TF Sport will make its debut in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship, entering into the GTD class of the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
The GTE Am Le Mans winning squad will be entering a single Aston Martin Vantage GT3, with Aston Martin factory driver Charlie Eastwood joined by IMSA veteran Ben Keating, Maxwell Root and 2018 GTLM class winner Richard Westbrook.
The team has stated that the Rolex 24 entry is a ‘guest appearance, with a view to running full-season IMSA campaigns in the future.’
It marks the second year in a row that the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 has been entered into the Florida endurance classic.
In the 2020 edition of the event, both Aston Martin Racing and The Heart of Racing entered a Vantage, but both cars were retired with crash damage, the majority of which was caused when the two cars collided with each other.
“We are very happy to be given the opportunity to race at this fantastic event! Thank you to all the partners involved, Total, Rain X, Wynns and Matter, for making it possible,” said team owner Tom Ferrier. “We have a fantastic team and driver line up, so let’s hope we can bring a trophy home!”
For Keating, it marks his eleventh start in the twice-around-the-clock enduro, and the first in Aston Martin machinery. During the 2020 edition, Keating pulled double duty, simultaneously competing in LMP2 with PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports and in GTD with Riley Motorsports.
“This will be my 11th Rolex 24 at Daytona and it’s my favourite race of the year,” Keating said. “I know that my first Le Mans experience came on the heels of me winning the Rolex 24, so why not be with TF Sport at their first Rolex 24 experience, on the heels of just winning at Le Mans?
“I have never driven the Aston Martin, but I competed against them all year long and was very impressed with the GTE car – I expect that the GT3 car will handle similarly. What’s not to love about this program?!”
Eastwood, who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans with TF Sport this past September, will be making both his series and race debut at Daytona/
“Really looking forward to competing at Daytona,” Eastwood explained. “It’ll be the first race for the team and I in America, outside of the World Endurance Championship.
“After winning both the Total 24 Hours of Spa and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, it would be great to take the victory at Daytona and complete the trio and I think we’ve got a really good chance!
“Even though I haven’t driven with any of my teammates before, I believe together we’re a very strong line-up and January couldn’t come soon enough!”
Finally, Westbrook returns to Daytona after a year on the sidelines when the Ford GT program ended, the same program that gave the Briton a class win with Chip Ganassi in 2018.
“I’ve been friends with Tom forever but this will be the first time I’ve raced for TF, so it’ll be odd him being my boss,” said Westbrook. “The team have done so well over the last few years and with their current form and our line-up, we’ll certainly be looking for a victory. What makes Daytona special is the atmosphere, it’s the first race of the year so everybody is excited to get going again!”
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