Of the 8.3 billion people on Earth, there are probably less than 1,000 who race cars for a living. Those numbers make for small odds. Like being a minnow in a giant school of fish shooting for the same miniscule hole in the net. It’s never been tougher to get noticed as a young racer, the competition for the spotlight never so fierce.
The perpetual and fertile growth of endurance racing has offered a landing point for emerging talent to earn a genuine wage in recent years. Even for drivers whose budgets cannot support a single seater glidepath, there is still hope of turning a dream into reality in endurance racing.
That’s where the Aston Martin Racing Driver Academy shines, forging a pathway and a framework for some to flourish in a way that not only throws a spotlight on their capabilities, but offers guidance, advice and a platform to jump from if you’re good enough to graduate.
“Nowadays, becoming a manufacturer works driver, and to race at the world’s biggest races like the 24 Hours of Le Mans or the 24 Hours of Spa, is a legitimate career goal,” says Aston Martin works driver and AMR Driver Academy judge Jonny Adam. He should know, as one of the pioneers of such a journey, he’s won Le Mans twice and stood on its podium three times, having switched from touring cars in 2013.
“Initiatives like this are important,” he says, “and not only for the drivers. They are a vital chance to give the manufacturers an opportunity to assess, hone and have a say in developing the multitude of talent that is out there now.”
The Aston Martin Racing Driver Academy is an annual initiative. It takes a group of promising Vantage GT racers (this year 21 have enrolled) who have applied from within the Aston Martin race team partner network, and evaluates their performances on, and crucially off, the track through the season.
The stipulations are that candidates must be racing a Vantage GT3 or GT4 somewhere in the world, and that they must be between 16 and 26. They then participate in a three-day seminar, which includes assessments and media training at the AMR Technology Campus and a comprehensive fitness assessment at a university training college.
The judging panel, which among others includes Adam, former Academy graduate and works driver Valentin Hasse Clot, three-times Le Mans class winner Darren Turner and AMR Head of Performance Gus Beteli assesses the drivers in their various categories, ranging from 24 Hours of Le Mans drives and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship campaigns through to localised British GT4 Championship programmes. Ultimately, the most competitive candidates throughout the season will be invited to test a Vantage GT3 in an evaluation at the end of the year.
But as Hasse Clot puts it, like school, the more you invest in it, the more you take away. The Frenchman graduated from the initiative in 2019 and has been a works driver since 2021. He has experienced firsthand the transformational effect it had on his career and now works hard to provide feedback to new generations of drivers.
“We encourage the drivers to push us hard for advice and guidance,” says Hasse Clot. “The framework is all there for them to use, but the more the drivers engage, the more they learn and the more we learn about them. It’s not just about winning; it’s an opportunity to grow.”
The Academy is searching for its ninth winner in 2026, having recently anointed FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) debutant Kobe Pauwels (BEL) – the 2025 GT World Challenge (GTWC) Silver Cup champion. He joins a list that includes works Valkyrie drivers Ross Gunn (GBR) and Roman De Angelis (CAN), 24 Hours of Spa class winner Romain Leroux (FRA) and another GTWC class champion Jamie Day (GBR).
For Pauwels, being part of the Academy was one of the attractions for him choosing to race Aston Martins, as opposed to going with another brand, in GT racing.
“We knew that we had the potential to win it,” said Pauwels. “In this world you need to grab every opportunity you can, and this is one of them. Winning it has paid off for me. I’ve made my WEC debut, I’m doing the GTWC, some GT Open races and the Asian Le Mans Series. My programme would have been very limited without winning the Academy.”
Not everyone can win, but everybody participating can benefit from the experience. “You can go to potential partners and sell yourself as part of something bigger than yourself,” says Pauwels. “You are part of the brand while you’re in the Academy and you come to see the works drivers as older brothers to learn from. It’s a huge benefit, and one you can employ through whatever you’re racing.”
As for the 2026 Academy winner, who will win financial assistance to their 2027 race programme, as well as guidance and support from the factory, the future is yet to be written…
“It’s going to be tough to make that decision,” says Adam. “The standard gets higher every year. It’s always a difficult choice because you know the prize means so much to all the candidates. But you only must look at the list of previous winners to see the Academy has a great track record. I’m confident this year’s winner will be of the same standard.”
