Swiss based R-Motorsport have continued their driver recruitment process with further announcements this week into their continued GT3 European campaigns as well as a brand new commitment into the competitive world of GT4 racing.

Earlier this week we had the team confirm the retention of GT World Challenge Europe Silver Cup runner up Hugo de Sadeleer alongside that of Ricky Collard who raced the teams sister car in the same series last year as well as the recruitment of young Austrian racer Max Hofer. These drivers join James Pull who was recruited into the team a few weeks ago.


The teams GT racing commitments were further expanded today with the news that they will also be venturing into the competitive world of the GT4 European Series which supports the GT World Challenge Series for most of its season.

Having only raced Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4's in what was the VLN Series and a one off visit to the 12 hours of Bathurst before, todays announcement sees that team make the first competitive use of their fleet of new Vantage GT4's (rumoured to be more than ten in number) with a so far single car entry into the SRO sanctioned GT4 European Series.


For this exploit, team boss Florian Kamelger has recruited two young guns in Seb Perez and George Gamble to see what they have to offer in a GT car together that could soon see them elevate into one of  the teams GT3 cars at a later date


The first round of the GT4 European series isn't until early May at Silverstone, UK when it meets up as the third round of the GT Work Challenge Europe Endurance Cup event.

Photo credit - R-Motorsport

Aston Martin Racing will contest the 2016 Rolex 24 at Daytona with works team regulars Richie Stanaway (NZ), Mathias Lauda (AT), Pedro Lamy (P) and Paul Dalla Lana completing the four-driver lineup.

The weekend, which takes place over 30-31 January, is the season opener for this year’s IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship; North America’s premier sports car series.

Following an extensive ROAR test session at the beginning of the month, the team returns to the Floridian circuit with their V12 Vantage GT3, confident of a strong finish in the GTD class. Testing times remained tantalisingly close throughout the weekend, with the top 18 GTD runners separated by just 1.62 seconds in practice six.

John Gaw Team Principal of Aston Martin Racing said, “Racing in Daytona is incredibly important for a manufacturer such as Aston Martin and I am confident that we have the potential to compete at the front of our class. Our drivers are well-prepared to take on 2016 and Daytona would be the perfect place for them to seal their first result of the year. It’s also a pleasure to be racing alongside our partner-team TRG, who I hope will also have a successful race weekend”.

Following the test, Aston Martin Racing works driver Richie Stanaway also commented, “After a successful test I’m really looking forward to returning to Daytona to compete in the 24-hour race. We have a great driver line-up and I hope that together we can achieve a strong result for the team”.

The team’s entry will continue to sport the white and green livery revealed at the ROAR earlier this month. The car’s livery references the brand’s exclusive Vantage GT12 road car; a 100-only special-edition, sold and delivered to customers throughout last year.

It appears that both the Aston Martin Racing V12 Vantage GTD's enjoyed a constructive preparatory test at Daytona over the weekend in readiness for the Rolex24 there in a couple of weeks time.

As announced last year partner team TRG-AMR together with Aston Martin Racing itself in full factory support, have entered a single car programme each for the opening round of the 2016 IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship in Florida.


With drivers interchanging between teams over the winter break TRG-AMR have taken on a Mexican tone with the arrival of three domestically succesful Mexicans and a Brit all all under the watchful eye of F1 star Sergio Perez. Ricardo Pérez de Lara, Antonio Pérez, Santiago Creel and Lars Viljoen join the team for this event as part of a driver development programme by Perez.

Over in the #98 AMR car, WEC regulars Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy, Mathias Lauda and Richie Stanaway all undertook the all important cross over training and familiarisation from a GTE that ether have all been used to to a GTD car in readiness for the event that has not always been kind to the factory drivers.  The two TRG-AMR GTD cars sandwiched the factory GTLM (GTE) car at last years showcase event.

In the absence of any publicly known testing programme for any of the entries all fortunately came away relatively unscathed even despite mother nature trying her best to upset proceedings and multiple red flags for incidents and accidents around the iconic track. Ultimate pace and quickest lap times not of the essence.


Also worthy of note would be AMR factory driver Jonny Adam completing his familiarisation training in the Action Express Daytona Prototype at the extended test weekend as part of his Sunoco Whelen Challenge prize.

Track action for the Rolex24 kicks off on Thursday 28th January with the race itself starting at 14:00hrs (local) on Saturday 30th January. Live streaming can be found at IMSA TV.

















Photo credits - TRG-AMR / Aston Martin Racing / IMSA / Sunoco

TRG-Aston Martin Racing is proud to announce their partnership with Formula 1 star, Sergio Perez, and an international driver lineup for the legendary Rolex 24 at Daytona, January 30-31, 2016. The team will compete in the GT Daytona (GTD) class in a full factory, collaborative program with Aston Martin Racing.

Sergio “Checo” Perez is a hugely popular Mexican driver in Formula 1 and is interested in promoting Mexican drivers seeking to compete in sportscar racing in North America. Perez’ decision to partner with TRG could not have been a better fit, as the team is one of the most successful GT teams ever to compete in the 24 Hours of Daytona, with 4 class wins (once overall) and 13 podiums. The resurgence of Mexico’s influence on motorsports has been prominent with the return of the F1 Mexican Grand Prix in 2015 and an inaugural WEC race in 2016. The TRG-AMR entry will feature Mexican drivers Ricardo Pérez de Lara, Antonio Pérez, Santiago Creel, and the team will also be joined by British endurance driver Lars Viljoen. This partnership is the first in a series of moves by the Californian race team to partner with Mexican drivers seeking a North American home in sportscar racing.

TRG-AMR will compete alongside the Aston Martin Racing factory entry from the UK in the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD class for a strong two-car program. This announcement is the first in a series that TRG-AMR is expected to make regarding its 2016 GTD season, further weaving the story of the marque’s racing heritage for a global market.

“I’m proud to put this team of strong drivers in the hands of TRG-Aston Martin Racing for one of the biggest sports car races of the year,” said Sergio Perez. “Our sponsors will love this new exposure, and I know the Mexican fans will be cheering our guys through all 24 hours!”

“On behalf of everyone here at TRG, I am thrilled to be making this announcement regarding our partnership with Sergio Perez and the outstanding driver lineup that we have assembled,” stated Kevin Buckler, CEO of TRG-AMR. “This has been a long-term project as we have been working on putting together this type of Mexican driver program since our first Daytona 24, with Carlos Slim and Jimmy Morales in partnership with the team in 2005. We want to offer Hispanic drivers an opportunity to compete in sportscar racing at the highest level, and look forward to developing this program further by creating opportunities for companies with U.S. and Mexican business interests via the exposure of motorsports. Our competition team is strong and our business development team specializes in putting together these types of win-win programs. TRG’s goals are to attract additional drivers and business partners, to compete in a full season, and to win.”


Ricardo Pérez de Lara recently was named 2015 Champion of the Súper Copa Telcel Trucks series and World Champion of the 2014 Ferrari Challenge AM World Final in Abu Dhabi. He’s also the three-time champion of the Súper Copa Telcel Mexican Touring Car Championship.

Antonio Pérez, brother of Checo, was 2015 Champion in the Super Copa Telcel, in the Super V8 category, 3rd in the 2014 Mexican Touring Car Championship, and took 1st in the 2008 NASCAR Mexico Corona Series. Both Ricardo and Antonio are currently sponsored by Mexican wireless communications company, Telcel.


Santiago Creel is reuniting with TRG after a brief stint with the team in the 2014 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge as well as the 2015 Pirelli World Challenge. He also competed in and was consistently a front runner in both the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA and Canada series. He finished in third at Virginia International Speedway in the U.S. series and at Toronto in the Canadian series. He has also participated twice in the Dubai 24 hour race finishing in the top positions of his class.

Also joining TRG-AMR for Daytona is Lars Viljoen. Since winning both his first ever Karting and single-seater Formula Ford races, Viljoen has competed in the British Touring Car Championship, Formula 3, and from 2010 has been racing sports prototypes and GT cars in multiple European series. Lars is an endurance racing specialist and is sponsored by Angela Estate Winery and Gainesway.

Source material - TRG-AMR