FIA GT3 European Championship front-runner Hexis Racing has announced that it will enter a GT2 class Aston Martin Vantage into the opening round of the new FIA GT Championship season at Silverstone.

The team will use the same prototype machine that was campaigned by the factory Aston Martin Racing team during the events at Nogaro and Zolder last season, with Stefan Mucke sharing driving duties with Fredoric Makowiecki.

At the moment, the deal to run the GT2 car is for a single race, although further outings with the Vantage could follow later in the year.

"Having Aston Martin Racing asking us to take on this schedule is proof of our achievements," Hexis' Philippe Dumas said. “What's more, two of their engineers will be with us to strengthen the team, along with two of their technicians.

“This will be step up for us - we'll be learning new skills, such as refuelling techniques and how to manage two top grade drivers. On the subject of drivers, I'm hoping this operation will enable Fred to gain a good foothold in AMR. The car is still under development though, so we'll be under no great pressure to get a result at Silverstone. However, that certainly won't be the case in the FIA GT3 category!"

Hexis will again run two Aston Martin DBRS9s in the FIA GT3 European Championship this season.