Volante Rosso will see a change in personnel for the GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS season finale in New Zealand, with Volante Rosso Motorsport team co-owner Josh Hunt replacing regular Jamie Day alongside Liam Talbot.
The switch comes after the Englishman was unable to attend GT Festival Hampton Downs due to a busy schedule as an AMR Driver Academy member, requiring Hunt to step into the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3.
While Day will be difficult to replace as Liam Talbot’s co-driver, Hunt enters the event with a wealth of experience for himself, having raced in a number of top-level series, including GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS in 2023 where he joined Chris Batzios behind the wheel of the team’s Mercedes-AMG GT3 and achieved a pair of top 10 results.
Hunt has also raced in Porsche Carrera Cup Australia, Asian Le Mans Series, and in Radical Cup Australia on a consistent basis, while his most recent time in the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 was at a testing day in Queensland Raceway earlier this year.
“It was really great to have Jamie back in the car with us the last couple of rounds,” said Hunt.
“He’s got a massively busy schedule happening at the moment over in Europe, one that’s been super successful. He just won the Silver Cup for GT World Challenge Europe, so it is a shame he won't make it to the last round. We understand that he is busy and we're just fortunate enough to have had him for the rounds that we did.
“I haven't raced at Hampton Downs, but I've been doing some time on the simulator and it looks like a lot of fun. It actually appears a little bit 'old school' with lots of undulation, lots of hard, attacking braking areas, and a few blind lines of sight. It looks like a lot of fun, I'm looking forward to it.
“The last time I was in this car was a test day at Queensland Raceway in June prior to the round, so it has been a little bit of time, but it's a comfy pair of jeans. Working with Liam has been fun all year so to jump in and finish the year with him is going to be a hoot.
“A lot of what went into the decision of me jumping in to finish the year was that I’ve been there with Liam since he started with us at the beginning of the year. Not as a co-driver, but as a coach and driving mentor, so that doesn’t change, but it's not going to feel like he's having to learn someone new. I understand the engineering of the car, I understand what Liam needs.
“Realistically for me to get in, I can adapt to the way that Liam likes to drive the car and that'll be my job this weekend, not to do anything out of the ordinary but deliver it back to him, and make sure we get to the end of the weekend with smiles all around.”
The final round of GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS will be held at Hampton Downs on October 31-November 2.
Tickets for GT Festival Hampton Downs, which doubles as the opening round of the Repco NextGen NZ Championship, are available for purchase via speedseries.com.au/tickets, while Australian fans who can’t make it to the event can watch via Saturday and Sunday’s Qualifying and races live and free on 7plus.