Three New Aston Martin GT3s Confirmed for Gulf 12H

Three Aston Martin partner teams will run the manufacturer’s new-generation Vantage GT3 in the Gulf 12 Hours later this year.

Oman Racing with TF Sport, R-Motorsport and Beechdean AMR will run a car each at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit on Dec. 15.

It will mark the first time the new-gen Vantage, which is being fully introduced to global GT competition next year, has raced outside of Europe and in customers’ hands.

The car made its official race debut in the penultimate round of the VLN Series, racing in the SPX class for 2019-spec models that are yet to be GT3-homologated.

At the Gulf 12 Hours, Oman Racing with TF Sport and R-Motorsport will both contest the Pro category, while Beechdean AMR is entered into the Pro-Am class.

Le Mans winners Jonny Adam and Darren Turner will partner 2017 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup Pro-Am champion Ahmad Al Harthy in the Oman Racing car, run by FIA World Endurance Championship squad TF Sport.

R-Motorsport, which is set to operate the Aston Martin DTM entry next year, will have Jake Dennis, Marvin Kirchhoefer and a yet-to-be-announced third driver behind the wheel of its car.

British GT squad Beechdean AMR, meanwhile, has named a four-man crew of Andrew Howard, Chris Dyson, Humaid al Masaood and works driver Ross Gunn in the Pro-Am bracket.

“Handing the keys of the new Vantage GT3s to our top partner teams to race in Abu Dhabi is the next critical step in the car’s development ahead of its planned homologation early next year,” said Aston Martin Racing president David King.

“The Vantage GT3 has performed exceptionally well in its test and development programme to date and proved highly competitive on its Nürburgring Nordschleife debut in October.

“Primarily a car built for top-level customers to race, we’re confident it will be a potent force in the Gulf 12 Hours and the feedback from our partner teams will no doubt be invaluable in refining the car prior to wider customer team supply next year.”