Aston Martin’s multiple championship-winning Vantage returns to action in the world’s two most prestigious sportscar series – the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) and the North American-based IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – this weekend, with four of AMR’s key partner teams all competing.
Reigning FIA WEC LMGTE Am class champion TF Sport and fellow Aston Martin Racing partner teams NorthWest AMR and D’station Racing contest the 6 Hours of Portimão event on Sunday with a trio of Aston Martin Vantage GTEs. The Vantage GTE is the prototype version of the British-built race car derived from Aston Martin’s critically-acclaimed ultra-luxury sportscar and shares the same aluminium body-frame and a specially-tuned version of the four-litre V8 turbo-charged production engine. Aston Martin’s triple 24 Hours of Le Mans class-winning race car is aiming for its first podium at Portimão on its final visit to the Portuguese track before the class switches to GT3 machinery from 2024.
All three AMR teams displayed good form in the season-opening 1000 Miles of Sebring (USA) last month, with the #23 ORT by TF Vantage GTE driven by Omani driver Ahmad Al Harthy, Michael Dinan (USA) works star Charlie Eastwood (IRL) qualifying a highly-competitive third in class. Paul Dalla Lana (CAN) and his NorthWest AMR team showed great race pace alongside FIA WEC GTE Pro world champion Nicki Thiim (DEN) and Axcil Jefferies (ZWE) while Japanese team D'station Racing’s owner Satoshi Hoshino (JPN) and regular co-driver Tomonobu Fujii (JPN) gelled quickly with rookie Casper Stevenson (GBR). But with misfortune preventing all three crews from capitalising on their potential, they are keen to kick-start their seasons on WEC’s return to Europe.
Vantage began the extended 2023 FIA WEC season with two GT world titles from the past three campaigns, but faces a packed 14-car field featuring tough competition, particularly as the LMGTE Am class now constitutes the only GT competition within the WEC. Moreover, the season is longer this year thanks to the addition of the Portimão event, which is swiftly followed by the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps (BEL) race on 29 April. The centenary edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans (FRA) takes place on 10-11 June, followed by the 6 Hours of Monza (ITA) on 9 July, the 6 Hours of Fuji (JPN) on 10 September and the traditional 8-Hour finale taking place in Bahrain on 4 November.
In all its variants (GTE, GT3 and GT4), Vantage is phenomenally successful, and is currently the reigning Rolex 24 at Daytona and 24 Hours of Le Mans class winner as well as defending champion in the GT Am class of both the FIA WEC and IMSA.
Indeed, the Heart of Racing team heads into the third round of the IMSA series, the 100-minute Grand Prix of Long Beach on the world famous Californian street circuit, in searingly hot form. The team followed up its GTD class victory and strong GTD Pro class showing at the Rolex 24 with two fantastic, if unrewarded, race performances in the Sebring 12 Hours.
It means that works driver and reigning LMGTE Am world champion Marco Sørensen (DEN) starts his first IMSA Sprint race, alongside reigning champion Roman De Angelis (CAN), full of confidence in the #27 Vantage and determined to retain the season’s positive early momentum. Works driver Ross Gunn (GBR) and Alex Riberas (ESP) meanwhile, are looking to return the kind of performance that gave them their first win in the GTD Pro class at the same event last season.
Huw Tasker, AMR Head of Partner Racing, said: “While Sebring was tough on all our teams, the pace of Vantage - particularly in the IMSA race - was reassuring. Portimão is a more conventional venue and perhaps offers our WEC teams a more solid foundation with which to build a strong weekend upon. On the other side of the Atlantic, Vantage has a proven pedigree around the streets of Long Beach. Everywhere we have been this season, the Heart of Racing team has shown why it is the reigning IMSA GTD champion and there is no reason to expect anything but more of the same from the first Sprint race of the season.”
Official practice for the 6 Hours of Portimão begins on Friday, 14 April, at 1030 CET, with the race beginning at noon on Sunday. Follow details of the event via the official WEC website and App. The Grand Prix Prix of Long Beach begins with free practice at 0900 PDT on Friday with the race starting at 1405 on Saturday. Go to the IMSA website for details of how to follow the race.
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Formula E and the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) have today revealed the next generation of race car, the new all-electric GEN3 Evo, capable of 0-60mph in 1.82s.
Leveraging a roster of innovative technical upgrades, the GEN3 Evo unveiled at H.S.H Prince Albert II’s Private Car Collection will debut in Season 11 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship where some of the world’s greatest manufacturers and drivers race wheel-to-wheel in iconic locations around the globe.
Developed by specialists from Formula E and the FIA, the latest GEN3 Evo edition marks a significant leap in electric racing technology, with acceleration 0-60mph 30% faster than a current F1 car, and 36% faster than the GEN3 car.
Capable of accelerating nearly a full second faster than its predecessor – the GEN3 – that was the world’s first race car designed for street racing, it sets an even higher standard in performance, sustainability, and efficiency. The GEN3 Evo serves as a formidable ambassador for the future of motorsport, embodying cutting-edge advancements and a commitment to environmental responsibility.
On Saturday, April 27th, Abu Dhabi will host a groundbreaking event, welcoming 10,000 spectators to witness the inaugural ASPIRE Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League (A2RL) at the iconic Yas Marina Circuit. This brand-new autonomous racing competition marks a significant milestone in motorsport history, billed as the largest league of its kind globally.
Eight teams will compete: Code19 Racing (one of the first independent autonomous racing entity from the USA), Constructor University (based in Germany and Switzerland), Fly Eagle (representing Beijing Institute of Technology from China and Khalifa University from the UAE), HUMDA Lab (a member of the Széchenyi István University Group from Hungary), KINETIZ (a collaboration between Singapore Nanyang Technological University and Kintsugi based in the UAE), PoliMOVE (representing Politecnico di Milano from Italy), UNIMORE (also from Italy - University of Modena and Reggio Emilia), and Technical University of Munich - TUM (from Germany), vying for a substantial prize purse of US$ 2.25 million.
Aston Martin’s new Vantage GT3 continues its hunt for glory in the world’s two most prestigious endurance racing series, as the FIA World Endurance Championship [WEC] and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship [IMSA] resume this weekend.
The WEC begins its European leg on Sunday with the 6 Hours of Imola (ITA), and an inaugural visit to one of the continent’s best-known circuits, before heading to Spa-Francorchamps (BEL) on 11 May, and then the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 15-16 June. Meanwhile IMSA heads to the world famous Long Beach street track for its first sprint race (100 minutes) of the season. A second-place finish in the brand-new LMGT3 class for the Heart of Racing (HoR), and third for D’station Racing, made Aston Martin the only one of the nine GT manufacturers present to score a WEC double podium finish at the season-opening 1812km of Qatar in March. It means both teams arrive in Italy in strong form.
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