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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Two Aston Martins leading the way as British GT arrives at Snetterton for two more sprint races
With it being a sprint round, it’s no surprise to see just the two Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 crews from each of the Blackthorn AMR and Beechdean AMR teams listed with the #50 MKH Racing Vantage GT4 entry still only part of the GT4 Endurance Cup package.
The last round from Spa Francorchamps at the start of the SRO Speedweek went effectively perfectly for both crews in the end as both the #7 Blackthorn car of Jonny Adam and Giacomo Petrobelli scored their first overall race win togther this year whilst the #97 Beechdean entry of Andre Howard and Tom Wood did what they simply needed to do and take another win within their own two horse silver-am entry.
Those results see the #7 Blackthorn boost their overall and Pro-Am Championship aspirations by climbing up to second place, just two points behind the 2 Seas Mercedes Benz crew in the overall table and 2.5 points behind the same pairing within the Pro-Am table going into the Snetterton round.
Within the silver-am table, the #97 Beechdean crew extend their championship lead over the Bridger Motorsport Honda NSX powered crew to lead Jonny Ip (the only one of the three drivers used within that team on 131 points) by now seventeen and a half points going into this round.
This weekend’s provisional entry list sadly still sees just fourteen GT3 entries and a smaller GT4 entry of just nine cars this time around. Track action will begin on Friday with three private test sessions before Free Practice, Pre-Qualifying and individual Qualifying sessions on Saturday before both races either side of lunch on Sunday.
After the last British GT round at Spa, the Beechdean AMR did stay on at the circuit and did rather well in class at the latter Spa 24 hour too!!
Photo Credits – Teams / Jacob Ebrey
Tuesday, July 08, 2025 |
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Not what they had hoped for in ELMS as attention now turns to the FIA WEC for the Racing Spirit of Leman team
Being the sole AMR powered team within the ELMS of course, the #59 Vantage LMGT3 of Clement Mateu, Erwan Bastard and Valentin Hasse-Clot had been looking to be well on the GT pace in the preliminary sessions of last weekends visit to Imola in Italy with possibly only the red flag interruption during Qualifying losing Mateu a better chance at class pole position again.
Having had to settle for just a front row starting position this time around, there was still plenty of inter-class contact within the opening laps to readjust that running order with the #59 car taking the early lead in class as minor issues on track finally built up to an incident on track which saw up to six cars involved at the bottom of the first half hour of racing.
Fortunately, not involving the RSLM Aston Martin, it did eliminate three LMGT3 class rivals as the race was red flagged to allow for the clear up operation, but the race soon got back underway after a 15-20minute delay (although the race clock did keep running) but Mateu would have to suffer the consequences of two of his own actions on track.
First starting out of position on track at the start and then his reduction and adherence to the Full Course yellow speed limit on track would earn the Frenchman individual drive through penalties from which there would be no recovery on track from either himself or his co-drivers.
The best that the #59 car could then offer was to attempt to stay on the lead lap in and around seventh in class from the halfway stage but the continued periods of caution without the ability of a wave around would never improve their position as the weather again came into question as the skies darkened again.
Into the final hour of the race, an off-track excursion for the #59 car further delayed them although they didn’t loose any further track position then although they would at their final stop as Hasse-Clot was forced to suffer an additional ten second time penalty for an earlier (unknown by us) incident.
The four hours of Imola would finally end for the all-French driver crew with a distant P29 overall and P7 in class finish for their efforts as both the team and Hasse-Clot refocus their attention to this weekend’s FIA WEC round from Brazil.
Photo credits – Team / Series / social media
Tuesday, July 08, 2025 |
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IMSA trio of series back in action north of the border at CTMSP this weekend
At the top of the tree is of course the LMP2, GTD Pro and GTD entries making up for a thirty-five-car entry for Sunday’s two hours and forty-minute race.
With there being no top-flight GTP class, there will be no GTP class present and therefore no Aston Martin Valkyrie from the Heart of Racing team and with this being another sprint round we expect to see just the #27 Heart of Racing AMR Vantage GTD present within that class of twelve other cars.
Within that #27 car will be another revised driver line up of car regular Casper Stevenson alongside that of IMSA Valkyrie racer Roman De Angelis as Tom Gamble will be on FIA World Endurance Championship duty this weekend in Brazil.
Next up will be the four AMR Vantage GT4 entries within the Michelin Pilot Challenge Series with the Van Der Steur, Team TGM and Rebel Rock Racing teams fielding their usual full season entries.
Last time out in the series, it was the best collective result to date at Watkins Glen as the #46 Team TGM car of Paul Holton and Matt Plumb finally got in a relatively clean lap, eventually securing a P5 finish alongside a Bronze Cup 1-2 for the #15 VDS entry of Christine and Ben Sloss alongside that of the #64 Team TGM entry of Ted Giovanis and Hugh Plumb. The #71 Rebel Rock Racing AMR of Frank DePew and Robin Liddell again complete the quartet of Aston Martins.
Rounding off the programme of events at Bowmanville, Ontario will be the two races of the fourth round of the VP Racing Sportscar Challenge Series for the now mixed class grid of LMP3, GSX (GT4) and GTDX (GT3) classes.
As with the AMR powered entry into the series so far (except for the season opener from the Roar before the 24 test at Daytona) that will be just the #72 Rebel Rock Racing AMR Vantage GT4 evo of Frank Depew.
Photo credits – Team / Series / social media
Monday, July 07, 2025 |
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The rough and the smooth of global GT4 racing for two AMR powered teams at the weekend
Whilst there was class success from the Aston Martin Racing powered runners within the Iberian Supercar Series runners at the weekend, it was sadly not the case for the two stablemates from the Prosport Racing team as they battled out what was just the second round of the GT4 Germany Series from the Norisring.
First time out at Oschersleben saw both the #19 car of Hugo Sasse and Roman Fellner-Feldegg make their intentions known with both a P3 and P2 finish whilst the sister #17 car of Marek Bockmann and Anton Abee saw off earlier sickness to come back with a P6 finish in race two, so hopes were high for the challenges of the Norisring.
Unfortunately, that was as good as it got for the two Prosport Racing crews as whilst the #17 crew did qualify for race one upon the front row of the grid, later incident and accident on track saw them forced to retire just before the chequered flag.
The #19 crew would have to make do with a lowly P13 qualifying position with a P13 race result at the end of that hour before moving into a P17 start for Sundays finale but this time both cars failed to finish to end what was a miserable weekend for the team.
The only other light of encouragement was from the sole Aston Martin from the Earl Bamber Motorsport prepared Team NZ crew competing within the Thailand Super Series with drivers Grahame Dowsett and Romain Leroux again behind the wheel.
This time competing at the impromptu street circuit that made up the Bangsaen Grand Prix saw the #7 crew secure another P3 podium at the end of their first GT4/GTC race before backing that up on Sunday with a P4 finish.
Photo credits – ADAC GT4 Germany / TSS / Teams / social media
Monday, July 07, 2025 |
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More multi-classed AMR powered success in the Iberian Supercars Series
Originally listed as having up to seven AMR powered crews within the twenty-three strong entry, the Racar Motorsport team was still able to field four crews whilst the Gianfranco Motorsport team entered one of their own.
Pre-event qualifying went well as both Pro class entries, both Am class entries along with the sole Bronze classed entry all secured top five qualifying positions ahead each of the weekend’s two, hour long races.
The opening race however saw rain before the start that obviously complicated the tight street race circuit with the #78 Racar AMR coming off second best after rear quarter contact from another car which saw the Aston impact heavily with the temporary concrete barriers, bring out the red flag.
Back to green with now a much drier track eventually saw the #77 Racar AMR of Mathieu Martin and Roberto Faria secure another P3 Pro podium finish with the #777 Gianfranco entered Vantage GT4 of Ruben Vaquinhas and Pedro Bastos Rezende and the #707 Racar entry of Filipe Videira and Antonio Lopes securing a P1-P2 finish apiece in Am.
Race 2 was a much sunnier affair but with this time the #707 taking contact from another car that would eliminate them from the race as well. Further contact between cars after the restart again saw the race red flagged with the race being called still a few minutes short of their allotted time.
Despite that, the #77 crew secured, this time a P2 finish in Pro with both the #79 Racar crew of Vasco Oliveira and Francisco Carvalho and the #777 Gianfranco entry each securing a P1 finish in both Bronze and Am respectively.
The series now moves on Valencia in mid-September.
Photo credits - Series
Monday, July 07, 2025 |
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E2P Racing finally get their just reward as the 24H Series completed 12 hours at Paul Ricard
After three prior rounds to their new Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 powered 2025 season where technical issues blighted the opening two rounds at both Mugello and Spa Francorchamps before unavoidable contact whilst passing a slower car took them out of the race with a bang last time out at Misano, put the #90 crew of Pablo Burguera, Antonio Sainero and Oliver Campos firmly in the doldrums with a naught from three average.
This weekend’s fourth round to the Creventic European Series from Paul Ricard in southern France was fortunately different for the crew as they prepared themselves for this straight twelve-hour race.
Competing again within the GT3 Am class, the #90 crew secured a lower than usual P11 start to the race but that was still enough to secure the honour of a class pole position as Burguera took charge of the car again for the opening stint.
Cycling through the morning to night race around the Mistral circuit finally saw the #90 secure what had eluded them so far this season with, not just a P7 overall finish at the end of this twelve-hour event but also a P2 podium in class for their efforts and just three laps down to the eventual winners.
The final race of the season will be the team’s ‘local’ round from the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona towards the end of September.
Photo credits - Series
Sunday, July 06, 2025 |
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D'Station Racing dominate in Super Taikyu this weekend
Having elected to just co-partner their Porsche ST-1 class entry at the most recent Fuji 24hr race, it was business as usual again this weekend as Satoshi Hoshino, Tomonobu Fujii and Yuta Kamimura concentrated upon their own #777 Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3, leaving their #47 team mates to their own devices this time around.
The weekend started well for the #777 crew as earlier fast Free Practice times were replicated into an overall Pole position ahead of Sundays race.
Again running their series specific red livery, the car quickly established a controlling race lead ahead of their two ST-X class rivals as the race got underway around a dry Sugo circuit.
Just a couple of brief interruptions for cars stopping on track interrupted the flow as both the #777 Aston Martin came home to claim their first Super Taikyu Series race win of the season with its #47 crew also taking another class win for themselves.
The series will now move onto Autopolis at the end of the month.
Photo credit – Team
Sunday, July 06, 2025 |
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Early pace not realised within the DTM races for the Comtoyou Racing team
Earlier pace for the #7 car of Nicolas Baert and the #8 car of Gilles Magnus had seen the son of the team owner circulate as high as second within Free Practice and his qualifying pace was also there during the two split sessions although his P2 time for race 2 was annulled after it was found that his car exceeded its permitted turbo boost.
Still, it was a season best P6 start for Baert for the weekend opener alongside Magnus in P12 as the first race got off to its usual frenetic start as Baert got bundled down to P10 by the time of the first visit to the notorious hairpin. Both crews elected to pit early for their compulsory stop but contact by the #8 car with their #19 Lamborghini saw him eventually stop with technical issues whilst Magnus able to take the chequered flag albeit just outside the points again in P12.
Race 2 on Sunday would feature two compulsory stops but Baert would find himself starting from the rear of the pack again after his cars technical infringement in qualifying whilst Magnus would again start from P12.
Contact between two other cars coming out of the hairpin would see the race red flagged as they and its debris field was cleared but getting back to green this time around would be a short-lived affair for Magnus as he would this time be forced to stop with technical issues before the pit window. In a role reversal of the first race, Baert would eventually come home P14 overall this time around.
The series now moves onto the Nurburgring at the beginning of August.
Photo credits - DTM
Sunday, July 06, 2025 |
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Comtoyou Racing looking racy in early sessions of the DTM from the Norisring today
Straight off the back of the Spa 24 hour event where the Belgian team had four such cars entered into that event and where none of them actually finished thanks to either mechanical defect but mainly accident induced damage (not of their making), it would have been something of a rush job to get these two cars turned around in time for this rounds track action which started today.
Nicolas Baert and Gilles Magnus are back within their familiar #8 and #7 cars respectively and both have come out looking racing during today’s earlier Free Practice 1 and 2 sessions where Magnus ended the day second quickest and with his team mate just a quarter of a second down in P8.
With the Norisring being a fast, furious but in places extremely tight street improvised circuit, track position will be key ahead of the two races this weekend with Safety Car periods highly likely.
Although not publicised, this performance change for the two Aston Martin’s has probably come about through a Balance of Performance change in their favour after an extremely under-powered performance last time out at Zandvoort at the beginning of June.
The start of the weekend’s events appear encouraging ……...!!
Photo credits - DTM
Friday, July 04, 2025 |
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Team NZ back out within the TSS visit to the Bangsaen Grand Prix
Now racing separately between the GT3 and GT4 classes, the Team NZ Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 of Grahame Dowsett and newly crowned Spa 24 Silver Cup Champion Romain Leroux again return to the fold within a combined GT4/GTC grid of approximately sixteen crews.
Last time out at Buriram at the end of May, the duo earned their first class podium together having capitalised upon a P2 overall starting position within race two to eventually finish P4 overall and P3 within their own GT4 Pro class after a wet race one washed out any possibility of a good finish.
Track action has already begun for the Earl Bamber Motorsport prepared crew with the first Free Practice session having now been run where the #7 crew finished fifth overall within their GT4/GTC class.
Photo credits – Team / Series
Track action has already begun for the Earl Bamber Motorsport prepared crew with the first Free Practice session having now been run where the #7 crew finished fifth overall within their GT4/GTC class.
Photo credits – Team / Series
Wednesday, July 02, 2025 |
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