Mathias Lauda joins Aston Martin Racing program

After a successful 2014 season in FIA WEC for Aston Martin in the LMGTE-Am category, not much has been released about the 2015 season plans of the British manufacturer in the lower GTE category. But little by little, the program details come to light, and one of the first announcements of 2015 regards to a well-known surname: Lauda.

Mathias Lauda, son of former F1 star Niki, will drive one of the full season Aston Martin Vantage V8s in the FIA World Endurance Championship 2015 season, alongside former F1 racer Pedro Lamy and Paul Dalla Lana. Lauda comes to replace ChristofferNygaard, as they swapped driver categorizations from 2014 to 2015, with Lauda listed as a Silver-rated driver and Nygaard becoming Gold-rated.

In fact, Mathias Lauda doesn’t have any competitive experience in LMGTE machinery, but his DTM spell in the middle 2000s and the 2012 season drive in the Vita4One BMW Z4 GT3 in different championships are worth mention. During the 2014 season he drove the HTP Motorsport Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 in two ADAC GT Masters weekends and he done full season drives in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series and in the India-based MRF Challenge, racing against Freddie Hunt, son of other F1 star and Niki’s rival, James Hunt.

And as a pretty good debut and warm-up, Lauda will drive the Aston Martin Vantage in the opening round of the TUDOR United Sportscar Championship, the ROLEX 24 at Daytona, alongside the same Pedro Lamy and AMR’s long time works driver Darren Turner.

PHOTO: NASCAR Whelen Euro Series