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Hexis Racing AMR

HEXIS AMR drivers – Blancpain Endurance Series GT3 Pro Cup 

A 100% dream team 

At the end of January, HEXIS AMR was the first team to announce two complete driver line-ups for the FIA GT1 World Championship. A month later, the French team presents the two driver trios who will share its Aston Martins in GT3. HEXIS AMR won the European Championship in this category in 2009, and it is now about to discover a new domain of motor sport – endurance. 

HEXIS AMR has proved its competitiveness in the one-hour races that make up the French, German, European and World Championships. So the creation of the Blancpain Endurance Series comes just at the right moment for the team managed by Philippe Dumas, which will be able to hone its current skills and acquire new ones in longer races. The entrants will do battle with one another in a series of three-hour events at Monza, Navarra, Magny-Cours and Silverstone, with the 63rd Spa 24 Hours in mid-summer as the cherry on the cake. Some twelve to fifteen makes should be represented for this new championship, which will combine quality and quantity. 

“We’re taking up this endurance challenge with a lot of humility,” says Philippe Dumas. “We don’t have much experience, so we’ve got everything to prove against teams that know it inside out. We’ve left nothing to chance in our pre-season preparation to help stack the odds in our favour. We’ve now got a really top-class technical squad; they’re runners-up in the world championship; they showed what they could do last year during tyre changes, and they’ll be present in the Blancpain Endurance Series.” 

The term ‘dream team’ is no exaggeration where the drivers are concerned. The French squad can count on three European FIA GT3 Champions, Gilles Vannelet, Henri Moser and Frédéric Makowiecki! The first two were crowned together in 2007 in a Ferrari. Mako shared the joy of the teams’ title won by HEXIS AMR two years ago. The second Aston Martin DBRS9 will be entrusted to three pillars of the team’s history: Yann Clairay, who arrives in GT3 on the back of his double victory in the final round of the GT1 World Championship in Argentina, Pierre-Brice Mena, who filled the runner-up spot in the European FIA GT3 Championship with HEXIS AMR in 2008, and Julien Rodrigues, who did the same thing in 2009 in his sixth season with the team. A few more figures: the driver line-up consists of five Frenchmen and one Swiss (Moser), three Spa 24-Hours podium finishers (Vannelet 1st in GT3 in 2010, Moser 3rd overall and 1st in GT2 in 2009, and Clairay 3rd in FIA GT in 2003). It should not be forgotten that Clairay also brings his experience as Le Mans Series Champion, plus a podium finish in LM GT1 in the Le Mans 24 Hours to the squad. 

HEXIS AMR can be counted on to throw all its professionalism, its determination to win and its now legendary team spirit into the battle for victory in the Blancpain Endurance Series. But that is what you would expect from an outfit that has finished in the top three in at least one championship every year since 2005. 

On the Lédenon circuit in mid-February, Vannelet delighted the team’s partners by assuring a marathon series of track baptisms with Stef Dusseldorp during the VIP Days. He then joined his new team-mates, Fred Makowiecki and Henri Moser, at Nogaro for a 3-day intensive test session in a car fitted with some of the 2011 tweaks. Julien, Pierre-Brice and Yann will relay them at the end of this week at Lédenon. “Our three drivers in the lead team have already gelled,” smiles Dumas. “The car’s progressed as well, and those who drove it in the past will realize this very quickly. I’m very happy to continue the adventure with Fred Makowiecki. At Nogaro he showed us once again just how quick he is. We’ll be rivals in GT1 and he’s going to give us a hard time! But as our team’s very strong, he’s also going to have to roll up his sleeves if he wants to beat us!” 

This comment leads us straight to the FIA GT1 World Championship. On 21st February, the team’s two Aston Martin DBR9s were sent off to Abu Dhabi, which is hosting the first round as it did in 2010. While some people are having difficulty finalizing their 2011 programme, HEXIS AMR is tackling its second campaign in a serene state of mind. The team carried out eight days testing at Lédenon and Nogaro.  “The main aim was to give our drivers the maximum amount of track time. They covered around 3300 kms, including a day in the rain, and we were able to complete our programme. Clivio Piccione was the benchmark for the three newcomers, even if Andrea Piccini had already done a lot of racing in GT1 with the Aston Martin. First of all, we were very happy with the excellent ambience that reigned in the team and with each one’s motivation. Stef Dusseldorp, who had almost no experience in GT, was the real surprise in these tests. Of course, we had a few moments of doubt as to the future of the championship. Also for the first time, the team tested without me for a day at Nogaro, because I was held up in Germany by a meeting with the organizers. Today, I think that we’re going to be racing in a very high-level championship. The team’s done a lot of work and we’re 100% ready to go!”

Several members of the HEXIS AMR team and one of its Aston Martin DBRS9s will be in Paris on 9th March for the evening that will launch the FIA GT1 World Championship, and the Blancpain Endurance Series. 

The HEXIS AMR drivers in the Blancpain Endurance Series (GT3 Pro Cup class) 

Fred Makowiecki (France)

Mako is back with the HEXIS AMR team for the fifth year. He will also run a parallel campaign in the GT1 World Championship in a Ford GT, as well as driving a Ferrari in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup.  Last year a metallic grey Aston Martin gave him his best overall result to date - third place in the FIA GT1 World Championship.

Fred Makowiecki’s bio:  Born 22nd November 1980

Karting : Cadet French Champion (1994) ; GT racing : FFSA French Cup champion (Porsche, 2004), several race wins in FFSA French Championship (Viper 2005-2006, Aston Martin 2007, Saleen 2008), FIA GT3 European Team Champion with HEXIS Racing AMR (Aston Martin, 2009), French Porsche Carrera Cup Champion and 3rd in FIA GT1 World Championship (Aston Martin HEXIS AMR, 2010). 

Henri Moser (Suisse)

The young Swiss driver had a difficult season in 2010 with the Nissan GT-R GT1. His aim is to get back onto the podium on which he was a regular at the start of his career, which so far, has been entirely in grand touring racing.

Henri Moser’s bio:  Born 18th October 1987

FIA GT3 European Champion (Ferrari, 2007), several race wins in Ferrari Challenge (2006), ADAC GT Masters (Ferrari, 2007) and International GT Open (Ferrari, 2008), 3rd in ADAC GT Masters and 3rd (1st in G2 class) in the Spa 24 Hours (Audi, 2009). 

Gilles Vannelet (France)

Immense is the only word to qualify Gilles’s experience on the track, on ice and in rallies. He has built up a stunning set of results, which he is determined to enrich this year with HEXIS AMR, by combining his speed and his experience. The Aston Martin DBRS9 completes the impressive list of GTs he has raced on three continents: Venturi LM600, Chrysler and Dodge Vipers, Lamborghini Gallardo, Ferrari 360 Modena, F430 GT, F550 Maranello, Corvette, Porsche 996 and 997 and BMW Alpina B6…

Gilles Vannelet’s bio: Born 8th May 1959

French Renault Mégane Cup Champion (2000), FIA GT3 European Champion and FFSA GT3 French championship runner-up (Ferrari, 2007), 6th (1st in GT3 class) in the Spa 24 Hours (Porsche, 2010). 

Yann Clairay (France)

His successes in single-seaters, prototypes and GTs in sprint and endurance racing have proved his talent and his eclecticism. After racking up good results with HEXIS AMR in 2010, Clairay wants to continue in the same vein as well as pursuing his career in rallies.

Yann Clairay’s bio: Born 2nd December 1983

Formula Renault 2.0: French Championship runner-up and 3rd in the Eurocup (2004-2005); Formula 3: 2nd in the Masters (2007), several podium finishes in the Euro Series (2008); Sportscars: 6th (3rd in FIA GT class) in the Spa 24 Hours (Viper, 2003), 2nd in LM P2 class in the Nürburgring 1000km (Courage, 2005), Le Mans Series LM GT1 champion and 2nd in LM GT1 class in the Le Mans 24 Hours (Corvette, 2009), 1 qualification race win and 1 championship race win in the FIA GT1 World Championship (Aston Martin HEXIS AMR, 2010). 

Pierre-Brice Mena (France)

Pierre-Brice and HEXIS AMR are back together for the third time since Formula Renault in 2006, as well as a brilliant season in 2008 marked by the shared joy of a maiden victory in the European GT3 Series. The youngest member of the team’s endurance driver line-up will have his first taste of long-distance racing this season.

Pierre-Brice Mena’s bio: Born 19th May 1988

Karting: Formula Kart French vice champion (2004); Formula Renault: 3rd in the club racing French Cup (2006), FIA GT3 European vice champion (Aston Martin Hexis Racing, 2008), Caterham scholarship winner and French Caterham Cup champion (2008), 3rd in the GT4 European Cup GT4 (BMW, 2009); Qualified professional diploma of driving and racing instructor.  

Julien Rodrigues (France)

Julien Rodrigues has spent most of his career as a racing driver at HEXIS AMR in Formula Renault, and then at the wheel of Porsches and Aston Martins. In three seasons in the French, German and European Championships he has racked up an impressive number of kilometers in the DBRS9. This experience should prove very useful when he tackles his first real season in endurance.

Julien Rodrigues’ bio: Born 23rd April 1982

Several French Formula France podium finishes, FFSA French GT Cup runner-up (Porsche Hexis Racing), FIA GT3 European vice champion and FIA GT3 European Team champion with HEXIS Racing AMR (Aston Martin, 2009).

Pic V-Images.