Adam anticipating Aston Martin assault on Nurburgring 24

Thursday, May 14, 2015

It's been a hectic start to the 2015 season for Aston Martin factory racing driver Jonny Adam, competing in no less than eight major race events over the past month.

However, this weekend he joins his Aston Martin Racing team-mates Mathias Lauda and Richie Stanaway in a works #006 V12 Vantage GT3 for the sternest test of the year so far - a trip to the infamous 'Green Hell' of the Nurburgring for the annual 24hr race on 16/17 May.

You've had a packed schedule, but how has the season started for you on track?

It's absolutely flown in, but it's been great to have three different campaigns on the go with totally different goals to aim for.

British GT with Beechdean has been up and down in the two rounds so far. We've been really strong in qualifying which has been ideal, but while we've picked up one win we've had mixed fortunes in the other races. We're sitting fourth in the championship so in good shape though, and we just need to ensure we maximise our performances at Silverstone and Spa to stay in the title hunt.

I've only done one event In the Blancpain Endurance Series with Oman Racing so far, which was at Monza. It was a great experience to race there but we knew it was going to be tough to do well on a circuit that played to the strengths of the Ferraris, so we're looking forward to the next round at Silverstone where we know the Aston is very strong.

From an AMR factory point of view it's been a pleasure to help the guys out at the FIA WEC round at Spa and the preparation for the N24 this weekend has been excellent, so we're as ready as we'll ever be for the challenge.

How do you rate your chances the Nurburgring 24hrs?

Aston Martin Racing has put together a really ambitious programme for this event and it's our aim to take challenge to the big German manufacturers in their own back yard.

Make no mistake though, it's one of the toughest events out there. It looks like there will be around 240 cars taking part across all the classes, the weather is unpredictable, the circuit unforgiving and there is also the added issue of the recently introduced speed restrictions for the GT3 class this year.

That said we've done our homework and been there and raced with the speed limits in place and the system seems to be working fine, so that shouldn't be a major factor. My team-mates Mathias and Richie are on top form and coming off the back of some good results in their programmes, so we're all feeling good about our prospects of putting in a strong challenge.

Your name has been linked with Hollywood recently, are you about to become a film star?

Acting is not really my thing, although I could probably do the stunt driving for Bond in an Aston Martin if required. You must be referring to Great British Bake-Off star Paul Hollywood, who I've been coaching and racing alongside in some UK events to help him build up his experience.

He's a great guy and we won our class in the GT Cup at Brands Hatch last weekend in the Beechdean Aston Martin Vantage GT4 which was fun.

Sadly I've learned no new baking skills from him, cooking is not really one of my strong points either!

Any other highlights of the season that stick out so far?

Seeing Beechdean's Ross Gunn and Jamie Chadwick dominate the GT4 class in British GT. They've really clicked with the team and the car and it's been a great buzz to see them progress so quickly. Driving alongside them and Andrew Howard when Beechdean won the recent Britcar 24-Hour race at Silverstone was really enjoyable.

I'm also already looking forward to driving at the Aston Martin Festival at Le Mans in the summer, it will be amazing to see such a huge variety of Aston models on track at the same time.

Source - Jonny Adam Racing