Congratulations to Belgian Racer Kobe Pauwels who today was announced as the latest winner of the coveted Aston Martin Racing Drivers Academy for 2025.

Following in the footsteps of a long line of eight other accomplished racers including that of his 2025 teammate (Jamie Day) who last year secured the same prize in a year saw both Pauwels and Day compete within both the SRO GT World Challenge Europe Sprint and Endurance Cup Series with the Comtoyou Racing AMR team.

 

The Heart of Racing Team continue to bolster their 2026 racing programme with another announcement today that sees they Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 car and crew step up to the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Series for the first time with some very familiar names.

More known within the GT4 America Series sees the teams #26 AMR Vantage GT4 of both Hannah Grisham and Hannah Greenemeier move up to the GS class of the IMSA sanctioned support series for the first time after spending the last three seasons (two seasons together) learning their craft.

This news is very timely seeing the departure from the AMR family of the Team TGM outfit after their winter move to the Ford Mustang package despite recouping their Bronze Cup Championship win for their #64 crew.

 

The opening track sessions of the 2025-26 Asian Le Mans Series are now in the books as a capacity forty-seven, multi-classed entry looks to get the opening two races in of this new season from the Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia.

Now into its fifth season, this is the third time that the ACO rules series has visited this part of Asia to go alongside their more used venues at both the Dubai Autodrome and the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, and like always, each will be a double header race event.

 

A new team that combines the best of two existing entities, GBR Stratton Motorsport, has become the first to publicly confirm its 2026 British GT Championship entries.

Two of the squad’s Aston Martins will contest the GT4 class next season, marking the manufacturer’s full-time return to the class after a year away.

The new venture sees two existing and accomplished domestic outfits joining forces. GBR, short for Graham Brunton Racing, has a wealth of junior single-seater experience thanks to its GB4 exploits, while Stratton – which also sells and services Aston Martin road cars – has previously raced them and Lotuses in British GT.

Drivers are yet to be confirmed for either of the two Vantages, which are competing with the full support of AMR.

“This is a defining step for both teams,” said team principal and Stratton’s founder, Roger Bennington. “Combining our strengths under the GBR Stratton Motorsport identity – and doing so as an official Aston Martin Racing partner – positions us for another exciting chapter in our history. We cannot wait to showcase what our combined capability can deliver.”

Craig Brunton, who will serve as team manager, added: “Our team is buzzing with excitement as we leave the intense world of single-seater racing behind to embark on a thrilling new chapter in the GT4 category. The next step for us feels incredibly special as we forge a promising new partnership with Stratton Motorsport. It is a dream come true to be competing with a prestigious and high-performance brand in AMR and the entire team is motivated to make an immediate impact on the track. We cannot wait to get started!”

MKH flew the GT4 flag for Aston Martin last year, albeit on a round by round basis. The manufacturer is one of British GT4’s most successful and last won a championship in 2024 when Forsetti Motorsport clinched the teams’ crown.

Season 34 begins with media day at Silverstone on March 31 before the same venue hosts the season opener on April 25/26.

Source material - British GT

 

Upon this very quiet weekend, it’s great to see that at least of couple of faces from within the Aston Martin Racing contingent is out and about at a racetrack this weekend having some fun.

Not exactly a mainstream race series of course but this weekend’s Piston and Props event at the Sebring International has brought out one AMR Vantage GT4 team and another driver of note.

 

The Heart of Racing will return to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s 64th Rolex 24 At Daytona with a two-car effort featuring the No. 23 Aston Martin THOR Valkyrie in the GTP class and the No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage in the GTD category. The 2026 roster blends established talent and fresh energy as the team builds on the momentum of a milestone 2025 season.

 

As we first thought, a suggestive entry list featuring up to six Aston Martin Racing powered entries into last weekend’s final round of the Iberian Supercars Series from Estoril saw in the end just three such cars take part.

Featuring two final fifty minute races within the series season concluding Estoril Endurance Festival saw both the #77 Racar Motorsport AMR Vantage GT4 of Mathieu Martins and the #777 Gianfranco AMR Vantage GT4 of Rubens Vaquinhas and Pedro Bastos Rezende chase the Iberian and Espana Series double within their respective GT4 Pro and GT4 Am classes.

 

The Asian Le Mans Series today confirmed a massive forty-eight multi-classed car entry for their opening round to their 2025-26 winter season that kicks off at the Sepang International Circuit in just a couple of weeks’ time with further news of the expected two car Aston Martin Racing powered entry.

With the sixteen strong LMP2 class again taking the spotlight alongside the ten new LMP3 runners, it’s from within the twenty-two strong GT3 entry that obviously grabs our attention as both the Ecurie Ecosse bannered Blackthorn AMR, and the Earl Bamber Motorsport AMR’s also confirmed at least most of their drivers.

 

The Estoril Endurance Festival has attracted another twenty-five strong GT4 grid for the final races of the Iberian Supercars Series at the Portuguese circuit.

Getting ourselves confused with the series inter Supercars Espana Series which concluded at Jerez a few weeks ago with a number of Aston Martin Racing powered crews taking the top accolades throughout the multiple classes, this weekend’s final races of the Iberian based series sees similar AMR possibilities.

 

It was a close-run thing for one of the Aston Martin Racing powered crews at the end of Saturday’s Apex One 10 Hour Endurance race at Sebring as they eventually had to settle for second in class at the chequered flag.

With the #66 Archangel AMR Vantage GT4 of Paul Holton, Madeline Stewart and Joshua Jacobs having started strongly during the opening Free Practice sessions leading the GT4 class in Practice 1 and Night Practice 2, the mixed driver line up came back to secure class pole position ahead of Saturdays marathon.

 

A second Aston Martin Racing powered crew appears present at this weekend’s Apex One 10 Hour Endurance race from Sebring as the Archangel Motorsport team field a Vantage GT4 car to go alongside the Vantage GT3 from the Rebel Rock Racing team.

Not being a topflight race series with a big eye upon timely information flow or indeed photos of the track action, this #66 Archangel entry appears to be driven by Paul Holton, Madeline Stewart and Joshua Jacobs.

 

Our race diary for the year originally had this weekend coming as something of a break between the end of the summer season and the start of those new winter series – that was until the Rebel Rock Racing team announced their step up to the GT3 class.

Only last week did we learn of the team’s recent acquisition of a new Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 which they will debut within this weekend’s Apex One 10Hour Endurance race from Sebring international Raceway with a three-man driver line up. 

 

Not a race series that we have covered in its entirety this season, but this weekend’s final round of the FX GT4 Italy Series concluded at Misano with a double podium finish for one Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 participant.

First seen as a support series to the FIA World Endurance Championships visit to Imola in April saw the Gino Motorsport prepared Aston Martin of the Team Spirit Racing team return with Mathias Villadsen being the wheel of his #23 car again as he completed his first full season of GT4 racing.