Gaydon, 4 April 2012 – Following the success in its inaugural year, Aston Martin Racing’s pioneering Global Challenge has returned for the 2012 motorsport season. The Challenge enables all of Aston Martin Racing’s customer teams and drivers across the globe – contesting a great variety of motorsport series – to compete against one another in a bid to be crowned 2012 Global Challenge champions.
Any team competing with an Aston Martin Racing built GT car – ranging from the newly updated Vantage GT4 to the now-superseded double Le Mans winning DBR9 GT1 – in a recognised championship is eligible to score Global Challenge points. The victors will be announced during an end of season awards ceremony at Aston Martin’s prestigious Gaydon headquarters.
John Gaw, Aston Martin Racing Managing Director, praised the innovative scheme: “A gentleman driver competing in the Aston Martin GT4 Challenge of Great Britain – which is also returning for 2012 – can do battle with a seasoned FIA GT1 World Championship campaigner, for example, without ever sharing the same piece of asphalt. This unique scheme adds an extra level of intrigue for our customer teams and drivers, rewarding the most successful for their performances over the course of the season without favouring one series over another.”
Points are awarded depending on class position come the end of a race. A class win scores 25 Global Award Challenge, with second earning 18 points, down to a single point for tenth in class in accordance with the FIA’s points structure. Teams will only score points for their best-placed car, meaning that one-car teams stand the same chance in the Global Challenge as a multi-car team.
The only major revision to the programme from last season is a multiplying factor depending on the duration of the race to reward performances in longer endurance events. Any race lasting between two and six hours is subject to a two-times multiplier; races up to 12 hours are subject to a three-times multiplier; and races between 12 and 24 hours are subject to a four-times multiplier. The factors apply to both the Driver and Team categories.
In 2011, no fewer than 182 drivers in 25 series competed for the Aston Martin Racing Global Challenge. Competition in the Driver category was so fierce that two drivers were crowned joint winners; Spanish and Portuguese GT Championship racers Francisco Carvalho and Miguel Ferreira shared the laurels, while Veloso Motorsport collected honours in the Team category.
