The FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) fires back into action this weekend for the penultimate round of the 2023 season, as three of Aston Martin’s multiple championship-winning Vantage GTE return to Fuji Speedway; traditionally a happy hunting ground for the famous Wings in the Far-East.
Aston Martin Racing partner teams D’station Racing, Heart of Racing (competing under the NorthWest AMR entry) and reigning LMGTE Am class champions TF Sport are all entered in this weekend’s 6 Hours of Fuji, as Vantage seeks to record its first win in its final season of WEC competition.
Fuji has frequently been a scene of glory for the British ultra-luxury sportscar manufacturer since the former grand prix venue was introduced to WEC in 2012. In total, Aston Martin has recorded seven WEC class victories in Japan, including double-class wins in 2013 and 2019. It is also the venue where the current generation Vantage GTE recorded its first pole position, in 2018.
Since then, there have been two more pole positions that were converted into lights-to-flag victories – including last year, when TF Sport’s Ben Keating, Henrique Chaves and Marco Sørensen consolidated their championship lead with the Vantage GTE’s most recent WEC class win (and it’s third in Japan).
TF Sport, and its drivers Ahmad Al Harthy (OMN) and Michael Dinan (USA), supported by works driver Charlie Eastwood (IRL), heads to the 6 Hours of Fuji on Sunday having inched closer to victory through this season. The team has been a front-runner almost everywhere in 2023, and two podiums in the last three races mean its embroiled in a fierce fight for the runner-up spot in the championship, sitting just two points off second place.
D’station Racing, which enjoys technical support from TF Sport, returns to home soil determined to repeat its podium glory of 2023. The team’s headquarters is based less than 10 miles from Fuji, and Satoshi Hoshino (JPN), team manager Tomonubu Fujii and young British rising star Casper Stevenson are seeking to use the local support to boost their chances of a third WEC podium finish for the team.
The Heart of Racing [HoR] returns to WEC for the first time since Le Mans with its regular line-up of team principal Ian James (GBR), IMSA race-winner Alex Riberas (ESP) and Daniel Mancinelli (ITA), as it makes its Japanese racing debut. Having taken over the #98 NorthWest AMR entry vacated when Paul Dalla Lana retired from the sport prior to Spa, the US-based team has learned fast in WEC. It’s finished both races it has contested and recorded a strong sixth place in the eventful weather-afflicted 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.
The Vantage GTE is a 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. In all its variants (GTE, GT3 and GT4), Vantage is phenomenally successful, and is currently the reigning Rolex 24 at Daytona and a three-times 24 Hours of Le Mans class winner, as well as defending champion in the GT Am class of both the FIA WEC and IMSA. The Vantage GTE, introduced in 2018, has recorded 12 victories at WEC level and has won two world championship titles.
Huw Tasker, AMR Head of Partner Racing, said: “We are delighted to see three Aston Martin Vantage GTEs contesting the 6 Hours of Fuji, a venue Aston Martin has traditionally enjoyed competitive form at over the years. TF Sport has been in the mix all season, and it feels like only a matter of time before the team is rewarded with a victory. D’station Racing is always strong on home soil, and we’re excited to see what Heart of Racing can achieve on the team’s first visit to Fuji. There are only two races left for this iteration of the wonderful Vantage GTE, which has proved so successful, and yet we see no signs of it fading in competitiveness and we are hoping that it can bow out on the high its pedigree deserves.”
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Nissan Formula E Team secured race victory in the final event of the 2023/24 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, with Oliver Rowland putting in a masterful drive in the season-ending Round 16 at the London E-Prix.
The new Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH has hit the track for the first time, as Aston Martin with The Heart of Racing begins a comprehensive testing programme ahead of the British ultra-luxury sportscar brand’s bid to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans outright next year and for the first time since 1959.
The new Hypercar, developed by Aston Martin Performance Technologies and works team The Heart of Racing, completed a shakedown and initial evaluation testing in the UK this week, The car was driven by Aston Martin High Performance development driver Darren Turner (GBR), The Heart of Racing’s Mario Farnbacher (DEU) and Harry Tincknell (GBR), who won the LMGTE class of the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans with Aston Martin.
Aston Martin with The Heart of Racing will now commence a full development schedule to prepare the car ahead of FIA homologation in the autumn and its competitive debut in early 2025. The Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH is the first racing car to be built to Hypercar regulations to contest both the FIA World Endurance Championship [WEC] and the US-based IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship [IMSA] simultaneously.
The Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH is unique in the top Hypercar class of global endurance motorsport in that it is the only one among its contemporaries to derive its roots from an existing production-based extreme performance car – Aston Martin Valkyrie, the ultimate hypercar. Works team The Heart of Racing will enter two Valkyrie AMR-LMH contenders in WEC and a single car in IMSA in 2025.
Adam Carter, Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport, said: “The Valkyrie AMR-LMH sets its own standard as a thoroughbred endurance competition car. It is a pure, leading edge racing machine, and while it is very early in the testing cycle, from what we have witnessed so far, we are satisfied that it is achieving the targets and criteria we have set out for it to accomplish.”
The last day of the 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed was nothing short of spectacular. Over the five-day event, hundreds of vehicles, ranging from turn-of-the-century machines to modern hypercars, took on the iconic 1.16-mile hill climb. This year, the top 10 fastest cars showcased a thrilling mix of vintage Formula One racers and cutting-edge sports cars. Some were veterans of the hill climb, while others made their debut in style. Let's dive into the details of the 10 fastest cars at this year's event.
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