[News Release: Sydney 12/07/2015] After claiming their maiden victory in the GT Asia Series at Okayama two weeks ago, after just three races into their maiden season, there will be a change in the FFF Racing Team by ACM McLaren squad for the forthcoming Round # 5/6 GT Asia Series (17-19 July, 2015) at Fuji International Speedway, Japan next week, with Australian GT front-runner Nathan Antunes, and former Australian GT class winner Rod Salmon joining forces to share the #15 McLaren 650S GT3.

Antunes (pronounced Antune-es) is one of the leading drivers in the Australian GT Championship, and no stranger to GT Asia, having campaigned the Dilango Racing Lamborghini of Dilantha Malagamuwa last season in both Autopolis and Sepang, however the former open-wheel star has an additional tie to the series, having been once managed by FFF Racing Team by ACM’s Alf Boarer.

Salmon too is no stranger to GT3 competition, as the reigning Australian GT champion in the Trophy Class (sharing the drive with Antunes), and a recent competitor in the Nurburgring 24-Hour race with the Audi Sport customer racing Team. He is also the car owner of Antunes’ 2015 Australian GT title challenging Skwirk / Beechwood Homes Audi R8 Ultra.

“I’m really looking forward to returning to GT Asia and joining the FFF Racing Team by ACM squad,” Antunes admitted. “I enjoyed my time in the series last year, but felt that I had some unfinished business to take care of, and this opportunity gives me a perfect opportunity to battle at the front end of the field.”

“Alf and I have known each other since I was in open-wheelers in Europe during my formative years as a driver, and re-joining him and my Australian engineer Ric Kemp – who has been engineering that car all year – is a perfect scenario. To have Rod come along for the event too is almost the perfect opportunity!”

“Asia has been on my radar for a while,” Rod Salmon added. “The series is super competitive, and the cars are every bit as good as the best in Europe, so when I was given the opportunity to join Nathan and the FFF Racing Team, I didn’t have to think too long and hard about it.

“I’ve never driven a McLaren before, so that will be a new experience, but all of it will be made much easier with Ric as our engineer, and having Nathan alongside again just like last year and the two endurance races at Bathurst and Phillip Island this year, it will feel just like home, so I’m not expecting too many hassles.

“We’ve also got the driving talents of Andrea [Caldarelli], Tonio [Liuzzi], Andre Couto (subbing for Caldarelli) and Hiroshi [Hamaguchi] to call on too, as well as a wealth of experience from the McLaren team, so I’m really looking forward to it, and moving away from my simulator to the track on Thursday for unofficial practice.”

“I’m looking forward to having Nathan and Rod join us at Fuji,” FFF Racing Team by ACM’s Andrea Caldarelli said. “With Jiang Xin and Max taking over the #37 car, it gave us a vacancy in the team, and when we started to look at options, the two Australian team-mates were an almost perfect fit for the seat.”

“After Hiroshi and Tonio took the team’s first victory in Okayama, the whole operation took a step forward, and we’re keen to add some more wins to the program this year, so having three competitive cars in the team is important.”

The Fuji round will get underway on Thursday, 16 July with two 60-minute unofficial practice sessions for teams to acclimatise with the Fuji circuit, ahead of Friday’s twin official sessions, and the two 60-minute races scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

• Race 1 is available on afosTV YouTube at 5:00pm AEST Saturday 18 July.
• Race 1 will be available on afosTV YouTube at 7:00pm AEST Sunday 19 July.

About FFF Racing Team by ACM
Website, Facebook, Twitter

FFF Automobile is a global leader in the Chinese Automotive market and is managed by Fu Songyang. The other – ACM – is owned by Andrea Caldarelli. The Italian, a world-renowned racer, has successfully competed in Asia and Europe in a career that has ranged from single-seaters to GT cars. The FFF Racing team by ACM is proudly supported by Epicuro, FrontiArt, Alpinestars and Info Agency.

Follow Nathan Antunes on Twitter and Facebook for the latest updates.

It gives me great pleasure to announce that naming sponsor Beechwood Homes will be staying on the Audi R8 LMS Ultra GT3 for the whole 2015 Australian GT Championships season as well as Skwirk. Assetlink, Heasmans and EGroup are also joining me on the grid for the Australian GT season-opening Clipsal 500 event in Adelaide as we race around on the most demanding street circuit on the racing calendar this weekend.

Of course with any demanding street circuit you need the best contact to the road so Heasman Steering and Suspension will stay with the car after their great work in setting up our suspension at the Bathurst 12 Hour.

The last couple of weeks have been fairly tough for me, learning from my mistake at the Bathurst 12 Hour and pushing forward to focus on getting to the Australian GT Championship. I have had amazing continuous support from Rod Salmon, Troy Russell, the team from Melbourne Performance Centre and my good friend and engineer Ric Kemp.

It’s a privilege to be driving Audi’s world class R8 LMS Ultra GT3, which has achieved more than 100 victories, including wins at the 12-hour race at Bathurst, the 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps, the GT Asia series, the Malaysia Merdeka Endurance Race GTC class and the Macau GT Cup.

Catch me live behind the wheel from the Clipsal 500 on Foxtel this weekend for qualifying and all three races:

Race Times

• Qualifying Friday 27 February 2015: 12:20 (12:50 AEDT)
• Race 1 Saturday 28 February 2015: 8:55 (9:25 AEDT)
• Race 2 Saturday 28 February 2015: 17:40 (18:10 AEDT)
• Race 3 Sunday 1 March 2015: 9:35 (10:05 AEDT)

Sponsorship spots

There are a number of sponsorship opportunities still available on the car. Contact me to get on board what promises to be a great year of GT racing.

Australian motor racing driver Nathan Antunes announced on Friday that he will be racing in the new Skwirk / Beechwood Audi R8-LMS Ultra at the Bathurst 12 Hour race in February 2015 along with Rod Salmon and a third driver yet to be named. Australia’s premiere endurance race, the Bathurst 12 Hour will be held from 6 to 8 February 2015 at the iconic Mount Panorama Circuit. For the first time in Australia, the entire race will be broadcast live and in full nationwide by the Seven Network, which has a massive combined reach of 11.4 million viewers per month. An unprecedented new benefit for the sport of GT motor racing and sponsors alike.

The beautifully turned out new Audi dons the livery of Skwik and major new sponsor Beechwood Homes. Other sponsors include Assetlink and EGroup.

There are a number of sponsorship opportunities still available on the car as well as on Nathan’s helmet and racing suit.

The Bathurst 12 Hour race announcement follows a successful year for Nathan in GT3 racing in Australia and Asia, driving for Skwirk and Dilango Racing teams.

Among the more than 200 guests and sporting celebrities who attended the announcement celebrations at the Ecco Ristorante in Drummoyne on Friday 24 October 2014, were former Australian swimming champion and 1980 Moscow Olympic gold medallist Mark Tonelli, the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics gold medallist and two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist Dean Lurkin OAM, Australian boxing champion Rick Timperi and former Australian Formula One Grand Prix driver Warwick Brown.

The new Skwirk / Beechwood Audi R8-LMS Ultra will make its debut at the 101-lap Highlands 101 race at the Highlands Motorsport Park in New Zealand, a day after the final (Round 6) race of the Australian GT Championships from 7 to 8 November 2014.

Keep up-to-date with this story and join the conversation on Nathan’s Facebook page.

I am off to join the GT Asia Series field at the Autopolis Circuit in Japan, a week after claiming the second-placed trophy in the Australian GT Championship at the Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit with dual Bathurst 12-Hour champion Rod Salmon in the Skwirk.com.au Audi R8 LMS ultra.

During the Phillip Island campaign, I finalised a deal with Dilango Racing alongside former series champion Dilantha Malagamuwa in the Dilango Racing Lamborghini Gallardo FL2 GT3. Rounds 3 and 4 of the 2014 GT Asia Series at Autopolis International, Japan is from 28 May to 1 June 2014.

I can’t wait. I do driver training with Lamborghini Cars Australia, so I know something about the cars, and I’ve seen them in action during the Australian GT Championship, but this will be my first time behind the wheel of the car.

I’m excited by what I can help Dilantha, Takuma Aoki and the team achieve through my years as a driver coach. I know they are both very experienced racers in their own rights, but if I can assist in any way in helping them and the team improve, it will be a win, regardless of what the results sheets say at the end of the day!

Catch up with me on Facebook.

Consolidating his ever increasing volume of news, photographs and videos, Australian racing driver Nathan Antunes today launched his new official website at nathanantunes.com. Designed to be the single destination for all official information on Nathan and his racing career, the new website addresses the information needs of racing teams, sponsors, the press, and his many friends and fans.

Fully responsive to mobile phones and tablets, the website was designed by well known graphic designer and art director Adam Fisher of Inventive Heads and built by APCINTERNET.

In conjunction with Nathan’s Twitter, Facebook and YouTube channels, the website will keep visitors up-to-date with the latest news on Nathan Antunes.

Let us know your thoughts by leaving a message on Nathan’s Facebook page.