Jetstream Motorsport are newcomers to the British GT Championship and they arrive with a bang, an Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 for reigning GT Cup Champion Graham Davidson and Aston Martin factory driver Maxime Martin. The DSC Ed caught up with both men at the British GT Media Day at Donington Park, to get a flavour of what we can expect this season.
Graham, we met here at Donington Park not too long ago when you were racing the McLaren (a now very rare first generation MP4/12C GT3) in GT Cup, so when did this deal come together?
“It started to come together towards the end of the season and everyone was asking what we were going to do next and we didn’t want to sidestep to another club level Championship like Britcar – no offence whatsoever to those guys but we wanted to take a step forward, to progress and learn. I want to race with faster guys so that I can learn more too.
“I’ve not had much coaching at all, a couple of days from Matt Bell last year is about all I have done. I do believe though that I can do pretty well if I invest the time and am taught well so conversations started to happen about who and where do we get involved.
“We spoke to maybe a dozen different drivers over the winter and then we went to Aston Martin and had a great meeting and it all started to happen. They started talking about some interesting names!
“We made the decision that if we were going to do it we’d do it right and give ourselves absolutely the best possible chance.”
You find yourself in the middle of something that looks quite special, seven factory drivers in GT3, five of them from Aston Martin?
“Yes, it’s pretty serious stuff, a lot more serious than perhaps I expected when we paid the entry fee back in November. We didn’t expect this level of competition, we looked at last year’s results and the drivers and teams and thought, yes, we can do that!
“But over the winter it’s become apparent that it’s going to be an even bigger challenge so we need to ramp up the effort and give it our best shot. It’s great to be involved though in such a competitive thing. If we can shine this year, in this company then we can do it anywhere.”
Is this a stepping stone to whatever comes next?
If we can shine this year, in this company then we can do it anywhere
“I’d like to think so. I’d like to hope that we can be maybe going into European races and beyond but I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself!”
Let’s talk about the choice of car, moving on from the McLaren, this is a new car for you and in its final year, we believe, as the Aston Martin customer offering.
If you are to stay with Aston Martin it opens up a whole host of possibilities in a number of classes, so what is the plan for say three years from now. Ideally where would you like to be?
“Racing at the Le Mans 24 Hours, it’s a simple as that. If I can do it with Aston Martin then that would be amazing.”
Now onto Maxime. We haven’t seen this level of factory commitment before on a national GT3 level, you must be excited about the prospect of racing in this year’s British GT championship?
“It’s a big step for Aston Martin, especially in helping all of their customers. Already just having five Aston Martins on the grid it’s already a big effort.
You are up against your factory driver peers in the same car as they have, but with perhaps a less experienced team here?
“That’s why I have Graham to compensate!
“Yes its a new team for the car and for the championship. I met them for the first time at the Media Day today and it’s clear that the guys know what they are talking about, they know what the challenge is and they have a plan to achieve.
“We have a good shot to try to do something, it won’t be easy, we have to work, and to learn and improve, step up the game and see where that puts us.”
It’s been a big change for you moving from a factory team (BMW) where you had been for quite some time, but an exciting move with what is now, already, a hugely varied 2018 programme?
“It wasn’t easy to make the decision to quit BMW, a huge company with a fantastic history in racing but at the end I wanted a new challenge and Aston Martin is exactly the challenge I wanted.
“It’s a smaller manufacturer, but a huge name. They are putting a huge effort into their racing. For them racing is at the core of their brand, they build their new race cars at the same time as they launch their new road cars to try to get the absolute maximum out of it.”
With the new Vantage coming in GTE and with new cars coming in the next years GT3 and GT4 it is the right moment to come to a manufacturer with that history.
“Everything is going really well at the moment, there is a lot going on, we have a lot of testing and I have a busy calendar, just what every race driver wants!”
We know you are (more than) reasonably good in the wet, the UK seems a good place to come for that?
“I think we can expect a few wet races, so let’s see!
“It’s going to be hard, whatever the weather, I’m new to almost all the circuits. So it’s going to be hard to be on the pace straight away.”
It’s going to be hard, whatever the weather
As for the future with Aston Martin you want to be here long-term?
“Definitely, I would not have moved just for a single season after five years as a factory driver with BMW, the potential here is very exciting. The goal is to be here for some time, and to win as many races as we can.”
And unusually for a factory driver you have a year where you’ll have programmes in National Racing, European racing and Global racing?
“A bit of everything but let’s not forget that I have come from a German National Championship to a British National Championship with GT3 racing in Europe too (Blancpain Endurance Cup with R-Motorsport) and then WEC too.
“But it’s good to race with different teams in different places, you can always learn from them and, I hope, I can bring my experience to a lot of others in different teams and in different situations so it’s good for me, good for Aston Martin and good for their customers.”
