Eurasia Motorsport will team up with Aston Martin again in a bid to win the GT Class of the 2016-2017 Asian Le Mans Series. This will not be the first time Eurasia Motorsport has entered an Aston Martin having managed and run the iconic British car under the Craft Banner in the 2013 Asian LMS, successfully winning an entry to the Le Mans 24H for Craft.
Team Principal, Mark Goddard, said: “We are really happy to renew our association with Aston Martin, having run the car successfully in GT Asia, achieving a podium finish in the Dubai 24H and gaining an entry for the Le Mans 24H. The team knows the car very well, we will receive engineering back up from Aston Martin Racing and we are confident with the right driver line-up we can win the GT Class.”
He added: “Asian LMS finished its last season on a high with a good sized grid and I am sure the new season will be better again. The race weekend is now the same as European Le Mans with a four hour race and the added bonus of additional race week testing at most events. It is an ideal opportunity for good young drivers to demonstrate to Aston Martin Racing and ourselves what they can do in a GT car. ”
New for the 2016-17 championship, a bronze driver must be included in the two or three driver line-up. Eurasia Motorsport currently runs an ORECA 05 Nissan in European Le Mans, having finished sixth in the 2015 ELMS with an ORECA 03R, and it had an entry with the ORECA in this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.
“Our European campaign runs parallel to our Asian projects, the same team running in Formula Masters China in addition to Asian Le Mans and the new Asian Le Mans Sprint Cup,” said Goddard. “We are able to take a driver out of karting into FMCS, the Asian Junior driver development category, and then on to either GT or LMP.”
Cyrille Taesch Wahlen, Asian Le Mans Managing Director, states: “I am delighted that Aston Martin will compete in the coming Asian Le Mans Series and officially partner Eurasia Motorsport. Not only is it an additional prestigious brand on the field but also a sign of the growing attractiveness of the series. It tells a lot about the level of competition there will be in the GT class next season. Mark Goddard who has always been a strong supporter of the Asian Le Mans Series and the ACO shows once again the ambition and potential of Eurasia Motorsport.”
John Gaw, Aston Martin Racing Team Principal, added: “Aston Martin Racing are pleased to be working with Eurasia Motorsport again in the prestigious Asian Le Mans Series, and look forward to working together to campaign a Vantage GT3 in the region in 2016 and beyond. The Aston Martin Vantage GT3 is proving once again to be a quick and capable machine, with a winning start in a number of events around the globe at the start of 2016. It will be great to push for another win in Asia after securing the GT Asia drivers title in 2015.”
The Asian Le Mans Series starts at the end of October at Zhuhai in China, moving on to Fuji in December and finishing in January at Buriram in Thailand and Sepang, Malaysia. Drivers interested in competing in the Aston Martin should contact Mark Goddard at mark@eurasiamotorsport.com
