Yahoo Autos Van der Steur Racing gearing up for IMSA GTD move
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD class is set to have an influx of new teams for 2025, and among those are van der Steur Racing, which is stepping up from Michelin Pilot Challenge GS class.
Rory van der Steur and Valentin Hasse Clot will be swapping the IMPC Aston Martin Vantage GT4 for the Vantage GT3 Evo with their eye on the full Michelin Endurance Cup and, perhaps, select sprint races in 2025.
“My dad [Gunnar van der Steur] has always been interested in it ever since we got back in IMSA, because he raced ALMS in LMP2, but not at the level that we’re doing it now,” said van der Steur. “Every year we would come to Daytona, and I would see him crawl back to the WeatherTech paddock and walk around. I knew that’s where he wanted to go.
“This time last year we hired Valentin, who is a good friend of mine now, and Aston factory driver, and he’s always probably one of the most hard-working drivers I’ve ever met, not only on the track, but off the track – like gym fitness, but also putting programs together, running an academy for the young drivers to come up. He approached my dad at and after Sebring this year, and was like, ‘What do you think about WeatherTech next year?’”
There was a lot of thought about it, meetings with AMR and eventually it seemed like a possibility. But getting cars was a question by this point – any available cars were non-Evo versions, and the Evo kit was pricey. Then Flying Lizard Racing in SRO America switched manufacturers from Aston Martin to BMW, and there were two Evo cars available. Van der Steur Racing had a racecar, and, in the second car, a spares package.
“When the cars arrived in the shop, it really felt surreal. We have full backing from Aston Martin as well, so it’ll be really good. We’re still working on the finalizing drivers as we want to do it the most efficient way possible on the cost side as well. We want to win … we want to have a possibility of winning the first time we go out at Daytona,” said van der Steur
To increase that possibility, van der Steur Racing will have AMR/Prodrive on board to run the cars. The team’s current crew, which will still be fielding a car in IMPC, will be studying in order to take on the role of running the cars beyond next season.
The team continuing in IMPC is important, van der Steur says, because it’s a great training ground.
“It’s a great feeder series for WeatherTech, because you learn everything in Pilot Challenge. You learn pit stops, you learn fuel saving, you learn tire management, you learn the racecraft. You learn restarts. You learn every IMSA rule you can possibly think of in Pilot Challenge. I think Pilot Challenge the best series IMSA has ever created, and it doesn’t blows people’s wallets out of the door, because you can run a season for fairly cheap,” he said
And he believes it’s prepared him to make the step up. He’s already had a taste of the Vantage Evo before the team acquired its two cars, back when AMR was developing the car. Those laps at Snetterton in England only whet his appetite for more.
“I was like, ‘Man, this is nice.’ The power, downforce … a lot more power out of turns than I thought, but down the straightaway, it doesn’t really feel that fast compared to the GT4. The GT3 feels a lot faster [in the corners] and a has lot more grip, so I think it’s going to suit my driving style a lot more than GT4 because the aggression you have to have on the wheel,” he said.
Van der Steur moving up will help Aston Martin’s presence in the GT classes next season. Heart of Racing is dropping its GTD PRO program as it brings the Aston Martin Valkyrie online in GTP, and longtime competitor Magnus Racing is stepping back after it runs its Vantage GT3 Evo in the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Three other teams are coming into, or expanding their programs in, GTD for 2024. DXDT is coming into the class with Corvette. DragonSpeed, which had its Ferrari 296 GT3 at the final two rounds of the season, is planning a full-season effort. And Triarsi Competizione, which ran primarily Endurance Cup-only program in 2024 is adding a second Ferrari for the full WeatherTech Championship
