Aston Martin Confirmed as IMSA Partner, TRG Reveals 2016 Plans

Photo: IMSA

Aston Martin North America has reached an agreement with IMSA to become an official Automotive Partner, which has seen TRG-AMR confirm a factory-backed GT Daytona class effort to kick off the 2016 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.

The Kevin Buckler-led team will enter a pair of Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3s in the Rolex 24 at Daytona and Twelve Hours of Sebring, as part of a collaborative effort with the British manufacturer.

Drivers for the program have yet to be announced and is understood to be in addition to a dedicated AMR entry for Paul Dalla Lana at Daytona and Sebring, which was revealed by Sportscar365 last week.

“Aston Martin Racing is looking forward to partnering even closer with TRG in North America in the fourth year of our partnership,” said AMR team principal John Gaw.

“IMSA is an important series in North America and to lead going into the final round at Petit in 2015 was an exciting campaign led by TRG-AMR.

“Aston Martin Racing is looking forward to what 2016 will look like with the new regulations, and will join TRG-AMR for the first two critical races at Daytona and Sebring to kick off the 2016 campaign and season.”

TRG’s plans beyond the opening two WeatherTech Championship races have yet to be revealed, although Buckler is hopeful of mounting a full-season attack after finishing second in the GTD class championship this year.

“We are all very proud and excited to continue competing in IMSA, running a full factory collaboration with Aston Martin Racing, and announcing our GTD campaign,” Buckler said.

“The series has stepped up its efforts on all levels and the manufacturer alignments are critical.

“We’re really looking forward to running side-by-side with our partners at Aston Martin Racing for these two massive endurance races. We will be a powerful team and we are again looking forward to running for a championship.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John