Most of you will have seen yesterday the ACO confirm their first provisional entry list ahead of June’s 24 Hours of Le Mans which again formulates itself as the midway point round to the FIA World’s Endurance Championship.

Not revealing too many surprises when it comes to the Aston Martin and Aston Martin Racing powered runners, yesterday’s reveal saw the Heart of Racing team have their #007 and #009 Valkyrie Hypercars as well as their #23 and #27 Vantage LMGT3 cars confirmed (albeit a matter of course as full season FIA WEC entries) although we still didn’t get to see their full LMGT3 driver line ups.

 

Harry Tincknell, Tom Gamble, Ross Gunn and Marco Sorensen, Alex Riberas and Roman De Angelis again crew up the teams two Hypercar entries whilst the team are still only listing Gray Newell and Ian James within their #23 and #27 Vantage LMGT3’s respectively.

With the Prologue Test and opening round to the 2026 season in Qatar fast approaching in late March, it obviously won’t be too much longer before those blanks on the entry list will be confirmed.

 

 

These crews will be joined by a third AMR Vantage LMGT3 crew as the Racing Spirit of Leman team return to the ACO blue riband event after their participation last season as an FIA WEC full season entrant.

This season, the team are again back within both the European Le Mans Series and Michelin Le Mans Cup Series, but their Le Mans 24 driver roster will be team regulars Clement Mateu and Valentin Hasse-Clot alongside Sebastian Baud who is no stranger to either the event or platform so come together as a strong class contender.

 

 

There was a fourth AMR LMGT3 listed but within the reserve list as the Blackthorn AMR team find their continued participation within the Asian Le Mans Series is not quite enough to get an automatic entry into the 24hours.

Currently siting as fourth reserve, the #56 car features an interesting (so far) driver line up of Giacomo Petrobelli alongside Dario Franchitti plus one more yet to be confirmed. To us, that might suggest the teams association with Ecurie Ecosse may continue into the 24hour (if they get an entry) after their association together over the new year within the Asian Le Man Series.

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media

 

 

It appears that we all get a weekend off early season motor racing this time around as we look forward to the next batch of IMSA Series racing due to take place over the final weekend in February.

Until then, and to a point where we will find out if we will have any Aston Martin Racing powered runners within the VP Racing Sportscar Challenge Series visit to CoTA, we can take a quick look back at the snippets of news that have come out from other AMR powered runners over the last week or so. (UPDATE - unfortunately there are none being listed!)

 

The Japanese D’Station Racing team where out this week in a pre-season Super GT Series test from their home circuit of Fuji Speedway.

The team have already confirmed the return of both Tomonobu Fujii and Charlie Fagg within the team’s #777 Vantage GT3 entry but it was just the team manager on hand this week as they clocked up some valuable laps as the event was curtailed to just a single day due to track conditions in the bitter cold. The team will now look forward to two official test dates before the opening round to the season from Okayama in April.

 

 

The Spanish based E2P Racing team have had their 24H Series European Series entry confirmed with a four-man driver line up and their Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 that they have already raced this year within the GT Winter Series 6 Hours of Portimao a couple of weeks ago.

This will be the team’s second season with the Aston but their fourth within the Creventic lead series.

 

 

Within the ranks of the British GT Championship, the GBR Stratton Motorsport team have again bee out pre-season testing – this time at Donington Park where a familiar face in John Hartshorne having his name above one of the doors of one of the team’s two Vantage GT4 cars that they have entered.

The team is due out again next week at Snetterton and then at Silverstone before we hopefully hear of some definitive names within their GT4 entries ahead of Media Day at Silverstone at the end of March.

 

 

Within Britcar, the Addison Racing AMR Vantage GT4 of father and son namesakes Martin and Bill Addison have also been confirmed earlier the month with the crew moving up to the 17A variant of the car late last season with some immediate class success.

 

There was further class podium success for the two Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 powered teams within the weather curtailed GT4 Winter Series at the weekend but neither had it all their own way at Valencia.

With predicted strong winds effectively taking out all programmed track action at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo on Saturday, teams were left with just their Friday testing (if they were in attendance) or going in blind over the course of their race races on Sunday as organises were forced to race series within series in order to get through the race programme.

 

The weekend may have started with racing woe for one Aston Martin Racing powered team, it ended happily for the other as the Violante Rosso Vantage GT3 crew secured a much-deserved class podium finish at the end of today’s 12Hours of Bathurst.

Whilst the Vantage GT4 powered Team New Zealand entry of Graham Dowsett, Romain Leroux and Chris Van Der Drift were forced to lament there early exit from the event after a Free Practice accident for Dowsett saw the car receive non-repairable damage, things were certainly different a few garages up the pit lane for the Sydney based Volante Rosso team as The Mountain experience within the team certainly paid off.

 

 

Bryce Fullwood qualified the #14 car just ahead of the Heart of Racing crew (again competing within a Mercedes AMG GT3), P27 overall and third within Pro-Am as their attention soon turned to the early start to the race on Sunday.

With the thirty-four remaining cars taking the start around the unlit circuit, it was long before the characteristics of the circuit with one entry being literally taken out by a member of the local wildlife in what could have been a more horrifying than it already was accident. A second, non-related incident put paid to almost the first hour of racing with the race (proper) then restarting as the sun began to make an appearance of the horizon.

 

 

 

Disaster struck the Team New Zealand racing team at the 12Hours of Bathurst earlier today when a Free Practice accident saw their #7 Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 incur significant rear end damage after contact with the outside wall.

Having already circulated around the Mount Panorama circuit without incident for the Graham Dowsett, Romain Leroux and Chris Van Der Drift driven car, the #7 crew were the fastest GT4 classed crew sitting a respectable P33 out of the thirty-five strong runners after the first session available to them.

 

To end the day of track action was the second bronze driver only session of the day where Dowsett would again run solo with his like graded peers and for his twelve laps completed, was still the fastest of the two GT4 entries.

However, disaster struck the gentleman driver as #21 Herberth Porsche came through into Sulman Park where the line of the Aston Martin was disturbed and the car drifted out onto the marbles to back heavily into the concrete retaining wall. Not as visually spectacular as the R-Motorsport AMR Vantage GT3 at the same corner a few years ago, Dowsett was able to remove himself from his race car unaided and without injury.

 

 

No great surprises when it comes to the livery designs for the two Aston Martin Racing powered cars entered into this weekend’s 12Hrs of Bathurst as both the Team New Zealand and Volante Rosso teams posted very familiar looking photos of their cars today.

After preparations at the circuit earlier, yesterday saw the annual pilgrimage from the circuit to the town of Bathurst for all the cars entered into this year’s event, something that also makes up the opening round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge.

 

A third consecutive race weekend with the Gedlich Racing Series sees them moves along the coast to the Spanish circuit of Valencia for this weekend’s third round of their GT4 Winter Series.

Whilst the two Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 powered entries that ran in last weekend’s non-championship round of Portimao have moved on, we are back to the (so far) two AMR Vantage GT4 entries that will compete within the aptly named GT4 Winter Series again.

 

 

The Japanese based D’Station Racing team confirmed some good news today as well as detailing a shift from their usual positions for their domestic racing programme this season.

Firstly, the good news was that of their Aston Martin Racing powered return to the topflight Super GT Series with drivers Tomonobu Fujii and Charlie Fagg pairing up again for their third season togther aboard their #777 entry.

 

There were steady but encouraging results from both the Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 powered crews at the end of another weather affected GT Winter Series event and their stand-alone 6Hrs of Portimao.

Just the two AMR powered entries over the originally indicated three cars saw the Belgian based Comtoyou Racing team go ‘head-to-head’ with their Spanish stablemates from the E2P Racing team. Competing amongst another diverse grid of sixteen other GT3, Cup and GT4 entries, their objectives where different but the scope of the exercise for both crews was simply get back into the racing mode ahead of the start of their intended series this summer.

 

What a difference a day made for the #56 Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 team at the final race weekend of the Asian Le Mans Series from Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi.

Having made the relative short trip up the coastline from the Dubai Autodrome that hosted rounds three and four of the 2025-26 season, the sole Aston Martin Racing crew were already out of the GT Class championship contention despite their opening race P3 podium at the opening race in Sepang in December.

 

 

Having suffered from the penalties arrived at through the constant breach of track limits in Dubai, it was presumably hoped that the lesson would have been learned before the Giacomo Petrobelli, Jonny Adam and Kobe Pauwels driven car arrived at Yas Marina.

Things were certainly looking up for the #56 crew as Petrobelli delivered a pair of P3 Qualifying positions as the Vantage GT3 looked more comfortable around the 5.2km circuit – made the easier after another inter-race Balance of Performance change for the Aston.

 

Mother Nature has continued to throw something of a curved ball to the multi-classed contingent at this weekend’s GT Winter Series non-championship round and its six hours of Portimao.

Early indications had three Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 crews as being listed within the provisional entry list but unsurprisingly, the #21 Comtoyou Racing entry that didn’t have any drivers listed against it on Thursday has failed to materialise but that didn’t mean that their other #007 entry was short of a few drivers either.

 

 

Recording that drivers Aaron Muss, Oliver Soderstrom and Baudouin Detout as drivers entering the event, that didn’t keep away Kyle Marcelli from getting in some early European circuit laps ahead of his debut within the GT world Challenge Europe Endurance Cup season that starts later in April as well, with Detout also confirming a GT3 based season with the Belgian based team within something yet to be announced.

Joining them at the circuit, although in no need for any advanced private testing are the Spanish based E2P Racing team and their #90 AMR Vantage GT3 that we expect their drivers of Pablo Burgueira, Antonio Sainero and Oliver Campos to compete with within the 24H Series again this season.

 

In other Aston Martin Racing powered team related news comes confirmation of another successful national GT4 class champion moving up to the European theatre of GT3 racing as well as another taking the step up to GT racing for the first time.

Today news saw the inaugural SRO Academy winner Gaspard Simon take the plunge with his FFSA GT4 winnings to take the significant step up into the GT World Challenge Europe with the German based Walkenhorst Motorsport team.

 

 

Being listed as competing at Brands Hatch, Misano, Magny-Cours, Zandvoort and finally at Barcelona are clear signs that the youngster will be competing within the Sprint Cup Series with an as-yet unidentified co-driver.

Whilst we had already heard from the Comtoyou Racing team and their GT World Challenge Europe aspirations within both the Endurance and Sprint Cup Series, this is the first news to come out of the German powerhouse who also entered both series last season.

 

 

The other news came earlier this week with the Italian based Gino Motorsport team confirming an AMR Vantage GT4 entry within the new GTC European Challenge Series which will be another series racing both GT4 and TCR based cars together.

Having raced within the Italian XGT4 Series last season, this is the first customer package announcement to come from the team as they confirm Brazilian racer Tiago Pinto within one of the older Vantage GT4’s after he only started racing last season.

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media

 

The completed entry list ahead of next weekend’s 12 Hours of Bathurst has finally been confirmed by the race organisers with the two Aston Martin Racing powered runners finally being revealed in full as part of the thirty-five-car line up.

The ‘locally’ based Team NZ squad were one of the first to announce their commitment to the 2026 event as Graham Dowsett strives to make big improvements within his racing efforts alongside that of his driver coach Romain Leroux having spent the last two seasons or so competing within the Thailand Super Series.

They will be joined within the teams Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 by Chris Van Der Drift for this iconic event – which will also serve as the opening round to the Inter-Continental GT Challenge (which neither AMR powered team will part of) over the 14th and 15th February.

 

 

The Belgian based Comtoyou Racing team are certainly putting an early stamp onto their 2026 racing commitments as they today confirm a two car Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 powered entry into the German DTM Series.

Having earlier announced an expanded Vantage GT3 entry into both the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance and Sprint Cup Series, today’s new sees their DTM 2026 ambitions take a massive step forward as their driver line up now includes factory driver Nicki Thiim within their midst.

 

 

Taking tentative debut steps within the series last season with their young drivers Nicolas Baert and Gilles Magnus, today’s news also confirms that the son of the team owner (Baert) will also be returning to the series where he acknowledges that “We made huge progress in 2025,” said the 24-year-old. “DTM is a tough arena to race in, but this year we go in with the advantage of knowing the car, the circuits, the tyres and the championship. This combined with Nicki's experience, which I'm sure I can learn from, gives us all the elements to make big steps forward in 2026.”

For the Dane, he lists this as something of a dream come true, “It's no secret that I have wanted to race in DTM all my life, because when I was a kid, it was the centre of my universe when my father raced in it,” said Thiim, who already has a DTM victory to his name, at the Norisring in 2024. “I've already achieved that ambition, but when the DTM moved to an-all GT3 platform, I've wanted to represent Aston Martin in the series. So, this is another dream come true for me.

 

 

This season will be another eight event – two races per event format for the solo driven cars with the season starting at the Red Bull Ring in Austria towards the end of April.

Photo credits – AMR / social media