Aston Martin Racing has revealed its full roster of factory talent for 2024, which features nine world class drivers that will work alongside customer teams in GT racing around the world.
There are three new names appointed as factory drivers for the first season of the new Vantage GT3 and GT4 models.
25-year-old Italian Mattia Drudi is one of them. He joins Aston Martin Racing from Audi Sport, off the back of clinching the Fanatec GT World Challenge Powered by AWS Sprint Cup in 203 with four victories.
“I’m honoured to be joining Aston Martin as a works driver,” said Drudi. “I’m really looking forward to being part of such an iconic manufacturer programme in motorsport. I feel this is the right environment for me to develop as a driver and to fight together for prestigious victories in the most important races around the world.”
Portuguese Henrique Chaves, 26, also joins the AMR organisation, after playing a vital role in TF Sport’s FIA WEC GTE Am championship title alongside Marco Sørensen and Ben Keating in 2022. Despite only contesting five races, he still managed to finish third in the 2022 FIA WEC drivers’ standings. Chaves is also a former GTWC Sprint Cup Pro-Am class and International GT Open champion.
“What can I say about signing with Aston Martin? I am more than happy, that’s for sure. My biggest achievement in racing was winning Le Mans in 2022 in the Vantage,” he said.
“To have the opportunity to represent this iconic brand as a works driver means everything to me. Of course I am really looking forward to adding more chapters to my story in the future together with Aston Martin. I just can’t wait to get started in 2024.”
David Pittard is also no stranger to Vantage, having raced alongside Nicki Thiim and AMR stalwart Paul Dalla Lana in the NorthWest AMR team during 2022. The Englishman won on his FIA WEC debut at Sebring, finished the season second in the world championship standings and competed with the Heart of Racing in 2023 at three of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship endurance rounds.
“I feel honoured,” said Pittard, who also formed part of Frikadelli Racing’s historic N24 victory with Ferrari earlier this year. “To become a works driver is something I have strived to be my whole career. Racing has always been my dream, my whole life, so to do it with such an iconic endurance racing brand like Aston Martin is a dream come true. I’m hugely excited to get started and get working.”
The remaining names are returnees that have a history with the brand as appointed drivers.
Danish multiple world champions Marco Sørensen and Nicki Thiim have been re-signed.
“This is a very exciting time to be a works Aston Martin driver,” said Sørensen, who is already confirmed in D’station Racing’s 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship line-up and has signed a multi-year deal.
“I feel like I am in the prime of my career, and that I have a lot to bring to a works manufacturer programme. So, to be able to commit to Aston Martin, which feels like my family after eight years of racing, at a time when it is developing so many new platforms and investing considerable energy into its racing programmes, is perfect for me.
“I’ve been with Aston Martin for a long time, and we’ve had a great deal of success together. It feels like those amazing days when the ‘Dane Train’ was on top of the world, are coming back.”
Thiim, who embarks on his 12th consecutive season with Aston Martin, partnered Sørensen when the duo won their two FIA WEC GTE Pro titles in 2016 and again in the 2019/20 season. Thiim’s most recent success with Aston Martin was a maiden GTD class podium in this year’s Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona when competing with partner team Magnus Racing.
“It’s always an honour to represent Aston Martin, and I’m looking forward to being able to fight for championships again at the top level of GT racing with Vantage,” said Thiim, whose long list of Aston Martin accolades began with a win in the GTE Am class of the 24 Hours of Le Mans on his race debut in 2014. “There is still so much to win and still so much history to be made, I’m sure of that.”
Darren Turner will also return, for a 20th season as an Aston Martin works driver.
“It would have been impossible to imagine a journey of 20 years with Aston Martin Racing, but I’m so happy that it continues for another chapter,” he said. “Being involved from the beginning with the Aston Martin DBR9 and now looking forward to racing the next generation of Vantage GT3 and GT4 cars really is something very special.”
Four-time British GT champion Jonny Adam has also been retained, for his 14th season with Aston Martin Racing. One of the brand’s most successful GT racing drivers of all time, Adam is a two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner, a four-time British GT champion and the GTWC Europe Endurance Cup Pro-Am champion in 2017.
“I am delighted to re-sign with Aston Martin Racing on a multi-year deal,” Adam explained. “I have been with Aston Martin as a works driver since 2013 and I’m excited about the future of GT racing within our customer base at AMR. 2024 looks to be a busy season ahead and the goal is to achieve great success on and off the track for the Aston Martin Vantage across the world with our customer teams.”
Additionally, IMSA GTD Pro race-winner Ross Gunn will continue with Heart of Racing in 2024 alongside Alex Riberas. Gunn, who has been a part of the AMR family since 2015, when he won the British GT GT4 Championship alongside Jamie Chadwick and the AMR Driver Academy. He underlined his credentials as one of IMSA’s fastest GT drivers in 2023 by taking two poles and two victories in the GTD Pro class with Vantage.
And finally, Valentin Hasse Clot steps up to the European Le Mans Series class in 2024 with the Racing Spirit of Léman team having taken Vantage to the Michelin Le Mans Cup title last season. The 2021 AMR Driver Academy graduate has built consistently on his success since becoming part of the AMR works driver crew in 2022, having previously won Silver Class titles in the GTWC Europe Endurance Cup and FFSA GT series in France.
Adam Carter, Aston Martin’s head of endurance, concluded: “As we prepare to embark on a new era for Aston Martin in endurance racing, with the advent of newly-developed evolutions of our Aston Martin Vantage GT3 and GT4 platforms, and of course the Valkyrie Hypercar programme that becomes a racing entity in 2025, we’ve assembled an ultra-competitive works driver line-up.
“This group of drivers knows how to win and is expert at extracting every ounce of performance from a GT car, while at the same time harnessing the endurance capabilities necessary to win at this level. We’re delighted to welcome three proven champions in Mattia, Henrique and David to this group, and we’re excited to see what they can all achieve in 2024 and beyond.
“As we move into a period of accelerated learning and development with our various racing platforms, this blend of pace and experience will be vital to achieving Aston Martin’s goal of maintaining our status as a force to be reckoned with among our peers at the top of world endurance competition.”
Images courtesy of Aston Martin
