Tooele, UT. (September 15, 2014) -TRG-Aston Martin Racing North America has ended the season in strong fashion, securing a win, three podium positions in the final races at Miller Motorsports Park, as well as the coveted Rookie of the Year title for team driver Jorge De La Torre. While the team has been a household name in endurance sportscar racing for more than two decades, the sprint race format of the Pirelli World Challenge is a completely different animal, and one the team had to learn from and adapt in order to compete.
The double-header race weekend was capped with the year-end awards banquet – a night of fun, great company, and a sharing of stories from the past season. 2014 was an amazing season for both TRG-AMR and Pirelli World Challenge, in which the series has watched its paddock and entry lists grow exponentially with the inclusion of FIA GT3 and GT4 spec cars from around the globe. TRG-AMR is looking forward to further support of the series with its customer racing programs in the Pirelli World Challenge GT and GTS classes in 2015 and beyond.
Jorge De La Torre, Team Driver, TRG-AMR and the 2014 Pirelli World Challenge Rookie of the Year: “This has been a learning season for me – I’ve been racing in Mexico for years, but the transition to both North American motorsports and the Aston Martin marque has been a steep curve. The team has helped me acclimate to the GT4 and been very capable in terms of providing me with the right data, video, and engineering staff to help me really learn the car and move forward in terms of performance. I’ve also been working on physical and mental stamina off the track. I’m a full-time college student as well, so finding the free time to focus on my racing is sometimes tough. It’s been great being with a team that can help me with all aspects of my racing so completely.”
Also ending the season on a high note was TRG-AMR Team Driver Drew Regitz, who managed to fight for two podium positions – one in each race of the double-headed Miller Motorsports Park weekend finale.
Drew Regitz, TRG-AMR Team Driver: “What a weekend – my first two podiums in World Challenge on the same weekend. The competition was fierce – I’m still impressed I was able to fight for the podium positions, dicing it up with some of the best in both races this weekend. The Aston Martin Vantage GT4 is an amazing race platform – this or the V12 GT3 are the cars to have for next year. I’m really happy for my two teammates Nick (Esayian) for his victory on Friday, and Jorge (De La Torre) for his Rookie of the Year recognition – what a great group of guys. This was a great year and I can’t wait to get back in the cockpit for 2015 competition!”
Kevin Buckler, CEO, TRG-AMR North America: “We couldn’t have ended the season any better. Jorge nabbed Rookie of the Year, Drew grabbed two podiums this weekend, and Nick took home a long-deserved win in Friday’s race. Jorge is becoming a really strong racing driver and taking a storied, calculated approach to his driving and his experience. I’m really looking forward to seeing Jorge compete next year and watching his progress. Drew is a rockstar – two podiums in one weekend! He gets better, faster, and stronger every single race. He has really worked hard on his driving and it shows. I can’t wait to see what happens next year with Drew. With all of the challenges this year, Nick fought to the bitter end and delivered a victory for us in our last weekend of the season which was awesome. That’s tough competition out there and I was so proud of his performance. Also, I couldn’t be happier with our involvement in the series – what a great group of people. World Challenge has some of the best competition in North American racing right now and we are set to fully support our involvement through our pro and customer racing programs in both the GT and GTS classes. The Aston Martin Vantage GT3 and GT4 has been incredible this year, earning wins, podiums, and tons of attention from the media and sponsors. We are back next year with an even more enhanced program and looking for two championships.”