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After a considerable absence of 29 years, Aston Martin Racing will be taking to the track at the Daytona 24 Hours this weekend (23-26th January), with three Vantage racers.

Headlining these race cars is the V8 Vantage GTE that is set to compete in the GTLM class. The AMR NorthWest liveried car saw success in the 2013 World Endurance Championship, with hopes that a similar story can be told at Daytona.

"Testing went very well and I think we have a reasonably good set up for the race that should only need a little fine tuning before the start," said Darren Turner, one of the Aston Martin Racing works drivers piloting the GTE at the weekend. "Daytona is such a cool 24-hour race and I'm really pleased we are going to be racing the V8 Vantage GTE there."

As well as the GTE, two GTD cars will be on the starting grid, both run and powered by TRG-AMR - Aston Martin Racing's partner team. Under the bonnet of the GTD is a race-tuned version of the V12 engine found in the Vantage road car, whereas the GTE gets a race-ready V8. With TRG-AMR sporting four Daytona 24 Hours victories, and the underlying GT3 racer having won many races and championships since its launch two years ago, the GTD has all the boxes ticked for a successful race weekend.

In addition to the 24 Hour race, two TRG-AMR V8 Vantages are also set to be entered in the Continental Tyre Sports Car Challenge (CTSCC) event; as well as two private entries from Mantella Autosport and Automatic Racing. These racers are based on the V8 Vantage GT4 that is set to make its racing debut at the Road Atlanta circuit in the GT4 Challenge of North America in April.

"To have the full range of Vantage-based race cars on track over one weekend demonstrates Aston Martin Racing's commitment to racing at all levels," comments Aston Martin Racing Team Principal, John Gaw. "It's fantastic to see seven Vantages out on track."

Anything else?

With its first appearance at Daytona since 1985, the Aston Martin Racing team will need to be on the ball to succeed on the "technically challenging track" that lies before them.

"It's a hard circuit to get the right balance between the straight-line speed required for the banking and enough downforce to let the car work on the infield section," explains Turner. "The biggest challenge will be getting the tyres up to temperature during the night as Daytona can be very cold once the sun goes down."

All the racing action begins at 14:10 local time on Saturday 25th January.