All-Star Beechdean AMR Driver Roster, Aston Martin’s Return To The GT World Series

Contesting with a two-car entry, Aston Martin has returned with Beechdean AMR to the Fanatec GT World Series Endurance Cup’s Pro class for the first time since 2019.

Their homecoming to full-time international competition features an all-works driver line-up, racing in two Aston Martin Vantage GT3s.

Beechdean AMR’s team principal, Andrew Howard, expressed, “As Aston Martin Racing’s longest-serving partner team, Beechdean AMR has a proud track record of success with the Vantage. For me personally, it’s a brand I have always regarded with a strong passion, and this deep emotional tie combined with the ambitions of our team have culminated in Beechdean AMR stepping into the GTWC Endurance Cup. This is the beginning of a new chapter, and together with the help and collaboration of Aston Martin, we intend to demonstrate the full potential of the Vantage in the world’s most competitive GT series.”

Notably, this is the first time an Aston Martin entry has featured an all-works line-up in the top class of the SRO-run series for a full season.

Racing the ‘Dane Train’ number 95 Vantage GT3 are the double FIA World Endurance GT champions Nicki Thiim and Marco Sørensen from Denmark.

These two racers have partnered up once again for a crack at the GTWC Endurance Cup title as well as target an overall win in the series’ crown jewel, the Total 24 Hours of Spa.

Although Thiim already has a Spa 24H victory to his name, having won the Pro-Am class with the TF Sport team in 2019.

Joining the two is another works driver and winner of the 2016 event, Maxime Martin from Belgium, who also claimed victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Aston Martin in 2020.

Whereas, in the Pro-Am Gold Cup, two-time British GT champion and 2016 European Le Mans Series title-winner Andrew Howard from the UK drives for the primary team. 

Then, in the number 97 Vantage GT3, is newly-confirmed works driver Valentin-Hasse Clot, and his 2020 GT4 Euro Silver Cup championship-winning teammate Theo Nouet, both hailing from France.

Outstandingly, Hasse-Clot has extensive experience of the Vantage, having been an ever-present in Aston Martin partner team line-ups since 2020.

Significantly, at both the GT3 and GT4 level, and for having won the 2021 FFSA GT Silver Cup, which adds to his aforementioned GT4 European title the previous year.

The 26-year-old Parisian also graduated top of class from Aston Martin’s coveted in-house AMR Academy in 2020, following in the footsteps of fellow champions Ross Gunn and Tom Canning.

On that note, the five-round GTWC Endurance Cup began with a three-hour race at Imola in Italy last April 3. 

After that, the Paul Ricard 1000 km race in the south of France on June 5, and then the TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa on the weekend of July 30 and 31. 

Rounding it up, Germany’s Hockenheim has also been added to the calendar for a three-hour race on September 2 to 4 before the traditional season finale at Barcelona on October 2.

AMR Partner Racing’s head, Huw Tasker, concluded, “The GTWC is very much unfinished business for Aston Martin, and while we have had competitive Pro entries in the series previously, for one reason or another, Vantage has not always enjoyed the success it deserves. With Beechdean AMR, and a superb driver line-up in both cars, we hope and expect to see a step forward in terms of consistent competitiveness and results. Beechdean AMR is our longest-serving partner and one we have always enjoyed close ties with, so we will of course support the team’s endeavours in any way that we can to ensure that the Vantage establishes itself firmly as a competitive option in the world’s most highly-contested GT division.”