(PETALUMA, CA – September 26) This weekend will be the final Grand-Am event for the series before the debut of the United SportsCar Championship begins in 2014. TRG-AMR North America will be a part of the Grand-Am Championship Weekend at Lime Rock Park with a powerful lineup of factory AMR driver Richie Stanaway and last weekend’s TRG GTC class-winning driver Damien Faulkner. The team will compete with the V12 Vantage GT3 in the Rolex GT class and with the Vantage GT4 in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge in the GS class. The Rolex race will take place on Saturday, September 28 at 1:35 PM ET and the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race will occur at 9:50 AM ET on the same date.
The TRG-AMR North America team gathered a lot of data from their debut at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca earlier this month. Since that event, the team and the AMR U.K. based factory have worked closely with Grand-Am to properly fit the V12 Vantage GT3 into the field of GT vehicles. This weekend should allow the GT3 to perform even better then on its U.S. debut.
As for the Vantage GT4 race machine, the team knows that the CTSCC GS class car is ready to win its class. The TRG-AMR North America team posted a pole position in its prior race. During that race, the No. 7 Vantage was comfortably leading before a small mechanical issue ended the race prematurely.
In addition to all of the great work by the team on the Aston Martins, the team is also excited to bring a very fast and accomplished driver lineup to this event. New Zealand born Richie Stanaway is a part of the factory Aston Martin team and recently competed in the WEC event at Circuit of the Americas. His career highlight is winning the 2011 German Formula 3 championship. He has competed in a number of European based open wheel series as well as Porsche Supercup.
Damien Faulkner is a driver who is very familiar to TRG-AMR. Damien and co-driver Ben Keating captured victory in the GTC class during the ALMS race held last weekend at Circuit of the Americas in the No. 68 Porsche. Ireland native Faulkner has an impressive background that started in open wheel racing in a number of European and American based series. He, like Stanaway, made a move to sports car racing a few years ago. Faulkner has won five Porsche Supercup events as well as winning Porsche GT races here and abroad. He is known as a driver who is very fast and aggressive, without abusing equipment.
The team will feature support from Houston, TX based Royal Purple this weekend on both the Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 and the Vantage GT4. The Royal Purple presence will also be visible in the paddock with their line of lubricants display under a purple tent. The product line is very impressive and is getting integrated into the TRG-AMR North America vehicles. The Rolex race airs Saturday, September 28 at 1:30 PM ET/10:30 PM PT on Fox Sports 2 and Sunday, September 29 at 12:00 PM ET/9 AM PT. The Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race airs Sunday, October 6 at 5 PM ET/2 PM PT on Fox Sports 1.
Team Owner Kevin Buckler on Lime Rock:
“What a fantastic line up for our new Aston Martin Racing program in Grand-Am. Richie Stanaway is one of Aston Martin’s hot new factory drivers and pairing him with TRG driver Damien Faulkner should be a truly lethal combo. We are working with the series to find a proper balance of performance so hopefully the GT3 will be even more competitive this weekend. We are super excited to bring our new Aston Martin race cars to the new United SportsCar series in 2014.”
Richie Stanaway about driving in Grand-Am with TRG-AMR:
“It is a great opportunity for me to drive this weekend for TRG-AMR. My teammate from AMR, Darren Turner, recently drove for TRG-AMR and told me enjoyed the experience quite a bit. I have only raced one time in the U.S. and that was in the WEC. This will be my first race against a field of U.S. based drivers, so it will be fun to learn about that. The V12 Vantage GT3 is a great car and I enjoy getting behind the wheel anytime I can. I hope to bring TRG-AMR a great result with my teammate Damien Faulkner.”
Damien Faulkner about driving the V12 Vantage GT3 and Vantage GT4:
“What a week…First we capture victory in Texas with TRG and my teammate Ben Keating last Saturday. Now I am getting the chance to make my debut with TRG-AMR in both Aston Martins during the final races of the season. A huge thank you to Kevin and Debra Buckler as well as the entire TRG-AMR team for this great opportunity. I have watch TRG-AMR develop this year with the new Aston Martin program. The cars look amazing and from what I saw in Texas with the WEC, they have great performance. I am really excited to pair up with Richie Stanaway; I have heard he has great pace.”
About Royal Purple:
Royal Purple manufactures high performance lubricants for most automotive, industrial, marine, motorcycle and racing applications. It is considered the best synthetic oil by many end users. Royal Purple synthetic oil and synthetic lubricants are formulated to maximize performance in real world applications.
About TRG-AMR:
Aston Martin Racing continues its tradition with the advent of TRG-AMR North America, proudly taking the reins of its North American motorsport operation. The Racer’s Group (TRG), with headquarters in Petaluma, California, was founded in 1993 and has competed at the top level of motor racing for over 20 years. The team has competed in all of the major series and holds victories in the ALMS GT Class, the Rolex Series DP Class, the Rolex Series GT Class, the ALMS GTC Class as well as the Grand Am GS Class.
The team’s resume is highlighted by four championships, four Rolex 24 Hour at Daytona victories, a 24 Hours of Le Mans win, a victory at Petit Le Mans and the longest standing ALMS podium run with 16 in a row. The team won Rolex Series GT championships in 2005 and 2006 and holds the record for the most wins in GRAND-AM with 32.
About Adobe Road Winery:
Adobe Road features hand-crafted small lot wines produced from some of the finest vineyards in Sonoma and Napa counties. It has developed a reputation as one of Northern California’s hottest boutique wineries, producing many award-winning wines. Most recently, Wine Spectator Insider gave outstanding scores to four of the wineries latest releases: 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, Beckstoffer Georges III Vineyard (94 points); 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, Bavarian Lion Vineyard (93 points); 2009 Syrah, Dry Creek Kemp Vineyard (93 points); and 2009 Chardonnay, Russian River Valley (92 points).