Le Mans Festival Aston Martin.
Aston Martin Racing hosts Michelin Aston Martin Le Mans Festival
• Race grid comprises more than 40 LMP1s, GT1s, GT2s, GT3s and GT4s
• Dr Andy Palmer confirmed among competitors
This year’s Michelin Aston Martin Le Mans Festival will provide more than 250,000 motorsport fans with the chance to see first-hand more Aston Martin Racing cars race side-by-side on the Circuit de la Sarthe than ever before.
The 45-minute event, which takes place on the full 24 Hours of Le Mans circuit on the same day as the start of the 24-hour race, will allow fans to hear the scream of the Aston Martin DBR1-2, the roar of the Le Mans-winning DBR9, and enjoy battles in the GTE, GT3 and GT4 classes.
Aston Martin Racing Customer Programmes Manager Andrew Williamson said: “There are very few manufacturers that can fill a grid with such a wide range of race cars – from LMP1 to GT4s.
“Aston Martin Racing has been designing and building class-winning cars for the past 11 years and seeing so many of them here in one place reminds us of how successful each model has been.”
Highlights of the field include the race-inspired Aston Martin Vantage GT12 driven by company CEO Dr Andy Palmer, while the festival race will also be the first outing for Beechdean AMR’s new Vantage GTE with team-owner Andrew Howard taking the wheel.
Roald Goethe will bring two cars from his famous ROFGO Collection, the DBR1-2 and the iconic DBR9, and Young Driver team-owner Jan Struve has entered their V12 Zagato and Vantage GT2.
Paul White and Tom Onslow-Cole will drive their Bilstein-liveried Vantage GT3 – the same car that led Nürburgring 24 Hours for ten hours in 2013 – while celebrity baker turned racing driver Paul Hollywood will race a Vantage GT4, alongside Aston Martin Racing’s CEO David Richards, to fulfill his lifelong dream of racing at Le Mans.
Aston Martin CEO Dr Andy Palmer said: “This Festival race is a superb celebration of Aston Martin Racing’s achievements over the last decade. Seeing so many of our iconic sports cars in action in one place is sure to provide the Le Mans crowds – many of whom are confirmed fans of our brand – with a memory to treasure.”
Aston Martin Racing’s Le Mans Festival race is sponsored by Michelin, further cementing the relationship between the two brands.
“It’s great to have Michelin as our title sponsor,” said Andrew Williamson. “Our relationship with the brand is going from strength-to-strength. Our five Vantage GTEs will compete on their tyres in the main race and now Aston Martin’s Vulcan and Vantage GT12 track-inspired cars will also be equipped with Michelin tyres, designed and engineered from years of experience in endurance racing.
“These relationships are essential to our success. We are here celebrating eleven years of Aston Martin Racing and some of our partners, such as our fuel tank supplier ATL, have been with us since day one.”
The Michelin Aston Martin Le Mans Festival starts at 11.15 on Saturday 13 June and the race will be shown on Motors TV towards the end of July (time TBC).
Follow updates from the race on social media using the hashtag #teamAMR.
Provisional Entry List:
GT2 #16 Alpha Classics Racing – Hiroyuki Akane / Andrew Jarman
GT2 #7 Beechdean AMR – Andrew Howard
GT2 #98 Gulf Racing for ROFGO – Roald Goethe
GT3 #2 Beechdean AMR – Phil Drybrugh
GT3 #21 Strata 21 – Paul White / Tom Onslow Cole
GT3 #81 TRG AMR – Kevin Buckler
GT3 #82 TRG AMR – Christina Nielsen
GT3 #11 22 GT Racing – Mark Farmer
GT3 #32 22 GT Racing – Tom Alexander
GT4 #41 Academy Motorsport – Will Moore
GT4 #42 Academy Motorsport – Matt Nicoll-Jones
GT4 #4 Aston Martin Belgium – Arnold Herreman
GT4 #19 Aston Martin Belgium – Jean-Paul Herreman
GT4 #48 Alfab AMR Eric Behrens – Daniel Roos
GT4 #43 Aston Martin Lagonda – Marek Reichman / Nina Vetterli-Treml
GT4 #44 Aston Martin Lagonda – Wolfgang Schuhbauer / Liam Talbot
GT4 #76 Aston Martin St Gallen – Andreas Baenziger
GT4 #1 Beechdean AMR – Paul Hollywood / David Richards
GT4 #47 JWB Motorsports – Kieran Griffin / Paul Dehadray
GT4 #25 Speedworks – Ron Johnson
GT4 #55 Stratton Motorsport – Dominique Bastien
GT4 #56 Stratton Motorsport – Peter Montague / Zak Mercer
GT4 #57 Stratton Motorsport – Pierre Mantello
GT4 #58 Stratton Motorsport – Robin Marriott
GT4 #59 Stratton Motorsport – David Tinn
GT4 #83 TRG AMR – Derek DeBoer / Bob Bramlage
GT4 #88 TRG AMR – Greg Milzcik
GT4 #84 TRG AMR – Jeff Huber
GT4 #85 TRG AMR – Fred Schulte
GT4 #86 TRG AMR – Alex Welch
GT4 #87 TRG AMR – Ben Keating
GT4 #24 Vantage Racing – Tom Black
GT4 #91 Vantage Racing – Chris Kemp
GT4 #12 22 GT Racing – Mika Brown / Chris Brown
INV – GT12 #6 Aston Martin Lagonda – Andy Palmer / Jason Harper
INV – LMP1 #9 Gulf Racing for ROFGO – Stuart Hall
INV – GT1 #95 Young Driver AMR – Jan Struve
INV – Zagato #59 Young Driver AMR – Jac Nellmann
For additional information:
Further information available via www.astonmartinracing.com or www.astonmartinmedia.com.
You can also find the Aston Martin Racing team on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Periscope.
About Author
