All set for an American Dream of a season for Turner

British multiple sportscar champion Darren Turner embarks on his 21st season as an Aston Martin Racing works driver this weekend, as he re-joins the US-based The Heart of Racing (THOR) team for the 2025 GT World Challenge America Powered by AWS season.

Turner, who competes alongside Gray Newell in the #24 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 as they take on the fiercely-contested Pro-Am class, makes his GT World America Series debut at Sonoma Raceway in a double-header opening weekend.

Incredibly, Sonoma is one of three circuits in the series that the former European Le Mans Series and British GT class champion has never raced on before despite an international racing career that spans four decades. The other debut circuits for Darren will be Virginia International Raceway (VIR) and America’s most famous motorsport venue of all; the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The 2022 Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona winner (an accolade Turner achieved driving a THOR-owned Aston Martin), will take on 13 rounds of the series, which comprises six double-header race weekends including events at Circuit of the Americas (COTA), Sebring Road America, Barber Motorsports Park and the 8-hour finale at Indianapolis.

“I’m so excited to get started,” said Turner. “The GT World America Series is growing from strength-to-strength and so this is a great time to be joining it. Pretty amazing too to finally get the chance to race at Indianapolis, as well as Sonoma and Barber.

“To be able to race with THOR, as it contests the series for the first time, alongside Gray, is a real privilege,” he added. “It’s an amazing team, with really great people and a fabulous atmosphere.

“Grey is embarking on his first full season of racing at GT3 level, but he’s already proven that he has the speed with a class win and an overall second place in the Mugello 12 Hours in the team’s Mercedes GT3 machine. I’m really looking forward to seeing what we can achieve together as team and where the results may take us.”

This season Darren welcomes Pinnacle Financial Planning (PFP) to his 2025 campaign, as he continues to build his partnership portfolio. Established in 2008, PFP consists of a highly qualified team of financial advisers providing individual and corporate finance services throughout the UK.

“I’m delighted to welcome Pinnacle Financial Planning to our motorsport programme in 2025,” said Turner. “As always, I remain full of gratitude to all the partners who support my racing activities. Pinnacle is the perfect addition to this amazing group of companies, and I’m looking forward to building this partnership further as I look to expand the sponsorship portfolio further through this season.”

Darren’s first race in the GT World Challenge America takes place on Saturday, 29 March, at 1515 (PT) + 7 hours GMT. You can follow the race live at https://www.gt-world-challenge-america.com.

GT World Challenge America 2025 calendar

28/30 Mar	Sonoma Raceway	Rounds 1 & 2
25/27 Apr	Circuit of the Americas	Rounds 3 & 4
16/18 May	Sebring International	Rounds 5 & 6
18/20 Jul	Virginia International Raceway	Rounds 7 & 8
15/17 Aug	Road America	Rounds 9 & 10
5/7 Sep	Barber Motorsports Park	Rounds 11 & 12
16/19 Oct	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Round 13