrsn=0" title="jonnyflick" /><br /> Friday 21 September, Donington Park</em>: Aston Martin Racing&rsquo;s V12 Vantage GT3 stands on the brink of a glorious send off as it heads in to the British GT Championship finale at Donington Park on Sunday as firm favourite.</p> <p>The most successful car in the history of the GT3 category, the V12 Vantage GT3 has dominated the 2018 British GT Championship, winning all but two of the eight rounds contested. This weekend marks its final race as the spearhead of Aston Martin&rsquo;s domestic customer racing programme before being replaced by the new Vantage GT3.</p> <p>Notwithstanding this weekend, the V12 Vantage GT3 has been at the forefront of the British GT series since its introduction seven years ago, and has recorded 22 victories, 26 pole positions and 63 podiums as well as three drivers&rsquo; championships and two teams&rsquo; titles.</p> <p>Two works Aston Martin Racing drivers, Jonny Adam and Nicki Thiim, are among those in contention for the 2018 title, while partner TF Sport leads the hunt for GT3 Team Championship honours. Adam who along with record-breaking Optimum Motorsport team-mate Flick Haigh leads the championship, is aiming for his third title to add to those he won in 2015 and &rsquo;16. Meanwhile Haigh has the chance to make history by becoming the first woman to win the GT3 class and only the second to become a British GT champion after Jamie Chadwick, who also claimed the title in an Aston Martin Vantage (GT4), in 2015.</p> <p>Adam and Haigh hold a 27.5-point lead over their nearest rivals with Thiim and TF Sport co-driver Mark Farmer a further point behind. And while the Optimum duo go into the last round with a 20-second success penalty following victory at Brands Hatch, they only need to finish sixth or higher in class if either of the other two contenders should win to lift the crown.</p> <p>Aston Martin is the most represented brand in British GTs, with seven cars entered through the field. In the GT4 class Academy Motorsport also has an outside chance to shoot for title glory on the last race for the V8 Vantage GT4, before it is also replaced by the next generation racer in 2019; two of which will be campaigned by Academy next year.</p> <p>As interest in both the GT3 and GT4 soars, TF Sport and Optimum have confirmed they will continue with Aston Martin in 2019 and will expand their campaigns to include GT4 alongside their GT3 programmes. Meanwhile many orders have been secured for the new Vantage GT3 to compete in British GT and around the globe.</p> <p>The car is expected to race in the 2019 Blancpain GT Series, while discussions are ongoing with partners in the European, American and Asian markets. The new GT4 is proving just as popular with Street Art confirming two cars last week and more announcements to follow in the weeks to come.</p> <p>&nbsp;Aston Martin Racing president David King said: &ldquo;The high level of interest we have received for the new generation of Aston Martin GT3 and GT4 cars is both encouraging and a testament to the legacy of the cars competing in this weekend&rsquo;s British GT finale at Donington Park. Aston Martin strives to build race-winning cars that are easy to drive, robust, reliable, long-lasting and beautiful; as proven by the fact that the outgoing GT3 and GT4 cars are in contention for championship titles so many years after the Vantage&rsquo;s introduction. The new car is already a marked step forward and it&rsquo;s a tantalising prospect to imagine how it might perform next season.&rdquo;</p> <p>Jonny Adam said: &ldquo;My journey with Aston Martin really began with the V12 Vantage GT3. In fact I was the first driver to shakedown the car back in 2011, and all of the success I have had in the British GT Championship has been with a car that has proved itself to be the gold standard among GT racing machinery. In all its derivatives the current Vantage has excelled and it took me to the greatest height of all at Le Mans in 2017. There&rsquo;s a long way to go before the flag falls at Donington on Sunday, and a lot can happen, but myself and Flick would love to give the &lsquo;old lady&rsquo; a send-off to be proud of.</p> <p>Nicki Thiim said: &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve enjoyed my first year in the British GT Championship with TF Sport. Even now after seven years, the V12 Vantage GT3 is an incredible car that is still full of energy, speed and power. To have won twice in such a competitive championship, and particularly at Silverstone, was something special. And to have been in contention at other races has been great, especially racing against all my Aston Martin team-mates. Now it&rsquo;s time to give it one last blast as we fight for the title this weekend!&rdquo;</p> <p>The Donington decider begins at 13:35 BST on Sunday, 23 September, and will be streamed live on the British GT Championship YouTube and Facebook channels.</p>urn:uuid:58657934-81ba-6ceb-9402-ff00007a0a98 AMR NewsAston Martin Racing is launching the AMR Young Driver Academy for 2019, in the search to find the next Ross Gunn, the factory FIA World Endurance Championship team&rsquo;s current reserve and development driver and the winner of its previous young driver scheme in 2015.Thu, 06 Sep 2018 11:22:34 Z<p><em><img src="http://cdntbs.astonmartin.com/sitefinity/news-images/06620_nd_wec2018_lemans-news.png?sfvrsn=0" title="06620_ND_WEC2018_LeMans-NEWS" /><br /> Thursday 6 September, Banbury: </em>Aston Martin Racing is launching the AMR Young Driver Academy for 2019, in the search to find the next Ross Gunn, the factory FIA World Endurance Championship team&rsquo;s current reserve and development driver and the winner of its previous young driver scheme in 2015.</p> <p>This fresh initiative aims to fast track talent within the Aston Martin Racing customer network to factory status and is set to run through 2019.</p> <p>The AMR Young Driver Academy will include drivers aged between 17 and 25, and is eligible only to those competing in partner and customer Vantage GT cars in recognised championships. Contestants will be judged on a wide range of criteria that include pace, consistency, technical feedback and fitness.</p> <p>The judging panel will also evaluate drivers&rsquo; ability to manage the strategic, teamwork, commercial and public relations aspects of their role. Finally, the outstanding candidate will demonstrate the most potential to develop their talent for the future.</p> <p>The AMR Young Driver Academy is intended to stimulate healthy competition through the ranks that will encourage more talented rising stars to sign-up and race for both established and in-coming partner team programmes next year.</p> <p>Ross Gunn said: &ldquo;Winning the Aston Martin Racing Academy in 2015 was a massive milestone in my career. To have worked in a manufacturer environment was invaluable for my development and has significantly raised my level as a competitor both on and off the track. I wish all those aspiring candidates in 2019 the very best of luck and assure them that it will be well worth the hard work, effort and sacrifice they will need to achieve their goal.&rdquo;</p> <p>Aston Martin Racing President David King added: &ldquo;Aston Martin Racing has always placed a premium on developing driver talent and has a proud history of backing young drivers who have then gone on to flourish with Aston Martin Racing. Indeed, Ross Gunn follows in the footsteps of 24 Hours of Le Mans GTE class winner Jonny Adam who also developed his career under the wings of Aston Martin.</p> <p>&ldquo;This programme will be invaluable to so many drivers with ambitions to race at Le Mans who have the talent but not always the means to reach their goal. We have seen plenty of them in our cars over the past two years and we relish the prospect of seeing them competing for our customer race teams throughout 2019 in pursuit of this prize.&rdquo; </p> <p>Interested parties should submit their racing CV to <a href="mailto:enquiries@astonmartinracing.com">enquiries@astonmartinracing.com</a> by<br /> Friday 1 March 2019.</p>urn:uuid:23f87834-81ba-6ceb-9402-ff00007a0a98 RacingAMR NewsAston Martin Racing’s new Vantage GTE recorded its first top-five finish and made a significant step forward in pace and development during the 6 Hours of Silverstone this weekend.Mon, 20 Aug 2018 10:14:34 Z<p><em><img src="http://cdntbs.astonmartin.com/sitefinity/racing-news/5018_nd_wec2018_silverstone-200818.jpg?sfvrsn=0" title="5018_ND_WEC2018_Silverstone-200818" /><br /> Sunday, 19 August, Silverstone</em>: Aston Martin Racing&rsquo;s new Vantage GTE recorded its first top-five finish and made a significant step forward in pace and development during the 6 Hours of Silverstone this weekend.</p> <p>Both Vantage GTEs maintained their 100% finishing records during Round 3 of the FIA World Endurance Championship, with Alex Lynn (GB) and Maxime Martin (BEL) delivering the #97 car&rsquo;s best finish yet with a trouble-free run to fifth on home soil. Their team-mates Nicki Thiim (DEN) and Marco S&oslash;rensen (DEN) were also heading for a strong result until encountering a gear selection issue that required some unscheduled stops to resolve. The &lsquo;DaneTrain&rsquo; recovered to finish ninth, ensuring the team&rsquo;s third double-points finish of the season in the GTE Pro category.</p> <p>&ldquo;We have definitely made big progress with the car,&rdquo; said Lynn. &ldquo;We showed that we have a strong car in qualifying and that we are much closer to our key rivals in race trim. We still need to improve, and to understand the Michelin tyres and the Vantage GTE better but this is normal with a brand new car. The positive is that we are improving every time and hopefully when we get to Fuji we will be able to fight for podium positions.&rdquo;</p> <p>While the new car continued to improve, its predecessor the V8 Vantage GTE, continued its glory-run in the GTE Am class. Aston Martin&rsquo;s partner team TF Sport, featuring works driver Jonny Adam (GB) for the first time, alongside Charlie Eastwood (IRL) and Salih Yoluc (TUR), finished a brilliant second having led for a significant portion of the race.</p> <p>The #98 Aston Martin Racing example of Paul Dalla Lana (CDN), Mathias Lauda (A) and Pedro Lamy (POR), just missed out on joining it TF Sport on the podium, having fought back valiantly from the back of the field after picking up damage at the start.</p> <p>Aston Martin Racing Managing Director John Gaw said: &ldquo;TF Sport did a great job this weekend. They executed their weekend very. Their pace was really good and they beat the factory car. Jonny did a great job, but then we know how good he is which is why he is a works driver. This weekend also saw us take another step forward with the new Vantage GTE which is progressing every time it hits the track. There are still some niggles to iron out and more performance to be found through set-up. This was the car&rsquo;s best result so far and its first top five finish, and I am confident we can fight for a podium in Fuji next time out.&rdquo;</p> <p>Aston Martin Racing&rsquo;s next race will be at Fuji, in Japan, on 13-14 October.</p>urn:uuid:fef87834-81ba-6ceb-9402-ff00007a0a98 RacingAMR NewsAston Martin Racing delivered its most competitive showing of the season with the new Vantage GTE by qualifying an impressive second and third fastest in the GTE Pro class for the 6 Hours of Silverstone.Sat, 18 Aug 2018 19:40:00 Z<p><em>Saturday, 18 August, Silverstone</em>: Aston Martin Racing delivered its most competitive showing of the season with the new Vantage GTE by qualifying an impressive second and third fastest in the GTE Pro class for the 6 Hours of Silverstone.</p> <p>Following an intensive test and development programme between the Total 24 Hours of Le Mans in June and this weekend&rsquo;s third round of the FIA World Endurance Championship in Great Britain, the new car was able to demonstrate more of its front-running potential.</p> <p>Having been encouraged by their free practice pace, Alex Lynn (GB) and Maxime Martin (BEL) delivered a blistering combined average lap time of 1m55.805s in the 20-minute qualifying session, good enough for second and less than a tenth away from snatching pole position.</p> <p>&ldquo;This demonstrates how much work the team has put in back at the workshop,&rdquo; said Lynn. &ldquo;There has been so much groundwork covered from where we finished at Le Mans so it is fantastic to reward the team with a great performance by both cars.&rdquo;</p> <p>This performance was then backed up by the #95 &lsquo;DaneTrain&rsquo; that qualified third in the hands of Marco S&oslash;rensen and Nicki Thiim.</p> <p>Aston Martin Racing Team Principal Paul Howarth said: &ldquo;This was a highly encouraging qualifying session for us. Remember it is only the third qualification for the new Vantage GTE. We&rsquo;re in the mix with the leading manufacturers, which is where we feel the car should be and this performance is a testament to the engineers who have worked tirelessly since Le Mans. What we have delivered as a team today is a result of the attention to detail back at the factory. It&rsquo;s a highly positive step towards being competitive in the FIA WEC with the new Vantage GTE.&rdquo;</p> <p>The &nbsp;#98 Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GTE Am entry driven by reigning champions Paul Dalla Lana (CDN), Mathias Lauda (A) and Pedro Lamy (POR) showed the pace to fight for pole position having ended free practice fastest of all in the category. But Dalla Lana found his best attempts at a flying lap were compromised by traffic and they had to settle for fourth behind the TF Sport Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE of Salih Yoluc (TUR), factory driver Jonny Adam (GB) and Charlie Eastwood (IRL).</p> <p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s frustrating when you come against traffic and you know you have the pace,&rdquo; said Dalla Lana. &ldquo;But that&rsquo;s all part of the sport, and to be honest, what is more encouraging is that we have shown good pace through the weekend and we have a great set-up for the race."</p>urn:uuid:16e57834-81ba-6ceb-9402-ff00007a0a98 RacingAMR NewsPublic NewsAston Martin Racing’s new FIA World Endurance Championship challenger – the Vantage GTE – will make its first competitive appearance on home ground in the 6 Hours of Silverstone this weekend.Thu, 16 Aug 2018 14:42:07 Z<p><em>Thursday 16 August, Silverstone</em>: Aston Martin Racing&rsquo;s new FIA World Endurance Championship challenger &ndash; the Vantage GTE &ndash; will make its first competitive appearance on home ground in the 6 Hours of Silverstone this weekend.</p> <p>Indeed it will be a weekend of firsts for the team, as Alex Lynn (GB) makes his British debut as an Aston Martin Racing driver, while he and team-mate Maxime Martin (BEL) will begin their stint as a standalone pairing in the #97 Aston Martin Vantage for the next three races.</p> <p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m extremely excited to be racing at Silverstone this weekend,&rdquo; said Lynn. &ldquo;Being a British driver, and being part of the factory Aston Martin team gives me a lot of pride. Obviously I&rsquo;m seriously motivated to get a good result so I&rsquo;ll be giving it absolutely everything I can to give the home fans something to cheer about alongside Maxime.&rdquo;</p> <p>In the weeks following the Le Mans 24 Hours, where the Vantage GTE recorded a solid double points finish on its debut, the team has been working tirelessly along with technical partners Michelin and Total to unlock more of its undoubted potential through an intensive development programme. Aston Martin Racing now looks forward to finding out where the Vantage GTE sits in the competitive order as we move into next phase of the Super Season.</p> <p>&ldquo;We have worked hard to improve the whole package after Le Mans, and I am really hoping that we will be more competitive at the weekend,&rdquo; said Nicki Thiim, who shares the #95 &lsquo;DaneTrain&rsquo; driving duties with Marco S&oslash;rensen until Darren Turner returns for Sebring in 2019. &ldquo;The whole team wants to prove that the car is something special.&rdquo;</p> <p>Aston Martin Racing Team Principal Paul Howarth added, &ldquo;We made some improvements between Le Mans and Silverstone, and we recognise that achieving competitiveness at this level means taking a logical and methodical approach to understanding the package available to us and working hard to maximise its potential. We are still learning about the Vantage GTE and it&rsquo;s important to remember that it is still only two races old. It clearly has great deal of untapped potential and we are in no doubt that in a short period of time it will be highly competitive.&rdquo;</p> <p>The defending 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship GTE Am title-holders come to Silverstone with a point to prove, having won the opening round in Spa and led convincingly at Le Mans. But the #98 Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE, driven by Paul Dalla Lana (C), Pedro Lamy (P) and Mathias Lauda (A), also faces a fresh challenge in the class as the similar TF Sport car driven by Salih Yoluc (TUR), Charlie Eastwood (GB) now also features Aston Martin Racing factory driver and 2017 Le Mans winner Jonny Adam (GB) for the rest of the year.</p> <p>The 6 Hours of Silverstone begins at 12:00BST on Sunday, 19 August.<p>urn:uuid:7bdb7834-81ba-6ceb-9402-ff00007a0a98 AMR Partner Team NewsAMR NewsAston Martin Racing has adjusted its driver line-up for the remainder of 2018, beginning with the 6 Hours of Silverstone (19 August) and including the 6 Hours of Fuji (14 October) and 6 Hours of Shanghai (18 November).Thu, 02 Aug 2018 08:55:33 Z<p><em>Thursday, 2 August, Gaydon</em>: Aston Martin Racing has adjusted its driver line-up for the remainder of 2018, beginning with the 6 Hours of Silverstone (19 August) and including the 6 Hours of Fuji (14 October) and 6 Hours of Shanghai (18 November).</p> <p>With the team focussed on its FIA WEC Super Season world championship aspirations, Nicki Thiim (DEN) and Marco S&oslash;rensen (DEN) will share driving duties in their regular #95 &lsquo;DaneTrain&rsquo; Aston Martin Vantage GTE, while Maxime Martin (BEL) and Alex Lynn (GB) will pair up in the #97. Each entry will benefit from increased track time and fewer compromises in their driving positions in a move that has become standard practice in the GTE Pro category.</p> <p>Aston Martin Racing factory driver Jonny Adam (GB), will switch temporarily to partner team TF Sport to support its GTE AM championship programme, driving an Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE alongside Salih Yoluc (TUR) and Charlie Eastwood (GB).</p> <p>Meanwhile Darren Turner, Aston Martin Racing&rsquo;s longest-serving and most decorated driver, has extended his 14-year association by signing a new long-term contract. He takes on a more senior role that includes additional development responsibilities with road and racing programmes and brand ambassador duties. Turner will also return to the #95 car for the 2019 phase of the Super Season, including Sebring 1000-mile race, Spa-Francorchamps and the Le Mans 24 Hours.</p> <p>Darren Turner said: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m delighted to extend my association with Aston Martin. After three Le Mans victories and 14 amazing years, driving for this brand has been the highlight of my career. As I look into the future I&rsquo;m excited to be able play a significant role in shaping new road and racing cars. It goes without saying I&rsquo;m looking forward to getting back in the #95 when we head to Sebring next year. It&rsquo;s exciting times at Aston Martin and I&rsquo;m very proud to be a part of it.&rdquo;</p> <p>Aston Martin Racing Team Principal Paul Howarth said: &ldquo;As we move into the second phase of the Super Season, it is critical we maximise our opportunities through the three shortest races on the calendar. By switching to two-driver crews we achieve this. Nicki and Marco have a long-standing partnership, while Maxime and Alex have settled into the team well. Jonny remains a vital part of our line-up and we are pleased he will race in the TF Sport entry, which keeps him race-sharp at world level. I am also delighted that Darren continues to play a major role. He proved he&rsquo;s lost none of his speed with an exceptional performance at Le Mans, and his experience and wisdom is invaluable as we continue to develop our still young Vantage GTE programme.&rdquo;</p> <p>Aston Martin Racing Managing Director John Gaw said: &ldquo;We expect to see additional performance from the Aston Martin Vantage GTE at Silverstone, after a period of analysis and development post-Le Mans. These adjustments to the line-up compliment this process and give us the best chance to achieve maximum points in the shorter races. There are no weak links in our driver line-up and I am proud of all of them. Keeping Jonny in the fold and race sharp is essential, while I&rsquo;m delighted that Darren continues his exceptional career with Aston Martin, where he belongs.&rdquo;</p> <p>The line-up for the #98 Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GTE Am entry driven by reigning champions Paul Dalla Lana (CDN), Mathias Lauda (A) and Pedro Lamy (POR) remains unchanged for the rest of the Super Season.</p>urn:uuid:647c7834-81ba-6ceb-9402-ff00007a0a98 Racingle mansGTEAMR NewsAston Martin Racing’s brand new Vantage GTE recorded a double-points finish on its Le Mans 24 Hours debut. Despite coming into the world’s most gruelling endurance race with only one competitive outing previously at Spa-Francorchamps, the two Vantage GTEs raced through the night with barely a hitch as the #95 car recorded its first top ten finish at the Circuit de la Sarthe.Sun, 17 Jun 2018 22:14:01 Z<img src="http://cdntbs.astonmartin.com/sitefinity/news-images/14349_nd_wec2018_lemansnews.jpg?sfvrsn=0" title="14349_ND_WEC2018_LeMansnews" /> <p><em>Sunday 17 June, Le Mans</em>: Aston Martin Racing&rsquo;s brand new Vantage GTE recorded a double-points finish on its Le Mans 24 Hours debut. Despite coming into the world&rsquo;s most gruelling endurance race with only one competitive outing previously at Spa-Francorchamps, the two Vantage GTEs raced through the night with barely a hitch as the #95 car recorded its first top ten finish at the Circuit de la Sarthe.</p> <p>This was an impressive achievement for the 4.0-litre twin turbocharged V8-powered race car, based on the highly-acclaimed road car borne of Aston Martin&rsquo;s second century plan and driven by Danish duo Nicki Thiim, Marco S&oslash;rensen, and three-time Le Mans winner Darren Turner after it had to be rebuilt from a new frame and roll cage after a testing crash.</p> <p>Despite this challenging build-up the &lsquo;Danetrain&rsquo; ran as its nickname suggested and from the moment in turned a wheel in free practice on Wednesday, did not register a single reliability issue and went on to record the highest finish by a new GTE car in the 86^th running of the event.</p> <p>The #97 crew, of Maxime Martin (BEL), Alex Lynn (GB) and last year&rsquo;s winner Jonny Adam (GB) also finished the race in the FIA World Endurance Championship points positions, when you take into account the non-championship registered cars in front of them.</p> <p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s always an achievement to finish the race at Le Mans, which is the toughest and most important endurance event in the world,&rdquo; said Darren Turner. &ldquo;Even though we have had a significant test programme with this car, racing for 24 hours is a much tougher test, so to come through and pass it so strongly is very gratifying. We will find more pace in the coming races, but this is a fantastic platform to come next year and fight for another victory.&rdquo;</p> <p>Aston Martin Racing President, David King said: &ldquo;You need three things to win Le Mans; reliability, the ability to avoid trouble and pace. We had two of those today and we will find the other as the season progresses. I am immensely proud of the team and of the car they have produced and for us to finish with both Vantage GTEs in the points is an example of a well executed race plan. We have gathered significant amounts of data and understanding about this car and, working with our technical partners Total and Michelin, we will extract the full potential of the Vantage GTE and return next year fighting for victory.&rdquo;</p> <p>The next race in the FIA WEC takes place at Silverstone (GB) on 19 August.</p>urn:uuid:de797834-81ba-6ceb-9402-ff00007a0a98 le mansRacingAMR Partner Team NewsAMR NewsAston Martin Racing’s latest FIA World Endurance Championship challenger – the Vantage GTE – stands poised to make its competitive debut in the 86th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans this upcoming Saturday.Fri, 15 Jun 2018 07:40:51 Z<p><em><img src="http://cdntbs.astonmartin.com/sitefinity/news-images/02979_nd_wec2018_lemans-news.jpg?sfvrsn=0" title="02979_ND_WEC2018_LeMans-NEWS" /><br /> Thursday 14 June, Le Mans</em>: Aston Martin Racing&rsquo;s latest FIA World Endurance Championship challenger &ndash; the Vantage GTE &ndash; stands poised to make its competitive debut in the 86^th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans this upcoming Saturday.</p> <p>With Qualifying Practice &ndash; which took place across Wednesday and Thursday &ndash; now complete, both of the team&rsquo;s #97 and #95 entries are ready start the world&rsquo;s most famous endurance event. A good race balance and reliability with the new cars was achieved, and although the team did not match the front-runners searing pace in qualifying, its focus has shifted to building competitiveness into the cars by analysing the wealth of data now available after testing, practice and qualifying on the 13.626km full circuit.</p> <p>Maxime Martin said, &ldquo;Despite all of the testing we have done the car is still very new, and Le Mans is a place that tests us more than any other. So I am very pleased that we have managed trouble-free running all week which has allowed us the chance to learn so much more about this car. Clearly from what we have seen through the different lap sectors this week, it has great potential. The qualifying positions are what they are but I think when we come to the race things may well be different and we will be more competitive.&rdquo;</p> <p>Paul Howarth added, &ldquo;Qualifying is obviously a large part of the overall week, but when it comes to this event, the 24 Hours give you every opportunity to progress and make improvements on your starting position. We&rsquo;re confident in this car, our drivers and the rest of the team to deliver a result we can be proud of.&rdquo;</p> <p>In GTE Am, the defending 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship title holders will begin from 10^th on the grid in a race the trio have made one of their key targets for 2018. The #98 Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE, driven by Paul Dalla Lana (C), Pedro Lamy (P) and Mathias Lauda (A) will be looking to make strong progress from there in the race.</p> <p>The similar TF Sport car driven by Salih Yoluc (TUR), Charlie Eastwood (GB) and Euan Hankey (GB), impressed in the customer machine, by setting the sixth fastest time in GTE Am.</p> <p>The 86^th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans begins at 15:00 CET.</p> <p>To the delight of fans worldwide, this weekend will also see the Aston Martin Racing Le Mans Festival Race take place on Saturday morning. Starting at 10:15 CET, the 39-strong grid will include three Aston Martin Vulcans making their competition debut, the 2016 GTE Pro championship winning #95 V8 Vantage GTE and 2018 4^th place N&uuml;rburgring 24 Hour-finishing V12 Vantage GT3 to name but a few.</p> <p>The race will be available to stream live on Aston Martin&rsquo;s Facebook and YouTube channels from 10:10 CET with commentary from 24 Hours of Le Mans mic veterans, Radio Le Mans.</p>urn:uuid:65737834-81ba-6ceb-9402-ff00007a0a98 RacingModelsle mansAMR Partner Team NewsAMR NewsAston Martin Racing has revealed its new Vantage GT3 and Vantage GT4 customer racing cars to the public at the 86th 24 Hours of Le Mans, with the Vantage GT3 making its racing debut in the Michelin Aston Martin Racing Le Mans Festival this weekend.Thu, 14 Jun 2018 08:29:50 Z<p><em><img src="http://cdntbs.astonmartin.com/sitefinity/news-images/vantage-gt3-(1)news.jpg?sfvrsn=0" title="Vantage-GT3-(1)NEWS" /><br /> Thursday, 14 June, Le Mans</em>: Aston Martin Racing has revealed its new Vantage GT3 and Vantage GT4 customer racing cars to the public at the 86^th 24 Hours of Le Mans, with the Vantage GT3 making its racing debut in the Michelin Aston Martin Racing Le Mans Festival this weekend.</p> <p>The new Vantage GT3 and GT4 &ndash; the former taking the track for the first time on Thursday (14 June) in the hands of Aston Martin Racing driver Ross Gunn - is derived from the new Aston Martin Vantage GTE; two of which are entered into the GTE Pro category of this weekend&rsquo;s showpiece endurance event. All three modern Vantage race cars are based on the critically-acclaimed Aston Martin Vantage road car and powered by the same 4.0-litre turbocharged V8 engine, optimised by Aston Martin Racing.</p> <p>Weighing in dry at 1245kg, the Vantage GT3 produces a boost-variable 535bhp and 700 Nm of torque. Built from a lightweight aluminium chassis, again based on the road car, it features a steel roll-cage, an Xtrac six-speed sequential gearbox, an Alcon motorsport multi-plate clutch, &Ouml;hlins four-way adjustable dampers and Alcon brakes and Bosch Motorsport ABS.</p> <p>The Vantage GT3 remains in development until homologated on 1 March, 2019 and replaces Aston Martin&rsquo;s most successful customer car, the V12 Vantage GT3, which is still winning races seven years after it was first introduced to the market &ndash; most recently in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup and British GT series. One of the key reasons for the popularity of the Vantage GT3&rsquo;s predecessor was the ease at which it allowed inexperienced racers to drive quickly while maintaining an optimum performance window for professional drivers to be competitive in.</p> <p>While not competing this weekend, the new Vantage GT4 will remain on display throughout in the Aston Martin Racing Festival Race paddock, offering potential customers and race fans a first glimpse of the marque&rsquo;s new challenger. Along with the Vantage GT3, it will remain in development throughout 2018 and is set to be homologated for competition from 1 March, 2019.</p> <p>&ldquo;Driveability and a wide operating window remain key targets for us as we develop the new Vantage GT3 and GT4 racing cars,&rdquo; says Aston Martin Racing Managing Director John Gaw. &ldquo;The fact that our customers can still purchase the V12 Vantage GT3 and be competitive seven years after it was introduced is a fantastic legacy to build on, and the new cars will take this concept on in leaps and bounds. The current GT3 is very popular with customers, and there is a desire to spread our marketplace to more championships and at a high level, and from the expressions of interest that we have seen so far I believe we are on track to do that.&rdquo;</p> <p>Vice President and Chief Special Operations Officer David King said: "The Aston Martin Vantage GT3 is a worthy successor to the V12 Vantage GT3 and represents the core future of our customer racing programme. With the continued growth of GT racing in general and the GT3 category in particular, this new car and its Vantage GT4 brother will lead our expansion in the GT markets around the globe and particular target areas of the US and Asia. We&rsquo;ve already seen a high level of interest from potential customers and we only expect that to grow as the car evolves closer to its homologation date."&nbsp;</p>urn:uuid:00737834-81ba-6ceb-9402-ff00007a0a98 AMR NewsPublic NewsEurope’s leading entertainment company Sky has signed an agreement with Aston Martin Lagonda and its motorsport division - Aston Martin Racing - to become the British marque’s official UK media partner. The announcement comes ahead of this weekend’s showpiece endurance race, the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans.Wed, 13 Jun 2018 08:52:39 Z<p><em><img src="http://cdntbs.astonmartin.com/sitefinity/news-images/sky-branding---vantage-gte-(2).jpg?sfvrsn=0" title="Sky-branding---Vantage-GTE-(2)" /><br /> Wednesday 13 June, Gaydon</em>: Europe&rsquo;s leading entertainment company Sky has signed an agreement with Aston Martin Lagonda and its motorsport division - Aston Martin Racing - to become the British marque&rsquo;s official UK media partner. The announcement comes ahead of this weekend&rsquo;s showpiece endurance race, the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans.</p> <p>This exciting new partnership brings together two quintessentially British success stories to collaborate and forge a range of creative content together that focusses on both Aston Martin Racing&rsquo;s motorsport activities in the FIA World Endurance Championship, and Aston Martin Lagonda&rsquo;s growth under its second century business plan.</p> <p>The contract, which covers the full 2018/19 FIA World Endurance Championship &lsquo;Super Season&rsquo;, will allow customers from Sky&rsquo;s loyalty program, Sky VIP, unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to Aston Martin Racing at both the British and French rounds of the leading motorsport series; the 6 Hours of Silverstone and 24 Hours of Le Mans. Not limited to the race circuit, the partnership will also provide Sky VIP customers with a variety of unique experiences throughout the year, bringing them closer to Aston Martin&rsquo;s world-class luxury sportscars and UK production facilities.</p> <p>Sky branding will appear on Aston Martin Racing&rsquo;s two new Vantage GTE Pro challengers as well as its V8 Vantage GTE Am car, at both Silverstone and Le Mans this season. The logos will also feature on the drivers&rsquo; overalls, the team&rsquo;s garages, transporters and hospitality units.</p> <p>Fittingly, the partnership will be launched this weekend with Sky Sports F1 commentator Martin Brundle - who will share driving duties with multiple Olympic gold medal winning cyclist Sir Chris Hoy - in a Sky-liveried Aston Martin Vantage GT4 during the Aston Martin Festival race, which takes place ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans on Saturday (16 June) at 10:15 CET.</p> <p>Aston Martin Lagonda VP and Chief Marketing Officer Simon Sproule said of the partnership: &ldquo;Sky stands apart as a dynamic and disruptive force in the European media and technology business, a similar position occupied by Aston Martin Lagonda in the luxury market. As two British brands focused on delivering outstanding and memorable experiences for our customers, I am excited at the prospect of what can be achieved when Sky and Aston Martin will combine our creative energies.&rdquo;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>Stephen van Rooyen, Chief Executive Officer of Sky UK added: &ldquo;A great British success story of engineering and design, and a winner on the global stage, Aston Martin is a natural partner for Sky. This partnership will allow Sky to collaborate with Aston Martin, and give our Sky VIP loyalty customers the opportunity to go to races at Le Mans and Silverstone, and to meet the drivers and the team in the Aston Martin garage.&rdquo;</p>urn:uuid:36717834-81ba-6ceb-9402-ff00007a0a98 Public NewsAMR NewsAs Aston Martin returns to Le Mans to defend its 2017 victory at the iconic 24-hour race, so the latest car in the exciting new AMR stable has been unveiled. Following hot on the heels of the DB11 AMR, Aston Martin has revealed the limited edition Rapide AMR. This production version of the concept shown at Geneva last year is limited to just 210 cars.Tue, 12 Jun 2018 22:51:47 Z<img src="http://cdntbs.astonmartin.com/sitefinity/news-images/rapide-amr_02-news.jpg?sfvrsn=0" title="Rapide-AMR_02-news" /> <p><em>13 June </em><em>201</em><em>8</em><em>, </em><em>Le Mans</em>: As Aston Martin returns to Le Mans to defend its 2017 victory at the iconic 24-hour race, so the latest car in the exciting new AMR stable has been unveiled. Following hot on the heels of the DB11 AMR, Aston Martin has revealed the limited edition Rapide AMR. This production version of the concept shown at Geneva last year is limited to just 210 cars. </p> <p>AMR stands for Aston Martin Racing and the brand draws a direct engineering and aesthetic link between the company&rsquo;s successful race team and its road cars. As such the Rapide AMR is a sports car capable of comfortably transporting a team of race drivers to a circuit on the other side of a continent and then tackling the track when they get there.</p> <p>Aston Martin President &amp; Chief Executive Officer, Dr Andy Palmer, commented: &lsquo;AMR takes technology and inspiration from our motorsport programme to amplify the sporting prowess in our road cars which is clear to see in the Rapide AMR, Aston Martin&rsquo;s most extreme, 4-door sports car. With enhanced performance, sharper dynamics and more powerful design language, Aston Martin has taken Rapide to new and exciting extremes.&rdquo;</p> <p>The design of the new 205mph Rapide AMR has changed little from the concept that was shown at the Geneva motorshow in 2017, with a large and aggressive front grille that is reminiscent of the extreme track-only Vantage AMR Pro. Meanwhile the circular daytime running lights recall the recent Zagato models. </p> <img src="http://cdntbs.astonmartin.com/sitefinity/news-images/rapide-amr_01-news.jpg?sfvrsn=0" title="Rapide-AMR_01-news" /> <p>The Rapide AMR&rsquo;s aerodynamics have been tuned to reduce lift while retaining a neutral balance and the extra aerodynamic bodywork such as the splitter, sills, rear diffuser and boot lid lip spoiler are all carbon fibre. The new bonnet with large ventilation inserts is also made from carbon fibre to minimise weight. </p> <p>At the heart of the Rapide AMR is a naturally aspirated drivetrain that draws much of its technology and character from the potent Aston Martin Vantage GT12. Larger inlet manifolds with tuned length dual inlet runners enhance the airflow into the 6.0-litre V12 engine and, combined with new engine and gearbox calibration, this results in an increase in power. The legendary V12 now puts out 603PS and 630NM of torque, while a new quad exhaust ensures a raucous sound befitting of the AMR badge. </p> <p>To help harness all of this power and to launch from 0-60mph in just 4.2 seconds (0-100km/h in 4.4 seconds), the Rapide AMR has 21-inch wheels &ndash; a first for any Aston Martin &ndash; paired with ultra-high performance Michelin Super Sport tyres. The large, forged wheels have a multi spoke design that is not only very stiff but also aids brake cooling. To further aid thermal management of the brakes, the Rapide AMR utilises an evolution of the cooling system on the Vanquish S, with modified brake ducts and dust shields. </p> <p>As standard, the Rapide AMR comes fitted with carbon ceramic brakes. Measuring 400mm at the front with six piston calipers and 360mm at the rear with four piston calipers, this is the first time that a Rapide has been fitted with such stopping power. The carbon ceramic discs are also part of AMR&rsquo;s ethos to use lightweight components whilst reducing unsprung mass they have a noticeably beneficial effect on the driving experience.</p> <p>Alongside the new tyres, brakes and aerodynamics, the Rapide&rsquo;s suspension has also received considerable attention. The new Rapide AMR rides 10mm lower than a Rapide S and although the three stage adaptive dampers remain, they have been thoroughly reengineered to create a car that is more focused, agile and dynamic. Much of this development work has been completed at the newly opened AMR Performance Centre at the N&uuml;rburgring.</p> <p>The Rapide AMR will be available in three different design schemes. The Standard and Silhouette schemes offer four colours &ndash; Mariana Blue, Scintilla Silver, Lightning Silver and Onyx Black &ndash; with the Standard scheme adding AMR Lime accents to the splitter, sills and rear diffuser. The Silhouette scheme eschews the Lime accents and instead adds a full-length contrasting stripe in China Grey or Clubsport White. </p> <p>The Signature scheme matches Stirling Green paint with Lime accents and a Lime stripe for the definitive AMR look. This draws the closest visual link to the Aston Martin Racing team and the liveries of its race cars. </p> <img src="http://cdntbs.astonmartin.com/sitefinity/news-images/rapide-amr_07-news.jpg?sfvrsn=0" title="Rapide-AMR_07-news" /> <p>The interior of each Rapide AMR reflects the design scheme chosen for the exterior, with either AMR Lime or Galena Silver welting and stitching. There is a full-length carbon fibre centre console and the seats are trimmed in Alcantara - both firsts for a Rapide. Also available for the first time as an option is a One-77 style steering wheel. Every car has discrete AMR logos stitched into the seats in Galena Silver and each car will come with a limited-edition AMR inspection plaque as well as AMR branding on the carbon sill plaques.</p> <p>In addition to the three design schemes, customers will also be able make use of Q by Aston Martin to further personalise their car.</p> <p>The Aston Martin Rapide AMR will be available globally with the exception of China and Russia and is available from &pound;194,950 in the UK, $240,000 in the US and &euro;229,950 in Germany, with first customer deliveries in Q4 2018.</p>urn:uuid:2f6f7834-81ba-6ceb-9402-ff00007a0a98 GTEModelsle mansAMR NewsAMR Partner Team NewsPublic NewsAston Martin Racing returns to the scene of its famous 2017 Le Mans 24 Hours triumph with the all-new Aston Martin Vantage GTE, which makes its first competitive appearance on the legendary Circuit de la Sarthe this weekend (16-17 June).Mon, 11 Jun 2018 08:54:07 Z<img src="http://cdntbs.astonmartin.com/sitefinity/news-images/1137_nd_wec2018_lemanstest-edit_flat-5-(003)_news.jpg?sfvrsn=0" title="1137_ND_WEC2018_LeMansTest-Edit_FLAT-5-(003)_NEWS" /> <p><em>Monday, 11 June, Le Mans: </em>Aston Martin Racing returns to the scene of its famous 2017 Le Mans 24 Hours triumph with the all-new Aston Martin Vantage GTE, which makes its first competitive appearance on the legendary Circuit de la Sarthe this weekend (16-17 June).</p> <p>A year on from Jonny Adam&rsquo;s dramatic late pass for the lead of the GTE Pro category that led to a glorious win for Aston Martin Racing, the team has entered two new Vantage GTEs in the 2018 event. Based on the critically-acclaimed Aston Martin Vantage road car and powered by the same 4.0-litre, V8 turbo-charged engine optimised by AMR, the Vantage GTEs are part of a 17-strong GTE Pro line-up that represents the most competitive field ever assembled for the class.</p> <p>The new Vantage GTE made a solid debut in Spa-Francorchamps with both the #95 car driven by Nicki Thiim (DEN), Marco S&oslash;rensen (DEN) and three-time Le Mans winner Darren Turner (GB) and the #97 machine of Maxime Martin (B), Alex Lynn (GB) and Adam (GB) finishing in the points. Following an extensive development programme that covered 35,000km over the winter, the team is now ready to give the car its toughest examination yet in the most famous race of all.</p> <p>This in spite of S&oslash;rensen&rsquo;s accident at the Le Mans test day, which required the team to build up a brand new chassis in a tight timeframe. Aston Martin Racing&rsquo;s technicians and engineers worked around the clock in split shifts to ensure a fresh #95 &lsquo;DaneTrain&rsquo; was completed, shaken down and ready for scrutineering just six days after work began on a new race car.</p> <p>The new Vantage GTE replaces the highly-decorated normally-aspirated V8 Vantage GTE, but that doesn&rsquo;t mean the old car&rsquo;s hunt for Le Mans glory is over. Indeed two will compete in this year&rsquo;s event. The #98 car, driven by Aston Martin Racing's reigning GTE Am champions Paul Dalla Lana (CDN), Mathias Lauda (A) and Pedro Lamy (POR), will seek to add a Le Mans class victory to its extraordinary success tally, which continued with another GTE Am win in the opening round of the FIA World Endurance Championship at Spa last month.</p> <p>The second V8 Vantage GTE meanwhile, will be campaigned by Aston Martin&rsquo;s partner team TF Sport, driven by Charlie Eastwood (IRL), Euan Hankey (GB) and Salih Yoluc (TUR).</p> <iframe width="100%" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iE2cVlAzgKM" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media"></iframe> <p>Aston Martin Racing Team Principal Paul Howarth added: "Le Mans has already thrown up many challenges for the team to deal with this year, including the build of a brand new Vantage GTE chassis and repairing the #98 GTE Am car which was damaged during the test. I truly believe the team has demonstrated an exemplary example of teamwork and how to overcome unforeseen events. We are all now focussed on the race week and looking forward to what is shaping up to be one of the most competitive GT entries of the modern era. I have every confidence in all areas of the team that we will rise to the challenge."</p> <p>Aston Martin Racing Technical Director Dan Sayers said: &ldquo;Le Mans is a unique circuit just as the race is one of a kind, but we have prepared long and hard for this with a comprehensive and extensive testing programme. We were very happy with how the car ran during the test day, and our drivers reported that it behaved well through the critical sectors of the lap. So now it&rsquo;s up to us to ensure it remains reliable and consistent for them to perform in the biggest race of them all. As ever, that means executing in all areas so that we leave nothing on the table, whether that be in engineering, pitstops or preparation. We&rsquo;ve been working towards this point since we started testing the new car nearly a year ago and it will be a proud moment to see the new cars lined up on the grid next weekend.&rdquo;</p> <p>Vice President and Chief Special Operations Officer David King said: "The Le Mans 24 Hours is the jewel in the crown of sportscar racing and one of the principal reasons we build racing cars is to go out and beat our rivals in this race. Le Mans provides the ultimate test of durability and performance on and off the track. We&rsquo;ve already had one test of endurance, which the team passed with aplomb with all the tremendous work and dedication that went in to building a new #95 Aston Martin Vantage GTE in a short time period. Now we need to go out and deliver the best results possible to reward that hard work and commitment from everybody in the weeks leading up to the race."</p> <p>Works driver quotes:</p> <p>Marco S&oslash;rensen (DEN), #95 Aston Martin Vantage GTE: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m very much looking forward to racing at Le Mans after all the build up. We didn&rsquo;t have the best start for a Le Mans campaign with my accident but now obviously the mechanics are preparing a fresh car and I just cannot wait to go there and do a great job to do them justice for the amazing job they have done in such a short space of time. The car felt great through the whole test so I am really excited about driving it in the race. It&rsquo;s time to just go flat out and race for a good result and deliver for the whole team.&rdquo;</p> <p>Nicki Thiim (DEN), #95 Aston Martin Vantage GTE: "`Le Mans is the highlight of the year. As a racing driver, as a racing fan, this is the big one. The test day was not great but the guys have done a stunning job to get the #95 car ready for the race weekend. I can&rsquo;t wait to go directly to Le Mans, meet the fans, get the whole Le Mans feeling inside and the pure rush that this week gives you. I&rsquo;m pretty sure we are going to be competitive. All the manufacturers are so close and I&rsquo;m certain that this year the GTE Pro class is going to be the one to watch and the hardest fought over.&rdquo;</p> <p>Darren Turner (GB), #95 Aston Martin Vantage GTE: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m so excited to be going to Le Mans this year with the Aston Martin Vantage GTE. I&rsquo;ve really enjoyed the extensive test programme that we began last August and the whole development process. At the test day I was able to get a good number of laps under my belt and the car left a very positive impression on me while running in the Le Mans trim. Obviously after Marco&rsquo;s accident, Aston Martin Racing have been working around the clock to build us a new race car in time for Wednesday&rsquo;s opening practice session. I&rsquo;m really proud of how the team has responded and the effort everyone at Banbury has put in. I can&rsquo;t wait to be back in the &lsquo;DaneTrain&rsquo; as we aim to repeat last week&rsquo;s success.&rdquo;</p> <p>Jonny Adam (GB), #97 Aston Martin Vantage GTE: "I can&rsquo;t wait to return to Le Mans. Last year was very special for me and the whole team with the win we secured in the #97 car and it will only serve to give us extra confidence as we head into this weekend. The new Aston Martin Vantage GTE is an impressive step forward from its predecessor and we all love driving it. We&rsquo;ve done a lot of mileage in testing through the off-season so we are ready and prepared as a team for the biggest race of the season."<br /> Alex Lynn (GB), #97 Aston Martin Vantage GTE: &ldquo;It goes without saying that for me it&rsquo;s the highest honour to be able to represent Aston Martin Racing at Le Mans in 2018 with the brand new Vantage GTE. I can&rsquo;t wait to hit the track for real and fight for victory with this famous team.&rdquo;</p> <p>Maxime Martin (B), #97 Aston Martin Vantage GTE: &ldquo;I am really looking forward to driving at Le Mans, especially with this new Vantage GTE. The car felt very strong during the Le Mans test, and it gave us drivers a lot of confidence. I think it is going to be an amazing race and one of the hardest and toughest the GTE class has ever seen, but I think we are more than well prepared. It is going to be a great battle and I can&rsquo;t wait to get involved in it.&rdquo;</p>urn:uuid:491f7834-81ba-6ceb-9402-ff00007a0a98 le mansRacingAMR NewsThe hugely popular Michelin Aston Martin Racing Festival will return to Le Mans on 16 June, 2018 with a packed 38-car entry and a star-filled line-up that includes Sky F1TM commentator and former Le Mans winner Martin Brundle and his co-driver, the multiple Olympic gold medal winner, Sir Chris Hoy.Fri, 18 May 2018 09:47:32 Z<p><em><img src="http://cdntbs.astonmartin.com/sitefinity/news-images/aston-martin-vulcan-(002).jpg?sfvrsn=0" title="Aston-Martin-Vulcan-(002)" /><br /> Friday 18 May, Banbury:</em> The hugely popular Michelin Aston Martin Racing Festival will return to Le Mans on 16 June, 2018 with a packed 38-car entry and a star-filled line-up that includes Sky F1^TM commentator and former Le Mans winner Martin Brundle and his co-driver, the multiple Olympic gold medal winner, Sir Chris Hoy.</p> <p>The 45-minute race takes place on the same day as the 24 Hours of Le Mans on the full circuit at La Sarthe, and will be filled with cars from all corners of the Aston Martin universe. And, for the first time ever, will include two of the awe-inspiring 7-litre, V12-powered Aston Martin Vulcans &ndash; entered by the newly-opened AMR Performance Centre, based at the N&uuml;rburgring in Germany.</p> <p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;d never miss a chance to race on the full Le Mans circuit, I love that track,&rdquo; said Brundle, whose Vantage GT4 will also be entered by the AMR Performance Centre. &ldquo;This will be particularly special partnering Sir Chris Hoy in a beautiful Aston Martin Vantage GT4. Chris is a good friend and handy on the pedals in every respect.&nbsp;</p> <p>&ldquo;The competition looks strong so I&rsquo;ll be seeking plenty of advice from my son Alex who also races an iconic Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 around Europe.&rdquo;</p> <p>Included among the other GT4 celebrity drivers are Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer, &lsquo;Bake-Off&rsquo; television presenter Paul Hollywood, Prodrive chairman David Richards (who will race alongside Aston Martin customer team owner Andrew Howard in a Beachdean AMR-entered car), and Jamie Chadwick who became the youngest driver to contest the N&uuml;rburgring 24 Hours in May.</p> <p>The race will feature a wide variety of Aston Martin machinery, including a number of examples of the company&rsquo;s most successful racing car &ndash; the V12 Vantage GT3 &ndash; entered by, among others Jetstream Motorsport, TF Sport and Young Driver AMR, whose car will be driven by team owner Jan Struve and Aston Martin Racing Managing Director John Gaw. There are also older Vantage GT1s, GT2s and even the 2016 FIA-World Endurance Championship-winning #95 Danetrain V8 Vantage GTE driven by Marco S&oslash;rensen&rsquo;s brother Lasse on the entry list.</p> <p>Aston Martin Racing&rsquo;s Head of Customer Racing Huw Tasker said: &ldquo;I am very excited to welcome our AMR customers to Le Mans. What GT driver doesn&rsquo;t aspire to be a part of the biggest racing event in motorsport? So to be able to make this happen for our customers is very special. We have AMR cars of all varieties, from different eras, showcasing the pedigree of the cars which AMR has designed, developed and raced over many years.</p> <p>&ldquo;We are also very grateful to Michelin for their support with this event, which following on from their renewed technical partnership of our FIA WEC race programmes underpins a vital relationship that we intend to build on moving forward.&rdquo;</p> <p>Andy Palmer, Aston Martin Chief Executive Officer, summed up: &ldquo;Having taken part in this event in 2015, I can say first-hand it will be a tremendous experience. Moreover, this is a wonderful celebration of all that Aston Martin Racing has achieved since we returned to the sport as a manufacturer. To be able to display so many different iconic Aston Martin racing cars, as well as the stunning Vulcan, in front of 250,000 fans is a testament to the durability of our brand.&rdquo;</p> <p>The race will take place on 16 June, at 1015 CET. For more information follow AMR­_Official, via the hashtag #AstonMartinFestival on Twitter, or via <a href="file:///C:/Users/dadams/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/INetCache/Content.Outlook/LBRP9AXC/media.astonmartin.com">media.astonmartin.com</a>.</p> <p>Provisional Entry List:</p> <p>GT3&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #32&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 22GT Racing&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Tom Alexander/Adrian Willmott</p> <p>GT3&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #3&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Aston Martin Racing&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Ross Gunn</p> <p>GT3&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #77&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Backbox Racing &amp; R Motorsport&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Alexander Lienau</p> <p>GT3&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #47&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Jetstream Motorsport&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Graham Davison</p> <p>GT3&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; MB Racing&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Mike Brown/Paul Cripps</p> <p>GT3&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #11&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; TF Sport&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Mark Farmer</p> <p>GT3&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #59&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Young Driver AMR&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Jan Struve/John Gaw</p> <p>GT4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #9&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 22GT Racing&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Dean Gibbs/Richard Marsh</p> <p>GT4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #88&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 22GT Racing&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Martin Buckland</p> <p>GT4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #61&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Academy Motorsport&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; JM Littman/Rik Breukers</p> <p>GT4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #62&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Academy Motorsport&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Fiona James</p> <p>GT4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #63&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Academy Motorsport&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Steven Davison/Steve Phillips</p> <p>GT4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Aston Martin Belgium&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Arnold Herreman</p> <p>GT4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #19&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Aston Martin Belgium&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Jean-Paul Herreman</p> <p>GT4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #97&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Aston Martin Performance Centre&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Jurgen Kroner/Wolfgang Schuhbauer</p> <p>GT4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Aston Martin Performance Centre&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Andrew Palmer/Peter Cate</p> <p>GT4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Aston Martin Performance Centre &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Jamie Chadwick/Paul Hollywood</p> <p>GT4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Aston Martin Performance Centre&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Martin Brundle/Chris Hoy</p> <p>GT4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #1&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Beechdean AMR&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Andrew Howard/David Richards</p> <p>GT4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #10&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; EDF Motorsports&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Malcolm Sandford</p> <p>GT4 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #44&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Generation AMR Super Racing&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; James Holder/Matthew George</p> <p>GT4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #33&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; R-Motorsport&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Joshua Reynolds/Markus Lungstrass</p> <p>GT4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #69&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Speedworks Motorsport&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Piers Johnson</p> <p>GT4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #7&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Street Art Racing&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Jean Marc Bourdouch/Albert Bloem</p> <p>GT4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #60&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Stratton Motorsport &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Robin Marriott</p> <p>GT4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #71&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Stratton Motorsport&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; David Tinn</p> <p>GT4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #66&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Stratton Motor Co / TRG&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Jeff Huber</p> <p>GT4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #68&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Team BRIT&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Warren McKinlay/Jamie Falvey</p> <p>GT4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #91&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Weathertech&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Stephen Archer/Felix Archer</p> <p>GT4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #57&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Whitebridge AMR&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Chris Murphy/Barry McMahon</p> <p>GT4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #15&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Whitebridge AMR&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Bonamy Grimes</p> <p>Vulcan #8 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Aston Martin Performance Centre&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Akinari Miura/Toro Nakano</p> <p>Vulcan #6 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Aston Martin Performance Centre &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Gleb Stepanov/Stephen Tomkins</p> <p>GT2&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Motohistorics&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Shaun Lynn</p> <p>GT1&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #94&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Sporting and Historic Cars&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Nikolas Ditting</p> <p>GT1&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #100&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Sporting and Historic Cars&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Dieter Roschmann/Dominik Roschmann</p> <p>GTE&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #95&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Young Driver AMR&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Benny Simonsen/Lasse Sorensen</p> <p>INV&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Aston Passion&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Vincent Bialostotski/Bernard Pascal</p>