Already fielding the one such AMR powered within the #19 car for team owner Claude Bovet and Team Manager David McDonald alongside that of Ferrari Challenge racer Jason Ambrose, the Blackthorn ARM team will also be entering a second Vantage GT3 Evo for their 2024 British GT crew of Giacomo Petrobelli and Jonny Adam who will race alongside Charles Bateman.

That news comes in addition to drivers Gabriel Rindone, Jamie Day and Mattia Drudi taking charge of the #89 EBM Vantage GT3 Evo from that of Tanoto Santoso, Brendon Leitch and Marco Sorensen who crewed the car last time out in Malaysia.

These changes and additions take the GT class headcount to thirty cars alongside that of seven LMP3 and ten LMP2 entries for the two back-to-back races that will be ran over the weekend of the 8th and 9th February.

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media

Due to compete within the 24H Series European Series, the team was out with drivers Pablo Burguera, Kosta Kanarogloy and Antonio Sainero under the watchful eyes of AMR technical engineers and driver David Pittard.

The 2025 24H European Series is due to kick off in Mugello in late March with four twelve-hour races in Italy, Belgium, and France before rounding off with a twenty four hour race in Spain in late September.

THOR will be represented in both classes by a star-studded line-up of drivers all aiming to add to the team’s 2022 title-winning success and its 2023 Rolex 24 victory. They are joined by multiple IMSA championship-winning team Magnus Racing, and IMSA GTD class debutant van der Steur Racing.

All will campaign the Vantage GT3, which triumphed in its most recent major international 24-hour race, last year’s 24 Hours of Spa (BEL), and recorded class wins in all the key global endurance series in its debut season in 2024. The Vantage GT3 shares the mechanical architecture of the ultra-luxury Vantage road car. Built around Aston Martin’s proven bonded aluminium chassis and powered by its fearsome twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 engine, the Vantage GT3 is armed with world-beating potential.

Seattle-based partner team THOR, which claimed IMSA GTD title success with Vantage in 2022, returns with one car in GTD Pro and one in GTD as it hunts victory in two different classes. The 2022 IMSA GTD Drivers’ champion Roman De Angelis (CDN) and three-time FIA World Endurance champion Marco Sørensen (DEN), both of whom were part of the team’s 2023 Daytona GTD-winning line-up, will this time drive the GTD Pro class #007 Vantage and will be joined by IMSA race-winning team regulars Ross Gunn (GBR) and Alex Riberas (ESP).

Behind the wheel of THOR’s #27 GTD entry will be Zacharie Robichon (CDN), a champion in both IMSA and the European Le Mans Series, British duo Tom Gamble and Casper Stevenson and AMR works driver Mattia Drudi (ITA), the 2023 GT World Challenge Europe Sprint title winner; the latter pair make their IMSA debuts this weekend.

Once again in 2025, the Rolex 24 GTD class will be buoyed by Aston Martin partner Magnus Racing. The two-time Rolex 24 class-winning team recorded a brilliant second-place finish with Vantage at Daytona in 2023 and added a podium at the Six Hours of the Glen last year. Team regulars John Potter (USA), Andy Lally (USA) and Spencer Pumpelly (USA) are joined by AMR works star and double FIA WEC GT world champion Nicki Thiim (DEN).

Finally, the fourth Vantage to feature in this year’s Rolex 24 will be manned and run by van der Steur Racing. The team, which will contest the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup (encompassing the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship rounds taking place at Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen, Indianapolis and Road America) embarks on its first race with the Vantage GT3 following a successful year with the GT4 version in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge [IMPC], in 2024, in which it finished third in the Teams’ Championship. The #19 Vantage will be driven by Aston Martin works driver Valentin Hasse Clot (FRA), the 2023 Michelin Le Mans Cup GT3 champion, fellow Frenchman Maxime Robin, reigning Lamborghini Super Trofeo Pro-Am world champion Andrew McIntosh (CDN) and Rory van der Steur (USA).

Four new Aston Martin Vantage GT4s will also feature in the four-hour IMPC opener at Daytona on Friday at 1345 ET (-5 Hours GMT). The British luxury sportscar brand, which claimed Drivers’, Teams’ and Manufacturers’ title success in 2024, goes into the IMPC kick-starter with three teams entered. Last year’s title-winning outfit, Team TGM, returns with Drivers’ champion Matt Plumb (USA) sharing the #46 entry with Paul Holton (USA) while team owner Ted Giovanis (USA) is joined in #64 by Hugh Plumb (USA) and Kris Hilton (USA). They are accompanied by van der Steur Racing’s Christine and Ben Sloss (both USA) and by Rebel Rock Racing. Drivers Frank DePew (USA) and Robin Liddell (GBR) scored the first global victory for the latest version of the Vantage GT4 at Sebring last March are joined at Rebel Rock Racing by former series champion Andrew Davis (USA) for Daytona.

Adam Carter, Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport, said: “The Rolex 24 at Daytona is the most famous endurance race in North America and one of the most prestigious in the world so it’s extremely fitting that Vantage, a front-runner in leading series globally, is in fantastic shape to once again fight for victory in multiple categories this weekend. The strength of our line-ups – including many championship-winning AMR works drivers – coupled with the depth of the engineering support we provide to our partner teams in North America is a source of immense pride and sends a clear message as to how important adding more successes on this continent is to Aston Martin. Daytona is set to produce a thrilling event and we intend to finish it with something to celebrate as we look forward to the advent of the Valkyrie’s IMSA debut at Sebring in March.”

The 63rd Rolex 24 at Daytona will begin at 1340 ET (-5 Hours GMT), on Saturday, 25 January 2025.

Again featuring two well-known entries from both the Rebel Rock Racing and Automatic Racing AMR stables, they were both joined by another Aston Martin Racing customer team stepping up to the challenges of IMSA racing for the first time. Frank DePew was a constant within his #72 Rebel Rock AMR Vantage GT4 Evo ‘Marty’ the zebra entry of last season but both the #09 Automatic entry of Matt Siegal and the #89 89X Motorsport entry of Chris Tasco were both fielding older 17A variants of the Vantage GT4.

Starting the season under clear blue skies and sunshine of Saturday afternoon, DePew’s season got off to a bad start after multiple contact with the former Aston Martin racer Matt Dalton’s driven BMW caused damage to the Aston Martin at the bus stop in the opening laps. For the other two AMR powered drivers – it was the first of a whole lot of new!!

By the end of the first forty-five-minute races, the best result of this trio came from Siegal after he finished P24 overall/P8 in GSX whilst Tasco was further behind in P31 overall/P12 in class.

Sundays second race of the weekend was under wholly different track conditions after torrential rain and squally winds hit the circuit for the first time within this Roar before the 24 test. That meant for a race start under FCY track conditions but at the lights went to green, the spray on track intensified.

With slippery track conditions, limited visibility and bronze rated drivers out on track – the inevitable offs were only to be expected but without injury or significant damage to those involved, these periods of caution were otherwise limited to the mid-period of the race.

By the end, it was DePew who would this time take the accolade of lead AMR powered driver as he came home P24 overall and P10 in class whilst Siegal finished P13 in class and Tasco P16 to round off their opening race weekend of the season.

Photo credits – Teams / social media

Whilst the headlining Weathertech Sportscar Championship and its four AMR Vantage GTD powered crews have been going about their media business earlier today, we (yes, we may have missed it) have still not heard of why Marco Sorensen’s name has been struck from the #007 Heart of Racing GTD Pro entry but we’re sure that that will come, and the reason will be quite self-explanatory!

Early timing results suggest no issues for the #44 Magnus Racing and #19 Van Der Steur GTD’s but the #27 Heart of Racing car did only do two installation laps during the opening session, without posting a lap time. The others all finished the session comfortably within the top ten per class.

It was a similar situation within the four attending Michelin Pilot Challenge AMR Vantage GT4 runners (not a compulsory attendance required for this series remember). Newcomer’s in husband and wife pairing Christine and Ben Sloss were out in their vibrant new Vantage GT4 Evo as were the #71 Rebel Rock Racing crew (with Frank DePew also confirmed within the car for the test at least) and the new #46 Team TGM Vantage Evo.

The only issue has been with the #64 Team TGM entry – this time being listed as only completing one revolution of the Daytona circuit within the first session. The #82 Van Der Steur entry of Brady Behrmann and Sammy Smith is electively not at this test weekend anyway.

The remaining news of the day has been from within the VP Racing Sportscar Challenge Series entry for what was four car AMR Vantage GT4 powered entry.

That has now changed to just three with the #3 Fast MD Racing team electing to swap to an Audi R8 GT4 chassis instead. Drivers Matthew Siegal has now been confirmed within the #09 Automatic Racing 17A model entry with Frank DePew within his #72 Evo entry of last season again and Christopher Tasca confirmed within the #89 89X Motorsport 17A model entry as well.

This series will run its first two races of its 2025 campaign this weekend, so time is more of an essence for them that the MPC runners.

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media

Earlier this week, we saw the historic racing Oselli Motorsport team confirm their venerable #95 AMR Vantage GT4 into the GT Cup Championship’s for their gentleman driver Matt Eddolls and today, the Feathers Motorsport team have also confirmed the return of both James Guess and Tom Canning aboard their slightly newer #82 entry.

Whilst we saw Oselli look for willing participants this time last season (to no avail), it will be great to see at least two generations of the Vantage GT4 compete within the six round season starting at Donington Park in late March. We may even get to see a new 2024 Evo model run as well if that different team elects to go that way. None the less, two cars is a great start to the year.

Then, perhaps the bigger news came out today that the Australian based Volante Rosso has backed up upon their earlier disclosure and confirmed their three-driver roster into their entry into the Bathurst 12hr in just two weeks’ time.

Sporting a young but dynamic line up in British GT GT4 Silver Cup champion (and recently disclosed winner of the AMR Drivers Academy process for 2024) Jamie Day and FFSA GT4 Silver Champion Mateo Villagomez. They will race alongside local Supercars and GT World Challenge Asia racer Jaylen Robotham within what we still assume to be a 16A version of the Vantage GT3.

Day was supposed to have raced with the team within the Sydney Motorsport Park round of last seasons GT World Challenge Australia Series but technical issues with the car doing the early stages of that meeting put paid to that with Day then racing one of the team's Radicals at the event after that.

With Bathurst again featuring as the opening round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge, this crew will be running against some formidable opposition around The Mountain.

Photo credits – Team / series / social media

Starting as a racing novice within both the GT America and GT4 America Series with an AMR Vantage GT4 back in early 2021, Newell embarked upon his new career under the guiding hand of Team Manager Ian James before more that mantel was more recently handed over to fellow team racer Roman De Angelis, mainly thanks to the diary clashes with the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Having raced GT3’s on and off within other series including last weekend’s 24H Series annual pilgrimage to the Dubai 24, this season will be Newell’s first full season within GT3 and Turner’s first experience of the SRO America series and many of the circuits scheduled for this year’s seven event, thirteen race calendar.

On top of that news, the team also confirmed the return of their amazing all female driver line up within the GT4 America Series as both Hannah Grisham and Hannah Greenemeier join forces again in what maybe this time, one of the teams new AMR Vantage GT4 Evo that Newell and De Angelis debuted towards the end of last season.

Undoubtedly talented, the two Hannah’s championship ambitions were somewhat blighted with continual class changes having started within the Am class before being moved into Pro-Am before finishing the bulk of last season within the more competitive silver class. Hopefully that issue will be determined before the cars hit the track of Sonoma for the first time in late March.

Photo credits – Team / Series / social media / D Gibson