British GT and the FFSA GT4 Series pair up for their next round from Spa Francorchamps
With each series running this weekend’s visit to Belgium, the British GT Champiosnhip and French national FFSA GT4 Series will share track time togther for the first time to run as a converged event even though both series will run to their differing rule sets and will have their own qualifying and podium celebrations.
That means that there will be at least six Aston Martin Racing powered crews taking part this time around – five from the UK and one from France but with still the potential of another as the Mirage Racing team have yet to confirm a chassis for their guesting American racers for their event.
Last time out at Dijon-Prenois, Sloss and Levy came away with a second and first in class with their Vantage GT4 Evo to now sit third overall in class.
Those results now see the pairing sit upon the top step of both the Overall and GT3 Pro-Am Drivers Championship, but their last race result will see them suffer a fifteen second additional time penalty at their scheduled stop this time around.
Photo Credits – Teams / Series / social media
Tuesday, June 16, 2026 |
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Round off the AMR powered teams results from last weekend within SROs global programmes
Down under, last weekend was the third round of the GT World Challenge Australia Series which saw the Sydney based Volante Rosso team field their third driver line up the year as GT3 debutant Cameron Rees was welcomed into their #14 AMR Vantage GT3.
Again, there were no changes within either line up as Frank DePew and Robin Liddell raced within their #71 Rebel Rock Racing Vantage GT3 within Sundays three-hour Gt World Challenge race whilst Jason Bell would again run solo within his #2 Racers Edge Motorsport AMR Vantage GT4 within the two forty-minute GT America Series races.
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
Monday, June 15, 2026 |
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The Heart of Racing Valkyrie secures its best finish to date around the Circuit de La Sarthe
The result marked the fifth consecutive FIA World Endurance Championship points finish for the British-built hypercar, following the #007 crew’s strong start to the 2026 season where they finished ninth in Imola, and followed that up with Valkyrie’s best WEC finish yet; fourth at Spa-Francorchamps, last month.
Developed by Aston Martin and THOR from the Valkyrie production model, the Le Mans Hypercar version, eighth place was also the best finish at Le Mans for a car derived from a road-legal hypercar. Valkyrie is unique as the only car built to Hypercar homologation competing simultaneously in WEC and the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship.
The 62-strong field, waved away from the start line by Aston Martin High Performance Ambassador Sir Mark Cavendish (the former professional cyclist who holds the record for the most stage wins of the Tour de France), in front of 350,000-strong crowd, set a blazing pace in the early running. But by nightfall both Valkyries, emblazoned in special liveries featuring Union Jack, were into their stride and racing inside the top ten.
“This year’s Le Mans provided another encouraging step in Valkyrie’s WEC journey,” said Aston Martin Head of Endurance, Adam Carter. “Valkyrie’s pace on low fuel during the early part of the week was nice to see but also a little unrealistic when it came to the race, as a straightline speed deficit hampered us more once we switched to race trim. That said the team executed without fault as always, and this played a significant factor in us achieving a well-earned points finish in one of the toughest endurance races in the world.”
Source Material - HoRT
Sunday, June 14, 2026 |
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What it all meant for the #23 Heart of Racing team and crew after todays result
Gray Newell, on his race debut, driving alongside FIA World Endurance Championship team-mates Dudu Barrichello and two-time Le Mans GT class winner Jonny Adam, raced to a fraught and fiercely contested final podium spot, finishing ahead of the rival Lexus by just 2.5 seconds in a dramatic end to the race.
“This was an outstanding performance from Vantage, another excellent weekend at Le Mans for Aston Martin, and a great result for our partners Heart of Racing Team,’ said Aston Martin Head of Endurance Adam Carter. “This generation of Vantage has been a contender at Le Mans since it made its debut in 2024, and it is satisfying to see it achieve a podium in the hands of a very competitive, well organised partner. We believe the car is capable of winning, and showed as much again throughout the race, so we will be back next year to try again. Our congratulations go to Gray who was exemplary on his debut, to Dudu who continues to impress and of course to Jonny, who has been an outstanding champion for Aston Martin and deserves this latest accolade.”
Their misfortune allowed the #23 Vantage to move into podium contention, having run in or around the top five all race. As the 94th edition of the French classic moved into the final few hours, it became a clear fight for third behind the victorious Corvette and the pursuant Lexus. The sister Japanese machine then put Barrichello under intense pressure in the final laps, which the young Brazilian calmly absorbed to record his own first podium at Le Mans.
For Adam, the podium means that 50% of his Le Mans starts have concluded with a visit to the Le Mans rostrum, having won his class in 2017 and again in 2020: “Aston Martin has always had a special relationship with Le Mans, so to stand on the podium here, at a race so steeped in the brand's history, means a great deal. We had some good fortune and some bad fortune with safety cars and strategy during the race, but overall it came together really nicely. I'm especially pleased for Gray because this was his Le Mans debut and to come away with a podium is huge for his confidence and a great reward for all his hard work. It could have been an incredible story for both cars today, but we'll celebrate this result.
“What a 24-hour race,” added Ian James, “Those guys executed all week. I’m disappointed for the #27 car, we were in contention for the win there until we lost the gearbox. It’s a strange feeling because it obviously hurts in some ways, but I am very happy that the team took its first Le Mans podium. This place is so special and it’s a privilege to race here. Now we look forward to Brazil and see if we can get a win on the books.”
Source material - HoRT / DPPI
Sunday, June 14, 2026 |
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Podium joy and heartache for the Heart of Racing AMR team at Le Mans
Under much warming track conditions that Test Day just last weekend, the 94th Edition to the event around the Circuit de La Sarthe kicked off yesterday afternoon in a surprisingly orderly fashions as the sixty two runners split between the headlining Hypercar, the guesting for the event LMP2 and the full season LMGT3 classes went about their opening laps watching on by another packed in crowd.
The three AMR Vantage LMGT3’s from both the Heart of Racing and Racing Spirit of Leman teams picked up from where they had left off with Mattia Drudi leading the class from his earlier won pole position in his #27 car, with Jonny Adam starting the sister #23 in the mid-table in class and with Valentin Hasse-Clot opening the order for the #59 RSLM crew for the best part of the opening hour.
As darkness fell around the circuit, the track temperature remained higher than recent nights but still cool enough for most hypercars to go onto the Michelin soft tyre for the first time.
The #27 Vantage remained in close contact with the class leaders having lead the class for much of the opening quarter to the race with the #23 sister car also doing what it needed to, both overall and in support of the quicker car up from whilst the #59 was never able to break free and establish a race position much higher than P15 in class.
With nerves obviously showing towards the countdown to the chequered flag and with the more experienced Adam by his side, the realisation soon struck the race debuting Newell that a class podium was quickly coming his way as Barrichello completed the final corners to claim a overall LMGT3 P3 finish. That result would be his and Barrichello’s first LM24 podium finish whilst it was Adam’s first since that heady day of a GTE Am class win.
The #59 Racing Spirit of Leman AMR of Clement Mateu, Marius Fossard and Valentin Hasse-Clot also rallied at the end converting their P21 starting position into a P11 finish in class for their efforts.
Photo credits – Team / Aston Martin / DPPI Images
Sunday, June 14, 2026 |
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Racing Spirit of Leman extend their class lead after another action packed Le Mans Cup round (UPDATED)
Running their longest race within the history of the Series at the Circuit de La Sarthe earlier today, proved itself to be another eventful one albeit not always in a positive way as far as the four Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3’s were concerned.
Qualifying was all sorted yesterday as the #10 Racing Spirit of Leman entry of Philipp Sager and Valentin Hasse-Clot this time bucked the trend in beating the #10 Code Racing Development AMR Vantage of Sebastian Moreno and Ethan Ischer to be the highest placed Aston Martin on the Road to Le Mans grid fourth in class to the #10 cars P7.
An early start to the three-hour race on Friday morning saw of the crews struggling to get warmth into their tyres and brakes with the inevitable contact between cars on the opening lap saw race hobbling damage for many. One of those was the #90 car of Bateman who would return to pit lane with what appeared to just be a rear puncture but was something obviously a bit more sinister as the car only lasted another seven laps before being retired.
Leaving just the #10 and #11 cars to the AMR name, the race never settled until about half an hour had passed after a quick sequence of slow zones during the opening laps had again spoiled the start but only at the hour mark did we see the Safety Car for the first time after a heavy off into the safer barrier at the Porsche Curves.
Losing time to the repositioning of the car relative to their refuelling rig, the #10 car re-emerged in third as the two leading McLarens were circulating faster than what the Frenchman could cut down so a lower step of the podium was looking probable. Last lap contact between the two class leaders, however, saw the long-time leader sidelined with terminal damage allowing the #10 car to easily pass for position.
UPDATE
A post race penalty applied to the race winning McLaren (presumably after the contact between the two McLarens at Mulsanne on the final lap) has elevated the #10 Racing Spirit of Leman AMR to class WINNER. That further extends their championship lead!!
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
Friday, June 12, 2026 |
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Heart of Racing secure a repeat Pole Position in tonight's LM24 Hyperpole
Having secured all four cars within both LMGT3 and Hypercar through last nights Qualifying session, tonight’s Hyperpole 1 and 2 sessions gave everyone the chance of ‘going for gold’ which the #27 crew grabbed with both hands.
The sister #23 car also made their mark during the first two sessions before a ‘technical issue’ with the car sadly stopped Jonnie Adam from doing better than P8 after race debutant Gray Newell had outperformed Ian James in Qualifying with a P3 result before Eduardo Barrichello went fourth fastest in Hyperpole 1.
Ross Gunn was out next tonight within the #007 as was Marco Soronsen within the #007 and all was looking good for both cars to progress until the final seconds of Hyperpole 1 where some last charges successively dropped both cars down the top ten order until the #007 car found itself just upon the wrong side of the cut-off point and as a result, they will start the 24 Hours of Le Mans from P11.
That left the #009 car getting through by the skin of its teeth allowing Roman De Angelis the honour of a top ten shout out at Le Mans. He repaid that favour by securing a P8 start to the race which in themselves represent another massive progressive step in the racing development of this car.
The #59 Racing Spirit of Leman AMR Vantage LMGT3 also elevates itself up one position from their Qualifying results of last night following the disqualification from the results of one of the TF Sport Corvettes. Clement Mateu, Marius Fossard and Valentin Hasse-Clot will now start P21 in class.
Photo credits – Team / DPPI Images / social media
Thursday, June 11, 2026 |
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Early pace takes four of the five Aston Martins through to Hyperpole at Le Mans
Today was the first track action of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship Blue Ribband event after the closing laps of the official Test Day on Sunday which features the two Ason Martin Valkyrie Hypercars and two Aston Martin Racing Vantage LMGT3 entries from the Heart of Racing team and the invited AMR Vantage LMGT3 from the Racing Spirit of Leman team.
They were the four Heart of Racing entries which saw both Gray Newell and Ian James take their #27 and #23 cars (respectively) through the knock-out stage which saw the LM24 debutant (Newell) beat the more established and experienced racer (James) to finish the session third fastest compared to James’ eight best time in class.
Then in the Hypercar class, it was the turn of Tom Gamble and Alex Riberas to take out their #007 and #009 cars for their opening thirty-minute knock-out stage, where Gamble indicated intent by claiming the fastest lap time for much of the session. Next time around and Riberas was right behind his team-mate to chalk up and Aston Martin 1-2 before the final laps saw others pip them for pace into the dying minutes of the session for the cars to finish P9 and P7 in class – both safely through to Hyperpole.
Before that, however, all the runners will have a further Free Practice 2 session to look forward to tonight (starting at 22:00hrs local tonight) within which event rookies must complete their mandatory lap requirements.
Free Practice Three tomorrow afternoon will precede the following Hyperpole 1 and 2 sessions which will start after the first of the support races from 20:00hrs local.
Photo credits – DPPI / Teams / social media
Wednesday, June 10, 2026 |
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Rounding off last weekends AMR Vantage GT4 racing news
The former competing down in Jarama for the second round of that series after the opening round roan concurrently with the races then of the Iberian Supercars Series but with a reduced AMR powered entry list of just three cars amongst the twenty-three strong GT4 entry.
Race two did get slightly better for at least one AMR runner as the #28 car turned their earlier misfortune around to secure a P12 overall / P2 in the GT4 Bronze class finish whilst the #77 car was this time a non-finisher with the #52 car down in P17 overall/P7 in GT4 Pro.
Hopes were high going into this round for the four AMR Vantage GT4 powered runners with the #66 Van Der Steur crew of Trenton Estep and Allen Patten securing a second row start in third after the rain affected preceding track sessions.
There were also early issues for the #14 Circle H Racing AMR of David Hampton/Thomas Merril and Martin Sarukhanyan as they also disappeared behind the pit wall during this opening caution – to return some fifteen minutes later but to run off the pace before finally coming to a halt on track thirty minutes before the end.
Photo credits – Teams / social media
Tuesday, June 09, 2026 |
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