TRG-AMR works hard for strong finish in the 007 Entry at Laguna Seca

MONTEREY, Calif. - Teammates Al Carter and James Davison, drivers of the No. 007 TRG-Aston Martin Racing North America V12 Vantage GT3, finished 13th in the Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix Powered by Mazda GTD/PC race on Sunday at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The TRG-AMR team was hoping for a second visit of the weekend to victory circle after a third-place podium finish in Saturday's Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge race.

Co-driver Al Carter started in the No. 007 Aston Martin and had not yet reached the famed Andretti Hairpin, when he was involved in a small contact incident that was out of his control. Carter, who competed in three different support races this weekend, started the No. 007 from the 18th position in the 22-car field and quickly made up ground on many of the competitors once returning to the track. During his full stint, Carter turned his fastest laps of the weekend and kept pace with the top GTD competitors.

Midway through the race, co-driver, James Davison took the wheel and advanced through the field through a fuel strategy call that ultimately did not play out. Because of recent Balance of Performance changes that unfortunately went against Aston Martin, the car and team was unable to keep pace with the front running competitors and elected to go with this strategy that would hopefully allow the car to stop one less time than the other competitors. Unfortunately, they were forced to take the "splash-and-go" fuel stop with only 10 minutes to go in the two-hour race.

Al Carter, driver, No. 007 TRG-AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT3:

On his race... "I made contact on the first lap so we had to do a quick tire change and we also added fuel and got back out. We drove in a fuel conservation mode, making the first half run nice and easy. Once we worked on the car we didn't quite have the pace to get all the way up to a Top Five spot. The TRG crew will keep at it, we'll keep getting better and we'll get this Aston Martin car up front."

On the Laguna Seca circuit... "Laguna is by far the most fun track to drive. They mess it all up when they put all these other cars out there with you; you just can't enjoy the scenery. It's a fun, iconic track that's just a pleasure to drive. It's not easy. It's a real challenge out there with the Corkscrew and zipping down the hill to turn two, but it's a great place to race, a great venue, big crowds, it's nice to have Tudor and Continental do all this fancy stuff so our Aston Martin goes out there and looks good."

James Davison, driver, No. 007 TRG-Aston Martin Vantage GT3:

"Our race began before this last weekend. We received a BOP penalty that we strongly disagreed with and that put us in the position that the only way that we would get a result is on strategy or attrition. So we ran a fuel mileage race, which was a new experience for me, and our car was simply not competitive with these new rules."

"Al did a good job. His fastest lap was only a second off mine, which I'm really pleased with at this point in season. It's only a matter of time before we get the result we deserve."

TRG-Aston Martin Racing North America