The four-time American Le Mans Series GT champion will this weekend get his first opportunity to drive in the FIA World Endurance Championship…in an Aston Martin!

The long-time Corvette Racing factory driver has been snapped up as a last-minute addition to its driver line up by Aston Martin Racing to support his long-time friend and track rival, Darren Turner, in the No.97 Aston Martin Vantage in the LMGTE Pro category for the 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

Stefan Mücke, Turner’s regular driving partner, sustained a rib injury two weeks ago in a race at Barcelona and, although he fully intends to drive this weekend, he found in practice that he was in considerable pain. After being contacted by Aston Martin Team Principal John Gaw, Olly was delighted to be able to step in as a third driver for that car to back up Mücke and Turner.

With the full agreement and co-operation of all parties, Olly now looks forward to being the fourth driver to do ‘double-duty’ this weekend by racing in both the ALMS and the WEC.

“The opportunity has come out of the blue due to Stefan’s unfortunate accident,” he said. “It’s a great chance for me to compete both in the ALMS with Corvette Racing and in the WEC with Aston Martin Racing, but I wish him a speedy recovery first and foremost. Both the cars I will be in this weekend are leading their championships and I am very aware of my responsibilities to all parties.

“I have to thank GM Racing boss Mark Kent for allowing me to do this and I feel a lucky boy to be in both cars in such competitive events. It’s also a little odd! For pretty much all my Corvette Racing career I’ve raced against Aston Martin and now I am able to do this because there are no Corvettes in the LMGTE Pro class. Odd but great.”

Stefan added: “It’s great to have Olly in the car. He’s a very good driver and we’re looking forward to having his support this weekend. He did a few laps yesterday and was on the pace in the Vantage GTE really quickly.”