Academy enters Strandberg/Moore for European GT4 Series finale

Successful sportscar squad Academy Motorsport will target victory in the European GT4 Series final round of the season at Zandvoort in the Netherlands this weekend.

The Pershore-based outfit, which won the British GT Championship GT4 class teams’ title in 2015, will line up its successful partnership of Dennis Strandberg and Will Moore, who competed together throughout ’15 with a view to a potential entry in 2017.

Academy and Strandberg were provided a taste of the European GT4 field earlier this season when it combined with the British GT grid at the Silverstone 500, in a single-round entry.

Strandberg has also competed in the Volkswagen Racing Cup and tested various machinery including touring cars in 2016.

The Swedish racer scored a brace of second-place finishes on his debut in the Germany-based TCR series at Hockenheim last weekend with the Target SRL squad, teaming up with series champion Josh Files.

After a successful campaign with Academy in 2015, Moore competed in this year’s British GT Championship in an Audi R8 LMS GT3 machine.

The European GT4 Series will comprise of two, 50-minute races around the Dutch coastal circuit this weekend.

Dennis Strandberg:

“I’m looking forward to getting back with the 2015 crew. This will be my second race with the team this season and after some bad weather left us off the podium on that occasion, I’m really eager to get us back up there and I know we have the team and the car to do that.

“Will and I have done different things this year but I’ve still followed him and he’s done a great job in GT3 and has great pace.

“To race at Zandvoort with just GT4 cars on the grid will be fun. I’ve never been to the circuit, not even been around on a simulator, so I’ll be going over lots of onboard footage.

“To go into TCR on my debut, qualify second and take two, second place finishes show that I’m not a bad driver after all!”

Will Moore:

“It’s great to bring the gang back together. The 2015 season was a good year and although we took some second place finishes, we didn’t get that elusive top step. We’re going to try and put that right this weekend.

“It’ll be nice to go out there and discover what European racing is about. Although I’ve raced with the European GT4 Series at Silverstone and Spa this year, I was in a GT3 car.

“It’ll also be nice to be back out in the Aston which I’ve not driven for over a year. I’ll find out what sort of jump down there is from GT3 to GT4.

“We’re on the back foot with neither Dennis or myself racing around Zandvoort before. But with the team and drivers, we’ll have a great chance.”

Matt Nicoll-Jones, team owner:

“This weekend will give the team an idea of what we could expect to be up against if the car is on the European GT4 grid in 2017.

“The team’s plans are coming together for next year. We aim to return to regular competition with both domestic and European championships of interest at this stage. That is where we want to show what the team is capable of.”