Aston Martin returns to the top class of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS for the first time since 2022 with its strongest ever line-up at Paul Ricard as the new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 makes its debut in the opening round of the world’s most competitive GT-only series this weekend.
Two powerhouse GT teams, the reigning Fanatec GT Europe Endurance Cup Gold Teams’ champion Comtoyou Racing and the 2018 Spa 24 Hours overall winner Walkenhorst Motorsport, have joined the Aston Martin Racing partner team roster for 2024 and both bring stellar driver line-ups with them. Their combined entry amounts to seven new Aston Martin Vantage GT3s across the series’ various classes.
Meanwhile, in North America, the decorated Flying Lizard Motorsports team will race a new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in the first round of the GT World Challenge America at Sonoma Raceway, making eight new Vantage GT3s racing around the world this weekend.
“The fact that there are eight new Vantage GT3s racing in major championships on both sides of the Atlantic speaks for itself in terms of the reception the car has received from new and existing partner teams. Having two significant and established squads like Comtoyou Racing and Walkenhorst Motorsport sign-up to the AMR partner roster is a strong indication of the level of confidence we share in the new Vantage and its ability to meet the specific challenges of the GT World Challenge in Europe and elsewhere,” said Adam Carter, Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport.
“The car is still in its infancy but has already shown great potential both in the FIA World Endurance Championship and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The Fanatec GT World Challenge has always proved a tough nut for Aston Martin to crack, but we expect this new Vantage to be our most competitive GT3 car yet in this particular arena.”
Leading Comtoyou Racing’s four car attack is a familiar duo. Three-time FIA World Endurance champion Marco Sørensen (DEN) links up with his old friend and two-time FIA World Endurance champion Nicki Thiim (DEN), to revive the ‘Dane Train’. The duo will be joined by reigning Fanatec GT Europe Sprint champion Mattia Drudi (ITA), who makes his AMR debut in an all-works line-up for the #7 Pro Cup entry.
Comtoyou Racing will run two Silver Cup cars, the #12 for reigning Gold champion Nicolas Baert (BEL), Sebastian Øgaard (DEN) and Finlay Hutchison (GBR) and the #21 for Sam Dejonghe (BEL), Matisse Lismont (BEL) and Charles Clark (GBR). The Belgian team will also run a Bronze Cup car for the first time; the #11 Vantage GT3 will be raced by John de Wilde (BEL), Job van Uitert (NED) and Kobe Pauwels (BEL).
Walkenhorst Motorsport’s line-up is just as impressive and is also led by a full works Aston Martin driver attack in the Pro Cup. The #34 Vantage GT3 will be raced by 2023 Nürburgring 24 Hours race winner David Pittard (GBR), 2022 Le Mans 24 Hours class winner Henrique Chaves and IMSA GTD Pro class race winner Ross Gunn (GBR).
The German team will also run the #35 Silver Cup car for 2022 Aston Martin Racing Driver Academy graduate Romain Leroux (FRA), Lorcan Hanafin (GBR) and Maxime Robin (FRA), and the #36 Bronze Cup car for Tim Creswick (GBR), Mex Jansen (NED) and Ben Green (GBR).
Aston Martin is extremely well represented in the GT4 European Series, which also kicks off at Paul Ricard this weekend. Eight Vantages, four of which are new GT4s, mean that the British ultra-luxury sportscar brand accounts for nearly one fifth of the grid, thanks to partners GPA Racing, Mirage Racing, PROsport Racing and Racing Spirit of Léman.
Meanwhile in the US, the opening rounds of the Pirelli GT4 America Championship will see Heart of Racing return with a two-car entry for Gray Newell (USA) and Roman De Angelis (CDN), in the Pro-Am class and a revised all-female crew of Hannah Grisham (USA) and Hannah Greenemeier (USA) in the Am category. Flying Lizard Motorsports also runs a car for Todd Parriott (USA) and Tom Dyer (USA) in Pro-Am.
Five further entries in the separate GT America race on the same bill, including those from ProSport Competition and Archangel Motorsports means that no less than 24 Aston Martin Vantages will compete in significant SRO-run series this weekend.
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Nissan Formula E Team is excited to announce a four-year global partnership with Petromin Corporation, a leading mobility solutions provider in the Middle East. The partnership will be primarily focused on the company’s EV charging subsidiary, Electromin, as the business looks ahead to a wider adoption of electric mobility in the region.
The Mercedes-AMG ONE has been the fastest production car on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife since October 2022 and has been unrivalled ever since. The only rival is the ONE itself. Now Mercedes AMG brand ambassador and DTM driver Maro Engel has once again significantly improved the lap time he set. With an officially measured and notarised time of 6:29.090 minutes for the 20.832-kilometre track, the hypercar with Formula 1™ technology beat its own record for production vehicles by over five seconds. This makes the Mercedes AMG ONE the first road car to beat the magic mark of 6:30 minutes. It is also the only series hybrid hypercar to date to have taken on the world's most demanding racetrack and is the undisputed leader in the super-sports-car class. In order to achieve the lofty goals they had set for themselves, meticulous preparation was necessary. In addition, the track conditions had to be ideal in order to beat the 6:30 minute target. On September 23, 2024, at 6:56 p.m., on his third timed lap, Maro Engel achieved the new record. With temperatures of 15 degrees Celsius (air) and 20 degrees Celsius (asphalt), the legendary Nordschleife was dry throughout and offered perfect grip.
Like Lewis Hamilton and George Russell on their Formula 1™ race weekends, Maro Engel also had to make the best possible use of the hybrid drive's electrical energy. This is particularly challenging, especially with a track length of more than 20 kilometres. Therefore, it is immensely important to use the right sections of the track to recuperate during braking phases and thus store energy in the batteries again.
To do this, Maro Engel utilised the AMG ONE's four-stage Energy Flow Control (EFC) system and in some cases deliberately took his foot off the accelerator a little earlier than he normally would. In technical jargon, this is known as “lift and coast”. Preliminary tests in the driving simulator in Affalterbach and on the Nordschleife itself provided the necessary insights, which the team and driver were able to optimally implement for the record lap. In accordance with the specifications of Nürburgring 1927 GmbH & Co KG, the vehicle was tested and documented by TÜV Rheinland to ensure that it was in standard condition. A notary confirmed that the record drive had been carried out correctly.
The new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 heads into this weekend’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IMSA) finale – the Petit Le Mans 10-hour race at Road Atlanta – deep in the hunt for its first major title.
The new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 has enjoyed a stellar debut season of international competition. The car recorded a historic victory in the centenary edition of the Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa in June, a first for the British ultraluxury sportscar brand in the modern GT era. It also achieved Aston Martin’s first ever Autobacs Super GT class victory in Japan in the same month. As well as this, Vantage has clinched class wins in the FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA, the Nürburgring Langstrecken Series and ADAC GT Masters through the summer.
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