On the eve of the final race of the Formula One season, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Aston Martin Lagonda announced a partnership with Yas Marina Circuit that will see the venue become the official ‘home’ of the British marque in the Middle East.
As part of the deal, Aston Martin’s newly established MENAT (Middle East, North Africa and Turkey) team will be based within the headquarters of Abu Dhabi Motorsports Management, the owners of the Yas Marina Circuit.
The team will be headed by regional President Dan Balmer who said, “The region is extremely important to Aston Martin, and this new partnership reflects this. I’m particularly proud that we are establishing our new regional office at Yas Marina Circuit, allowing us to continue our ongoing investment in people and the expansion of the brand in the Middle East.”
Furthermore, six new generation of Aston Martin Vantage GT4 race cars will be delivered to Yas Marina Circuit in 2019. Prior to that, the Vantage GT4 will make its global competition debut at the iconic venue on Saturday, December 15, 2018, in the Gulf 12-Hour endurance race. Run by the Aston Martin Racing factory team, it will race alongside a trio of the new Vantage GT3 cars entered by partner teams TF Sport, Beechdean AMR and R-Motorsport in the unique end of season GT racing extravaganza.
Aston Martin currently competes at the top-level of motorsport with Aston Martin Red Bull racing in Formula One and Aston Martin Racing in the World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC).
The partnership was formalised by Dr Andy Palmer, Aston Martin Lagonda President and Group Chief Executive Officer and Al Tareq Al Ameri, Chief Executive Officer Yas Marina Circuit prior to qualifying for the Grand Prix on Saturday, November 24, 2018. The partnership is meant to reinforce Aston Martin’s 105-year history steeped in competitive motorsports.
On behalf of Yas Marina Circuit, Al Tareq Al Ameri said, “we are extremely proud to be opening our doors to Aston Martin and very much look forward to a long and fruitful partnership. We welcome them to our motorsport family on a more official level now – with its Regional office based at the Circuit and also with the integration of six new Vantage GT4s within our racing fleet.”