Ready to take on a new challenge with a new team, Michael Marsal is set to campaign his fourth Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge season as he joins Multimatic Motorsports to pilot the Aston Martin Vantage with co-driver Tonis Kasemets.

Since making an impact for Turner Motorsport in his rookie season with co-driver Joey Hand, nearly claiming the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge championship, the 24-year-old racer has continued to grow his racing resume.

After first moving up to race in the Rolex Series GT ranks in 2011, Marsal continued his upward racing mobility again this year with a move to the American Le Mans Series and the high-capability Prototype machines in ALMS competition with Dyson Racing.

He will now add to that experience in 2013, as Multimatic has offered Marsal the opportunity to carry the flag as part of Aston Martin’s burgeoning racing exploits.

“I’m excited about joining Multimatic to race this Aston Martin,” said Marsal. “I am honored to have the chance to represent a brand with the history that Aston Martin has in the sport. This is going to be a much different kind of car for me to race, but I am looking forward to the challenge of learning how to get as much out of the Vantage and this experience as I can.”

Entering the team’s 21st year of competition, Toronto-based Multimatic Motorsports has established itself as Canada’s premiere motorsports organization and has claimed three Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge GS championships in 10 years. Being surrounded by such a capable team is nothing new to Marsal, who has already had the opportunity to race with some of the biggest names in the sport in his young career.

“Last season, I got to race for Dyson in the Prototypes and of course I’ve raced for Turner Motorsport for several seasons so now I’m looking forward to being a part of this Multimatic effort,” said Marsal. “It’s going to be a bit odd for me to make this change, but hopefully I will have the chance to race for Will (Turner) in Grand-Am again soon.”

In Marsal’s debut Grand-Am season, he finished runner-up in the 2010 GS championship and in 30 race starts has claimed two race wins, nine-top five finishes and 18 top-10 results. With so much experience in the well-developed BMW M3, Marsal is also relishing the chance to be a part of the Aston Martin program, which showed flashes of excellence during the 2012 season.

“Finding the lap times in the Aston I think will be different from the BMW and I know I’m going to have to adjust how I approach driving this car versus the BMW,” said Marsal. “But that is also a big part of the appeal for me because it will help me become a more complete driver, so I’m looking forward to this challenge. I’ve been up to Toronto to visit Multimatic, and the facility is really impressive. I have to say that the depth of what the organization is capable of is really impressive and I look forward to being part of a hopefully strong season for them this year.”

Marsal is also close to firming up his Rolex Series plans for 2013 with an announcement expected in the coming weeks.

The Racer’s Group (TRG) and Aston Martin Racing announced today the formation of a partnership to bring a factory-supported, multi-faceted Aston Martin Racing program to North America starting in 2013. The move encompasses the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series, the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón and the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge as well as plans to launch a single-make support series featuring Aston Martin Vantage GT4 race cars.

The new, multi-level partnership – TRG-Aston Martin Racing North America, LLC – commenced with TRG-AMR North America’s acquisition of 10 brand new race cars to compete in varying North American sports car series. The Aston Martin Vantage GTE will be unveiled at the American Le Mans Series’ annual Winter Test on Feb. 7-8 in preparation for the March 16 running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida. In the GRAND-AM Rolex Series and Pirelli World Challenge, the highly competitive Vantage GT3 is in its final homologation stages and will be ready to race for new customers after the Rolex 24 At Daytona. The new Vantage GT4, running in the Continental Tire Challenge, will debut at the January test days and will be ready to race in support of and alongside the highly successful Multimatic team already running in the championship.

Julian Jenkins, Vice President of Aston Martin the Americas added:  “There has long been a strong appetite from owners, enthusiasts and race fans alike to see Aston Martin in regular motorsport competition in North America, so this partnership with TRG is an excellent opportunity to further realize that ambition as we approach our centenary year.”

Leaders of GRAND-AM and the American Le Mans Series welcomed the news.

“We’ve believed from the beginning that the merger of GRAND-AM and ALMS would be a game-changer on the North American motorsport landscape,” said GRAND-AM President and CEO Ed Bennett. “This announcement by TRG-Aston Martin Racing North America is concrete evidence that our belief is bearing fruit – and quickly.”

American Le Mans Series President and CEO Scott Atherton added: “We enthusiastically welcome the return of Aston Martin and the expansion of effort by TRG-Aston Martin Racing North America. Over many seasons, TRG has been a benchmark competitor in both ALMS and GRAND-AM, scoring many victories and championships. Today, we’re marking a point in North American motorsport that speaks to the confidence of the world’s premier automotive brands in our unified vision. This announcement underscores the fact that our sport is now in an unprecedented position to grow and provide value for manufacturers, for teams like TRG-Aston Martin, for our sponsors and most importantly for fans and TV audiences.”

Buckler said that much of the immediate emphasis will be on securing customer teams to compete in all the North American racing series as well.

“We will be responsible for race car sales, race parts, at-track engineering and technical support, rebuilds and repairs and will be there with the full support and backing of TRG-Aston Martin Racing North America for any of our customer teams,” he said. “We want to welcome and assist these teams at the highest level of support and professionalism in any of the sports car series in North America.” 

John Gaw, Managing Director of Aston Martin Racing said: “We are delighted to form this innovative new partnership with TRG which presents great potential across a variety of racing competitions. In TRG we have a proven race partner who clearly knows how to be competitive and win races, helping us achieve new levels of success in North American motorsport for Aston Martin.”

In addition to managing its own race program and customer programs, TRG-AMR North America also has started the development of a one-make series with the Aston Martin GT4 Vantage. This series will race identically prepared Aston Martin GT4s against one another in a sprint race format at select venues throughout North America beginning as early as the fall of 2013. 

An integral part of the new company and relationship with Aston Martin is its North American dealership network that will work together with the new TRG-AMR North American group to explore partnership and marketing opportunities together. There are 35 Aston Martin dealerships in the US with five additional in Canada.

The new company will also create opportunities for corporate partners to participate in sponsorship and marketing programs with Aston Martin’s new North American entity. In addition to creating unique corporate partnership packages, including business-to-business opportunities, internal and external promotional campaigns, branding awareness and unique at-track experiences with guest hospitality reflective of the Aston Martin brand, TRG-AMR North America, LLC will create a specific “Arrive and Drive” program as well.  The “Arrive and Drive” element will feature Aston Martin race cars at tracks throughout North America where corporate clients, team sponsors and customers can become fully immersed in a track event, with data and instruction from the team and drivers. It will be a full-service, roving driving school throughout North America centered on an amazing driving and lifestyle experience.

California-based The Racers Group (TRG) has a legacy of motorsport success that dates back to the 1990s with extraordinary wins and championships that include the Rolex 24 At Daytona (four times, once overall), the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Petit Le Mans, four championships and more than 50 major racing victories.

Equally, Aston Martin Racing is rich in heritage. It began racing in 1949 and by 1951 the DB2 had swept the podium in class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The DB3S debuted in 1952 and won class at Le Mans from 1955-57. In 1959, the DBR1 finished one-two overall at the Circuit de la Sarthe as legendary driver Sir Stirling Moss joined the race team.

Aston Martin returned to GT racing as a factory team in 2005 with the DBR9 GT1, which went on to record back-to-back victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2007 and 2008, as well as winning the 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship.

Most recently the formidable new race cars achieved a string of successes, capturing three of the last four pole positions in the FIA World Endurance Championship, a win at the final round in Shanghai, China and finishing second in the World Championship with the GTE machine. The new GT3 had an incredible run in its debut year with 11 major victories, and the GT4 is the car of choice in multiple series worldwide.

In 2013, Aston Martin Racing continues its tradition with the advent of TRG-Aston Martin Racing North America, proudly taking the reins of its North American operation.

Former British GT championship-winning team, Barwell Motorsport, will be contesting this December's Gulf 12 Hours race at the Yas Marina F1 track in Abu Dhabi, as well as the Dubai 24 Hours on January 11-12, 2013. Barwell has a successful history in endurance events across the world, having previously competed in the 24 Hour races at Spa, Nurburgring and Silverstone, as well as other classics such as the Sebring 12 Hours and Petit Le Mans 1000-Miles.

For its first campaigns in both of these events, Barwell will be running a 2013-spec Aston Martin Vantage GT4 which will be driven by car owner, Jan Andersen from Denmark, along with Tom Kimber-Smith. Jan, who is a friend of sportscar racing legend and fellow countryman, Tom Kristensen, will be making his race debut in the car at Yas Marina having previously campaigned a Ford Escort in historic events in his homeland. Tom Kimber-Smith is currently one of the most successful and high profile professional drivers (outside of factory LMP1 pilots) involved in sportscar racing worldwide. This year the young Brit has competed in the World Endurance Championship, European Le Mans Series and the American Le Mans Series, claiming a second straight LMP2 win at the Le Mans 24 Hours. These events mark a return to a Barwell-run Aston for Tom, who first appeared with us aboard Paul Whight's Aston Martin DBRS9 GT3 at Jerez in 2010.

Bolstering the driver line-up for Dubai will be that same Paul Whight, and James Kaye. Paul was a British GT podium finisher with our Barwell-Cadena entry in 2010, and also campaigned his stunning DBRS9 with Barwell boss, Mark Lemmer, in this year's Aston Martin Le Mans Festival race. Former British Touring Car Championship star, Kaye, is another driver coming back to the Barwell fold, having driven a Honda Accord for us to the runner-up spot in both the 2000 and 2001 BTCC Production Championships. James has extensive experience of the Dubai round-the-clock event, having contested the previous four races in a variety of machines.

The Aston Martin Vantage GT4 will be supported for these events by our team partners; The Ascend Group, Primland, Wealth Management, Pradera Retail Centres, Alpine Stars, Kleers Premium Car Care Products. Barwell Motorsport is an Official Partner Team of Aston Martin Racing.

Barwell Motorsport

Aston Martin Racing is inviting race teams with cars of any marque to share the cost of an exclusive full day booking of the Nurburgring Nordschleife during the week commencing 19th November 2012.

The team intends to test its V12 Vantage GT3 as part of its 2013 Nurburgring 24 Hours preparations but is looking for at least one other outfit to share the opportunity.

Aston Martin Racing's Chief GT Engineer Dan Sayers comments: “Our preparations for the 2013 VLN season and Nurburgring 24h race were hindered by the cancellation of the final 2012 VLN race last month, so we are looking to catch up with a late season test. Given that other teams may also have missed valuable track time due to the cancellation it seems appropriate to offer them the opportunity to join us.”

Confirmation of the booking will be dependent upon commitment from other teams and the weather forecast nearer the date.

To register your interest, please call Carol Melville on 01295 754070 or email cmelville @ astonmartinracing.com.

Barwell Motorsport started a new chapter of its successful Aston Martin Racing story at Donington Park last weekend, when we ran Mark Poole and Richard Abra’s stunning new MP Motorsport-liveried Aston Martin Vantage GT3 for its first race event. This was the final round of the Britcar British Endurance Championship, a 4-hour night race held in freezing conditions around the fast sweeps of the Donington National circuit. The car certainly made an impact first time out, taking pole position, fastest race lap and comfortably leading the first hour of the race. A debut victory seemed certain, but lady luck intervened and another car spun in front of us, sending Mark into the gravel in order to avoid a collision. Unfortunately a poorly co-ordinated recovery effort by the race officials then compounded our woes, and meant we lost a total of 10 laps which dropped us out of contention for the win, but Mark and Richard then staged a superb recovery which clawed back six of those laps and netted fourth overall and third in class at the finish.

Saturday morning’s official qualifying session would decide the grid order for the race, which was set for a dusky start just before four p.m. on the same day. After posting the fastest time in Friday evening’s official ‘night practice’ session, Richard was confident of fighting for pole position, but the very cold and wet conditions and some traction control concerns meant that it was going to be quite a challenge to get the most out of the 6-litre V12 British ‘beast’! Abra delivered a superb performance, however, and fought off a threat from Javier Morcillo’s Mosler to claim pole position by 4/10ths of a second.

Richard and Javier continued their battle on a dry track during the rolling start for the 4-hour encounter, with the Mosler driver using the considerable grunt of the American machine to challenge our JCAM-backed Aston Martin on the run down to the first corner. Abra confidently held the inside line and kept the Mosler at bay to stave off this initial challenge, and Morcillo then kept him honest during the opening few laps on cold tyres.  As soon as the Barwell Aston’s Dunlops were up to full operating temperature, however, his main rival was a smaller and smaller glow in Richard’s rear-view mirror. This was a highly impressive debut in Britcar Class 1 and GT3-level competition for Abra, as he set a series of consistently fast times which absolutely demolished the rest of the field. Such was his pace that he was exceeding our expected fuel consumption figures, and the Barwell engineers had to reluctantly radio him to ease off a fraction!

Incredibly, as the race approached the first hour mark, Richard had managed to lap everyone apart from the second-placed Mosler. Although we were expecting to have to make an extra re-fuelling pit stop over our main rivals in the two GT2 Ferrari 430s (as Britcar rules dictate that you can only put in a maximum of 50 litres at each stop), our speed advantage was such that we would easily overcome this factor on our way to what would have been a comfortable race win. Richard brought the car into the pits just before the first hour was up as planned, and after the Barwell crew had provided further fuel and some fresh rubber, Mark took over the reins for his first race stint aboard the Vantage GT3. Just as we were completing our scheduled stop, the race was put under Safety Car conditions due to an incident on track, but as Mark approached the pit lane exit the Safety Car was still over on the opposite side of the circuit and thus he should have been allowed to rejoin the race track immediately. Unfortunately the marshal controlling the pit lane exit made a mistake and kept the exit lights on red, forcing Mark to stop unnecessarily. The team re-checked the track and there was still no sight of the Safety Car even approaching the start/finish straight, but still Mark and now other cars were being detained. After seeing nearly 30 seconds of our hard-earned lead wasted away by the bungling official, and the engine water temperature alarm now flashing on the Aston’s dash, we had had enough and team boss Mark Lemmer radioed Mark Poole to leave the pit lane. Shortly after this the official realised his mistake and switched the lights to green!

With the sun now having set and the circuit plunged into full darkness, Mark then carried on the good work once the field was back under full race conditions, and continued to increase the gap to the second-placed Mosler, which he was working on putting a full lap down on us. Shortly into the second hour of racing a light drizzle of rain descended upon Donington Park, which instantly made the track surface very greasy and slippery. With all of the cars on slick dry tyres, driving conditions became quite treacherous and the driver of the Mosler got caught out as he entered the first corner and sent the big car spinning across the track. Unfortunately for Mark he was first on the scene soon after the Mosler driver had lost control, and left with the choice of either ploughing into the side of the stricken Mosler or straightening up his Aston and sending it into the gravel trap. He thus had no real option and through no fault of his own ended up in the gravel bed on the outside of the corner. With the Mosler also stuck there and both cars in a dangerous place, the race was again put under Safety Car conditions to allow the cars to be recovered safely back to the pits. For some reason it took the marshals two laps before they even approached the cars and they then seemed unclear as to what their recovery plan was going to be, costing us more and more precious time. Extraordinarily they then towed the cars through the side gate on the outside of the corner, into the far end of the outer paddock area, and just left them there, without any form of communication with the drivers as to how they were to get back to the pits! By this stage we had sent down some crew members to see what was going on, and they quickly organised a tow vehicle to get the Aston back to the pit lane.

By the time we had got the car back into the pit lane after this debacle, the pit crew checked there was no gravel in the engine bay, re-fuelled, put it on wet tyres and sent it back into the fray, we had lost the one lap lead we’d built up over the rest of the opposition before the incident, and a further nine laps to boot. With nearly two and a half hours of the race still remaining, we had time to claw our way back up the order, but without any major dramas befalling the lead cars it was going to be an impossibility to recover our race winning position. The drivers and team all got stuck into the job in hand, however, and soon we were back into the top 10 overall as Mark and Richard used the car’s superior pace to full advantage.  Worryingly, however, there was a noise coming from underneath the front of the car, although the car’s performance didn’t seem to be affected by whatever it was. At the next scheduled pit stop the Barwell mechanics had a look under the car, and saw that the aluminium floor panel under the engine bay had been damaged during the car’s trip into the gravel. Although it was making a noise, the technicians were comfortable that it wasn’t presenting any danger and also wasn’t costing us any lap time. During the next stint the noise worsened though, and it was clear the floor section was now scraping on the ground, and thus we took the decision to remove it at the final stop.

The crew then did a great job to remove the offending piece in an efficient manner, and with the loss of only a matter of seconds of extra time. Mark thus blasted out of the pit lane for the final 35 minutes of the race, and drove a great stint as he matched the best times he had set in the car during testing but this time in pitch black night and on very old tyres! He moved the car up to fourth place (and third in Class 1), and was closing on the third-placed Chevron at a mighty rate, but just needed a few more laps to claim the final overall podium spot. Having been 10 laps down on the overall winning Ferrari 430 GT2 after the incident with the Mosler, Mark and Richard were just four behind at the finish after a remarkable fight back. A simple calculation shows that without the earlier delay it would have been quite a commanding victory for the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 on its debut...

Richard Abra: " Despite the incident with the Mosler our first race experience in the new Aston GT3 was amazing, it was great to stage such a fight back in the race and I’m really looking forward to getting back in the car. Massive thanks to all the guys at Barwell Motorsport for turning out such a great car, I can’t wait to have another go! "

Barwell Motorsport

Frank Yu qualified his Craft Eurasia AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT3 on pole postion for the final round of the MSS GT Series at the Sepang F1 circuit in Malaysia. On a very wet circuit he grabbed pole position on the last lap of the session from rival Mok Weng Sun in his Ferrari 458.

The final two rounds will be held on Sunday November 4th in two ten lap sprints.

Aston Martin Racing has won the final round of the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), the Six Hours of Shanghai, to finish second in the highly competitive GTE Pro championship standings. The team’s maiden WEC race win tops off a superb run of six consecutive podium finishes to prove the pace and reliability of the V8-powered Vantage GTE.

Heading into the six-hour endurance race, Aston Martin Racing was focused on retaining second position in the championship, with its sights also trained on a first WEC victory. Having never before raced at the 5.4km circuit, the team was uncertain just how well suited the #97 Vantage GTE would be to the Shanghai International Circuit. After the first free practice session it was clear that the abrasive surface and long straights would enable works drivers Darren Turner (GB) and Stefan Mücke (D) to get the most out of the Gulf-liveried racer, but its rivals appeared to be similarly well suited as just fractions of a second separated them.

Turner approached the 20-minute qualifying session with a simple plan; set a competitive lap time early on while tyres were at their peak before quickly returning to the garage to preserve them for the start of the race. His first flying lap stopped the clock at 2.03.721, which turned out to be the fastest GTE lap of the entire weekend and enough to earn the team pole position by more than half a second ahead of its championship runner-up rival, the #77 Porsche.

When race day came, fog covered the circuit causing the pre-race warm up session to be cancelled. However, as the morning passed so did the fog and at 10am local time Mücke assumed his position at the front of the GTE grid. Mucke lost a place to the #77 Porsche away from the lights having been held up by an LMP2 car. However, after 17 laps of gripping wheel-to-wheel racing, the Aston Martin works driver regained the lead and used the Vantage GTE’s class-leading race pace to pull away from his rival.

Turner and Mücke pushed hard during their one-hour stints to extend the advantage. By the mid-way point of the race, the Vantage GTE was leading the #51 Ferrari by 11.4 seconds with the third-placed Porsche by more than 50 seconds adrift.

As the race progressed into its final hours, Turner and Mücke had established a lead of more than a minute. As Mücke handed the Vantage GTE over to Turner for the final time, the Briton emerged from the pit lane directly behind the #77 Porsche. Unsure if it would need to stop once more for fuel, Turner muscled his way past to regain the lead of the GTE field, one that he wouldn’t relinquish for the remainder of the race. Turner crossed the finish line for the final time after 169 laps of the circuit to record Aston Martin Racing’s maiden WEC victory and ensure it retained second position in the championship standings.

Darren Turner comments: “We’ve had an amazing weekend. This result is a great reward for everyone’s efforts. The car has been at the sharp end in every race and the guys here have got faster and faster in the pit stops.  It’s a true team effort and they should all be proud of what has been achieved here.  What a way to end the season!”

Stefan Mücke adds: “The Vantage GTE was competitive from the start of the season when we achieved a podium in Sebring. Since then it has improved every race. The team has worked hard to get the most out of the car and it has been really exciting to go from third, to second to winning. I’m sure this is a sign of things to come for Aston Martin for next year.

“As for this race, it was one of the most enjoyable of the year. It’s great to end a fantastic season on such a high.”

Team Principal, John Gaw adds: “What a fantastic way to finish the season. We came here with the goal of beating the Porsche and aiming for a win and to come away with both is a great achievement for the team. The engineers employed a short fill strategy, which, coupled with consistent driving from Darren and Stefan and a well-prepared car, enabled us to extend our lead throughout the race.

“For the last three rounds of the championship, we’ve changed pit stop routines and personel and it’s improved our performance versus our competitors by a significant number of seconds.

“Our objectives for our return year to GT racing were to be competitive and score podiums and we can return to Banbury confident that we have achieved and exceeded these – we’ve finished seven out of the eight races and scored podiums on all of those. Everyone involved in the team this year should be very proud and we thank them all for their hard work and commitment.

“We’d also like to thanks the WEC organisers for putting on a fantastic series this year and hope to return again in 2013.”

Across the eight rounds of the inaugural WEC season, during which the #97 Vantage GTE has competed at iconic race tracks such as Le Man’s Circuit de la Sarthe and Sebring International Raceway, the V8-powered racer has performed reliably and competitively to rack up an impressive tally of seven podiums. It has covered more than 11,000km of trouble-free racing during more than 62 hours of highly-competive action.

The 2012 season marked Aston Martin’s return to GT racing; a discipline in which the marque has enjoyed huge success, most notably winning the GT class at Le Mans in both 2007 and 2008. The Vantage GTE is based on the road-going Vantage; the sportiest model in the prestigious marque’s line-up.

Aston Martin Racing