Reigning GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS champion Liam Talbot will switch to Volante Rosso Motorsport and Aston Martin for 2025 to be partnered by young gun Declan Fraser.
Talbot is regarded as one of the leading bronze-ranked drivers in the country and has won the past two GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS titles.
Winning the first of his titles in 2023 driving an Audi, Talbot last year helped usher in a new contender in the form of Arise Racing GT’s Ferrari 296 GT3, but a new challenge arises in 2025 as he targets a hat-trick of crowns with a new manufacturer.
Fraser, 24, is a star on the rise. After winning the Super2 Series in 2022, Fraser has competed in the Supercars Championship and GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS in recent years, securing a victory with Triple Eight’s Mercedes AMG squad in GT last year.
Fraser finished the 2024 GT World Challenge Australia championship in fourth place in the Pro-Am title, alongside Peter Hackett.
Volante Rosso Motorsport, an official Aston Martin Racing partner racing team, has been a mainstay in GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS since 2022 and excitingly re-introduced the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 to the field at Queensland Raceway last year.
The Vantage AMR GT3 continues to be a competitive package as proven by Volante Rosso’s performance at the Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour earlier this year, running on the lead lap and inside the top 10 all day, a clutch problem robbed the team of a certain class win and strong outright result with less than three hours to go.
Talbot himself is familiar with the Vantage AMR GT3 following a cameo in the final round of the 2023 World Endurance Championship at Bahrain, representing Japanese squad D’Station Racing to finish second in LMGTE. His Aston Martin roots run deeper too, courtesy of multiple VLN Series starts at the legendary Nordschleife and a support race chance at Le Mans in 2015.
Phillip Island opens Talbot, Fraser and Volante Rosso Motorsport’s title assault as host of Round 1 for the GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS schedule headlining the Shannons SpeedSeries on April 4-6.
QUOTES
Liam Talbot
Volante Rosso Motorsport, Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3
“Volante Rosso Motorsport is an impressive outfit, I’m definitely looking forward to joining the team and getting some amazing results,” said Talbot.
“The team has plenty of experience running the car from last season and at the Bathurst 12 Hour earlier this year. I have experience running the GTE version of the Vantage AMR GT3 and I have a lot of experience driving an Aston Martin in the Nurburgring 24 Hour, so it’s exciting to return home to a British marque.
“I look forward to getting some great results for Volante Rosso, which is a bit of an underdog in the GT scene and it will be nice to press the team forward to build it into a force to be reckoned with.
“Volante Rosso is really keen to get results this year. Josh (Hunt) and Chris (Papadopoulos) wanted me to drive, and it’s been pretty humbling from my point of view that he’s headhunted me so strongly.
“I’m excited to potentially extend the legacy from two manufacturers and two titles to three manufacturers and titles in as many years.
“This is a new challenge. The engine is in the front, which I don’t have as much experience with, but I did drive an Aston in 2023, so it won’t take long for me to get a feel for it. I’m looking forward to doing something different, but the bigger the challenge, the harder I fight.”
Declan Fraser
Volante Rosso Motorsport, Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3
“It’s a category I absolutely loved racing last year, with great exposure especially worldwide,” said Fraser.
“To be back racing in GT World Challenge Australia, it’s a privilege to be back and I’m excited to get after it.
“It’s pretty exciting to be teaming up with Liam. He has won multiple championships and I’ve seen him around the pits and I love the way he goes about his racing. I feel like we’re both fierce competitors – we just want to win as much as possible. Going into this year, it’s absolutely no different, we both want to go out and win trophies, and take championships.
“And I feel like that is why Volante Rosso has put its trust in us to go out there and deliver some results for Aston Martin.
“Volante Rosso demonstrated at the Bathurst 12 Hour that the Aston Martin’s pace is extremely competitive, even with the car being so new to Australia.
“Having the support of Aston Martin Racing back in the UK and all of the credentials over there alongside the success already achieved with the Vantage AMR GT3, it’s pretty substantial in helping us achieve what we want here in Australia.
“We’re in a really, really good position to go out and be in with a chance. Our team is a little bit of an underdog, but also the driver pairing is extremely strong and we should be ranked as a title contender.”
Chris Papadopoulos
Director, Volante Rosso Motorsport
“Liam is an amazing driver and a successive champion in GT World Challenge Australia,” said Papadopoulos.
“We can't wait to race with him this season. We identified Liam as part of an ideal driver pairing a long time ago so to pull the deal together is immensely satisfying.
“I've raced against Liam for many years and he's always been a tough one to beat, so racing with him is both an honour and an incredible opportunity and we're thrilled that he's chosen Volante Rosso and Aston Martin to defend last year's title.
“We’re also excited to welcome Declan into our team for the 2025 season. He has proven over his short years in national motorsport competition that he has what it takes to be a genuine star.
“We have signed him because we know he is fast, but we also know that he is consistent and a real team player. He is a key component to our ambitions this year.
“We're really happy with the performance of our Aston Martin Vantage GT3 after getting to know the car and its specific optimisations. We showed some of that speed at the Bathurst 12 Hour and will be taking that pace and performance into the season as we aim to get back on the top step of the GT World Challenge podium this year.”