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Check out Christina Nielsen, the 23-year-old Dane leading the IMSA GTD series

Thanks to hard driving, a good car, consistency, and four podiums this season, 23-year-old Christina Nielsen from Horsholm, Denmark owns the lead of the GT Daytona class in the IMSA Tudor United SportsCar Championship. It's a slim lead at 199 points, just two points over Christopher Haase and Dion von Moltke, co-drivers of the #48 Paul Miller Racing Audi R8 LMS who are second and third and both on 197 points. Nielsen drives the Aston Martin Racing #007 TRG-AMR V12 Vantage GT3 in both USCC and the GTA class of the Pirelli World Challenge. Kuno Wittmer is her co-driver in the USCC, you might remember him as the winner of the driver's championship with the short-lived Chrysler factory team. TRG-AMR recently inducted the Canadian and 17-year-racing veteran to the be the team's number one development driver and be a mentor to Nielsen. Nielsen is the daughter of a Danish sports car racer but she only started racing in 2007 when a friend took her to a kart track. She said she got hooked on that first visit, and in 2011 she finished third in the Karting World Championships. Two years later she won the B Championship at the German ADAC GT Masters with 14 podiums in 16 races, including two victories. Last year she drove in the Patron Endurance Cup and Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge, this year she graduated to TRG-AMR. There are three races left in the USCC season, and Nielsen said she likes the upcoming tracks and the team's chances. You can check out her race-craft in the two videos below. News Source: IMSAImage Credit: Brian Cleary/Getty Images Motorsports Aston Martin Coupe Racing Vehicles Videos uscc

Win an Aston Martin Vantage and an L.A. dream house

Autoblog may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page. Pricing and availability are subject to change. No donation or payment necessary to enter or win this sweepstakes. See official rules on Omaze. If you’re a fan of sunshine, beaches and luxury performance cars, this giveaway is for you. Omaze is giving away not only an Aston Martin Vantage, but a 5-bedroom, 6-bath modern farmhouse in the City of Angels. Win This $4.3 Million Los Angeles Dream House and an Aston Martin - Enter at Omaze HereÂ’s what we said about the Vantage when we last drove it: "Aston wrapped its aluminum-tubbed baby – its chassis 10% stiffer than the pricier DB11Â’s – with aluminum, steel and composite panels, for a svelte dry weight of 3,366 pounds. It goes down further with optional, weight-saving forged wheels and ceramic composite brakes.  "Combine that with a wicked-fast 13.1:1 steering ratio; an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission (with a carbon-fiber prop shaft); and Mercedes-AMGÂ’s superlative, 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 with 509 horses and 505 pound-feet of torque, and youÂ’ve got a British-German missile that cracks 60 mph in 3.5 seconds, and reaches a 195-mph peak. The DB11 has adopted this optional V8 as well, which only improves its handling versus the V12, though the Vantage gains more off-the-line advantage with a shorter final-drive ratio of 2.93, versus 2.7 in the DB11. "Driving the Aston is easy peasy in contrast, but thereÂ’s still rewarding effort involved. The AstonÂ’s street-killing, track-worthy intent is underlined by a three-mode drive system – adjusting throttle map, transmission, stability control and that basso-profundo exhaust – with no “Comfort” mode, only “Sport,” “Sport Plus” and “Track.” The steering is bristling with feedback, the chassis supremely balanced. ItÂ’s the kind of sports car that likes to be grabbed by the scruff of the neck and flogged, and if things get out-of-sorts occasionally, all the better. IÂ’d been on some of these same roads a few weeks ago in a $240,000 2021 Porsche 911 Turbo S, and itÂ’s just a different experience. It may be faster than the Aston, as youÂ’d expect from a 640-horsepower 911 with a Bugatti-like 2.6-second launch to 60 mph, but the Porsche is also a more-effortless, surreal traveler, as much spaceship as sports car. If you can afford either or both, the choice is up to you. "This being an Aston, there are other flaws and quirks.

Aston Martin DBX SUV spied up close towing, and we get interior shots

An Aston Martin SUV called the DBX is going to be revealed in the last quarter of 2019, and here's your newest batch of spy photos showing it out testing. There isn't much new to see on the outside, but our spy photographer managed to capture more detailed photos of the interior. Before you get too excited, know the interior is pretty much entirely unfinished. This particular DBX prototype seems to be a fairly early build, as everything on the inside looks cobbled together. If you peer through the rear windows you'll see what looks like some sort of rollcage and massive jugs meant to simulate the weight of passengers. Also, like before, there's a smattering of Mercedes parts in there. We see the Mercedes infotainment display, center console and center stack design, plus Mercedes seat controls. Curiously, those seat controls are on the tunnel separating the driver and passenger. Aston could get away with doing that, but with all the space an SUV offers, it seems somewhat unnecessary to package it thusly. We'll just assume nothing is final at this point, due to the state of confusion currently on display in the Aston's interior. We do have something interesting to look at on the exterior of the DBX, though. It's hauling something, and that something happens to be a Taylor dynamometer, according to the logo on the side. This kind of dyno is used to apply a measured load to the vehicle, in addition to simulating driving up and down slopes. This SUV is rumored to have AMG's 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 under the hood, so it could have some heady towing capability. Aston seems intent on making this SUV do SUV things, so a solid tow rating could be in the cards. The wait isn't long at this point for the DBX, but Aston hasn't uncovered anything more than it did last year. With the actual announcement nearing, we hope to see more of the large Aston Martin bruiser soon.