For the first time in 30 years an American team will run Aston Martins in a full season of North American racing with confirmation that TRG–AMR will enter a pair of Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship (USCC).
Kevin Buckler’s team’s pair of the championship winning car will compete in the GT Daytona class of the new championship after debuting in the GT class of the Rolex Series in the second half of the 2013 season.
“I feel like this has been 20 years in the making for all of us,” said Buckler. “We have been one of the biggest supporters of sports car racing and particularly this class since we started racing in 1992. I am so proud of what TRG has done over the past two decades in evolving into a GT powerhouse and a solid racing and business organization. To have the opportunity to officially represent one of the most iconic and revered, street and racing marques in the world, is a perfect fit for where our organization has now evolved.”
“We will be proud to represent and to race the Aston Martin Racing cars here in North America, not only for ourselves, but for any and all interested teams or partners. As everybody knows, these cars are wonderful machines and fully developed to today’s international racing standards. The “Brand” is strong– stronger than any brand we have ever seen and should yield benefits to the series in bringing some true corporate partnership to our paddock. Bringing an actual official Aston Martin Racing “mothership” here to North America, to make it easier for all of these things and for other teams to compete was a natural evolution in today’s racing and corporate structures.”
The team are still to finalise the driver line-ups for the 2014 season, which starts with the Rolex 24 at Daytona on January 25-26. However, during both the balance of performance tests and other test days the team have been evaluating potential drivers, a process set to continue with further testing next month and in the new year ahead of the first event of the season.
