Aston Martin Announces Most Ambitious Racing Program In Its History

Aston Martin is today announcing its largest and most ambitious works race program to date, comprising a five-car campaign in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and 24 Hours of Le Mans, and two GT3 entries in the Nürburgring 24 Hours.

In its eleventh year of competition, Aston Martin Racing returns to the WEC with three Vantage GTEs in the GTE Pro class and two cars in the GTE Am class. Looking to add to its impressive tally of 19 race wins and three championship titles, the team aims to claim the coveted GT manufacturer’s title, as well as both GT titles at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Meanwhile, in its third year competing at the Nürburgring in the world-famous endurance race’s top SP9 class for GT3 cars, Aston Martin Racing is doubling its entry, underlining the British sport car brand’s commitment to top-level GT racing.

All the cars being campaigned in the WEC, at Le Mans and at the Nürburgring are derived from the sports car maker’s road-going Vantage range. Today’s Vantage line-up – comprising three distinct models using one of two advanced engines; V8 Vantage, V8 Vantage S and V12 Vantage S – represents a clear and strong link between road car and race car.

CEO, Dr. Andy Palmer, said: “Announcing our largest racing program to date ten years to the day after Aston Martin Racing’s debut win at Sebring 12 Hours clearly shows how the team has progressed, building year-on-year on its success.

“Our multiple wins last year underlines our ability to perform at the highest level and, as we look forward to the 2015 season, we’re anticipating another exciting and highly competitive year of exhilarating GT racing in the WEC, as well as at Le Mans and the Nürburgring.”

Aston Martin Racing’ s WEC campaign will continue to benefit from the support of long time partners Gulf whose famous livery will feature on three of the works cars, while more recent partners Hanergy and Valero will be represented with their own new liveries on the other two GTE challengers. Meanwhile for the Nürburgring, the cars will once again carry the iconic colors of Bilstein and Castrol.

Aston Martin Racing’s 2015 season starts with The Prologue, the official WEC test session at Circuit Paul Ricard in France on 28 and 29 March. The opening round of the championship, the Six Hours of Silverstone, takes place on 12 April and Nürburgring 24 Hours begins on 16 May.

Driver line-ups:

World Endurance Championship and 24 Hours of Le Mans
95:  Marco Sørensen, Christoffer Nygaard, Nicki Thiim
96: Francesco Castellacci, Roald Goethe, Stuart Hall
97: Darren Turner, Stefan Mücke, Rob Bell (Six Hours of Spa and Le Mans)
98: Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy, Mathias Lauda
99:  Alex MacDowall, Fernando Rees, Richie Stanaway

Nürburgring 24 Hours
007:     Darren Turner, Stefan Mücke, Pedro Lamy
008:     Richie Stanaway, Jonny Adam, Mathias Lauda

2015 racing calendar:
WEC Six Hours of Silverstone: 12 April 2015
WEC Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps: 2 May 2015
Nürburgring 24 Hours: 16 May 2015
24 Hours of Le Mans: 13 June 2015
WEC Six Hours of Nürburgring: 30 August 2015
WEC Six Hours of Austin: 19 September 2015
WEC Six Hours of Fuji: 11 October 2015
WEC Six Hours of Shanghai: 1 November 2015
WEC Six Hours of Bahrain: 21 November 2015