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Simon interviews Jamie Day

In our second interview with Aston Martin Racing Drivers, we feature Jamie Day.

I first met Jamie at Donington in September this year and then again at the British GT Championship decider at Brands Hatch at the end of the same month. This was a tense weekend as the whole seasons preparations and racing rested on a good result that weekend. It was imperative that all the drivers put in an exemplary performance. Jamie delivered that for the Forsetti team. Qualifying had shown the #90 McLaren had superior pace around the famous GP Circuit.

At the start of the race Jamie had an excellent get away and led the GT4 field (and some of the higher powered GT3 cars) around the first lap for over 30 minutes preventing the McLaren from taking the lead. It was a superb piece of composed and defensive driving under extreme pressure which impressed both the paddock, media and spectators. The resulting second place did secure Jamie the GT4 Silver Champion for 2024. After the race I was keen to learn more about Jamie’s career to date and he how became an Aston Martin Academy Driver.

Watch Jamie’s opening lap at Brands Hatch in the British GT Championship September 2024...

Jamie was born in the UK and is now based in Dubai and is often referred to as “The Emirati” by commentators. Whilst most of us were still learning to walk Jamie was testing karts at the age of 4, entering the “Bambino” karting season at 6 and was competitively racing karts at the age of 8. Between 2013 and 2020 Jamie won 7 different karting championships in both Europe and Dubai.

Jamie entered the GT racing scene in 2022 and is now in his third competitive season. In 2022 he claimed an overall pole position in the British GT Championship at Snetterton and also claimed class wins in the same season. Partnering that year with Josh Millar they became the youngest driver pairing to win a round of the same championship. Much of Jamie’s British GT success has come with the Forsetti Team and he was invited to join this newly formed team in 2022 by Joe Hollaway (Team Manager). It was these links with Forsetti, along with his performance, that led to his inclusion in the Aston Martin Academy programme. The academy develops young drivers through support which includes a winter training session and offtrack support.

‘I am proud to be associated with Aston Martin both for their brand values and the support they gave us as we developed our careers. I hope to continue to be racing for Aston at the highest level for many years to come’. Jamie Day

Jamie is actively involved in coaching and developing young drivers especially those racing in Karts and moving up into F4. Jamie works with his father (and Manager) Kevin who owns Xcel Motorsport in Dubai and enables young drivers to take their initial steps from karting into the world of single seater racing. It offers a support race team environment with driver coaching and performance training. All great skills for the next generation of Aston Martin racing drivers.

In 2023, as well as participating in the British GT, Jamie raced in the European GT4 series, a sports car championship created and organised by SRO Motorsports Group. It is a pro/am championship for GT4 class cars only, and runs alongside the GT World Challenge Europe as a support series. It is coveted within the GT4 community and seen as the highest level in its class.

Jamie also competed for Forsetti Motorsport in this year’s 2024 GT Winter Series paired again with Mikey Porter. The GT Winter Series runs on the Iberian Peninsula, with two races in Portugal, and four races in Spain. At each circuit, the race weekend consists of three races in total, two 30-minute races, and a single 60-minute race. Aston was represented by Forsetti and the RACAR Motorsport based in Portugal. Jamie and Mikey won the overall Championship crown that year.

In 2023 Jamie entered this series with the Racing Spirit of Leman Racing team, a Swiss family motorsport team with its operating structure based in La Roche Sur Foron, Haute-Savoie. Racing Spirit of Léman was founded in 2019 by Patrick Barbier alongside his daughter Herminie, the team competes in prototype and GT sports in championships such as the European Le Mans Series (ELMS), Michelin Le Mans Cup, GT4 France and Europe. In 2020, the team obtained official support from Aston Martin Racing in the ACO championships, and today competes in the major endurance championships with Swiss and international drivers. Jamie entered the race in the Vantage GT4 #82 securing two podium finishes at Monza that year.

Jamie operates a hectic diary and although agreeing to talk it took over 2 weeks to secure a slot for an interview as his racing and coaching duties took him through a number of different locations and countries. I managed to find 30 minutes with Jamie on Teams from his Dubai base. Reflecting back on his British GT Class Title ‘I was really pleased with my performance in the GT4 class with strong and consistent performance, coupled with numerous podiums securing a good result at the end of the season’.

The following day he flew out to Sydney to drive a Vantage GT3 in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia for the Valante Rosso Racing Team at the Sydney Motorsport Park. A fourth continent was added to the Global GT World Challenge programme in 2021 when Australia joins this international manufacturer championship. Jamie stated ‘GT3 is my next step and where I am aiming to be in the next few years, having proved my strong pace and performance in the GT4 class so far’.

The Valante Rosso Racing team based in Sydney, New South Wales, confirmed in July that it was starting a new partnership with Aston Martin Racing. The pre raced Aston had previously competed in a handful of races in the USA IMSA Sports Car Championship. The car is a previous generation Aston GT3 but has had some of the latest EVO specifications added. The car made its debut in Australia in August this year.

Sometimes the unpredictability of motorsport rears up and unfortunately, despite making the long trip, Jamie was unable to compete in the GT3 at Sydney due to a string of technical problems with the Aston all weekend ultimately resulting in the team formally withdrawing before the start of the race. This was a bitter blow to the team and Jamie but we look forward to covering their racing season next year.

However, Jamie was still able to showcase his talents. The team entered Jamie into a supporting Radical Cup Australia race the same weekend. Despite Jamie having never driven a Radical before he had 1 test session, entered the race with a car two generations out of date (and with no new tyres), qualified twelfth and finished in fifth and sixth place in the 2-race event thus proving himself as a top driver with many years in his career yet to come. We look forward to covering Jamie’s career with Aston Martin in the coming years.