Mr. Bean to Race an Aston Martin Vantage GT4

Rowan Atkinson, the British comedian famous for his role as Mr. Bean, is to partner with Prodrive and Aston Martin chairman, David Richards, to race an Aston Martin Vantage GT4, Aston Martin Racing announced recently. Atkinson and Richards will team up at the second round of the Aston Martin British GT4 Challenge, scheduled to take place at Silverstone on May 22.

Richards, who won the World Rally Championship in 1981 as a co-driver, and has been waiting for a while now to get behind the wheel of the Vantage GT4.

“I raced an old DB3S at Goodwood and while I really enjoyed it, my wife wasn’t too happy as the car had little in the way of modern safety features,” said Richards in a release. “When we launched the new GT4 Challenge series this year, I thought it would be a great opportunity to go racing in something much safer.”

“After testing the new car and finding out how much fun it is to drive, all I needed was a partner, as there was no way I was going to survive two hours behind the wheel on my own,” Richards added. “I was speaking to Rowan recently, who has raced Astons in the past, and he was up for the challenge, so we thought we would give it a go together.”

A joint test session for the two drivers is planned for May 21 at Silverstone. An expected grid of 15 cars will lineup at the Silverstone race, which is the second of the six round series that started at Snetterton in April.