Former Corvette Racing driver Darren Turner and F1 vet Karl Wendlinger will race an Aston Martin and a Nissan, respectively, in the new GT1 World Championship.
Wendlinger (RIGHT) will lead the Swiss Racing Team Nissan lineup. The 41-year-old Austrian is a former FIA GT champion and was a regular race winner in the new GT1 series' forerunner. His 2009 season was truncated when his K plus K Saleen team pulled out.
Wendlinger will be joined by 29-year-old Swedish driver Max Nilsson, who drove for Swiss Racing in German Formula 3 last year and also had a one-off FIA GT outing with K plus K. Swiss Racing, which will run two Nissan GT-Rs, has yet to finalize the other two members of its lineup.
"We have not made a final decision yet because we want to find an equally strong team for the second car," said team co-owner Erich Kolb. "We get calls from drivers who want a place in the cockpit on an almost daily basis. However, we want to take our time to choose the right driver."
Meanwhile, Turner (right) has been announced as one of the racers of the "Young Driver AMR" team. The German squad, new to the championship, will race an Aston Martin DBR9, reuniting Turner with the car with which he took victory in the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2007 and 2008.
"I'm really excited to be doing the full FIA GT1 World Championship," Turner said. "Not only because we will be visiting some fantastic circuits but also because the level of competition will make it an intense and enjoyable season.
"I'm looking forward to working with the Young Driver AMR team. After visiting the team's base in Paderborn (Germany) last week I can see that they have the infrastructure and resources to achieve great success."
Turner was the man in charge of carrying out the first shakedown of the car back in 2004.
"This is the most exciting part for me," he added. "To come all the way from the first shakedown to two Le Mans victories and now this, is very special. I drove the car briefly last week and, even after I got home, I was still buzzing from it. Just hearing the wail of the V12 again brought it all back to me. This is going to be great."
The British driver will get on track with his new team next week for the first official test at Portimao, Portugal. The season gets under way in Abu Dhabi in mid-April.