The TRG-Aston Martin Racing team has been busy this holiday season, preparing its IMSA team lineup of cars for the upcoming Roar Before the Rolex 24 test at Daytona International Speedway Jan. 9-11. The team will again be fielding a pair of venerable and potent Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 machines in the GT Daytona (GTD) category, as well as at least one of the team’s V8 Vantage GT4s in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge at Daytona.
Piloting the No. 007 V12 Vantage GT3 will be season-long contenders Christina Nielsen and James Davison. Nielsen, having competed with the team at Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda last season, is a rising international GT racing driver from Denmark and looking to earn her place in the IMSA record books. Alongside Christina is TRG-AMR driver and Indy 500 competitor James Davison. Davison, hailing from Australia, comes from a long lineage of racers, his grandfather having won the Australian Grand Prix four times. This driver pairing is sure to be one of the most formidable in the GTD paddock, fighting for the championship from the moment the first green flag is waved.
Added to the No. 007 lineup for the Patrón Endurance Cup events is professional GT racer and Aston Martin Racing driver Christoffer Nygaard. Hailing from Denmark, Nygaard has been racing since 2003 when he started karting. Since then, Christoffer has competed in everything from the ADAC Polo Cup to racing in the European GT3 and GT1 Championships with AMR, with numerous poles and wins in the WEC and having also set the fastest GT race lap at Le Mans earlier this year. More announcements on the final addition to the 007 car to come shortly.
Also back in the saddle in their V8 Vantage GT4 is Canadian rally star Max Riddle and sportscar veteran Kris Wilson, who will be partnering for the upcoming Continental Tire Challenge race at Daytona on the same weekend as the 24-hour enduro. They will be campaigning a limited Continental Tire Challenge season after taking home two wins and multiple fastest race laps in the 2014 season.
The driver lineup for the No. 009 GTD car is still being finalized. Selections will be determined in the coming weeks.
Christina Nielsen, Team Driver, TRG-AMR North America: “The ROAR is when the real fun of the season begins. We are heading there with a great car, a great team, and we collectively have one goal in mind – winning the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona! Of course this is only the start of what is to be a full-scale effort to win the IMSA TUDOR GTD Championship and [Tequila Patrón] North American Endurance Cup. I am super excited to have James as my season long co-driver and Christoffer for the long races! This is going to be a great year with high expectations and we are ready for the challenge.”
Kevin Buckler, CEO, TRG-AMR North America: “What an incredible year we are now poised to capitalize on. We’re heading into the holidays with our cars, team, and entire organization ready for a fantastic 2015 season and a real run at the championship. The platform that IMSA has laid out for us is just world-class. The schedule, the racetracks, and now more than ever the continued and positive support we get from their entire team – particularly on the business side. It is “our time” in sports car racing and they get that. It’s up to us collectively to capitalize on this magic. In this world-class GTD field we showed how fast and capable our program is with four consecutive poles in a row at the end of last season and I feel like we have now added one of the best and brightest talents in the paddock with Christina. This is truly a lethal combo between her, James and now Christoffer, our awesome team, our combined experience – especially in the big races – and our work ethic, structure, and strategy. We are headed into our 23rd year in professional motorsports and we plan on making this our best. We’ve got some exciting announcements surrounding our Rolex 24 and [Patrón Endurance Cup] driver lineups, new partnerships across the board, as well as an amazing trip to France this summer for all of our Aston owners and drivers to race in the Le Mans “Classic”… stay tuned!”