Two Aston Martin Racing Vantage LMGT3s confirmed for Season 12 of FIA WEC
Monday, November 27, 2023
With Championship preference being openly placed towards those OEM’s already declaring a proposed or having an ongoing Hypercar programme, things were looking a little sketchy for the longest serving GT manufacturer after the early demise of its Valkyrie project a few years ago. The recent news however of the Heart of Racing’s resurgence of the aid Valkyrie project surely did these AMR teams no harm and the Vantage platform lives on within the highest level of GT racing ahead of season 12 next year.
Today’s news sees both the Heart of Racing and D’Station Racing teams confirmed for 2024 with the customary singular drivers name against each entry.
Last year the #98 car (by virtue of taking over the Paul Dalla Lana Northwest Racing entry) sees the American team race under their more familiar #27 number with just Team Manager Ian James listed within their allotted trio of drivers. The D’Station Racing team will again compete under the #777 with AMR factory driver Marco Sorenson the only driver listed within that entry.
That means the amount of change will be quite significant. TF Sport have of course moved over to the Corvette programme for season 12 so the #777 team will be out looking for a new service provider. With the Heart car being serviced by the AMR works crew last season, it’s not inconceivable that the #777 will just join the #27 within the same garage next year.
D’Station Racing have also disclosed that Tomonobu Fujii will concentrate next season on the management of the team and with no Satoshi Hoshino listed as the bronze driver at this stage – maybe the #777 will complete with a whole new driver line up as the new class also competes on Goodyear rubber as opposed to Michelin for the venerable GTE class of previous years.
D’Station Racing have also disclosed that Tomonobu Fujii will concentrate next season on the management of the team and with no Satoshi Hoshino listed as the bronze driver at this stage – maybe the #777 will complete with a whole new driver line up as the new class also competes on Goodyear rubber as opposed to Michelin for the venerable GTE class of previous years.
These two Aston Martin Racing crews will compete within a field of sixteen other LMGT3 cars amongst a combined Hypercar/LMGT3 only field of thirty-seven full season entries.
The start of the 2024 season kicks off at the new venue of Qatar in early March with seven further rounds including the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.
