Five more Aston Martin's support the SRO Series at Sebring this weekend
Seventeen cars – one Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GT3 complete the provisional entry list ahead of this weekend’s penultimate race weekend of the GT World Challenge America at Sebring, Florida.
Racing there in lieu of the series attempts to race again at the Canadian Tires Motorsport Park (beaten again by CV-19 related border issues), this meeting will be their final double header of the series before their 2021 season concludes at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in mid-October.
This event will also be the first time that the Ian Lacey Racing team have competed at the circuit with their AMR Vantage GT3 with drivers Frank Gannett and Drew Staveley behind the wheel.
For these guys, the last round at Watkins Glen was one to forget really after pace from the previous round to that at Road America somewhat evaded them two weeks ago at Watkins Glen during the first race where they finished P5 in class only for them to then retire with a mal-functioning engine sensor during race 2.
For the first year of any Bronze-Silver pairing running in a Pro-Am class in a brand new (to them) GT3 car, podium success was never going to be expected but the team and crew have persevered with their project to lie P13 in their Championship table with a similar number of points gained so far this year compared to their opposition even after their first DNF of the season last time out at Watkins Glen.
Completing the trilogy of SRO America Series at the Sebring meeting will be the GT America Series for bronze ranked GT3 and GT4 drivers only who visit the circuit in an invitational only basis making for a non-championship point scoring round for them.
That has come about after this series supported the IndyCar Series at their Nashville Music City Grand Prix event in early August and as many of the GT America teams also feature in either the GT World Challenge America or GT4 America Series already due to race at Sebring.
The GT America rounds from Watkins Glen also paved the way for two more Aston Martin Racing teams as both the 3R Povoledo Racing and Zelus Motorsport AMR Vantage GT4’s raced for the first time. These two races proved to be very productive as Jason Bell took a double class win in his #2 GMG Racing Aston, Gray Newell picked up his first solo driving podium with a P3 in race 1 in his Heart of Racing Aston and also featured a debut AMR/team podium for Ross Chouest in his #50 Povoledo Racing car.
The #888 Zelus Motorsport Aston that competed at Watkins Glen is not on the entry list this time for Sebring although the #09 Automatic Racing prepared car for Paul Kiebler is as he also races in the SprintX series.
As with all SRO America series, all races will be streamed live via their respective social media channels.
Photo credits – GT America / Teams / CSJ Motorsport / F Lagunas
Seven Aston Martin GT4 America runners looking to improve upon successes from last time out
After the sensational events at their last run out at Watkins Glen a fortnight ago, the now increased contingent of Aston Martin Racing customer team Vantage GT4’s make their way down to Florida this weekend for the penultimate round of the 2021 GT4 America Series from Sebring.
Like Watkins Glen, the entry list of thirty-one cars again lists the seven AMR Vantage GT4 crews that competed there for this weekend’s two-hour long Sprint X races after the 3R Povoledo Racing team joined the ‘party’ at Watkins Glen with the CSJ Motorsport liveried car that they had had on offer to any perspective clients since last season.
For these guys and drivers Aaron Povoledo and Ross Chouest, they only had about a week to become accustomed to their new #50 car going into the last round and what an entrance they made during the races even if their ultimate finishing positions didn’t quite reflect their pace.
For the #24 Heart of Racing AMR GT4 of Gray Newell and Ian James, Watkins Glen would be chalked down as their circuit of firsts after they secured their first series podium and then their first Pro-Am class win at that event. The #062 Silver Cup entry from the Dexter Racing team and brothers Ryan and Warren Dexter also claimed another class P3 finish during race 1 as did the #59 WR Racing Pro-Am Aston of Paul Terry and an AMR deputising Owen Trinkler in the same race.
Looking through the provisional entry list, all appears to be the same as Watkins Glen as Trinkler again replaces Brandon Davis aboard the #59 WR Racing car with Terry. Jason Bell/Andrew Davis continue to seek Sprint X success in their #2 GMG Racing Aston whilst Bryan Putt/Kenton Koch look to redress the missed opportunities from last time out in their #15 Bsport Racing Aston.
The previous new recruits, the Automatic Racing entry for Paul Kiebler and Mikel Miller complete the seven car AMR entry as they look for some more racing experience in will still only be their SRO third event in their #09 car.
Championship wise, the #15 Bsport Aston Martin did still close the gap slightly to the Pro-Am leading Nolasport car that only raced once at Watkins Glen due to personal commitments for one of the drivers and with four races still to go this season, nothing has been secured yet in that class.
In the Silver Cup Class, the two decent finishes for Dexter Racing still weren’t enough for them to reduce the gap to the leading team in that class and need something more of a miracle if they are to lift that crown in their debut AMR season.
As with any race around the Sebring circuit – the bumps will help sort the wheat from the chaff when it comes to winners and also rans!!
Photo credits – GT4 America / CSJ Motorsport / F Lagunas
Four Aston Martin's to see out 2021 GT Cup Championship season from Snetterton
The GT Cup Championship holds its final meeting of their 2021 season this weekend from the Snetterton racetrack in Norfolk with a larger than usual entry list for their final four races of the year which includes one or two returning names from the Aston Martin Racing extended family of teams and drivers.
Last time out two weeks ago from Donington Park was something of a ‘win some – loose some’ weekend for the two-season long AMR Vantage GT4 entries from Century Motorsport and Feathers Motorsport.
One lowly result from four races including two DNF’s and one DNS for the #82 Feathers GTH Class car of James Guess and Tom Canning kind of summed up their weekend after accident damage was sustained in that weekends opening sprint race whilst the #15 Century prepared car of David Holloway and Bradley Ellis did at least punctuate their two mid class finishes with a podium P2 finish in the weekends first pit stop race before also finishing that weekend off with a DNF of their own.
Both cars are back this weekend to see out their season in this championship but with Darren Turner returning to the Feathers team having skipped another round due to his commitments at the Goodwood Revival that weekend. Sadly, neither car are now in any championship standing of note so for these four drivers it will be a simple matter of Gentleman pride being at stake!!
Joining them in Norfolk will be the return of the Ultimate Speed Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GT3 of Mike Brown and Matt Manderson in their #47 car after their last run out in the Championship at the circuit back in early June.
Completing the AMR contingent within the thirty-six car entry is the #72 24-7 Motorsport AMR GT4 N24 car of Chris Murphy and Michael Coker. Whilst Murphy is a regular GT Cup campaigner, we have only seen Coker out once before in his (then) Valour Racing prepared Aston at the Silverstone round of the Britcar Endurance Championship.
This final round will again be made up of four races – one sprint for the Am driver and one pit stop punctuated race over Saturday and Sunday.
Photo credits – GT Cup / Teams
Championships titles still to be won by AGS Events Racing at FFSA GT4 finale
Its rapidly approaching the end of September and many European based series will now be towards the end of their 2021 seasons and the French FFSA GT4 Series is just one such series, as they are set to hold their sixth and final race meeting of the year from the Circuit Paul Ricard in the south of France.
Similar to last season, six Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GT4’s have competed within the series this season from teams like ASG Events Racing, Mirage Racing and JSB Competition with varying degrees of success throughout in the various classes.
One such crew that is on the cusp of a possible Championship win is the #007 AGS Racing Events Silver Cup entry with drivers Valentin Hasse-Clot and Romain Leroux who presently stand thirty-seven points clear in their class going into these final two races this weekend.
Having only dropped one non-point scoring race at the second round at Magney-Cours with only one more result off the podium itself, the young French duo will still need to be at the top of their game this weekend as three drivers in the class still retain a mathematical chance of surpassing their score with fifty points still on offer over the weekend.
A similar position, but with a lesser points margin exists between the AGS Events team and the second placed CMR team in the Silver Cups Team title stakes.
In the Am Drivers Championship, that title has already been decided and the best that any AMR crew could hope for is a final P2 placing for the AGS Events Racing crew of Didier Dumaine and Christophe Carriere should they win both races and the car ahead of them in the Championship fails to score both times.
Finally in the Pro-Am class, the previous five rounds have so far failed to find an outright winner or favourite with ten crews still in with a mathematical shout of this championship title should other results go in their favour and for our attention, the #89 AGS Events Racing AMR of Nicolas Gomar and Mike Parisy presently sit in P7 and just twenty-seven points behind the leading crew.
The AMR crews listed above will again be joined by the #79 AGS Events Racing Am Class car of Lauris Nauroy and Stephane Desbrosse, the #38 Mirage Racing Pro-Am car of Ruben Del Sarte and Yves Lemaitre and finally the #8 JSB Competition Am Class AMR of Julien Briche and Jean-Laurent Navarro.
Still all to race for (even if it is only pride) – so we will see what Sunday afternoon brings us.
Photo credits – FFSA GT4 / Teams
All to race for still by the Heart of Racing AMR crew in IMSA's closing events
The second meeting out west after Laguna Seca last week and the second time that the team had run both of their AMR’s, the team was hoping for better luck for the #27 AMR GTD of Ian James and Alex Riberas after their early exit last time out but more so for their Championship contesting #23 car of Roman De Angelis and Ross Gunn.
Having enjoyed a long podium winning run earlier in the season, the #23 car has since been ‘hobbled’ with a lesser balance of performance regime than earlier, one that has had a massive impact on the car and crew’s performance.
Despite being spun out at Laguna Seca, De Angelis and Gunn battled back to claim a P5 finishing position to minimise the damage to their Championship aspirations, and that was a similar case on Saturday in Long Beach.
Qualifying P6 and P14 for De Angelis and James respectively, it didn’t take long for the field to spread out along the tight street circuit and an early FCY for debris helped to bring everyone back together again although the #23 car did lose a couple of places on the restart. Having gone back to green there was then some ‘good news’ for the #23 crew in the form of an unfortunate off for the Sprint Cup Championship leading BMW of Robbie Foley who would damage his car in the tyre wall and, although he would re-join the race would eventually retire the car before the end of the race.
With both cars pitting just after their first drivers minimum drive time was served, it would become a simple near one-hour sprint to the end for both Gunn and Riberas from their P8 and P11 at the time although being already over 17 seconds behind the class leading #1 Lamborghini.
Performance out of the corners was obviously an issue that both cars were combating against hence little competitive progress through the field despite their best of efforts. P6 was eventually the best that the #23 could deliver with the #27 coming home P12 in class for their first IMSA finish together.
Next time out for the GT cars will be a GTD/GTLM only affair around the picturesque circuit of Virginia International Raceway – an event that will serve as the penultimate round of the endurance series but also the final round of the Sprint Cup. In Sprint, the #23 car holds a slender 74-point lead whilst in the overall Championship they are 104 points in arrears – so all still to race for!!
Photo credits - HoRT ./ CSJ Motorsport / F Lagunas
No Championship reward for Garage 59 in Valencia despite a final class podium
Going into the final event of the season this weekend, a class win in the opening race was a must the Pro-Am crew with a fourteen-point deficit to make up against an even more consistent pairing of Miguel Ramos and Henrique Chaves in the #77 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini around the tight and twisting Valencian Circuit Ricardo Tormo.
Pre-Qualifying went well for the #188 car taking the lead Pro-Am position in P6 yesterday before moving in the tw0 Qualifying sessions for Sunday’s two one-hour races with West Qualifying P26 for race 1 and Adam P19 for race 2 but each time behind the Championship leading #77 car on what started out to be a ‘green’ track after overnight rain.
For the team’s second car – the #159 Silver Cup crew of Tuomas Tujula and Nicolai Kjaergaard, their first season aboard the AMR Vantage GT3 platform had already cut down with multiple accident and other technical no finishes – so for them Valencia was only about pride.
The later second and final Sprint Cup race of the 2021 season was a much better affair as Adam and Kjaergaard had better starts but again the race was neutralised on only the second lap this time as a four-car incident left debris across the racetrack and a stranded car to boot.
Getting back to green and it wasn’t long before Adam had passed the #77 Barwell car for position but even by then, the class leading Mercedes was already too far in front to mount any sizeable challenge for the class lead. The #159 meanwhile was ‘enjoying’ some Silver Class rivalry as they battled for what they could.
Hitting the pit window with only ten seconds to spare, Adam handed the car back to West whilst Kjaergaard had already pitted at the start of the available window to hand back to Tujula for the final time and whilst both cars would finish, all attention rightly turned to the #77 Barwell crew who secured the Pro-Am title at the end.
Photo credits – GTWCE / Garage 59
Aston Martin Racing finally conquer the Nordschlife
Aston Martin’s Vantage GT3 made a victorious return to the Nürburgring Nordschleife, as the British luxury sportscar brand secured its first ever win on the famous German circuit in Round 8 of the high-profile Nürburgring Langstrecken Serie (NLS).
Against strong opposition from rival manufacturers Porsche, Ferrari, BMW, Audi and Mercedes, Aston Martin Racing and its works drivers Maxime Martin (BEL) and Nicki Thiim (DEN) – who were competing for the first time as a driver pairing – delivered an inspired performance in the four-hour race to clinch the first overall win for a British manufacturer at this level.
The race marked the first NLS participation for Aston Martin in the GT3 class since the current Vantage made its competitive debut at the Nürburgring, three years ago. With interest growing from existing partners and potential future customers to race the Vantage GT3 in the series, and the Nürburgring 24 Hours in 2022, the factory used the opportunity to demonstrate the car’s potential and to gather data around the Nordschleife.
Having qualified eighth, Martin made quick progress at the start, gaining two places on the first lap, and then another later in the opening stint when a rival retired. A clever strategy by the team saw them run three longer stints than their rivals bringing the car into victory contention. When Thiim handed the car back to Martin for his second stint, the Belgian found himself right behind a clutch of rivals, passing two of them in one breath-taking manouvre, and moved up to third. He passed the second-placed Audi just as the leading BMW made its final stop and gave the Vantage back to Thiim in the lead. The Dane, spurred on by the prospect of his first overall win on the Nordschleife, then brought the Vantage home safely 13s ahead of its nearest rival.
“It’s an awesome achievement for everyone to come here, with a ‘new’ car for the first time on the Nordschleife and win,” said Martin. “It shows the high level of preparation and how well we have developed the car. It’s great for Aston Martin to win here amongst all the German manufacturers. It’s not something that many brands have done! I felt confident in the car and had some nice fights to take the lead, and from there Nicki had to control and that is never easy here – so he did an amazing job as well. We didn’t have the fastest car, but we worked well as a team.”
Thiim added: “Veni, Vidi, Vici almost. We were stable all the way through. So much has happened to this car in three years, it’s completely different to the one that raced here then. We brought the best guys in the business with us to really try and understand the data so that next year we can create a strong package. It was a pleasure to race with Max for the first time, he made it easy for me to take my first NLS win. I’m proud and honoured to have been the one to have crossed the line first for Aston Martin at the Nürburgring Nordschleife.”
Aston Martin Racing President David King said: “This performance has clearly demonstrated the potential of the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 at the Nürburgring. To come to the heartland of the mighty German manufacturers and win with a car that had so little testing data under its belt at the start of qualifying is an extraordinary achievement, and there is plenty more to come as we were some way off the fastest race lap. Our goal when we came here was two-fold, to gather data to assist in the development of the car and to show potential partners and customers why Vantage deserves an NLS programme. I think we’ve done that emphatically. We’ve been wanting to win a race on this track for a very long time, so to claim a victory in this manner is deeply satisfying.”
BSEM AMR back in business in China GT?
It looks like the China GT Championship may be resurrecting itself from its motorsport’s governing body imposed state of hibernation due to the ongoing pandemic and getting itself ready to race as early as this weekend.
A post on social media from the Team Manager of the BSEM Aston Martin Racing Partner team earlier this week strongly suggested so with photos of a freshly re-liveried AMR Vantage GT4 as well a potential programme of races having not raced now for over two years.
Despite our efforts to contact him, we have had no reply and there has also been no update from the Championship itself on any of their platforms, but then the GTSSC Championship got back to racing a couple of weeks ago without any prior notice so we can only hope.
Unlike previous seasons when the team have employed drivers like Ross Gunn and Jack Mitchell to support the team’s ‘local’ amateur driver, we would expect that continuing entry restrictions into the country would leave them with only ‘local’ drivers at their disposal.
Photo credits – BSEM AMR
Aston Martin Racing return to the Nordschleife
The Aston Martin Vantage GT3 will make a welcome return to the legendary Nürburging Nordschleife for Round 8 of the 2021 Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS) this weekend as it competes at the German venue for the first time since the car made its formal competitive debut there three years ago.
A full-time entry in the NLS is a prerequisite for a competitive entry in the world famous Nürburging 24 Hours, and interest in both the Vantage GT3 as a potential NLS contender continues to swell with existing partners and new potential customers. Moreover, the Vantage GT3 is currently fighting for the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship GTD class title with the The Heart of Racing and last weekend clinched its first major title in Japan with D’station Racing. Meanwhile in the hands of Garage 59, the car came close to winning the Spa 24 Hours earlier this year, finishing third overall in the Belgian classic.
Aston Martin Racing has therefore decided to run a one-off works entry in the top SP9 class to demonstrate the car’s potential on the Nordschleife now that it has gained three years of development and seven championship titles under its belt. The race will also serve to assist the series organisers in formulating a Balance of Performance measurement for the car ahead of any potential NLS or Nürburgring 24 Hour entries in 2022.
The brand-new chassis, featuring a revised works livery especially for the race, will be driven by FIA GT World Champion Nicki Thiim (DEN) and 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Maxime Martin (BEL) who actually drove the Vantage GT3 alongside Darren Turner (GBR) to fourth overall on its debut in October 2018.
“I haven’t raced the latest Vantage GT3 on the Nürbrurging Nordschleife, so I’m very interested to see how it feels now that it has been developed and has proved itself a winner all over the world,” said Thiim. “It’s always an honour to race for Aston Martin, and I think everybody knows that I absolutely love the Nürburgring so we are going to go hard to prove the Vantage is a car that can be competitive in the NLS.”
Martin added: “It’s obviously improved a lot since we last raced the car there on its debut three years ago, and even then we knew it had enormous potential. I think it will be great fun to race alongside Nicki, and we will be working very hard to make the most of this opportunity. To be back racing on one of the greatest circuits of them all is always good. I can’t wait.”
Aston Martin GT cars have been an ever-present at the Nürburging since 2005, when Aston Martin Lagonda made its debut in the VLN and Nürburgring 24 Hours with an almost standard V8 Vantage that provided the springboard for the ultra-successful GT4 version. Since then, the marque has enjoyed many notable class successes including victory in the SP9T class in 2018, when Martin, Thiim, Turner and Marco Sörensen (DEN) finished fourth overall having led into the final hours under heavy rain in the last competitive outing for the V12 Vantage GT3. This result still stands as the marque’s best finish in the Nürburgring 24 Hours.
In recent years focus has centred on developing the customer-focussed Vantage GT4, which won the SP8T class in 2019 with Jamie Chadwick (GBR), Alex Brundle (GBR) and Peter Cate (GBR). In 2020, AMR partner team Garage 59 finished third in the same class with an upgraded GT8R driven by Jonny Adam (GBR), Alexander West (SWE), Chris Goodwin (GBR) and Turner.
In 2021 Aston Martin’s honour has been upheld at the ’Ring by another partner team, the locally-based PROsport Racing squad which finished seventh in the SP10 class with their Vantage GT4.
Aston Martin Racing President David King added: “Despite our various successes at the Nürburgring, for one reason or another Aston Martin has never had a sustained presence in the top class of the NLS (formerly the VLN), or the Nürburging. The time is ripe for a change now that we have a world class GT3 contender in the Vantage. So we will be going there this weekend with the intent to show what the car is capable of to potential customers and partners, and of course to try and notch up another win for the Vantage GT3.”
Source material - AMR
"We won!"
Sunday’s victory comes after a successful Saturday race where James and Newell placed second. Additionally, Newell landed his first solo podium in our #25 car in GT America. The weekend was a breakthrough win for the team in the midst of their first year of SRO GT4 competition and Newell’s first year of racing.
James has been coaching Newell in his development as a new driver. The two regularly work together outside of race weekends to develop Newell’s race craft.
“Watching Gray develop over the last year has been really rewarding,” mentioned Team Principal and Driver Ian James. “He has been extremely dedicated, so to see it finally pay off is a big moment for our team.”
The duo takes on Sebring International Raceway in early October. In the meantime, James will drive with The Heart of Racing’s IMSA team at Long Beach this weekend. James will co-drive with Alex Riberas in the #27 GTD car while Roman De Angelis and Ross Gunn drive the #23 GTD IMSA WeatherTech championship contender.
Heart of Racing take on the challenge of Long Beach's street circuit this weekend
A tight schedule lays ahead for this weekend’s latest round of the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship from Long Beach, California as it shares the coastal road circuit with the headlining IndyCar Series.
Featuring a much-reduced grid from last time out at Laguna Seca, this weekend sees just six DPi’s, three GTLM’s but seventeen GTD cars take to the tight 1.96 mile circuit with the two Heart of Racing Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3’s again taking up two of those positions.
Laguna Seca was something of a reality check for the Heart team after a recent long string of podium finishes for the #23 car of Roman de Angelis and Ross Gunn after the lost their qualifying position at Laguna Seca due to a technicality of Gunn exiting the car before the formal end of the session, to be then spun around in the opening minutes of the race before the crew to battle hard to achieve a P5 position to help their overall and sprint championship positions along.
Laguna Seca was also the first time that the time had run their second AMR for drivers Ian James and Alex Riberas since the latter’s return to the States from his yearlong ‘racing sabbatical’ in New Zealand! For them, the race ended on the first lap with James having dropped a wheel off track, spun around mid-pack and was collected by a GTD car from behind – contact which eventually put both cars out of the race.
This Friday sees the IMSA paddock complete both Free Practice rounds and qualifying ahead of Saturdays 1 hour 40 minutes race.
Photo credits – HoRT / CSJ Motorsport / F Lagunas
All or nothing for the #188 Pro-Am Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 of Garage 59 in Valencia
It’s the final round of the 2021 GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup this weekend from the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, Spain and it’s an “all or nothing” journey down south for the Garage 59 Aston Martin Racing team as effectively a class win along with a whole lot of luck is what they now need in order to lift the Pro-Am Class crown by the end of play on Sunday.
Last time out in the Sprint Cup at Brands Hatch at the end of August, the #188 Pro-Am Class Garage 59 car of Alex West and Jonny Adam enjoyed the spoils of two further class podiums at their home event with a P3 and P2 in the two races respectively BUT each result was behind on track the class leading #77 Barwell Lamborghini car of Miguel Ramos and Henrique Chaves.
That crew now leads the Pro-Am class by 14 points from the #188 crew but with the #77 being so dominant and consistent, the only way that the #188 could possibly snatch the crown away from them at the death would be by finishing ahead of the #77 crew in race one as a must and then hope that the #77 car finishes more than one car below them in race two as well.
Another point of note would be that the present third places Pro-Am crew of Mercedes AMG GT3 runners Valentin Pierburg and Dominik Baumann are just one point below the Aston Martin crew making for an intense three-way battle (certainly during race one) but also potentially race two should events not go in the favour of the #77 crew.
Of course, joining the #188 crew will be the #159 Silver Cup pairing of Nicolai Kjaergaard and Tuomas Tujula. These young racers have faced a GT3 season that anyone would reasonably want to forget with both accident damage and technical issues blighting their season from start until now but it would be great to see these two go out on something of a high!
Both one-hour races take place on Sunday 26th September and will again be streamed live via the series social media channels.
Photo credits – GTWCE / Team
