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In the second interview with Aston Martin Racing Drivers, we feature Tom Canning. Tom is currently an Aston Martin Junior Factory driver as well as driving an Aston Martin GT4 with Feathers Motorsport (AMR Customer Team). Tom already has an impressive career to date and has many years ahead of him going forward.

Simon Rose (AMOC Member, partner shareholder owner of Feathers Motorsport and owner of Base Performance Simulators, BPS) kindly set up the opportunity for me to meet Tom in rural Northamptonshire in October 2024 at BPS.

Tom’s Career starting in karting and by 2016 Karting he had finished 2nd & 3rd across 2 European Championships, thus showing his future potential. In 2017 he finished 4th in the BTCC Junior Ginetta Winter Cup. In 2019 Tom won the prestigious Aston Martin Racing Academy as well as becoming British GT 4 Champion in a Vantage GT4 with the TF Sport team, cementing his relationship with the brand going into the future.

 

Tom in the car #95 TF Sport entered Aston, Asian Le Mans Series 2021 (Photo courtesy of Tom Canning Racing)

In 2020 he won the International GT Open at Spa in a Vantage GT3, again with the TF Sport team who he continued to race with in the Asian Le Mans series in 2021.

Tom in the Feathers Motorsport GT4 – Brands Hatch 2023 (Photo courtesy of Tom Canning Racing)

In 2022 he became a full member of the British Racing Driver’s Club.

Since 2021 Tom has been one of the handpicked (1 of4) Aston Martin racing drivers to be involved in the development of the Valkyrie, which from the outset has been designed as a race bred road car. Tom’s input involved extensive track testing sessions (up to 3 weeks at a time) at circuits such a Mugello and Nardo Ring in Italy and the Millbrook Proving Ground, Bedfordshire, UK. Tom stated “It was important for the development team to understand how the car performed and handled at its operational limits to inform the continual development of the car. It also tested the car’s durability over extended periods”.

Tom testing the Valkyrie at the Mugello Circuit, Italy (Photo courtesy of Tom Canning Racing)

This work the led on to Tom’s involvement in developing the “track pack” upgraded road car. From this Tom then joined the Aston Martin “Unleashed” programme where he was on hand to demonstrate the highly track focussed AMR – Pro version . Valkyrie customers are invited to these 2-day events where their cars, along a full back up mechanic support team, are shipped to circuits such as Paul Ricard in France and enjoy driving and coaching sessions from drivers such as Tom is getting the maximum performance out of their cars.

Tom, far left, with the Valkyrie AMR-Pro at Paul Ricard, France (Photo courtesy of Tom Canning Racing)

Tom was at BPS to spend time in this state-of-the-art racing simulator. BPS provides a valuable training service to all levels of racing drivers from enthusiastic amateurs to professionals. It allows drivers significantly extra track times that both reduces costs enormously and reduces cancellations due to bad weather.

Part of Tom’s career involves coaching young and new racing drivers to the sport and developing them on throughout their career. Tom provided me with a 30-minute tuition session in piloting the Aston GT4 around the Silverstone Circuit.

Tom deploying all of his well-honed skills in charm as he comments on my driving performance (Photo by Simon Hawkins)

This was an opportunity for me to experience first-hand the realities of driving a GT4 car around this famous circuit. The sensations you get from driving this level of simulator provides amazing levels of feedback through the throttle, steering and brake pedal. The latter requiring enormous levels of strength to function properly. The simulator is based on an actual race car tub and provides all the internal racing components such as roll cage, racing seat and internal controls and dials. Everything is meticulously dialled in including the ABS system and of course the wonderful V8 sound track. It’s difficult to imagine the strength and energy required to drive these cars over extended periods of time (many hours in long distance endurance racing).I left the experience exhilarated but exhausted.

Tom has assisted in the development of this useful machine working alongside talented engineers such as Danny Watts. Other famous Aston drivers such as BPS co-founder Darren Turner, Jonny Adam and Jessica Hawkins use this facility on a regular basis.

Tom with Danny Watts, the engineer who builds and programmes the simulators. Danny is continually evolving these using ever increasing volumes of data and engineering technology. (Photo courtesy of BPS)

The simulators are not just exclusive to professional drivers but AMOC members and anyone who is interested in experiencing the thrill of driving Aston Martin racing cars can contact BPS directly. They also produce a small-scale bespoke version for personal use which can be set up for any Aston model, including the Valkyrie, so you can enjoy driving these cars at the limit without leaving the comfort of your own living room! I also think it’s a great way of honing your track day skills before actually taking your own car on a circuit.

As a parallel to the Simulator training Tom competed in the Virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans during the 15-16 January 2022 with the Prodrive E-Sports Team in car #84 and finished 12th in class.

After my tuition session Tom headed over to the Aston Martin’s Stowe facility at Silverstone. Aston Martin have the use of this facility 5 days a week for testing road and race cars. That afternoon the rain turned torrential. Tom headed out in a road car to test the track conditions and concluded it unsafe/unsuitable to test.

In the afternoon Tom moved onto Banbury to join Simon Rose and myself at Prodrive. Feathers Motorsport are considering a number of options for the 2025 seasons including the purchase of a new GT4 car. There we met Brian Passmore (Sales Support Manager). Brian talked us through the purchase programme of a new racing car. A new Vanatge GT4 costs in the region of £220k plus option packages. All purchases are backed up with a costed parts service along with pit crew support if needed. If any AMOC members are seriously considering entering into the racing programme, or if you just want a very special track day package then Prodrive will be able to advise and guide you.

The following day provided better weather and Tom was back at Stowe circuit to shakedown the Feathers Motorsport GT4. Having competed last in 2023 the car needed a thorough mechanical and electrical review. The Feathers team currently run the 17A racing chassis launched in 2019. This car, chassis 17A/019 was purchased second-hand from David Appleby Engineering. With only 300 testing miles on the clock, it first raced in anger in 2021. Although still competitive the 17A has now been superseded by the upgraded 40A chassis in 2024 which does have new upgrades.

Tom with the 17A Vantage GT4 car ready for shakedown testing at Stowe Circuit, Silverstone (Photo courtesy of Feathers Motorpsort)

The Vantage GT4 uses a stock V8 engine detuned to 450BHP for race regulations. (Photo courtesy of Feathers Motorsport)

During our time at Prodrive it was clear that Tom was a popular and regular visitor as he imparted his racing knowledge to the engineers and technicians working on building the new cars. For those interested in an official tour of Prodrive AMOC do organise these once or twice a year.

In the Prodrive lobby a fully built Vantage GT4 – Ready for racing or an impressive track day car (Photo by Simon Hawkins)

Feathers Motorsport are currently using all this information to make a final decision on whether to enter the GT Cup Championship for 2025.

The GT Cup Championship is a UK based series which was started in 2008 by the late Marc Haynes, son of John Haynes (Founder of the Haynes Manuals and the Haynes International Motor Museum). Marc was passionate about motor sport overcoming his own disabilities and supporting others. He established the GT Cup which has succeeded in his aim of providing amateur enthusiasts with the opportunity to race against like-minded teams and drivers. It is a professional and friendly championship with close racing coupled with mutual support throughout the paddock. In 2025 there will be six rounds in the provisional calendar.

With such a successful career already in place I asked Tom what his plans are for the future. Tom stated “I am developing plans to race an Aston at Le Mans by 2030 in the LMGT3 class, which remains a lifetime ambition”. Tom has already secured a place in the Indian Race Championship in a single seater car for 2025 and hopes to continue his successful association with Feathers Motorsport in the coming seasons.

Thanks to both Tom and Simon for warmly giving me an opportunity to glimpse into the world of Aston Martin Racing from both a driver and teams perspective. We will be following both Tom and Feathers Motorsport into next season as they are both great ambassadors of the racing pedigree associated with the Aston brand.