Double ADAC GT4 champion Mike David Ortmann has become the latest aspiring GT racer to graduate top of the class in the Aston Martin Racing (AMR) Driver Academy.
The 24-year-old from Berlin, Germany, joins a growing list of Aston Martin star graduates that includes IMSA GTD Pro race winner Ross Gunn, 2022 IMSA GTD champion Roman De Angelis, works driver and reigning Le Mans Cup champion Valentin Hasse Clot, former British GT4 champion Tom Canning and most recently Romain Leroux.
Ortmann, who has reigned supreme in Germany’s leading GT4 category with his PROsport Racing Aston Martin Vantage for the past two seasons, stood out among more than 20 candidates through 2023 and excelled in all aspects of the Academy process. The German, who dovetailed his GT4 class activities with stints in the Vantage GT3 in the Nürburging Langstrecken Series on the fearsome Nordschleife, plans to race in Europe with the new Vantage GT3 in 2024.
Ortmann said of his AMR Driver Academy graduation: “It is an honour for me win the AMR Driver Academy in 2023. This last year has been an amazing journey and I’m so thankful for all the support and opportunities I’ve had. I can’t wait to get the 2024 season started with the new Vantage GT3. I plan to work even harder to make another step forward, both in terms of my skillsets and my career goals.”
The AMR Driver Academy is an annual initiative designed to fast-track talent from within its thriving partner team network and is another way for Aston Martin to contribute back to motorsport by investing in and honing future talent.
A unique and unrivalled platform for learning and development with an established manufacturer, this essential initiative is fine-tuned every year and improved to effectively coach drivers in the early stages of their careers. Competitors aged between 17 and 26 with Vantage GT3 and GT4 race programmes in recognised championships are eligible. The prize on offer for the successful graduate includes financial support towards their 2024 race programme, as well as assistance and guidance from the factory, tailored to their season plans. Further evaluation of the most outstanding candidates may also include a test in a Vantage GT3 at the end of the 2024 season.
The candidates benefit from an exclusive seminar that includes media training, simulator training and bespoke guidance on physical preparation and nutrition. AMR in-house commercial staff will provide key marketing and sponsorship advice and there is a factory-based engineering workshop to further the candidates’ understanding of how to competitively set-up Vantage.
The judging panel, which includes three-time 24 Hours of Le Mans class winner and 2023 Rolex 24 at Daytona GTD class champion Darren Turner (GB), four-times British GT champion Jonny Adam, former Academy winner and works driver Valentin Hasse Clot, AMR Head of Performance Gus Beteli and Head of AMR Partner Racing Huw Tasker, will evaluate each drivers’ 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.
Adam Carter, Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport, said: “We are delighted to see Mike David graduate. Since he began racing Vantage back in 2021, he has consistently produced outstanding results and has shown all the qualities and characteristics that made his predecessors stand-out as AMR Driver Academy graduates – we expect that to continue through 2024. As a mechanism for assessing and identifying outstanding talent within our partner ranks, the AMR Driver Academy is an essential tool and one we value highly.”
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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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