The new Van Der Steur GT4 America line up hit the headlines at Sebring with their out of the box performances
Whilst the European side of the GT World Challenge Europe and GT4 European Series were doing what they do at the circuit of Zandvoort on the Dutch coast at the weekend, the GT World Challenge America and GT4 America Series were also out running a similar format but this time over the bumps and extreme heat of Sebring.
Here, both series were running their third rounds of the season after earlier rounds at both Sonoma and most recently at the Circuit of the Americas in their bespoke GT3 or GT4 only guise.
Racing their usual two ninety minutes races over the course of the weekend, both AMR crews had hoped that earlier inroads into their Pro-Am class at CoTA would see one or both the crews move up the timing screens of Sebring come the races. Unfortunately, that was not the case for either car as the #24 car again pushed its stablemate to finish P7 in class after race one (as opposed to the #2 car finishing a lap down to the rest) whilst the Racers Edge crew got them back by finishing just ahead of them in Race 2 for a P6 in class finish.
These results still see these recent GT3 convertees struggling for consistency in performance at the tail end of the Pro-Am, in and amongst their peers who followed the same pathway as them from GT4 based racing a year or so ago.
There were, however, happier overtones at the end of the GT4 America Series programme as one team and crew in particular hit most of the series headlines for all the right reasons.
Stepping up from the solo driven GT America Series to the GT4 America Series for the first time saw the #39 Van Der Steur Racing AMR Vantage GT4 of Max Hewitt join forces with the talented Luca Mars to produce something of a ‘dynamite’ crew that secure the silver class pole position (P2 in the race) ahead of the start of race as well as overall pole position ahead of race two.
Jumping with both feet into the already steaming cauldron that is GT4 America, it wouldn’t have been critical if the crew had later faltered during the race but the #39 crew held their nerve to secure a P3 overall/ P2 in class result at the end of race one. They nearly did the double in race two but had to settle for an overall P7/P5 in class for their efforts.
Despite there being six other AMR Vantage GT4 crews within the grid of thirty cars, the #39 car was the only one to secure a podium finish at the end although the #07 Skip Barber Racing AMR of brothers Michael and Alex Garcia came home a consistent P4 within their Am class whilst the JMF Motorsport’s two crews endured something of a challenging weekend as one car or the other failed to finish one or other of the races this time around.
Despite this, the #4 JMF crew of Braydon Arthur and Mike David Ortmann still secure a P2 slot within the silver drivers championship table (albeit a distant one to the early leaders) with the Garcia brothers fourth in Am and likewise with Adrian Comstock and Thomas Merrill within Pro-Am.
These series now move onto their next rounds of the season from Virginia International Raceway in mid-July.
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
Zandvoort disappoints the AMR runners in both Sprint Cup and GT4 European Series
Zandvoort wasn’t presumably the circuit of choice for the Aston Martin Racing powered runners within both the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup and GT4 European Series Vantage GT3 and GT4 runners at the weekend as many came close, none were able to threaten the top steps of either series podiums.
Both racing only their second rounds of the season for both the GT3 runners within the GTWCE Series after their season opener around the Grand Prix loop of the Brands Hatch circuit and the whole host of runners within the GT4 only series, the twists and turns of the seaside nestled Dutch circuit (as well as their competition) proved difficult for the seven AMR powered runners within both series.
The GTWCE Series did welcome a third AMR powered crew as Ricardo Baptista and Raphael Suzuki finally made their series debut within their #270 Comtoyou Racing AMR alongside that of their #21 stablemates in the form of Jamie Day and Kobe Pauwels and the #35 Walkenhorst entry of Matteo Villagomez and Henrique Chaves amongst the forty-one strong entry.
Racing within the Bronze, Silver and Pro classes respectively by the #270 and #35 cars got roughed up within the opening hour-long race of the weekend and whilst the Brazilian crew within the #270 were still able to finish their debut race, the #35 car sadly didn’t due to damage. Despite finishing well down the overall order in P15, the #21 Comtoyou entry narrowly missed the class podium with a P4 finish.
It was a similar tail within Sunday’s final round for both the #270 and #35 as although both finish this time around, both cars were well outside of the points for their efforts with only the #21 crew replicating a higher order finish with another P4 placement in class.
Four AMR Vantage GT4 crews were also in action within the supporting GT4 European Series with two cars apiece from both the Mirage Racing and Racing Spirit of Leman stables.
This time racing with forty-three competitors, only the Pro-Am entry of the #7 Mirage Racing AMR for Stanislav Safronov and Alexandr Vaintrub threatened the class podium with a P2 finish in race one and then a P3 finish on Sunday for them to now slot in a distant second to the dominating Henrik Still/Joachim Bolting driven Porsche.
The GTWCE Sprint Cup series will be back in action from Misano in mid-July whilst the GT4’s will be back in action slightly earlier at Spa Week at the end of June.
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
Class of 2025 finally confirmed by Aston Martin Racing
Eleven years in the making has seen Aston Martin Racing encourage and reward a whole plethora of young driver talent starting with Ross Gunn back in 2014 to most recently Jamie Day last season.
This year’s intake sees a broader range of GT4 and GT3 based drivers within this year’s global series and features for the first time one from Australia and sees some from previous years too.
“The Aston Martin Racing Driver Academy is now well proven and established, but it remains unique in its intense focus on driver development and is vital for assessing talent within our partner network. Such is the standard of the programme, former winners such as Ross Gunn, Roman De Angelis and Valentin Hasse Clot all play integral roles in our works driver roster, and we are proud to watch the progress they continue to make year on year” said Adam Carter, Head of Aston Martin Endurance.
2025 ASTON MARTIN RACING DRIVER ACADEMY CANDIDATES
Nicolas Baert (BEL)
Comtoyou Racing
GT World Europe
GT3
Eduardo Barrichello (BRA)
Racing Spirit of Léman
FIA WEC
GT3
Erwan Bastard (FRA)
Racing Spirit of Léman
European Le Mans
GT3
Archie Clark (GBR)
Feathers Motorsport
GT Cup
GT4
Baudouin Detout (FRA)
Racing Spirit of Léman
GT4 European Series
GT4
Niklas Eker Abrahamsen (NOR)
Walkenhorst Motorsport
NLS GT4
GT4
Roberto Faria (BRA)
Mirage Racing
GT4 European Series
GT4
Declan Fraser (AUS)
Volante Rosso
GT World Australia
GT3
Max Hewitt (USA)
Van der Steur Racing
GT4 America
GT4
David Kullmann (CHE)
Racing Spirit of Léman
GT4 European Series
GT4
Mathieu Martins (FRA)
Racar Motorsport
Iberian GT4
GT4
Henrique Oliveira (POR)
Racar Motorsport
Iberian GT4
GT4
Will Orton (GBR)
Racing Spirit of Léman
GT4 European Series
GT4
Kobe Pauwels (BEL)
Comtoyou Racing
GT World Europe
GT3
Antoine Potty (BEL)
Comtoyou Racing
GT World Europe
GT3
Ruben del Sarte (FRA)
Mirage Racing
GT4 European Series
GT4
Luca Savu (ROM)
Racar Motorsport
Iberian GT4
GT4
Clément Seyler (LUX)
Racing Spirit of Léman
GT4 European Series
GT4
Jodie Sloss (GBR)
Mirage Racing
FFSA GT4
GT4
Oliver Söderström (SWE)
Walkenhorst Motorsport
GT World Europe
GT3
Rory van der Steur (USA)
Van der Steur Racing
IMSA
GT3
Matteo Villagomez (VEN)
Walkenhorst Motorsport
GT World Europe
GT3
Jesse Webb (CAN)
JMF Motorsport
GT4 America
GT4
Photo credits - AMR
AMR powered success at the GT Cups visit to Brands Hatch
This weekend was the second round of the UK based championship with the Feathers Motorsport and Oselli Motorsport teams both flying the AMR flag again but with the latter sporting their brand-new Vantage GT4 Evo for the first time.
Racing a four-race weekend format of two solo driven sprint races and two pit stop and driver change punctuated races around the full Grand Prix look of the Brands Hatch circuit, the #82 Feathers Vantage GT4 crew of Archie Clark and Tom Canning return alongside the #95 Oselli car of Matt Eddolls and Sam Mahre-Loghnan.
Track success for the #82 crew came immediately as Clark secured another GTH Class win at the end of the first twenty-five-minute sprint race whilst Eddolls was still getting to grips with his new car in P4 which is two models up from the one he raced at Donington Park at the start of the season. The first hour long endurance round went much the same way except for the #82 crew having to make do with a P2 in class finish with another P4 finish for the #95.
Sunday came even better for the pair of AMR entries as the Feathers car secured another P1 finish but with the Oselli car on the podium for the first time in P3. The second race weekend of the season was rounded off by the second and final endurance round where the #82 secured another P2 finish with the #95 ended a learning weekend with the reward of another P3 finish.
These results see the Feathers crew leap to the top of the overall championship points table as well as the GTH Class with the Oselli crew now fourth in that table too. Next round of the championship will be from Snetterton in early June.
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
Win some - lose some for 89X Motorsport in their GT America debut from Sebring
Racing this weekend at Sebring International, the inclusion of the 89X AMR entry at least maintained three GT4 entries within the GT3/GT4 mixed series after the Van Der Steur AMR team and driver Max Hewitt crossed over to the more competitive GT4 America Series, leaving just a nine-car entry for this weekend’s two races of their fourth round to the season.
Posting his first SRO America qualifying lap time that would see hm start from P8 on the grid for Saturday’s opening forty-minute lap of the weekend, Fitzpatrick was at least able to move up one position in class to secure not just a P2 finish in the race but also pole position for race 2 on Sunday.
Unfortunately, an incident for another competitor within an earlier GT4 America race saw the GT4 grid reduce to just two running entries but having fought doggedly to protect his P1 position from the chasing Toyota for the first six laps, a dropped tyre in the twisty section of track saw the #89 car spin out and into the tyre wall.
Despite being able to extricate himself, the incurred damage was too much for him to continue with but hopefully the team will be back out at the next round from Virginia International Raceway at the end of July.
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
Debut podium success for the Janik Motorsport AMR team in the GT Cup Series this weekend
It was a rather successful start to this Aston Martin Racing powered campaign this season for the Czech based Janik Motorsport team as they competed at their first round of the GT Cup Series (ESET Cup Series) from the Red Bull Ring with their Vantage GT4 Evo.Another series that permits multiple class of GT cars as well as single seaters within other races, the GT Cup Series started in Austria with a pair of twenty-five-minute sprint races followed by an hour-long endurance race for their twenty-six-car entry.
Czech drivers Petr Koukola and Vaclav Yanik got their AMR racing account off to a flying start within Saturday’s opening endurance round within they finished P18 overall and P2 in class.
That success was then continued into Sunday where Koukola ran solo within the two sprint races to finish P4 in class after the first and with another visit to the podium of his own with a P18 overall/P3 in class finish after race 2.
The series now moves onto the Slovakia Ring in early June.
Photo credits – Team / Series / social media
A pictorial look back at a great FIA WEC visit to Spa Francorchamps last weekend.
For no other reason than for 'just because', here's just a quick pictorial look back at the third round of the FIA World Endurance Championship from Spa Francorchamps last weekend as teams now make their final preparations for the 24 Hours of Le Mans next month.
A beautiful race track within a beautiful part of Northern Europe, blessed last weekend with exceptional weather which all tied together for a great race. What isn't there to like about it and this random set of images??
