The Spa 24 Hours winning Walkenhorst team will switch from BMW to Aston Martin for a factory-backed campaign that will include the GT World Challenge and the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring in 2024.
Walkenhorst Motorsport, which won the GTWCE’s blue riband Spa round in 2018, will run a solo Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in the Pro class of the series’ Endurance Cup segment next year.
The German team will also run an all-professional line-up in the Nürburgring Langstrecken Series (NLS), with the support of Aston Martin Racing, to challenge for the German endurance classic.
These entries will be driven by drivers from Aston’s GT line-up, which in 2023 will include Marco Sorensen, Nicki Thiim and Jonny Adam.
Walkenhorst will also field two Vantage GT3s in the non-professional classes of the GTWCE, the 24 Hours of the ‘Ring and the NLS, with the possibility of entering the ADAC GT Masters series in his home country.
The signing of Walkenhorst means that, for the first time since 2019, Aston will be represented in the Pro class for a full season of GTWCE enduro racing.
Garage 59 ran a full season that year with a line-up of riders that included Adam, while the factory Beechdean AMR team ran the first three rounds up to and including Spa in 2022.
The final factory attack at the Nürburgring came in 2022 with a partnership between AMR and TF Sport.
Walkenhorst returns to the Pro class after a two-season absence: it was BMW’s factory representative in the GTWCE Enduros with the M6 GT3 in 2021.
Walkenhorst Team Principal Henry Walkenhorst said: “The connection with AMR is more than just a partnership for us – it is a shared journey on which we will hopefully achieve many joint successes with enthusiasm.
“We are confident that with AMR we will not only be able to seamlessly build on the significant team successes of recent years, but also extend them into the future.”
Adam Carter, Aston Martin’s Head of Endurance Racing, added: “We at Aston Martin look forward to working with Walkenhorst to help them achieve their ambitious and exciting plans for the Vantage GT3.
“Ultimately, we all believe this will be a winning combination and we know Walkenhorst is capable of delivering at the pinnacle of global GT racing, which is of course why AMR has entered into this long-term partnership as we move into a new and exciting era with Vantage.”
Aston Martin reaffirmed its commitment to GT racing by confirming that it will revive its Valkyrie Le Mans hypercar for entry into the World Endurance Championship in 2025.
This commitment includes the development of evolutionary versions of its GT3 and GT4 competitors for 2024.
