Aston Martin to field second car at Sebring

Aston Martin Racing will have two factory Aston Martin Vantage GTE entries on the grid for the 61st Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida. After a preseason test session at Portimão in Portugal, AMR will test both cars at Road Atlanta before heading to south to Sebring for the opening round of the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patr¢n on Saturday, March 16.

Darren Turner, Stefan Mücke and Bruno Senna will drive the No. 97 Aston Martin at Sebring, and Canadian Paul Dalla Lana, American Billy Johnson and ex-AMR factory driver Pedro Lamy driving the No. 007 at Sebring. Dane Cameron, another of America’s young road-racing talents, will test with the team at Atlanta.

“Although this isn’t the first time we have run the new Vantage GTE, it’s the first time we’ve been able to run it in anger and put some serious mileage on the car," Turner said of the test in Portugal. ‘It does feel like a very good step forward. The team has done a great job over the winter and made some significant improvements. For me personally, it was probably as exciting to drive for the first time as the first drive of the DBR9. I have a really good feeling about the car and I’m looking forward to the next test in Atlanta in a few weeks time."

GREAVES' SEBRING LINEUP: Greaves Motorsport is banking on three faces familiar to American endurance racing for its push to a P2 victory at Sebring. Tom-Kimber Smith, Eric Lux and Christian Zugel will share the No. 46 Zytek-Nissan for the opening round of the 2013 American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patron.

Kimber-Smith, a triple class winner at the Le Mans 24 Hours, returns to the team with which he competed at Petit Le Mans in 2012. Lux won the 2011 ALMS Prototype Challenge championship and drove prototypes in three classes last season, and Zugel competed for Greaves during a full FIA World Endurance Championship campaign in 2012.

The 61st Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida is set for 10:45 a.m. ET on Saturday, March 16 from Sebring International Raceway. SPEED's live coverage begins at 10:30 a.m. ET. Full, online coverage starts at 10:30 a.m. ET on SPEED.com