Aston Martin has confirmed a new line-up for its GTE Am entry into the 2019/20 FIA World Endurance Championship.
Paul Dalla Lana, who already tested for the team during the prologue, has been retained, but the Canadian will be joined by two new team-mates. Dalla Lana's longtime team-mates Pedro Lamy and Mathias Lauda will be replaced by Ross Gunn and Darren Turner.
Dalla Lana, Lamy and Lauda had competed together since the 2015 season, taking the championship in 2017. The writing was on the wall for the trio, however, when Lamy and Lauda did not test the new Vantage AMR at the Prologue in Barcelona, being replaced by Turner, Gunn and R-Motorsport GT3 ace Mathieu Vaxiviere.
Turner, a three-time Le Mans winner with Aston Martin, will make his full-time WEC return, after only taking part in a few races during the 2018/19 Super Season.
"I'm really looking forward to joining Paul and Ross in the #98 car and challenging for the 2019/20 GTE Am championship," said Turner. "It’s going to be very hard work and I think it is going to be the most competitive season in the category, with some very quick cars and some very strong line-ups. Paul is an extremely talented driver with a great deal of experience in the WEC and as a package we are very strong."
Gunn, an Aston Martin junior driver, first had success with Aston Martin in 2015 when he won the GT4 category of the British GT Championship alongside fellow junior driver and newly-crowned W Series champion Jamie Chadwick. He has since raced for the British marque in numerous championship, including the European Le Mans Series and Blancpain GT Series.
“It’s an honour to be joining the works Aston Martin Racing team for the start of the FIA WEC season," Gunn commented. I’m very excited to begin this new chapter of my career at the pinnacle of GT racing and I will be pushing for a solid result."
Aston Martin's GTE Pro line-up remains unchanged for 2019/20, as Nicki Thiim and Marco Sorensen have once again been paired together in the #95 car, while Maxime Martin and Alex Lynn will be driving the #97 Vantage. Jonny Adam, who joined Lynn and Martin at Le Mans in May, will be joining TF Sport's GTE Am entry with Salih Yoluc and Charlie Eastwood.
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