Three Aston Martin Vantage GT4 kick off the 2025 VP Racing Sportscar Challenge at Daytona
Monday, January 20, 2025
After the success of the LMP3 and GTX (GT4) classes last season, the GTDX (GT3) class was added for this season and that has helped swell the numbers up to thirty-three entries for last weekend’s opening two races of the season.
Again featuring two well-known entries from both the Rebel Rock Racing and Automatic Racing AMR stables, they were both joined by another Aston Martin Racing customer team stepping up to the challenges of IMSA racing for the first time. Frank DePew was a constant within his #72 Rebel Rock AMR Vantage GT4 Evo ‘Marty’ the zebra entry of last season but both the #09 Automatic entry of Matt Siegal and the #89 89X Motorsport entry of Chris Tasco were both fielding older 17A variants of the Vantage GT4.
Starting the season under clear blue skies and sunshine of Saturday afternoon, DePew’s season got off to a bad start after multiple contact with the former Aston Martin racer Matt Dalton’s driven BMW caused damage to the Aston Martin at the bus stop in the opening laps. For the other two AMR powered drivers – it was the first of a whole lot of new!!
By the end of the first forty-five-minute races, the best result of this trio came from Siegal after he finished P24 overall/P8 in GSX whilst Tasco was further behind in P31 overall/P12 in class.
Sundays second race of the weekend was under wholly different track conditions after torrential rain and squally winds hit the circuit for the first time within this Roar before the 24 test. That meant for a race start under FCY track conditions but at the lights went to green, the spray on track intensified.
With slippery track conditions, limited visibility and bronze rated drivers out on track – the inevitable offs were only to be expected but without injury or significant damage to those involved, these periods of caution were otherwise limited to the mid-period of the race.
By the end, it was DePew who would this time take the accolade of lead AMR powered driver as he came home P24 overall and P10 in class whilst Siegal finished P13 in class and Tasco P16 to round off their opening race weekend of the season.
Photo credits – Teams / social media