There was a more than a healthy haul of class podiums won at the weekend by the many Aston Martin Racing powered teams and crews after they completed the opening round to the Iberian Supercars Series from Portimao.

With six such AMR Vantage GT4 crews competing amongst the twenty-eight runners within last weekends Iberian Racing Festival, there was however not all cheer for some of those six as technical issues bit hard for some.

 

One of those crews who only saw the private testing sessions was the new #722 Pro classed Gianfranco Motorsport crew of Roberto Faria and Joel Bergstrom who unfortunately had to sit out the entire Qualifying and race double header after issues within their former Racing Spirit of Leman AMR Vantage GT4 Evo could not be fixed trackside.

Another casualty within the racing was the Pro classed entered AMR from the #77 Racar Motorsport for reigning champion Mathieu Martins with Anton Morsing after they failed to finish within the opening hour-long race, but they did recover to a P8 overall/P5 in class finish as both Pro class entered Astons got off to a poor start to this six-round season.

 

Success did come the way of the #777 RV7 team Am class entry of reigning champion Ruben Vaquinhas alongside his new co-driver, Mico Mineiro as they secured both a P1 and P2 finishes in class for their efforts.

The #28 Bronze class entered Racar Motorsport AMR Vantage GT4 Evo of Vasco Oliveira and new co-driver Ivan Velasco also scored a class double after they secured a similar great start to the new season with their P1 and P2 finishes respectively.

The #700 NGT crew of Fernando Soares and Miguel Ferreira also enjoyed early success within their new 17A variant of the Vantage GT4 after securing a race win P3 finish in Am before dropping back to P5 in class for race two. The #52 Monterios Competicoes AMR of Henrique Oliveira and Louis Leveau suffered a difficult introduction to the Pro class with their P7 and P9 finishes.

The next round of the season will be from Jarama in three weeks’ time.

Photo credits – Teams/ Series / social media

 

 

 

 

It was a near perfect return to the French FFSA GT4 Series for the #5 Mirage Racing Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 driving partnership of David Levy and Jodie Sloss.

Racing this weekend at Dijon-Prenois, the #5 crew looked to improve upon their race finishes first time this season from Nogaro where the Am classed crew finished both races upon the class podium, but in P2 and P3 respectively at the end of each one-hour race.

 

Competing again within a combined grid of thirty-two cars, the #5 crew started the weekend better than last time out as each driver qualified their car within the top three in class before taking to the track for the first race later on Saturday afternoon.

Another typically hectic start to another GT4 powered race saw one car knocked into a spin at turn one first time around before the race settled into something of a rhythm. Only a later Safety Car for a car fire spoilt a clean run to the end where Levy finished off Sloss’s start to claim a P9 overall finish – P1 in class.

 

Sunday’s finale was something along a similar vein with dry and bright track conditions only being hampered by cooler temperatures. Whilst others felt it necessary to make contact with others, something that again brought out the Safety Car after the pit window, the #5 car kept things clean again for Sloss to eventually cross the line P9 overall – P1 in class.

Whilst there have been many other Aston Martin Racing powered team podium finishes this weekend, the greatest achievement of the year so far has to go to the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport entry in this weekend’s ADAC Ravenol N24 around the infamous Nurburgring Nordschleife.

Giving early indications as to their speed and intentions, the #34 car of Nicki Thiim, Mattia Drudi and Christian Krognes not only took the race to the more dominant German brands but beat many of them in the process to eventually finish third overall at the end of the twenty-four earlier this afternoon. This result is the best overall race result on record for any AMR podium tea has achieved and has been something that has (and continues) to illude the British marque.

 

Starting from eleventh on the grid after Fridays top qualifying session, the #34 was quickly making its mark at the sharp end of the one hundred and sixty-one car entry – leading the race by right as the afternoon turned dark and as Drudi survived two laps around the sprawling circuit on slicks whilst others were coming off worse for the same.

With their success, there was also heartache to be felt within the AMR camp featuring four AMR Vantage GT3 powered crews and one Vantage GT4 powered crew as it was just the #34 crew who finished the race. The #35 Walkenhorst car failed to make it five times around the track before its stationary position on track was narrowly avoided by the chasing pack whilst the #39 Walkenhorst car didn’t go much further after being rear ended during the night.

 

The #37 Prosport Racing AMR did make it through the night only for a tyre failure along the Dottinger Hohe to spear the older Vantage headlong into the barrier and into immediate retirement. We unfortunately didn’t see much of the #169 Dorr Motorsport Vantage GT4, but they did also feature high within their SP10 class overnight before also failing somewhere soon after.

It’s been another great event – a great tribute to the sadness of the preceding Qualification race weekend but well done to all concerned.

Photo credits – Teams / Series / AMR / social media

 

 

 

 

There was another class podium to be gained for the #97 Blackthorn Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 crew at the end of today’s second round of the International GT Open Series after its mixed class grid of thirty-two cars endured a three-hour marathon around the Spa Francorchamps circuit.

Having had their individual qualifying sessions earlier in the weekend, the #97 Blackthorn crew of Charles Bateman and Jonny Adam were unsurprisingly further ahead in the order in P15 overall than the Am classed stablemates of the #14 Good Speed Racing team and their drivers Piotr Wira and Tomas Magdziarz in P22 overall.

 

Starting this afternoon’s single race on what was already a damp track, the rain showers soon returned around parts of the circuit on only the second time around. Bateman managed to survive an early hip and shoulder move against him into Bruxelles to narrowly avoid spinning.

Despite a drier line soon forming, the sky remained threatening as both Bateman and Wira went about their opening stint before the first FCY was called for a car off into the tyre wall at the fast Eau Rouge rise up onto Raidillon.

 

With the first pit window being delayed as a result of barriers repairs, it was a mad dash around the next lap for the respective Am drivers before the two Aston’s pitted for the first time. With Adam now aboard the #97, their track position soon improved from the P15 prior to the stop to P10 overall/ P3 in class.

At about the 80 minute to go mark, both starting drivers were aback aboard their #97 and #14 cars as Mother Nature continued to threaten the proceedings, but crews continued to persevere with slicks as at the start to the final hour – both Aston’s had crept up into a podium winning position.

 

A final stop at the half hour mark saw both second drivers back aboard for one final dash to the flag as the rain finally cleared and the track completely dried. At the end, Adam was not just able to protect their Pro-Am podium finishing position but to step up to second in class at the end but Magdziarz was sadly unable to do similar as they would eventually finish P5 within their Am class.

The next round to the season will be from Misano in about three weeks’ time when its back to the series two race format.

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media

 

 

 

 

After three more Qualifying sessions around the Nurburgring Nordschleife, the starting grid ahead of tomorrow’s start of the 2026 ADAC Ravenol N24 has finally been determined.

Despite running higher up the order in earlier sessions, the best that any of the four Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 and one Vantage GT4 powered runners was just outside of the top ten within the combined total grid of one hundred and sixty-one cars.

 

With the three Walkenhorst Motorsport and one Prosport Racing crews already having faced some very challenging but very typical track conditions, it was unsurprisingly the #34 Walkenhorst car of Mattia Drudi, Nicki Thiim, Christian Krognes and Felipe Fernandez Laser who will be started farthest forward after they secured a P11 start at the end of today’s earlier top 12 Q3 session.

The sister #35 Walkenhorst AMR of Mateo Villagomez, Dennis Fetzer, Stafan Aust and a double dutying Laser were next quickest as they finished the qualifying process with a P23 with the third and final Walkenhorst entry of Henry Walkenhorst, Anders Buchardt, Nico Hantke and Mex Jansen P32 overall.

 

The #39 Am classed Prosport Racing AMR Vantage GT3 of Guido Dumarey, Tobias Wahl, Markus Lonnroth and Christian Konnerth P43 overall.

There is a further AMR Vantage crew competing at the event this weekend, this time within the SP10 class as the Dorr Motorsport team manage of their cars for their client crew of Peter Sander, Heiko Hahn, Roland Waschkau and Philippe Charlaix within their #169 car. They will start 106th overall.

 

Whilst the racing will always be good, the weather over the Eiffel circuit remains the biggest threat with low cloud cover as well as low temperatures expected to exacerbate the expected rain over both Saturday and Sunday.

The race will be waved off at 15:00hrs local on Saturday.

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media

 

Rounding off our racing excitement for the weekend will be the (sadly) sole Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 powered crew competing within the second round of the French national FFSA-GT4 Series from Dijon.

Having done so well together as a package last season, David Levy and Jodie Sloss again fly the AMR powered flag together with the French based Mirage Racing team ahead of this weekend’s two one-hour races.

 

At the traditional seasonal opener from Nogaro, the #5 powered crew enjoyed two quick trips to the podium after they secured themselves both a P2 and P3 Pro-Am class finish for their efforts.

This weekend sees a repeat of that two-race format over the weekend with track action starting on Thursday with private testing.

Photo credits – Team / Series / social media

 

 

Another diverse and undoubtedly colourful grid of nearly thirty cars will take the start to the opening round of the Iberian Supercars Series this weekend from Portimao as the series again features another healthy input of entries from the Aston Martin Racing powered family.

In another mixture of consistency but with a dousing of new, this weekend’s powered entry list sees six AMR Vantage GT4 powered crews enter this weekend’s two one-hour races with the reigning Pro class champion Mathieu Martins back for some more with the Racar Motorsport team.

 

For this season, however, he will be joined by Anton Morsing with their #28 Racar Pro class entry alongside that of his former teammate last season (Roberto Faria) now pairing up with Joel Bergstrom within the #722 Gianfranco Motorsport prepared car.

They, in turn will be joined in class by the new for 2026 AMR powered entry of Henrique Oliveria and Louis Leveau within the #52 Monterios Competicoes AMR entry.

 

The NGT team make the switch this season to GT4 having secured one of the former Araujo Competicao Aston Martins for drivers Fernando Soares and Miguel Ferrareira whilst Am class champion Ruben Vaquinhas also returns with both a new team and co-driver in the RV7 Team with Mico Mineiro respectively. Another new pairing of Vasco Oliveira and Ivan Velasco complete the AMR powered line up with their #28 Racar Motorsport Bronze entry.

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media

 

 

Its back to Spa Francorchamps again this weekend for some as the International GT Open Series arrives at the Belgian for its second round of an eight-round season and the running of its now establish single 500km race.

Within the published thirty-two car entry we again see both the #14 Good Speed Racing team and the #91 Blackthorn AMR teams with their new Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 Evo cars that they will race within their respective Am and Pro-Am classes.

 

Last time out in Portimao, the #97 Blackthorn AMR car featured full season driver Charles Bateman alongside Henrique Chaves. That was primarily due to Jonny Adam being otherwise detained within the World Endurance Championship, but the Scot had completed that obligation again last weekend so he should be good to go this weekend with Bateman.

The Portimao round back in mid-April started with the more traditional two race format where the Polish Good Speed Racing team competed in their first races with their new Aston Martin to earn drivers Piotr Wira and (Tomas Magdziarz who wasn’t actually driving that weekend) a P4 finish in class after the feature race on Saturday before a P3 podium finish in Sunday’s race. The #91 Blackthorn also grabbed P4 in class on Saturday before elevating that to a class win on Sunday.

 

The race starts at 12:25hrs local.

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media

 

 

This weekend’s second round of the GT Cup Championship from Snetterton will this time feature two Aston Martin Racing powered crews ahead of their two sprint and two pit stop punctuated races around the 300-circuit layout.

GT4 Challenge and British GT names from the past sees both Richard Taffinder and Tim Eakin reunite as a racing pairing as well as rejoining forces with what is now the GBR Stratton Motorsport team as they will complete within one of the teams AMR Vantage GT4’s.

 

Also making racing comeback is Paul Whight who will be bring his ex Villois Racing Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT2 into the championship within their permitted GTO class.

This weekend will again see two twenty-five-minute sprint races and two fifty-minute pit stop races.

Photo credit – GBR Stratton (GT4)

 

 

 

It’s time to gear ourselves up ahead of the first of the three major twenty-four-hour racing events in Europe as the ADAC Ravenol N24 looks to get going this week featuring another incredible entry list of one hundred and sixty-one mixed class GT and tin-top racers this weekend around the infamous Nurburgring Nordschleife.

 

Again featuring itself as the second round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge as a ‘side show’ to the racing event in itself, we will be looking to the front of the grid – within the SP9 class to be specific where we will be welcoming four Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 powered crews to its midst.

 

Like many of the Nurburgring Langstrecken Serie events before it, all four AMR powered entries will be from both the Prosport Racing and Walkenhorst Motorsport teams as they enter their older and newer examples of the Vantage platform within the class.

Those crews are confirmed as follows:-

#34 Walkenhorst Motorsport AMR Vantage GT3 Evo – Nicki Thiim/Chirstian Krognes/ Matia Drudi/Felipe Fernandez Laser

#35 Walkenhorst Motorsport Vantage GT3 Evo – Mateo Villagomez/Felipe Fernandez Laser/Dennis Fetner/Stefan Aust

 

The Aston Martin Valkyrie Hypercar built a strong foundation from which to mount its 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans campaign next month, having finished fourth in the Total Energies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps at the weekend – its best result to date in the FIA World Endurance Championship

On its tenth appearance in WEC since making its debut in Qatar last year, the stunning British hypercar – in the hands of Tom Gamble and Harry Tincknell – crossed the line a mere five seconds behind the winner in a frantic and chaotic race that provided a grandstand finish, showcasing some of the best action that endurance motorsport has to offer.

The #007 Valkyrie, prepared and operated by the works Aston Martin The Heart of Racing Team, brought itself into contention with two hours of the race to go, following clever strategic decisions and some spectacular overtaking by Tincknell. A timely Safety Car also allowed the team to top up with fuel and align its strategy with its rivals.

Tincknell delivered two brilliant passes in one lap, to go from tenth to eighth, and then when two more Safety Car periods occurred in the final hour, Gamble found himself in a five-car fight for second place. At the final restart he was lucky to avoid a spinning Alpine at Eau Rouge and then overtook a Toyota for fourth place in the last five minutes of the race in a breathless dash to the flag.

Gamble and Tincknell might have been joined in the points by the sister #009 Valkyrie driven by Marco Sørensen and Alex Riberas, had it not suffered misfortune that caused the final Safety Car period. Both drivers ran strongly in the top ten and the duo were in prime position to capitalise on their rapid pace on soft tyres at the penultimate restart. But Riberas was given no option but to take to the grass on the high-speed Kemmel Straight as he attempted to pass the fifth placed car. The resulting spin forced him to retire from the race; an unjust reward for a brilliant performance.

 

The final result was not just Valkyrie’s best performance in WEC, it marked the #007 crew’s strongest race since the beginning of the programme and was the second consecutive points finish for the British duo. It means that Aston Martin holds fourth in the Hypercar Manufacturers’ Championship, with Gamble and Tincknell ninth in the Drivers’ standings.

The team’s #27 Aston Martin Racing Vantage LMGT3 also claimed a second in class finish at the end of the six-hour race after a highly competitive performance from the Heart of Racing Team and drivers Ian James, Zach Robichon and works driver Mattia Drudi.

 

The result re-ignited the team’s championship challenge, and made up for the disappointment of the opening round in Imola, where the crew retired from the race while in contention for another potential strong points finish. James started on the front row of the class grid, having made it through to the Hyperpole session, which Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona poleman Robichon then used to convert into second place on the grid. James, who is also the team’s principal, ran in that position early in the race as he double stinted to complete his driver time.

James eventually handed the car over to Robichon in sixth, following contact from a hypercar, but with only superficial damage, Zach moved the car back into a solid fourth place.

 

When the race was reset by a series of late-race Safety Car periods, it set the stage

for a classic charge from Drudi who fought hard to get into the podium positions, finishing third on the road which was converted to second when the leader was given a five-second penalty for a pitlane infringement. “To finish second was fantastic,” said James. “I did my part and Zach and Mattia did a wonderful job in the car, and the team was perfect all day long. To get to stand back on the podium is great too.”

WEC now moves on to its Blue Riband event, the 94th running of the world’s biggest motor race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 13-14 June.

Source Material - AMR

 

  

Three SRO related race series completed this weekend’s racing action as far as Aston Martin Racing powered teams and crews were going by as the GT World Challenge Australia’s duo of races preceded the GT World Challenge America and GT America races over the course of Saturday and Sunday.

Down under, the Volante Rosso GT3 team fielded another co-driver for their young prodigy Alex Gardner as Ben Porter was welcomed back to the team a couple of years after they first ran their Vantage GT3 togther in 2024.

 

This time at The Bend Motorsport Park in the second round of the season and running within the Trophy Class of just three runners, the #14 crew were able to convert their two P2 starts in class to a P3 and P2 finish at the end of each one-hour race.

Then, over at the Sebring International Speedway, the Rebel Rock Racing AMR Vantage GT3 crew of Frank DePew and Robin Liddell were out in only their second round of the season after having debuted themselves and the Vantage GT3 Evo last time out at the Circuit of the Americas.

 

Like CoTA, the #71 pairing were able to calm the bumps of the former airfield circuit to deliver another full three-hour race performance in the Floridian heat to convert their P18 start to finish P17 overall – P12 within Pro-Am. Another progressive result for them.

The weekend also saw the race return of former double GT America GT4 Champion Jason Bell who has reunited with the Racers Edge Motorsport team to see out the series with their new for 2026 AMR Vantage GT4 Evo.

 

Taking just the two Free Practice sessions to get back up to speed, Bell went on to claim both GT4 race wins over the weekend as well as being the fastest none GT3 based entry as well.

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media

 

 

Another incredible round of the FIA World Endurance Championship came our way yesterday from Spa Francorchamps, Belgium as the four Heart of Racing Aston Martin powered crews went about their usual competitive game plan which this time earned one crew podium success but at the cost of broken hearts for another.

 

Unlike the preceding two days of track preparation, the early afternoon start to yesterday’s six-hour race came under glorious blue skies and warming sunshine as the thirty-five cars within the Hypercar and LMGT3 gathered on the grid in front of another sizeable crowd.

 

Qualifying the day before had seen both Aston Martin Valkyrie Hypercars reach the Hyperpole session for the first time as good pace during Free Practice had put decent qualifying positions very much on the cards with the #009 car of Marco Sorenson/Alex Riberas just out doing the #007 car of Harry Tincknell/Tom Gamble in P6 and P7 respectively.

Within LMGT3, the experience within the #27 AMR Vantage car of Ian James/Zacharie Robichon/Mattia Drudi again proved pivotable as they secured a P2 start after their class Hyperpole session whilst Gray Newell still did well in his first WEC visit to the circuit to qualify P13 in a car that he shares with Jonny Adam and Eduardo Barrichello.

 

The race final got underway after two warm up laps behind the Safety Car with all the entries surviving the initial bumping around the opening laps as race pace was quickly determined by those cars at the front in class but whilst initially losing a small number of places each, all four cars were looking good.

An early Safety Car for a car off in the gravel reset the pack after just twenty minutes but once the race got back underway, the next biggest challenge for those on track was when the hypercar recaught and made their way through the LMGTs tail enders which saw a car from each class make through the gravel for an untidy show of driving skills from those concerned.

 

Whilst Newell had kept his copybook clean as far as track limits were concerned in Qualifying, he was unfortunately racking them in during his first two hours aboard the #23 car, something that would cost him and his team-mates two additional visit to the pit lane in penalties.

At the halfway point, all bronze and silver ranked drivers had now had at least one stint apiece within their respective GT car whilst all four hypercar drivers were still holding a mid-table position whilst not favouring still the medium tyre. Further Full Course Yellow calls for debris and later a collision between a leading hypercar and an LMGT3 at Les Combes – something which lead to something of another prolonged delay to the race.

 

Two hours still remained as there seemed to be a distinct downturn in ambient temperature at the top of the circuit, but the #27 Vantage crew had come back through the field to third in class, but the two green hypercars were still importantly where they both started in sixth and seventh.

Disaster would however strike down the #009 car of Riberas as, at another Safety Car restart and whilst attempting to overtake the Alpine onto the Kemmel Straight, that wheels left the track surface and for the Valkyrie to spin, crossing the track before hitting the outside wall with sufficient force to smash the front quarter of the car putting the #009 into immediate retirement.

 

Another Safety Car clean-up operation left just twenty-five minutes with Gamble getting the final stint to the flag aboard the #007. Drudi was still aboard his #27 car, and he was still pushing for an improved class podium position – then in third but a time penalty for then leader would move them up one at the end.

As the chequered flag fell, the race pace of the #007 had just fallen away towards the end despite being on the ‘better for them’ softs as they finished their season best in fourth with the #27 Vantage LMGT3 crew also getting their first podium of the year – second in class. The #23 Vantage LMGT3 would complete their first WEC race together as a driving trio in P13 as eyes now move to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.