A new and colourful Art Car for Street-Art Racing
Partner team of Aston Martin Racing, the Belgian Street-Art Racing team will not go unnoticed in its first season in the International GT Open. Albert Bloem and Damien Hellebuyck have decided to go back to their roots and turn their Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 into an art car. This time the #007 is the work of Belgian artist Christophe de Fierlant.
A new car, with the GT3 version of the Aston Martin Vantage AMR, a new championship, with the International GT Open and… a return to its roots. Two months before the season kicks off at Estoril on 30 April and 1 May, Street-Art Racing has unveiled the new colours of its beautiful English car.
“ We are passionate about both motorsport and art,” says Albert Bloem, Team Principal of the Belgian team. “When I was a driver myself, I used to ask an artist to decorate my car. That is where the name of our team comes from: Street in reference to cars you can see on the streets and Art for their artistic paintwork. With our move to GT3, which is an important step for Street-Art Racing, we have revived this tradition and given free rein to the talent of Christophe de Fierlant.”
Car #007, the Aston Martin Vantage GT3, has therefore been given an extremely colourful paint-job. “Just like my usual work, I wanted something very bright,” explains Christophe de Fierlant. “Together with Albert and Damien Hellebuyck (the Team Manager, editor’s note), we agreed on one thing: this car should not blend in anonymously!”
The special feature of this Art Car is that it was designed by an artist who has a deep love for motorsport. “My uncle, Hughes de Fierlant, won the 24 Hours of Spa in 1975 and he took part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans seven times,” smiles Christophe. “So I have passion in my blood. I myself have driven in the VW Fun Cup, the Belgian Touring Car Series, the Nascar Euro Series, the 24 Hours of Spa in 2013… To tell you the truth, It is a dream of mine to participate in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a car that I would have decorated myself. I think it would be a great first to have an artist who is also the driver of “his” Art Car!”
In reality, this Art Car is Christophe’s second, as he already painted – literally – the VW Fun Cup car in which he participated in a support before the 24 Hours of Le Mans. “There it was rather different,” says the Brabant native. “I did not work directly on the car, but on a canvas which was then adapted to the contours of the car. Even in white, the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 is already so beautiful! I wanted to find a way to make it look good, so I took the time to learn about the history of the brand, the team and Jetcraft, the title sponsor of Street-Art Racing. And I am very proud of the end result.”
Unsurprisingly, we immediately find the style of an artist who is currently on a roll and whose reputation extends far beyond the Belgian borders. “I knew quite quickly that I wanted an explosion of colour,” says this former student of the Beaux-Arts in Brussels, who draws his inspiration from the Fauvists. “I have been through some difficult times in my life and, for the past few years, the sun has been shining again with numerous great projects coming my way. The explosion of colour is the explosion of my artistic career, but it is also the explosion of Street-Art Racing, which is taking a step forward with this GT3. Usually there is a great deal of writing in my works and as I am both a painter and a poet, they are associated with poems… In this case Jetcraft gave me permission to reinterpret their logo and put it on the car. Thanks to them and thanks to Albert and Damien, two true art lovers, for trusting me.”
The name of the second driver has not yet been announced, but it is already known that Pascal Bachmann will be at the wheel of the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3. For the Swiss driver, champion of the Am Cup in the GT4 European Series in 2019, it will also be a new challenge… which we will tell you more about in the coming weeks!
