Breaking news
WEC
Aston signs Ford refugees Tincknell, Westbrook for Le Mans
Ford refugees Harry Tincknell and Richard Westbrook will fill the vacant seats in Aston Martin Racing's Le Mans 24 Hours GTE Pro line-up this year.
Gary Watkins
Edited: Jan 9, 2020, 2:58 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The pair have been snapped up by the British manufacturer for the 2019/20 FIA World Endurance Championship finale on June 13/14 after the end of the Ford GT programme last year.
Tincknell, who was part of the Multimatic-run WEC squad in 2016-2018/19, will drive the #97 Vantage GTE alongside Alex Lynn and Maxime Martin.
Westbrook, who raced a Ganassi Ford GT in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and at Le Mans in 2016-19, will share the #95 Vantage GTE with Nicki Thiim and Marco Sorensen.
The duo replace Darren Turner and Jonny Adam, who respectively drove the #95 and #97 cars at Le Mans in 2018 and '19.
AMR team principal John Gaw said that Aston had the "pick of the bunch" of available GTE Pro drivers after the end of the Ford programme and BMW's withdrawal from the WEC.
"We wanted drivers with good GTE experience who would fit in with the team," he told Motorsport.com.
"We sat down with existing our drivers and asked them who they wanted, because the chemistry in the team is important.
"It helped that Richard and Harry are British, but that wasn't fundamental in the decision."
AMR president David King added: "Every team wants to put itself in the strongest position to be competitive for Le Mans, and signing Harry and Richard is a big step in that direction."
Mazda IMSA driver Tincknell, who is close friends with Lynn, said: "To be honest I was quite flattered when I got the call.
"I was second in class with Ford at Le Mans in 2017 and would very much like to win it, especially because I don't think anyone else has won both LMP2 [which Tincknell did in 2014] and GTE Pro.
"I've raced together with Alex on and off since Formula Renault in 2010, so it will be nice to finally join up together."
Westbrook, who was left without a drive after Ford pulled out of IMSA, described signing for Aston as "a proud moment for a Brit".
"It's a good time to be driving for Aston, because it will be the third Le Mans for the new Vantage and the car has shown itself to be competitive on all tracks in the WEC so far this season," he said.
Westbrook explained that he was looking forward to renewing a driving partnership with Thiim, with whom he raced at the Nurburgring 24 Hours aboard an Abt Audi in 2014.
"We worked well together and wanted the same things from the car," he said. "He left a good impression on me and I'm sure vice versa — I know he recommended me."
Aston has stated that it currently has no plans for Westbrook or Tincknell to race at any of the WEC rounds leading up to the 24 Hours by way of preparation.
Both drivers have yet to test the Vantage GTE, although Westbrook was given a try-out in the GT3 version of the car at Snetterton before Christmas.
Turner and Adam will remain with their Aston GTE Am WEC teams for the French enduro.
#95 Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR: Marco Sorensen, Nicki Thiim, Darren Turner
Photo by: Paul Foster
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Toyota insists Rebellion is serious threat for LMP1 title
Next article Brabham must "earn the right" to hypercar programme
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Gary Watkins
Ford steps up WEC preparations with second test car
WEC
WEC
Ford steps up WEC preparations with second test car
More from
Harry Tincknell
Aston Martin begins testing updated Valkyrie hypercar for 2027 WEC and IMSA
WEC
WEC
Aston Martin begins testing updated Valkyrie hypercar for 2027 WEC and IMSA
Proton welcomes Mustang Sampling for 2024 IMSA Porsche 963
IMSA
IMSA
Daytona December testing
Proton welcomes Mustang Sampling for 2024 IMSA Porsche 963
Proton denied shot at beating Ferrari by “freak” belts issue
WEC
WEC
Fuji
Proton denied shot at beating Ferrari by “freak” belts issue
More from
Aston Martin Racing
The six drivers doing double duty in Portimao GTWCE and Barcelona WEC this weekend
WEC
WEC
Barcelona
The six drivers doing double duty in Portimao GTWCE and Barcelona WEC this weekend
“Even faster than Ferrari” – Fernando Alonso grabs Aston Martin’s best result of F1 2026
Formula 1
Formula 1
Bahrain GP in Malaysia
“Even faster than Ferrari” – Fernando Alonso grabs Aston Martin’s best result of F1 2026
Latest news
Franco Colapinto urges fans to stop the abuse: “You’re not helping me or my future”
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
2 h
Franco Colapinto urges fans to stop the abuse: “You’re not helping me or my future”
Gresini: New MotoGP rules won't increase gap between factory and satellite teams
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Indonesian GP
2 h
Gresini: New MotoGP rules won't increase gap between factory and satellite teams
Tristan McKee joins JR Motorsports in 2027 with future plans for full-time ride
NASCAR O'Reilly
NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly
Phoenix II
2 h
Tristan McKee joins JR Motorsports in 2027 with future plans for full-time ride
Colton Herta eyes potential Indy 500 return and IMSA enduros as 2027 plans remain in flux
FIA F2
F2 FIA F2 2 h
Colton Herta eyes potential Indy 500 return and IMSA enduros as 2027 plans remain in flux
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe