BAHRAIN BECKONS FOR ACADEMY MEMBER MATTY
Matty will gain an insight into top level endurance racing this weekend as he shadows the works Aston Martin Racing team at the final race of the 2016 World Endurance Championship in Bahrain.
After ending his first season in sportscar racing in the British GT championship a creditable fifth in the GT4 standings, Matty will join fellow British GT racers Matthew George and 2016 team mate Jack Mitchell in observing all aspects of Aston Martin Racing’s driver’s duties over the course of the meeting.
It is a special opportunity afforded to the three drivers as part of their inclusion on Aston Martin’s driver development academy and following their impressive performances in the marques’ Vantage V8 cars in 2016.
For Matty, that saw he and his team mate take a total of four podium finishes from seven classified finishes for the Macmillan Racing team, with three of these coming in the final four races of the season.
And as the 20 year old continues to try and put together a programme to advance into the GT3 class of the UK championship for 2017, it is an experience that he says will provide invaluable to his continued development.
“It’s really exciting to be invited by the works team to go and see how they go about racing, especially as it will be such an important weekend for the team in trying to win the Endurance Trophy in the LMGTE class.” said Matty
“They are a massively successful team and have been enjoying a really strong season, so just to be there and see what they and their drivers do will be a massive opportunity for me and the others.
“It will be a good way to round out what was a good first year in sports cars. You always want to do better and I’d have liked to have gotten third in the championship, which I was only 10 points off, but it was still a mostly positive start to racing in GT’s.
“The focus is now on getting things in place for 2017. There is an opportunity to step up into the top British GT class, although that is going to depend on forming some sponsorship partnerships, but we have a bit of time to hopefully work something out and get on the grid.”