Happy New Year and here's to a great 2023!!!
Saturday, December 31, 2022
After a much-needed Festive break, we just want to wish one and all a Happy New Year as we quickly look forward to what will become yet another exciting year of Aston Martin Racing powered motorsport in 2023.
Riding high upon the successes of last year with multiple Championship/Series/Class wins within the likes of the GT America, IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship, World Endurance Championship, British GT and in ADAC GT4 Germany for several AMR powered teams to name just a few – 2023 will again be a trying year for the now aging Vantage GT platform as the GTE variant races out its final year within ACO rules series and the GT3 and GT4 versions compete against much newer OEM creations.
We are aware of an ongoing testing programme aboard the Vantage GT3 car which may pave the way for a much-needed Evo version but that will not be coming on stream in time for the start of the 2023 season that starts just next month with IMSA again being the first major series to open their 2023 account in January at the Rolex 24 event from Daytona.
In Florida we welcome a number of returning and indeed new teams to the family as four Vantage GTD cars are due to compete within that headline WeatherTech Sportscar Championship opener with at least that number again within the supporting Michelin Pilot Challenge Series. That will be in addition to any GT4 cars potentially competing within the new for 2023 Sportscar Challenge Series as well as full entries list for all series have yet to be officially confirmed.
The Heart of Racing’s GTD and GTD Pro entries in IMSA are complemented with both the return of Magnus Racing and their GTD entry as well as the new Team TGM with TF Sport GTD entry for that event.
Then in Michelin Pilot Challenge, we bid farewell to last season’s Champions in Alan Brynjolfsson and Trent Hindman as they step up to the IMSA GTD class with a Porsche but welcome (to date) four new AMR powered entries from Team TGM, Van Der Steur Racing and Coleman Racing in their place with at least three further crews potentially waiting in the wings.
This all kicks off at the annual Roar before the 24-official test at the Daytona International Speedway starting on the 20th January, just a week before the opening rounds.
In other Series in January, we expect to see at least one Vantage GT8R compete within the GT New Zealand Series that kicks off at Highlands Park a week earlier than the Roar before the diary starts to get busy again with both the Asian Le Mans Series four quick fire rounds as well as expected Vantage GT4 participation within the Spanish rounds of the GT Winter Series in February.
Whilst we wait for all of that and the inevitable plethora of programme announcements from other teams for their seasons ahead – we wish you all a happy, safe and prosperous New Year and we will hopefully be seeing you back in 2023.
Photo Credits - HoRT / Jamie Price / Teams / Halston Pitman
