This weeks other news
Wednesday, March 13, 2019
This weekend sees the start to the 2019 Australian GT Championship from Albert Park where the GT cars will again make up part of the supporting programme to the opening round of the FIA Formula One Championship around the park based road circuit.
Again running a four - twenty five minute race programme, we are led to believe that the Championship will this year figure sadly just a single Aston Martin Racing car - that being in the hands of former Australian GT owner Tony Quinn.
We won't be seeing back the 2018 GT4 Championship winner Jeremy Gray and his Bilstein liveried AMR Vantage GT4 in the Championship either as he has since moved onto other projects but we should at least be seeing another few more outings of Quinn's V12 Vantage GT3 in the championship before the expected arrival of his new turbo charged V8 Vantage GT3 later in the season.
Video clips posted by the championship definately showed a rear exhausted car under the Vantage GT3 cover in the paddock earlier this week.
The series shall feature one race per day between now and Sunday.
Back in United States, we don't only have the reconvening of the World Endurance Championship at Sebring but also the next round of the 2019 Michelin Pilot Challenge Series under the IMSA package that the WEC is supporting this weekend.
Florida Based Automatic Racing had an awesome opening round to the season last time out in support of the Daytona 24 event when the then #99 car of Kris Wilson and Gary Ferrera secured a ultra close P2 finish after a last gasp draught to the finishing line.
Also significant at the event was the acquisition by the team of the first new 2019 generation Aston Martin Racing V8 Turbo Vantage GT4 in time for the race. Whilst running under a temporary waiver from IMSA due to its then non homologated state we understand that AMR have indeed paid a pro-rota'd amount of this Manufacturer engagement fee to be able to run their car in the series.
Whilst the new Vantage ran at Daytona in its manufactured white base coat, it will be wearing its colourful Invisible Glass livery out in the sun at Sebring for round two this time bearing the racing number #99 with Rob Elkin Jnr and Rain Abdolvahabi again behind the wheel.
We may even hear news form the team confirming the order for a second 2019 generation Vantage GT4 as suggested back at Daytona!
Photo credits - IMSA / Automatic Racing / Australian GT