Double class win in Misano for the Pro-Am entered Mirage Racing Aston Martin crew
Generally, it was a much better showing from the four AMR powered crews with just one blot upon their copy book for the #39 RSLM entry of Baudouin Detout and Clement Seyler in Saturday’s one hour race but also with a double top step visit to the podium for the #7 Mirage Racing Pro-Am entry of Stanislav Safronov and Aleksandr Vaintrub.
Race one took place under the heat of Saturday afternoon as all four Aston Martins started within the top twelve only for the #39 car to run wide and drop positions on the opening laps thinks mainly to cold tyres but as well as over defending and over attacking positions that weren’t his to have at the time. Whilst that car had dropped down to P22, the other all silver class entries meanwhile where making hay within the top ten as the #39 cars issues went from bad to worse.
After just ten minutes, front end contact with something/someone for Detout saw coolant pouring from an open wound on his car and that was their race over as the first Full Course Yellow was called.
The #5 Mirage car of Ruben Del Sarte and Roberto Faria was first to pit alongside the remaining #74 RSLM of Will Orton and David Kullmann as they soon became embroiled in a battle together for P14 overall at the time. Vaintrub meanwhile was having battles of his own to preserve not just his own track position but also that at the sharper end of his class battles.
Race one would eventually wound out with Kullmann getting a post-race ten second time penalty for earlier contact that spun around a BMW for them to eventually finish P13 in class whilst the two Mirage Racing crews fared better with a class win for the #7 crew in P10 overall with the #5 crew just one place behind for a P10 finish in silver.
Race two on Sunday morning was a similar affair with all four cars again starting within the top fifteen cars (albeit with the second driver now aboard for the start) as the #5 car of Del Sarte leading the way in P10 after both the #7 and #74 cars got bumped down in the opening laps.
As the laps ticked by, Vaintrub was slowly making his way back up the order in class whilst both Del Sarte and Seyler were comfortably maintaining their position but seemingly unable to have the performance to move any further forward.
An incident at the opening sequence of corners to the lap brought out another FCY just ahead of the opening of the pit stop window but the pack was soon bunched up together again as that soon went into s Safety Car restart procedure. Whilst the other Aston Martin’s soon pitted, the #39 car of Seyler stayed out for as long as possible to make up in part to his non drive in race one after the damage sustained by Detout.
After the stops were over, Detout had a better race as he interchanged positions in and around the P6-P7 mark overall whilst the #7 Mirage car was now consolidating their Pro-Am class lead. Race two would be Faria’s turn to make the error as he stuck the nose of his #5 car up the inside of turn 2 only for the McLaren to chop it off and spin the Aston Martin out down to P20 for his efforts.
With the last few laps turning a little scrappy in terms of driver standards, the #7 RSLM car came home a more credible P7 overall whilst the #7 Mirage crew would claim their second, class win of the weekend. The #5 Mirage car would come home P10 in class on track but would be blessed with a post race time penalty of their own for too shorter pit stop (P18 overall) with the #74 RSLM ahead in ninth on track but P13 in reality after their own post race penalty for track limits as the series now looks to the Nurburgring for its next round at the end of August.
Photo credits – Teams / Series
Sunday, July 20, 2025 |
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GT World Challenge and GT4 European Series back in business this weekend from Misano
Misano welcomes both the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup and GT4 European Series start what will be their third and fourth rounds of the season with over eighty crews due to take part across the two races per series this weekend.
Within the headlining Sprint Cup, there should be forty-four crews present including three Aston Martin Racing powered crews from both the Belgian based Comtoyou Racing and German based Walkenhorst Motorsport teams.
With just one apparent change within these AMR powered cars, we again welcome Jamie Day and Kobe Pauwels to run within the #21 silver ranked Comtoyou Racing entry alongside their #270 bronze class entry for their Brazilian racers Ricardo Bapitsta and Sergio Sette Camara who replaces the previous Raphael Baptista.
They in turn will be joined by the again solo #35 Walkenhorst Pro entry of Henrique Chaves and Matteo Villagomez where the latter driver was part of the team’s silver class winning AMR powered entry at the recent Spa 24.
Earlier results from both Brands Hatch and Zandvoort see the #21 crew hanging within their class with three P4 finishes in class whilst the #35 crew have certainly been less fortunate. This is still just the second round of the season for the #270 crew having missed the opening round in early May.
Then within the supporting GT4 European Series and its expected thirty-eight car entry, we also have the four full season entries even split between both the Mirage Racing and Racing Spirit of Leman teams.
The #7 Mirage Racing Pro-Am entry of Stanislav Safronov and Aleksandr Vaintrub have had the best of starts between them and the three silver classed AMR powered runners as they lie fourth in class overall after their opening three rounds of the season so far.
The #7 Mirage Racing Pro-Am entry of Stanislav Safronov and Aleksandr Vaintrub have had the best of starts between them and the three silver classed AMR powered runners as they lie fourth in class overall after their opening three rounds of the season so far.
They are again backed up by their team-mates Ruben Del Sarte and Roberto Faria within their #5 car alongside the two RSLM entries of Clement Seyler and Baudouin Detout aboard their #39 car and Will Orton and David Kullmann within their #74 car.
With the silver class again being another highly competitive venture, with the #5 crew leading the #39 crew by just one point albeit ninety-five points down to the dominant #3 Audi crew. The #74 crew have struggled the most so far with just two points finishes.
All crews within both series will again run one, hour long race across both Saturday and Sunday after Friday Free Practice and Saturday Qualifying.
Photo credits – Team / Series / social media
Thursday, July 17, 2025 |
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Eight Aston Martins and SRO America descend upon VIR this weekend with another busy package of racing
Their previous rounds was from Sebring way back in mid-May and there are one or two changes amongst the collective Aston Martin Racing powered crews going into this weekend’s events.
At the top of the list, the headlining GT World Challenge America Series this week sees just one AMR Vantage GT3 take part within the expected sixteen strong entry for these two races as the #2 Racers Edge Motorsport AMR makes alternative arrangements for its bronze rated driver Jason Bell within just the GT America Series.
That leaves the #24 Heart of Racing AMR of Gray Newell and Darren Turner to try what they might after their pair of P7 finishes within Pro-Am last time out.
Within that GT America Series, the Vantage GT3 of Bell will not be the sole Aston Martin either as Michael Fitzpatrick and his 89X Motorsport team come back for some more, hoping that consistency can be more the key after he secured a P2 class finish over the bumps of Sebring in race one but failed to finish race two.
They and just seven other cars will compete within their two forty-minute, non-pit stop punctuated races over the weekend.
That leaves the ultra-competitive GT4 America Series and their expected twenty-nine car entry, within which will feature five AMR Vantage GT4 crews. That’s unfortunately a two car drop from Sebring but will again feature two cars from the JMF Motorsport team and a car apiece from each of the Skip Barber Racing, Heart of Racing and Van Ders Steur AMR teams as well.
Sebring saw the #39 car of Max Hewitt step up from the GT America Series to compete within the busier GT4 America Series for the first time alongside accomplished side-kick Luca Mars within the silver class and from where the dup secured two class pole positions, a P2 class finish (P3 overall) in race one and an P5 class finish in race two to round off a successful weekend in Florida.
Obviously, they were will trying to show that that was no fluke around VIR but the two JMF crews suffered lots of mistakes and misfortune at Sebring that effectively saw them take themselves out of race contention both times whilst the #26 HoRT AMR of Hannah Grisham/Hannah Greenemeir and the #07 Skip Barber Racing entry of brothers Alex and Michael Garcia each had to make do with a pair of P7 and P4 finishes within their respective silver and Am classes.
For each series, official track action begins on Friday with Free Practice before rolling into Saturday with Qualifying and the first race of the weekend before rounding off their respective weekends with race two on Sunday.
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
Tuesday, July 15, 2025 |
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The rough and the smooth of IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge racing at CTMSP
Round six of the 2025 season has seen the ‘front runner’ AMR powered crews somewhat struggle for race pace whilst the lower Bronze Cup entered crews have enjoyed a large degree of racing success as the 2024 reigning champions from Team TGM continue to lead the way.
Again in qualifying, the #46 Team TGM AMR of Paul Holton and Matt Plumb continued to be the fastest of the five as they secured another second row start to this two-hour race whilst the #72 Rebel Rock Racing AMR for Frank DePew and Robin Liddell positioned themselves nicely in P14 for another one of the Scotsman’s epic drives.
Another hot and dry start to the race allowed Holton to comfortably hold track position for was to be an overall clean opening lap and the race quickly adapted a flowing format around the traditional twisting and undulating circuit layout. DePew was also having a good race holding P12 whilst Ted Giovanis was having another ‘difficult’ start to the race after having to start from pit lane and then getting a drive through penalty as a consequence.
Forty minutes done as it was minimum drive time achieved for all of the bronze rated drivers with Holton staying out but with Giovanis, Christine Sloss and DePew pitting with their Team TGM, Van Der Steur and Rebel Rock cars respectively.
After the turn of the first hour, Liddell was already on his move through the field and was circulating in eighth whilst (now Matt Plumb) within the #46 had dropped to P4 after their first service but that all changed at the forty minute to go mark as a multiple car incident along the back straight claimed the #71 Rebel Rock Aston Martin as it tried to thread the needle between the three cars originally involved only to become a victim himself with significant front end damage.
The extensive debris field obviously negated any possibility of an early restart as the full Course Yellow extended through to leave just over ten minutes to go at the restart. There was then further strife for the #46 Team TGM Aston Martin as Plumb got turned around on that restart lap after contact from a Ford Mustang behind after Plumb had impacted up the rear of another car beforehand, and that dropped them out of a third-place position.
At the chequered flag, the #46 car would recover to a disappointing for them P10 position and whilst the #71 Rebel Rock was an obvious DNF, the success came for the two remaining Bronze Cup entered Aston Martins with husband-and-wife duo Christine and Ben Sloss taking first with their P15 overall finish Giovanis and Hugh Plumb taking P2 one place behind.
There was some joy for the Rebel Rock Racing AMR team however, as DePew took he second position finish within the GSX class in the VP Racing Sportscar Challenge Series in-between Michelin Pilot Challenge sessions to go with his first earned at CoTA earlier in the year but race two was cancelled after earlier torrential rain to allow the other IMSA Series races to maintain their televised time slots.
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
Tuesday, July 15, 2025 |
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Racing Spirit of Leman success in WECs visit to São Paulo
RSL, in its first season racing with Vantage at WEC level, was a factor all weekend thanks in part to home hero Eduardo Barrichello, son of 13-time Formula 1® Grand Prix winner Rubens. The Brazilian claimed the LMGT3 Class pole position in Hyperpole after an exceptional performance from WEC debutant Anthony McIntosh put the #10 Aston Martin they share with works driver Valentin Hasse Clot into the shoot-out session. Barrichello then delivered three outstanding stints in the race, to fight back into the hunt and claim a dramatic third place in the last 10 minutes of the race.
WEC rookie McIntosh, who finished second in the Silver Am class of the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa last month, started the race and led initially before holding his own in second place until the first pitstops. Emerging sixth for the second part of his double stint, he stayed in contention near the front of the pack until a small mistake dropped the car out of the top ten before the American handed the car over to Barrichello.
The 23-year-old then put on an outstanding double-stint, racing the car back into the fight for the podium. Another strong double-stint from Hasse Clot followed, meaning that Barrichello found himself in fifth in the final hour of the race. Once again, he went on the attack, passing two cars in the final 15 minutes and claiming third position with just three laps to go.
“It was crazy,” said Barrichello. “I had to put all my faith in the engineers who were telling me how hard to push the tyres at the end of the race because I couldn’t drive them too hard or I would have gone to zero very quickly. But we were able to manage it and thankfully everything worked out and we had enough in the car to take third position at the end.
“It’s an amazing feeling to have finished on the podium in my home race, and it was so incredible to experience that special reception from the fans. I’m not sure I deserved it, but I enjoyed it anyway! It is an honour to race an Aston Martin here at Interlagos, and it has been such an incredible weekend – one of the best of my life.”
The podium marked the first for all three drivers, as well as the best result for RSL in only its fifth WEC start. In the five occasions that Interlagos has appeared on the WEC schedule since 2012, Vantage has now taken three class wins and five further podiums. This was the second time the latest iteration of the Vantage GT3, which was introduced in 2024, has finished on the podium. The Heart of Racing (THOR) finished second in last year’s event. RSL’s pole position was also the second consecutive one for Vantage in WEC, with THOR having claimed the accolade in June’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport Adam Carter said: “We congratulate Racing Spirit of Léman on an outstanding performance throughout the weekend. The team maximised the potential of Vantage in qualifying at Interlagos and then delivered with an exceptional podium in the race. Eduardo Barrichello’s performance was highly encouraging in only his fifth WEC start, while Ian McIntosh enjoyed an excellent debut and Valentin Hasse Clot, just like the team, thoroughly enjoyed this podium. The result once again emphasises the versality and competitiveness of Vantage GT3, key components to success in customer racing. The Heart of Racing ran strongly once again in IMSA at CTMP, and, once again is in contention for the title as we move into the final third of the season.”
Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport Adam Carter said: “We congratulate Racing Spirit of Léman on an outstanding performance throughout the weekend. The team maximised the potential of Vantage in qualifying at Interlagos and then delivered with an exceptional podium in the race. Eduardo Barrichello’s performance was highly encouraging in only his fifth WEC start, while Ian McIntosh enjoyed an excellent debut and Valentin Hasse Clot, just like the team, thoroughly enjoyed this podium. The result once again emphasises the versality and competitiveness of Vantage GT3, key components to success in customer racing. The Heart of Racing ran strongly once again in IMSA at CTMP, and, once again is in contention for the title as we move into the final third of the season.”
WEC now takes a summer break before reconvening at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) for 6-hour Lone Star Le Mans on 5-7 September.
Source material - AMR
Monday, July 14, 2025 |
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A 'difficult' weekend for both Aston Martins in the heat of Snetterton
Having seen both the Blackthorn AMR and Beechdean AMR teams almost run riot last time out at the three-hour round from Spa Francorchamps last time out, this weekend certainly saw some of that performance hauled back in as the Mercedes AMR and Lamborghini powered entries were certainly controlling the pace in the heat of Snetterton this weekend.
Despite that, Giacomo Petrobelli and his #7 Blackthorn still had a clear view into turn one of race one with his P2 Qualifying position whilst Andrew Howard had to crane his neck to see their silver-Am class rivalling #86 Bridger Motorsport Honda NSX who had qualified two rows ahead of his #97 Beechdean car.
A clean opening lap for all cars saw the #7 car maintain position, as did the #97 until we soon saw them last in class and nearly three seconds behind the car in front for reasons that are unclear but despite that, Howard was soon able to close the gap. Up front meanwhile, the #42 Mercedes and #7 Blackthorn cars were gapping the chasing pack behind as both had success time penalties to serve from their successes in Belgium and for the Blackthorn car – that would be the full ten seconds.
Despite the Bridger Honda looking very fast at times, a spin for Jonny Ip saw their car relegated to last within the GT3 on track with also two or three cars between them and the Beechdean Aston Martin but by the time the pit window had opened, both cars were very close to one another again.
Despite pitting from a comfortable P2 overall, that ten second penalty saw Jonny Adam emerge down in P4 overall as the #7 Blackthorn car emerged from pit lane but there would be worse for Tom Wood in the #97 car as he would spin off at Riches and nudge (fortunately softly) into the tyre wall. Re-runs pf the incident showed that although marginally wide, there appeared to be no obvious reason for him to spin off like he did.
This time lacking the obvious power advantage, neither Aston Martin could recover or improve upon their track position as the race entered its final stages for the #7 Blackthorn car to eventually finish P4 overall and the #97 P13 overall – but more importantly second best in silver-am to the #86 Honda.
Race two had seen the circuit cloud over slightly but ambient and track temperatures remained constant as this time Adam had a third row start in his #7 Pro-Am entry whilst Wood would be starting in front of the #86 car of Jay Bridger.
In theory, that should have helped the #7 car as both Mercedes AMG had pit stop success penalties to serve this time around and Wood is certainly no slouch with the benefit of track position.
Despite some panel bashing, it was another clean opening lap with both Astons able to make up an early place before the race went static as the Pro drivers showed their worth to their paying bronze drivers. The tightness to the Snetterton 300 circuit layout and the parity of the pro driver again showed that the circuit was a difficult place to pace.
With both Adam and Wood handing over to Petrobelli and Howard respectively, the #7 Blackthorn car was maintaining its P6 position as were the #97 with their P1 position in class with little under thirty minutes of this final sprint race remaining. That stayed the case for much of the remaining time before an incident involving the Porsche allowed the #7 to step up to P5 overall whilst the #97 of Howard was also caught and passed by the #86 Honda.
A final lap incident for the #7 Amr saw the Italian enter a last lap battle with two other cars which culminated in the #77 McLaren spinning off after apparent contact from behind by the #7 car. Despite crossing the line in P4, it was a long wait before Race Control confirmed the result.
Despite all the above, the #7 Blackthorn crew remain second within both the overall and GT3 Pro-Am class battles as the Championship moves onto it penultimate round at Brands Hatch in late August – as does the #7 Beechdean crew in Silver-Am but with both teams, they are now in slightly worse position points wise than they were before.
Sunday, July 13, 2025 |
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The temperatures keep rising at Snetterton this weekend
Two exciting races will be in store tomorrow as the British GT Championship hosts only its second sprint weekend of the season, this time from Snetterton in Norfolk for its somewhat lowly GT3 and GT4 entry.
Having already conducted a three-session private test at the circuit yesterday, the crews were welcomed back today to another sun-baked day starting with Free Practice before culminating in individual qualifying sessions to determine the grid for each of Sunday’s two, one-hour races.
This weekend sees just the two full season Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 crews from the Blackthorn AMR and Beechdean AMR teams with Giacomo Petrobelli and Jonny Adam chasing the GT3 Pro-Am class within their #7 car and Andrew Howard and Tom Wood doing likewise within the Silver-Am class within their #97 car.
The #7 Blackthorn was slow out within Free Practice with the duo only setting thirteen laps between them within the hour-long session (although Adam did say that this for no significant reason) whilst the Beechdean crew were a little more studious getting some early laps in.
As both the ambient and track temperatures continued to rise, it was soon time for Pre-qualifying and this time both cars were keen to get out early but with the #97 crew showing some great pace to end that hour session seventh overall (and having lost a lap due to track limits) whilst the #7 car would end their preparative work down in tenth overall.
After lunch, it was time for each driver to set their own qualifying times with the amateur’ driver going first but for both Petrobelli and Howard, it would bring a disappointing conclusion as first the Italian lost out on another pole setting time by just 0.151 of a second to their championship rivals but Howard also struggled to eventually come home 0.8 of a second behind their Bridger Motorsport Honda NSX powered class rivals.
The next session saw Adam claim a third row start for tomorrow’s second race whilst Wood beat the #86 Bridger car to claim another class pole position for his efforts.
We will have to wait to see just what the two races will bring.
Saturday, July 12, 2025 |
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Another busy weekend for the Aston Martin Partner teams within both the FIA WEC and IMSA Series
The new Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar enters the second half of its trailblazing maiden season in the FIA World Endurance Championship when it races on South American soil for the first time at Interlagos, for the Rolex 6 Hours of São Paulo, this weekend.
Following an encouraging 24 Hours of Le Mans last month where both Valkyrie hypercars completed their maiden twice-around-the-clock event without issue, finishing 12th and 14th, the works Aston Martin Heart of Racing Team registered the cars’, and Aston Martin’s first Manufacturer’s World Championship points in the Hypercar Class. The British brand now seeks to build on this positive momentum with a breakthrough top ten finish on WEC’s return to the six-hour race format, as the championship moves into the ‘flyaway’ event phase of the calendar that shapes the second half of the season.
Following an encouraging 24 Hours of Le Mans last month where both Valkyrie hypercars completed their maiden twice-around-the-clock event without issue, finishing 12th and 14th, the works Aston Martin Heart of Racing Team registered the cars’, and Aston Martin’s first Manufacturer’s World Championship points in the Hypercar Class. The British brand now seeks to build on this positive momentum with a breakthrough top ten finish on WEC’s return to the six-hour race format, as the championship moves into the ‘flyaway’ event phase of the calendar that shapes the second half of the season.
The first ‘Le Mans Hypercar’ to be produced by Aston Martin, and raced by the Aston Martin THOR Team, Valkyrie is the only car in the WEC’s premier category derived from a road-legal hypercar. Valkyrie is also the only LMH to compete in both the FIA WEC and in North America’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and has scored top-10 finishes in every race it has contested in the USA.
Valkyrie made its global debut in the Qatar 1812km in February. The British machine has subsequently demonstrated outstanding reliability, having finished 11 times from 12 starts in all competitions and has solid progression in terms of competitiveness. It has been a consistent points-scorer in all five IMSA races.
The Aston Martin THOR Team will return to its two regular WEC Valkyrie line-ups for the 6 Hours of São Paulo, with the #007 driven by Tom Gamble and Harry Tincknell and the #009 of Alex Riberas and Marco Sørensen.
Aston Martin’s Vantage GT3 returns to the frontline of the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT class action this weekend with race victory very much in the crosshairs.
The FIA World Endurance Championship visits Interlagos for only the fifth time in its history, having been reintroduced to the calendar last year. In that period, Vantage has recorded three class wins and four runner-up finishes – including in 2024. The Heart of Racing team and the Racing Spirit of Léman squad aims to add to that tally with the latest iteration – the Vantage GT3 – in the LMGT3 class of the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo on 13 July.
Regular class frontrunners, THOR team principal Ian James, Zach Robichon and Mattia Drudi are looking to at least repeat the performance of the #27 Vantage from last year when it finished second in class. Indeed, so far in 2025, the team has recorded a sixth, a fifth and a fourth from four races and based on its pace, a podium is overdue.
THOR will be joined by Racing Spirit of Léman, which introduces a new driver, Anthony McIntosh to its regular line-up of Eduardo Barrichello and Aston Martin works driver Valentin Hasse-Clot in the #10 Aston Martin Vantage GT3. McIntosh comes fresh off the back of a Pro-Am Class podium in the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa with Beechdean AMR, while he also races a Vantage with van der Steur Racing in selected IMSA races in the GTD class. McIntosh steps in for his compatriot Derek De Boer, who is otherwise engaged with external commitments, but will return to the car for the next round – the Lone Star Le Mans at the Circuit of the Americas on 5-7 September.
THOR is also in action in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship with the latest version of the Vantage GT3 in the all-GT round of the series at Mosport, in Canada. Fresh off a brilliant, last-gasp win at Watkins Glen last month, the team’s fulltime #27 driver Casper Stevenson is currently second in the standings, just 60 points off the GTD class championship lead. His regular teammate Gamble is otherwise engaged with Valkyrie at Interlagos, so THOR has drafted in IMSA Aston Martin Valkyrie GTP driver and 2022 IMSA GTD champion Roman De Angelis; a two-time GTD class winner of the event.
“The Vantage GT3 continues to go from strength to strength,” said Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport Adam Carter. “It proved to be an outstanding choice for our partner teams in the recent 24 Hours of Spa, where it achieved two class win and another class podium. In IMSA it was victorious in the previous round at Watkins Glen. In WEC, the pace has been there, if not the results. Aston Martin has a strong record at Interlagos, and there is every reason for us to head to São Paulo in an optimistic frame of mind, with a podium finish a very clear target for both of our partner teams.”
Source material - AMR
Thursday, July 10, 2025 |
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Will the four Aston Martin powered crews be able to impress at the six hours of São Paulo?
With the cars and equipment having been packed and shipped straight almost immediately after the flagship ACO event, this weekend sees the team personnel having already made their way down to Brazil for the six hours of Sao Paulo, the fifth round of the season.
Whilst we (like many) may have thought that full season entries, three Heart of Racing and one Racing Spirit of Leman entries and all was tickety-boo – that is apparently not quite the case within the #59 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin Racing Vantage LMGT3.
Whilst Valentin Hasse-Clot and local hero Eduardo Barrichello remain constant within the car, Derek DeBoer steps aside to allow fellow American Anthony McIntosh his first WEC encounter with the pairing then apparently splitting the remaining races of the season between them.
In the other Vantage LMGT3 from the Heart of Racing team, we will again see the familiar faces of Ian James, Zacharie Robichon and Mattia Drudi behind the wheel of the #27 car.
As the race is also down to its more familiar six-hour time distance, we are also back down to two drivers apiece within each of the #007 and #009 Aston Martin Valkyrie Hypercars from the Heart of Racing team as Tom Gamble and Harry Tincknell pair up again within the #007 and with Marco Sorenson and Alex Riberas doing likewise within the #009.
Despite early promises of speed and their first elevation into Hyperpole for the #009 Valkyrie of Sorensen, the longevity of the new platform during the race failed to materialise in comparison to their peers BUT both cars did manage to complete the gruelling 24 hours at the first time of asking which was a tremendous achievement. Then within the LMGT3 class, it was a class pole position for the #27 car, but they just missed out on a class podium finish as they finished fourth in class. The #59 Racing Spirit of Leman meanwhile, saw their race hopes disappear early on with technical issues where necessary repairs saw them return many laps down.
With that disappointment behind them, the #59 car will be one to watch with both Hasse-Clot and McIntosh race ready after other recent racing commitments both in Europe and the USA keeping them sharp.
It’s a similar case for the Heart of Racing contingent after many of them participated within the recent Spa 24 and 25-Hour Fun Cup races around Spa Francorchamps.
Off track, there have also been plenty of adjustments within each of the Aston Martin powered classes with the Vantage LMGT3 getting power/energy/base weight adjustments and with the Valkyrie getting the biggest positive adjustment in class which should see it run faster for longer per stint but only time will tell on that one!
Track action begins on Friday with the first of three Free Practice sessions before Qualifying and Hyperpole on Saturday before the six hours of Sao Paulo being waved off at 11:30 hrs local.
Photo credits – Kelvin Pope (Red Firecracker)
Wednesday, July 09, 2025 |
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