In a thrilling Grand-Am race at Laguna Seca (Sunday 8 September), the TRG-AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT made it’s championship debut in the headlining Rolex series, with Aston Martin works driver Darren Turner (GB) supporting TRG-AMR regular Brandon Davis (US). In the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge support race, AMR partner team Multimatic Motorsports narrowly missed out on a long overdue win, with their lead car, driven by Scott Maxwell (CAN) and Jade Buford (US), crashing out in a dramatic last lap scramble for victory.
The Vantage GT, this weekend run by Aston Martin Racing partner team TRG-AMR, is based on the hugely successful Vantage GT3 but designed and built to Grand-Am regulations making it suitable for next year’s inaugural United Sports Car Racing championship season.
Turner, who was sent over to the team to help develop the car comments: “We started from tenth and finished in tenth, which for a car’s debut race is great result. We used this race as a test session; we needed to gather loads of data so that we can carry on improving it. Throughout the race the pace was getting better and the guys did a great job to help it develop lap-after-lap, as well as nailing every pit stop.
“Grand-Am is incredibly competitive and the teams here have been doing it for many years. We’d never expect to walk in with a new car and be competitive straight away but to finish, and to make such great progress, points to a positive future for the Vantage GT.”
Over in the Grand-Am support race, the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, Multimatic Motorsports had an exciting race with its three Vantage GT4s and, heading towards the final lap under the safety car were in third and sixth. However, as the green flag waved an all-out one lap sprint to the line ensued, and with Maxwell desperate to clinch the first win for the team, a big spin and contact occurred, with both cars losing out, eventually being classified 10th and 11th in the GS class.
Meanwhile, back in Europe, in a hectic weekend for Aston Martin Racing and its partner teams, V12 Vantage GT3s were in action across the continent.
Aston Martin Racing partner team Beechdean AMR took fourth in the overseas round of the British GT Championship at Zandvoort, Holland; a result good enough to secure Andrew Howard (GB) and Jonny Adam’s (GB) position of championship leaders heading into the final round.
Over at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, GPR Racing dominated in the Belgian GT Championship, taking the first and second place spots on the podium in the GT3 and first place in the GT4 category. In the International GT Open, the team also had success finishing in second place with its Vantage GT3.
In the Barcelona 24 Hours, Aston Martin works drivers Stefan Mücke (DE) and Bruno Senna (BR) joined Barwell Motorsports drivers Mark Poole (GB) and Richard Abra (GB) in their Vantage GT3. Mücke put the car on pole for the start of the race and set the fastest lap before, in the early hours of the morning, a backmarker sent the German spinning into the wall ending the race for the team. Mücke was taken to hospital but suffered no major injuries.
Source : Aston Martin Racing