Season finale under the floodlights at the Yas Marina Circuit. R-Motorsport have secured the services of Ricky Collard for their last endurance race of the year, the Gulf 12 Hours in Abu Dhabi. The 22 year-old British driver will race with the Swiss team for the first time on Yas Island, sharing the cockpit with Jake Dennis and Marvin Kirchhöfer as the team’s new Aston Martin Vantage V8 GT3 makes its debut.
“I’m looking forward to racing for Aston Martin team R-Motorsport in Abu Dhabi,” said Ricky Collard. “They are a very professional, successful outfit in GT3 racing and have shown their class with a win in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup at Silverstone and three pole positions in a row. It’s a great honour to be joining them in Abu Dhabi and to be able to gain more valuable experience in endurance racing.”
Like many racing drivers, Ricky began his career in karting. From 2007 to 2013, he competed in various national and international karting championships, working his way up the ladder. He gained his first experiences away from karting in the Ginetta Junior Championship during the 2012 season before switching to single-seater racing in 2014.
He finished runner-up overall in the MSA Formula and British Formula 3 in 2015 and 2016. Collard then moved to GT racing the following year and got his first taste of 24-hour endurance racing at the Nürburgring and in Abu Dhabi. He continued his training last season, taking part in events that included the British GT Championship, Blancpain GT and the 24-Hours of Spa.
“Ricky is a talented young GT driver,” said Team Principal Dr Florian Kamelger. “He has already shown in a number of endurance races that he is fast, can go the distance and be relied on to bring a car home up front. He is certainly an asset to our team and we’re looking forward to working with him in Abu Dhabi.”
The 12-hour race at Abu Dhabi takes place this weekend, 14th – 15th December, at the Yas Marina Circuit where the final round of the 2018 Formula 1 season was recently held. The race has been held annually since 2012 in two segments, each lasting six hours. While the first round takes place in daylight hours (9.00 am – 3.00 pm local time), the second part is a night race, starting just after sunset (5.45 pm – 11.45 pm local time).