Drivers announcements from both Racing Spirit of Leman and Team Walkenhorst
Friday, February 16, 2024
First out earlier this afternoon was the Racing Spirit of Leman team who confirmed that former D’Station Racing World Endurance Championship driver Casper Stevenson will be joining their already confirmed pairing of Derek DeBoer and Valentin Hasse-Clot within the teams brand new 2024 variant Aston Martin Racing Vantage LMGT3 as they enter the European Le Mans Series.
Sometimes a poison challis for previous silver grade drivers passing through the WEC, Stevenson had to appeal his earlier gold reclassification following his first season with the Japanese based team which he also recently competed an Asian Le Mans Series season which concluded only a couple of weeks ago with them.
They will join the Grid Motorsport by TF AMR entry within the six round season that starts off in Barcelona with the opening round after the official Prologue Test at the Circuit de Catalunya a few days earlier before continuing on at Le Castellet, Imola, Spa, Mugello and Portimao.
Then off the back of this came a double announcement out of the Team Walkenhorst stable that reigning ADAC GT4 Germany Champion and the recently crown Aston Martin Racing Drivers Academy winner for 2023, Mike David Ortmann will be pairing up alongside the 2023 ADAC GT4 Germany Vice Champion Denis Bulatov with the German ADAC GT Masters in addition to Nico Hantke joining forces with Chandler Hull.
Again running one of the teams new 2024 specification AMR Vantage GT3 Vantage’s see both Bulatov and Ortmann step up to the GT3 class for their first full season together and in the car having competed in part season or ad-hoc events within that class before now whilst Hantke steps up from the GT4 class for the first time having last raced Aston Martins with the Doer Motorsport team in the same ADAC GT4 series as the others.
Hull meanwhile is already very proficient within the GT3 arena having raced various iterations of the BMW GT3 and having won the Asian Le Mans Series GT class in 2023.
Bulatov has already been confirmed as entering the ADAC GT4 Germany Series again this year within a new Sax Motorsport AMR Vantage GT4 alongside Phillip Gogollok and Ortmann is also expected to defend his GT4 crown alongside his co-Champion Hugo Sasse within a Prosport Racing AMR Vantage GT4.
Photo credits – Teams / social media / AMR