British luxury sports car brand Aston Martin will make its debut in the Grand-Am series on January 27th, as it prepares to take part in the 2012 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (CTSCC), which will be held at the Daytona International Speedway.

For its return to North American racing, Aston Martin has teamed up with Multimatic Motorsports, which are based in Toronto, Canada. The lead car in this endurance race will be driven by Scott Maxwell and Joe Foster, while the second car will be piloted by Hollywood star Patrick Dempsey, who has proven over the years that he is a very accomplished racing driver. For this inaugural event, Dempsey will be teamed-up with Chriss Porritt, Aston Martin’s chief engineer, who is very experienced with the Vantage GT4.

The first round of the CTSCC will be run in support of the 50th running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, and this support race will run for two and a half hours, with a mandatory driver change. The Aston Martin team will be competiting in the Grand Sport Category, which features six and eight cylinder cars. Aston’s main rival will most certainly be the Audi R8 LMS, which is in the same class.

With experienced drivers and the combined talents of Aston Martin and Multimatic Motorsports, this team will certainly be among the favorites to take the race win. We only have to wait a few days to find out.

Subaru has announced that Andrew Aquilante and Bret Spaude will return as factory team drivers for their entry in the Grand Sport (GS) class of the 2012 Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. The first round of the series will take place at Daytona International Speedway on January 27th, 2012.

Subaru will be fielding a race-prepped 2012 four-door WRX STI, developed specifically to compete with all the other 400-hp vehicles in the class. Subaru Road Racing Team (SRRT) has been working on a technical progression for the number-35 STI during the off-season and appears to be optimistic heading into round one of the championship.

SRRT Principal Joe Aquilante noted, “We’ve enjoyed a very productive off-season, and our team is looking forward to getting back to the business of racing our Subaru WRX STI.  Our drivers have been focusing on honing their physical fitness while our technical staff has been diligently progressing our car development plan.  To say that we’re excited for Daytona is an understatement.”

Round one of the 2012 Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge starts January 27th at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, FL.

Kia has been promoting its first entry into motorsports in the U.S. in a big way since the Korean automaker first introduced its Forte Koupe race car at the SEMA Show last year. Prior to the green flag at Daytona Speedway, kicking off the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge season (formerly Koni Challenge), Kia was working hard to drum up excitement for its two-car effort. And why shouldn’t they, with the vehicles being built by Kinetic and the driver’s including such names as Andy Lally and Nic Jönsson in the #10 car.

Well, things didn’t go quite as Kia had planned with Lally and Jönsson completing just 25 laps for a dismal 31st place in the ST class. The No. 12 car of Trevor Hopwood and Adam Burrows, a duo which clinched the 2007 Grand Am ST class championship, placed significantly better in 19th, but hardly in the running with average speeds well below the front runners.

Kia’s commitment to Grand-Am and to racing isn’t likely to be discouraged by the results, however, as the Korean automaker plans to use motorsports to help build the brand into one that is seen as sporty and desirable – particularly by young males.

We’ll look to see more from the Kia team in the future with the next Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge taking place March 5-6 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

GALLERY: Kia Forte Koup Race Car

Official release after the jump:

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Along with the debut of the 2011 Mustang GT with its new 5.0-liter V8 engine, Ford has announced that a race version of the car will compete in the Grand Am Series. Called the BOSS 302R, the car is named after the car legendary racer Parnelli Jones drove to the Trans-Am title back in 1970. Five of the Boss 302s will compete at the 2010 season opener at Daytona.

Based on the FR500C Mustang racecar, which Ford brought back in 2005 and updated last year. A base BOSS 302R will be available for $79,000, while a full Grand Am Spec model will retail for $129,000. In total just 50 BOSS 302 R’s will be built.

Grand Am spec models get a special Grand-Am Homologation Package (M-FR500-BOSS R1), which makes them eligible to compete in the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (formerly known as KONI Challenge). It includes a close-ratio six-speed transmission, upgraded cooling system, a seam-welded body, race suspension and KONI shocks, ABS brake tuning, a race exhaust and a one-piece driveshaft.

By sending five cars to Daytona, Ford is hoping to recreate some of the magic from 2005 when the FR500C ran their and took its class victory, just days after being delivered to its owner. Since then the FR500C models have won three Triple Crown championships of driver, team and manufacturer’s titles in KONI competition including back-to-back wins in 2008 and 2009, while overseas the FR500C has has taken the 2007 and 2008 driver’s championships in the FIA GT4 class.

“To keep pace with consumer demand, the Ford team has built modern versions of the most iconic performance Mustangs over the years,” said Jamie Allison, director, Ford North America Motorsports. “From Shelbys to Bullitt, Mach and Cobra Jet, it is now time for BOSS to join the list of America’s most coveted Mustangs. The original BOSS 302 was a championship-winning legend and the new Mustang BOSS 302R will carry on the tradition. The Mustang was born to race from the start, and this new Mustang is bred to win.”

GALLERY: BOSS 302R

Official release after the jump:

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