Volante Rosso Shuffles Drivers for Phillip Island

Volante Rosso will reshuffle its driver roster for next weekend’s Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS round at Phillip Island, as Ross Poulakis moves across to partner Alex Gardner aboard the team’s new Aston Martin Vantage GT3.

Gardner shared the No. 14 Aston Martin with Ben Porter for the previous round at Queensland Raceway, although an accident in qualifying forced the car to be withdrawn for both of the weekend’s races.

For the GT Festival at Phillip Island on Aug. 23-25, Gardner will be partnered by Ross Poulakis, who shared Volante’s Am class Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo entry with Chris Batzios at Queensland, finishing fourth in class in both races.

Porter is away on Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS duty at Okayama with his regular team AMAC Motorsport.

“After I saw the Aston Martin at Queensland Raceway a couple of weeks ago, I fell in love, so I am extremely excited to have the opportunity to drive it at Phillip Island,” said Poulakis.

“Aston Martin is a brand I am fond of and Volante Rosso did a fantastic job in getting the car on track for Queensland Raceway in such a short turnaround.

“I think getting the drive in the Aston Martin for next week is also a reward for my efforts too as my times at Queensland Raceway were quite competitive and I was showing similar speed to the likes of Liam Talbot and Brad Schumacher throughout the weekend.”

Poulakis added he is looking forward to sharing a cockpit with Silver-rated Gardner.

“Alex has had a rapid rise up the ranks in the last year and it’s been good to follow – from an impressive stint in Radicals to test driving our Mercedes-AMG last year where his times were phenomenal,” said Poulakis. “He is a nice kid with a bright future in the sport.”

Batzios’ partner in the No. 34 Mercedes-AMG for Phillip Island will be announced later.