FIA WEC: TF Sport confirm intentions for the 2018/2019 "Super Season"

Since its inception in 2014, TF Sport has enjoyed phenomenal success in GT Racing with championship honours in the Blancpain Endurance Cup, Michelin Le Mans Cup, British GT as well as wins and a title challenge in the European Le Mans Series (ELMS). Now the British-based team, which continues to enjoy factory support from Aston Martin Racing, is delighted to confirm that it will compete in the 2018/19 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) ‘super-season’ in the GT-Am category subject to entry acceptance.

The successful partnership of Salih Yoluc and Euan Hankey is set to continue, the pair stepping up to WEC from ELMS, alongside UK rising star Charlie Eastwood.

Yoluc and Hankey have competed together with TF Sport with great success, winning the teams’ championship in 2016 in the Michelin Le Mans Cup on the back of two wins. In 2017 they raced in ELMS, taking victory in the opening round at Silverstone and then securing multiple podium positions on the way to a fighting second position in the championship.

Eastwood joins TF Sport having wrapped up the Porsche Carrera Cup in the UK in 2017. The Belfast born driver enjoyed a successful karting background from 2004 – including the Rotax World Championship in 2012 and the European championship in 2013. He then started his single seater career in Formula 4 in 2014 before taking on the challenge of the Toyota Racing Series in New Zealand. A move to Formula Renault followed but it was the move to the Porsche Carrera Cup that brought him onto the GT radar in 2016.

With everything now in place, TF Sport, Yoluc, Hankey and Eastwood are set to embark on a programme at the very pinnacle of GT racing as they prepare for the eight-round 2018/19 championship which gets underway in May 2018 at Spa Francorchamps. This is followed by no less than two races at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, as well as rounds in Japan, China and the US in what really is a super-season at the very highest level in motorsport.

Tom Ferrier, TF Sport Sporting Director

"It’s a huge honour to be competing in the World Endurance Championship next year; it’s by far our biggest ever programme and it underlines the strength of our team at every level. We have had huge success in the past two years in very tough championships such as Blancpain and ELMS so I feel we are ready to move up. "We have a really big challenge in WEC but we’re confident that we will be competitive and deliver the results that we, our supporters and partners, now expect from us."

Salih Yoluc

"As a team, it is very exciting for all of us to be on the very highest stage of sports car racing. I'm really looking forward to exciting races and of course our first WEC win! We've been quite unlucky in ELMS this year in so many ways, but I hope we were just suffering a little to make the future victories even sweeter, with a change in fortune. “Being able to fight to be a world champion and also a 24 Hours of Le Mans winner is something very special and we'll do our best and make sure we enjoy the journey.”

Euan Hankey

“Myself, Salih, Charlie and TF Sport are really on a fantastic journey and it’s great to be a part of this programme. We’re under no illusions as to how hard WEC will be as it’s the very very top category of racing in the world. But in saying that, we’ve got a great track record, a mega team, so there’s no reason why we can’t build and continue to show what we can do, even in WEC!”

Charlie Eastwood

“It’s going to be a big challenge to step up to what is the very top in GT Racing; it’s a big old step. With the line-up we have, we’re confident we’ll be quick in each of our driver categories. I won the Carrera Cup in 2017 but remain Silver, so it’s the ideal partnership with Salih and Euan.

“I met with Tom (Ferrier) and some of the guys in the team five weeks ago for the first time and it was a great meeting. It really kick-started the talks and the Friday before Christmas it was all confirmed. It’s great to know so far in advance what you’re doing for the coming season and with Tom’s amazing record with TF Sport and the driver combination we have, we’re all pretty buzzed up and raring to go.

“There’s a lot of unknowns for all of us obviously, but we’re looking forward to the challenge. I know Silverstone and Le Mans and we’re planning on a good test programme. So as a team we all have the same desire and I can’t wait to get started!”

FIA WEC: New Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTE revealed tonight

Aston Martin Racing revealed its new weapon for the FIA World Endurance Championship today in London: the all new Vantage GTE.  The new challenger will take on the competition on the 2018/19 super season all around the world, with highlights at Sebring and the 24 Hours of Le Mans; 

Built to comply with the FIA’s strict GTE class regulations, the new Vantage GTE takes the road car’s core design and dynamic capabilities to a whole new level through extensive optimisation of the powertrain, chassis and aerodynamics. The car has been designed and engineered in-house at AMR’s headquarters in Banbury, and led by Technical Director Dan Sayers, who also led the design and development of the current V8 Vantage GTE - the car credited with 36 of the team’s 50 international race victories, including two Le Mans 24 Hour class wins.

Before the launch of the all new Vantage, the development has been long going already and is well advanced, with up until now more than 13.000 km of testing completed. A 30 hour endurance test in Navarra and a very intense test programme at Sebring have been the highlights in the testing programme so far. Reliability has been reported to be exceptional straight out of the box, while the drivers have reported the car is easier to control on the limit than its predecessor. The engine in the new Vantage GTE is also brand new, and no longer normally aspirated.  The new powerhouse of the Vantage is based on the turbocharged Mercedes AMG 4.0 litre V8 engine which also features in the new road car Vantage, and has been developed for use in the Vantage GTE application by Aston Martin Racing.

With a new car to develop, Aston Martin Racing has kept its highly experienced and successful  driver line-up. This year’s Le Mans 24 Hours GTE Pro class winners Darren Turner and Jonny Adam have been retained, as have the Danish duo and 2016 FIA WEC GTE Pro world champions, Nicki Thiim and Marco Sørensen. In addition, AMR has recruited ex-GP2 race winner and now Formula E racer Alex Lynn. Further driver announcements will be forthcoming.

Aston Martin Racing has also announced a few new technical partners who have been involved in the development of the new Vantage and will be working with the team: Alcon for the braking system, Öhlins for the suspension and the return Michelin for a bespoke tyre programme, after racing with Dunlop for the past few years. Also, the in-house Aston Martin Design team, led by Chief Creative Officer Marek Reichman have taken their intimate knowledge of the road Vantage styling and amplified it for the WEC version. 

Aston Martin Racing Technical Director, Dan Sayers: “Designing and developing this new car has been an extremely satisfying process. We’ve collaborated closely with the Aston Martin’s Gaydon headquarters to develop the road and race cars in parallel. Attention to detail has been a priority at every step of this process and we’ve made big improvements in each area of the car. We’ve spent every second optimising the design right until the build of our test car, which has paid dividends during our current testing schedule. This project has been one of the most intensive but also rewarding of my career so far”.

Managing Director, Aston Martin Racing John Gaw: “It’s terrific to be involved in this exciting new chapter for Aston Martin Racing. The increasingly tough competition in the GTE class and the prospect of two visits to Le Mans and a return to Sebring within the 2018/19 super-season is thoroughly tantalising. To conduct the development process of this car so closely with Aston Martin’s design and engineering teams was essential for both road and race car to retain the same underlying DNA. We believe the Vantage GTE will bring further success worldwide to Aston Martin Racing in the coming years”.

President of Aston Martin Racing, David King: “Motorsport is fundamental to the DNA of Aston Martin and our commitment to the FIA World Endurance Championship is stronger than ever. This is a golden era for GT racing and today’s launch of the new Vantage GTE will ensure that Aston Martin Racing remains at the forefront of the world’s greatest endurance series. The team has enjoyed incredible success over recent years with the outgoing V8 Vantage GTE and while this will hold fond memories for me, I can’t wait to see the new car race in anger at Spa next year and continue to write motorsport history”.

Kristof Vermeulen. 

FIA WEC 2017: GTE Pro driver line-ups confirmed for Le Mans

At the first day of the FIA WEC prologue in Monza, Porsche announced its GT driver pairings for the Le Mans 24 Hours in June. With this announcement, all driver pairings for the GTE Pro class in Le Mans are now confirmed, except for Corvette.

Patrick Pilet will join Richard Lietz and Frédéric Makowiecki in the #91 Porsche 911 RSR. The third driver for the #92 car will be Dirk Werner, who will be joining Michael Christensen and Kévin Estre. 

“Choosing the drivers for the most important race of the year was actually easy,” said Head of Porsche Motorsport Dr Frank-Steffen Walliser. “Our driver squad is so strong we basically couldn’t make a mistake. Patrick Pilet and Dirk Werner are the perfect complement to our regular team members. It is definitely an advantage that they all know each other very well from the races in the USA. We’re in an excellent position for Le Mans with these drivers.”

Earlier this week, on Thursday, Aston Martin Racing also confirmed its driver line-ups for the round the clock race at Le Mans. 

Brazilian driver Daniel Serra will join Aston Martin Racing for Le Mans this year, making his debut in the FIA WEC. Serra has already completed countless laps in the team’s V8 Vantage GTE throughout an intensive testing and development programme with tyre supplier Dunlop. He will race alongside Darren Turner and Jonny Adam in the #97 Vantage V8. Joining the "Dane Train" Nicki Thiim and Marco Sorensen in the #95 is New Zealander Richie Stanaway who returns to the FIA WEC.  In preparation for Le Mans, Serra and Stanaway will join the team in the 6 hours of Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps. 

Aston Martin Racing Team Principal Paul Howarth is very excited to have both drivers on board this season. Both of them bring with them the speed and consistency that we look for in any driver here at Aston Martin Racing. While Richie has of course raced with us for many seasons, Daniel is also well known within our operation. We are a team with big ambitions following our championship successes last year and while the competition will undoubtedly be tough, it is our objective to be on the top step of the podium at Le Mans in June”.

AF Corse has secured Lucas di Grassi as their third driver in the #51 Ferrari 488 GTE. The Brazilian driver was confirmed yesterday ahead of the FIA WEC prologue. Di Grassi is still active as an Audi factory driver in the Formula E championship, but has always expressed his desire to return to Le Mans after the withdrawal of Audi out of the FIA WEC. He will join Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado in the #51 Ferrari. 

Spanish driver Miguel Molina  has been appointed as the third driver for the #71 Ferrari 488 GTE at Le Mans. He will join Davide Rigon and Sam Bird. Molina has been active in the DTM in the past 7 years and now races with the Spirit of Race team in the GTE Am class, as in the Blancpain Endurance Series with SMP Racing. Molina and Di Grassi both tested the Ferrari at Vallelunga last month together with Alessandro Pier Guidi and Nyck De Vries to replace Gianmaria Bruni who left Ferrari for Porsche. Pier Guidi got the seat as a factory driver back then.

Ford Chip Ganassi Racing already confirmed its driver line-ups in February. There's one new name into the team, Brazilian Luis Felipe "Pipo" Derani who will join Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell in the #67 Ford GT. Derani impressed last year with Extreme Speeds Motorsports in the LMP2 class, winning Daytona and Sebring back to back and with some impressive driving in the FIA WEC. 

Last years GTE-Pro winners at Le Mans, Joey Hand, Dirk Müller and Sébastien Bourdais will defend their title in the #68. The driver trio already won the 24 hours of Daytona this year, and could be the team to beat again at La Sarthe. In the #66 Ford GT, Stefan Mücke and Olivier Pla will be joined again by American Billy Johnson for the races at Silverstone, Spa and Le Mans. Third place finishers at last years Le Mans, Ryan Briscoe, Richard Westbrook and Scott Dixon will also return with and unchanged line-up in the #69 Ford. 

Kristof Vermeulen. 

ELMS 2017: Beechdean & TF Sport Aston Martin driver line-ups confirmed

Reigning European Le Mans Series GTE Champions Beechdean Aston Martin Racing have announced they will return to the championship in an updated factory Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GTE car with Andrew Howard, Darren Turner and Ross Gunn.

Andrew Howard, Beechdean AMR team owner and driver, will be teaming back up with Aston Martin Racing Veteran Darren Turner. Howard and Turner, together with Alex Macdowall in 2016, took two race victories in their debut ELMS season on their way to championship victory.

The experienced duo will be joined in the #99 car by Aston Martin Racing Factory driver Ross Gunn. Gunn, 20, will continue with the Beechdean AMR squad for a third successive year, making his ELMS race debut at Silverstone in April.

Reigning ELMS champion Howard commented “It’s great to be back in the ELMS championship for a second year. Working with Darren in 2016 was essential to my improvement in the GTE car. The car is going to be very different, but last year is a great base to learn from.”

Experienced Aston Martin Racing Factory Driver, Darren Turner mirrored Howard’s previous statement saying “It’s very exciting to go back and race in the ELMS with Beechdean again this year. It’s always good to race with Andrew (Howard) and I’m looking forward to racing with Ross (Gunn) for the first time.  We had some good races last year and we were lucky at the last round to snatch the championship. I think this year will be equally difficult with even more competition but hopefully we will be in a position to fight for the championship when we get to the last round.”

“To be stepping up to the European Le Mans Series with the reigning champions is a dream come true”, said Gunn. “Alongside my British GT commitments in 2016, I went to all of the ELMS races bar one to shadow the team and learn as much as possible. Driving with Andrew and Darren will be invaluable. I’m really excited about this step in my career and I will be pushing hard for results.”

Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup champions TF Sport will step up to the European Le Mans Series this season with a Vantage V8 GTE, driven by Nicki Thiim, Salih Yoluc and Euan Hankey.

© Gabi Tomescu/AdrenalMedia.com

Championship titles at home and abroad made 2016 a breakthrough year for TF Sport, but 2017 promises to be truly momentous for the British team, which will step over to GTE-spec machinery for a dream assault on the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the European Le Mans Series. TF Sport has risen to glory relatively quickly since its inception in 2014, winning last year’s British GT Teams’ and Drivers’ titles before making history by sealing the inaugural Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup and, in doing so, earning a coveted invitation to the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

TF Sport will therefore a V8 Vantage GTE in the ELMS for works driver Nicki Thiim, Turkish Am Salih Yoluc and British Pro Euan Hankey. Thiim joins TF Sport as the reigning FIA World Endurance GT Drivers’ Champion who also took Aston Martin Racing to the 2016 GTE-Pro Teams’ title, two years after securing the GTE-Am crowns with the British sportscar marque.

“TF Sport has had a lot of success in the UK and Europe, but it has a long-held desire to go further and it’s special that I will accompany the team as it heads into this big, new challenge,” said Thiim. “The European Le Mans Series is completely new for me and I’m not familiar with all of the tracks, but I know it is very competitive, with grids full of teams who put everything into winning it for a chance to race in the 24 Hours of Le Mans". “It’s a good step towards racing on the international scene in the FIA World Endurance Championship and I’m here to help TF Sport achieve the goals it has placed over the season. I’ll pass on to Salih Yoluc and Euan Hankey all of my knowledge and experience with the Aston Martin GTE and the tracks I have raced on to ensure we’re successful, because I’m always in it to win it.”

© Ade Holbrook/AdrenalMedia.com

At Le Mans, Yoluc and Hankey will be joined by British Pro, Rob Bell, who has contested almost every major sportscar championship and event over the course of 12 years and most recently added Blancpain Endurance and Asian Le Mans titles to his previous Le Mans Series successes.

"I'm delighted to be going to Le Mans once again with Aston Martin Racing," said Bell. "It's one of the greatest endurance races in the world, and one that every driver wants to take part in. This will be my ninth time taking on the iconic 24-hour event and, with TF Sport and a strong driver line-up, we are in a great position going into the race. Salih (Yoluc) and Euan (Hankey) had a fantastic 2016 season with TF Sport and I'm looking forward to tackling the race in June with them."


Kristof Vermeulen.