Spanish team Bullitt Racing has revealed that it will bring an Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 to the Fanatec GT World Challenge Endurance Cup in 2023.
The team will field a single Aston Martin Vantage GT3 carrying #33 with Jacob Riegel, Jeff Kingsley and Romain Leroux in the Silver Cup category.
The team’s new programme comes off the back of its debut in GT3 competition last year in the Le Mans Cup and an Asian Le Mans Series campaign earlier this year.
“This is a part of the long-term plan for Bullitt Racing,” stated team manager Steffan Pattrick. “We are under no illusions that it will be easy. We’re still a young team, growing, investing, and developing in terms of staff, knowledge, and equipment. To race against the best teams is an honour and something we take seriously.
“It will be our first season at this level, the aim is to put in strong performances and secure results that reflect the massive effort going into this programme. We can’t wait to get going!”
Kingsley has a pair of Canadian National Karting Championship titles to his name and a Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA title from 2020. His recent seasons have been spent in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the 24H Series and GT World Challenge Europe.
“Having raced GTWCE last season, I look forward to building off the experiences I had, to achieve some podiums and solid results,” he says.
“The Aston Martin GT3 car is new to me, but I had the chance to get comfortable with the personnel and logistics of Aston Martin Racing at the Driver Academy in late March. It is an honour to drive for Bullitt Racing, and Aston Martin Racing, and to be a part of the Aston Martin Racing Driver Academy. Time to get things started.”
Leroux also comes from karting, before moving to F4 in France in 2020, winning at Zandvoort and securing further podiums at Paul Ricard and Magny-Cours. Victories followed in 2021 ahead of a move to ADAC GT4 Germany where he added five more podiums to his CV aboard the Aston Martin Vantage GT4.
“I have followed the team since they started racing the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 last year and have heard many positive things from various sources,” he reveals. “This gives me a lot of confidence in joining the team for the coming season and I’m looking forward to working with Jeff and Jacob, they are fast guys and also very nice to work with.
“It makes for a strong trio heading into the season but of course, we’re all aware that GT World Challenge is very competitive, and we’re aware that it will be tough.”
Riegel, meanwhile, is already well known to the team, having made his GT3 debut with Bullitt Racing in the recent Asian Le Mans Series.
“I’m absolutely delighted to be part of Bullitt Racing again,” Riegel says. “After my GT3 debut in the Asian Le Mans Series, it is a fantastic opportunity to build from that experience in the Fanatec GT World Challenge endurance field. Being in familiar surrounding makes it a little bit easier for me. As a team, we had good laughs in the past and managed to keep the heads up even in difficult situations.”
The 2023 GT World Challenge Europe season gets underway with a three-hour Endurance Cup race at Monza on 21–23 April.
Image courtesy of Bullitt Racing
