Kelly, Dixon, Dennis to race Aston Martin in Bathurst 12H
R-Motorsport set to line up with Rick Kelly, Scott Dixon and Jake Dennis in one of their Aston Martin Vantage GT3 as part of an exciting new partnership with Castrol, BP and Giltrap Group to contest the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour together.
The Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hours, the opening race of the Intercontinental GT Challenge, istraditionally one of the first highlights of the season on the international GT racing calendar.R-Motorsport will field two cars during the next race weekend from January 31st to February 2nd,2020. One of the two Aston Martin Vantage GT3s will feature a special design from Bathurst partner,Castrol. DTM and GT3 star Jake Dennis will share the cockpit with a pair of brilliant entrants to theteam, Rick Kelly and Scott Dixon.
“I have never raced at Bathurst before, but I’ve watched races at the Mount PanoramaCircuit back when I was a teenager. What I like most about the circuit is the high commitment, especially across the top, the high-speed passages and then down the chase and all the way to the last corner. It’s much like a street course with the concrete walls and the very confined spots. You need an extremely good flow. I've done GT racing as such with the four Le Mans 24 hours races and other endurance events, but never GT3. I love doing the long-distance races. It complements quite well with the IndyCar series at the moment to do Daytona 24h and Sebring 12h, but also Petit LeMans, which was the first endurance race I did back in 1999.”
“Castrol itself is a very iconic brand. And it's always been a great partnership with Rick Kelly. I know him from my years racing in Australia and I also teamed up with his brother to do the Gold Coast races back in 2010. Rick is a great guy. I haven't had the opportunity to meet Jake Dennis yet, but I'm looking forward to meeting him. I've heard that he's super fast and very good. My expectations for the 12 hours: with the calibre of the team and the drivers that I am joining we've got to go in with the mindset of we're going to be successful. I know it's always difficult with the Balance of Performance and how each car is categorised. I just hope I can get up to speed quick enough and be a good addition to what is going to be a very strong team. I'm really looking forward to it and it's really nice to get back to Australia.”