This September Barwell Motorsport will be adding a new 24 hour race to its roster of round-the-clock endurance events, which have included the Spa, Nurburgring, Silverstone and Dubai classics. The Surrey-based outfit will be contesting the burgeoning Barcelona 24 hour race at the Circuit de Catalunya with the stunning Mark Poole-owned Aston Martin Vantage GT3.
The black and red MP Motorsport-backed Aston has been campaigned in several arenas already this season by Mark and regular driving partner, Richard Abra, including the British GT Championship and Blancpain Endurance Series, where it claimed a superb 2nd place in Pro-Am in the Silverstone 3 Hours. For the Barcelona event the team is targeting an outright victory, and is delighted to announce that Mark and Richard will be joined by Aston Martin Racing factory drivers, Bruno Senna and Stefan Mücke in their quest for glory.
In addition to the team’s extensive 24 hour experience, Poole and Abra are no strangers to success in this racing format, having claimed outright victory in last year’s Silverstone 24 Hours aboard a BMW M3 GTR. There is no doubt, however, that Barcelona will be a tough nut to crack as this year there is a good quality entry of GT3 cars vying for overall honours, and it will be a hard test of endurance for the car and drivers alike in the Spanish heat.
Mark Lemmer, Barwell Team Principal: “It’s fantastic that Mark has taken the bold step of entering his beautiful Aston for this event, during what is basically a learning year at GT3 level for both him and Richard. They have achieved international success at this level already this season, however, and with the excellent support we are getting from Aston Martin Racing for Barcelona there is no doubt that we are in with a shout of a very strong result.”
John Gaw, Aston Martin Racing MD: “The Barcelona 24 hour race is growing in importance and stature and this year I am sure it will take another significant step forward. With Mark and Richard already previous 24 hour race winners and Barwell one of our most experienced teams running this entry, we are delighted that we can fly Bruno and Stefan straight from the WEC round in Brazil and add them to the team. Stefan is leading GT Asia in the Craft Aston GT3 in addition to his WEC campaign with AMR, and Bruno has settled in incredibly well to the team and the Vantage GTE in WEC and I am sure will do the same in the Vantage GT3, and will no doubt be as much fun to be around as he is in the factory team paddock. AMR wish Barwell, Mark and Richard well in this venture and hope for a clean run in the 24 hours and a strong result”
Richard Abra: “I love 24 Hour racing so I’m really looking forward to this! We have a great car and team backed up with strong support from Aston Martin Racing, so we have every chance of repeating some of the success Mark and I enjoyed at the Silverstone 24 hours last year. The grid looks big so staying out of trouble will be key and I’m really excited about driving with Bruno and Stefan!”
Bruno Senna: “Barcelona will be the third 24 Hour race of my season after Le Mans and Spa, and although I haven’t driven the GT3 Aston yet I am looking forward to a competitive weekend there. These races are real endurance events for the cars and so the first job is to finish, and with a huge variety of cars on the grid it will be an extremely busy track! I have had a lot of success in Aston Martins this season, so will hopefully be able to add to that in Barcelona...”
(Barwell Motorsport)
(Barwell Motorsport)
No comments:
Post a Comment