GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup rounds off this weekend in Spain for Comtoyou Racing

GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup rounds off this weekend in Spain for Comtoyou Racing

 


Whilst most people’s attention will be turned Stateside and the final rounds of the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship and the Michelin Pilot Challenge Series with the championship winning possibilities that lay before two Aston Martin Racing powered teams within each, there is also further track action back in Europe as the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup also comes to a conclusion.

Competing around the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona, the Belgian based Comtoyou Racing team are again back in action with their four Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 as their Pro, Silver and Gold class pairing have two last gasps at class success within this weekend’s final two-hour long races within a series that has so far been far from kind to the team.


Blighted with race ending contact as well as continuous changes within the balance of performance window for the new Vantage GT3 Evo, none of the four crews and established any threat to any of the above classes despite the same car and team presently lead the way within the sister Endurance Cup Series that concludes in Saudi Arabia in November.

Before the cars embark upon that long journey, there is the small object of these two final races within the Sprint Series where a good showing is almost a most for the team as Matteo Drudi/Nicolas Baert will again race their #7 car within the topflight Pro class whilst Lorens Lecertua and Dante Rappange return with their #12 Silver entry and AMR factory driver David Pittard again pairs up with Matisse Lismont within their #21 Gold entry. 


The teams #11 and what was listed as a Gold class entry has recently reverted back to a TBA status under both driver names after the usual crew of James Jakes and Sebastian Ogaard was removed from previous entry list announcements.

Track action will begin tomorrow (Friday) with Free Practice and Pre-Qualifying with Qualifying 1 and Race 1 on Saturday with the same for season finale on Sunday.

Photo credits – Team / Series
Thursday, October 10, 2024 | Read more...
All to race for at Petit Le Mans with the Heart of Racing AMR team

All to race for at Petit Le Mans with the Heart of Racing AMR team

 


The 2022 IMSA WeatherTech GTD Championship team, the Heart of Racing, looks to add to that title this weekend at Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta as the No. 23 Heart of Racing GTD PRO entry will contend for the top spot in the category.

The No. 23 Aston Martin Vantage will see an updated lineup with Roman De Angelis joining Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas. The Heart of Racing Team sits just 99 points behind the leading Porsche with a total of 405 points up for grabs between qualifying and the ten hour enduro. 


 
“This is it. This is the most important race of the season,” said Gunn. “We’ve had such an amazing season and the team has worked so hard, so tirelessly and effectively. I cannot wait to give it one last try. We had an awesome season and Petit Le Mans is a race we have won in the past. Anything can happen in a ten hour race. We need a bit of luck our way to win the championship, but anything can happen. I’m sure everyone will be doing themselves proud and I just can't wait to get out to Road Atlanta and give it one last push.”

Gunn and Riberas are currently on their third season together competing in the No. 23 Aston Martin Vantage GT3. Heading into the final race of 2024, Gunn and Riberas have a win at Watkins Glen and three additional third place finishes. The duo have a pair of fourth place finishes at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta (2021,2022). 


“What a special opportunity to go to such an event like Petit Le Mans on a spectacular race track and to fight for the championship,” said Riberas. “That’s the dream. That has been the goal since the beginning of the season. The odds are stacked against us, we are 99 points behind the Porsche. However, if there is a place where anything can happen, that’s Road Atlanta. So I’m looking forward to doing whatever it takes to win the championship. Hopefully we can make some magic happen and bring the championship home.”

De Angelis and Riberas will co-drive the same car for the first time in IMSA, the only other time the two have shared the driver’s seat was the 2022 24H of Dubai where the team placed second. The 2021 WeatherTech Sprint Cup champion duo of De Angelis and Gunn will reunite once again. The pair won the 2021 Motul Petit Le Mans race co-driving with Team Principal, Ian James. 


“I always look forward to Petit every year,” said De Angelis. “It’s definitely one of the more exciting races for fans to be at. As a driver, it's a pretty overwhelming race, and a lot can happen. The No. 23 team is in a position to win the championship, so my job is to do everything I can to help support them. My goal is to just keep the Aston clean, do my job, and hopefully on Saturday night, we're celebrating a championship for the team.”

The Heart of Racing will have an additional GTD PRO entry with Zacharie Robichon, Mario Farnbacher, and Marco Sorensen onboard the No. 027 Aston Martin Vantage GT3.

Sorensen returns to the familiar No. 027 Aston Martin Vantage after completing the full 2023 season in the car with De Angelis. The duo was joined by James to finish fifth at Motul Petit Le Mans last year. The Danish driver will rejoin the IMSA field for the first time since January’s Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona.


“First of all I am happy to be back with the Heart of Racing,” said Sorensen. “Daytona feels like a long time ago. Petit is one of those races that you always aim to do. The ten hour race is such an intense race, there really isn’t a stint without a fight. I’m hoping to help the team get a good result and we can take it from there. I’m looking forward to it!”

Making his second start in the driver's seat of the No. 027 machine, Farnbacher looks to make his first Motul Petit Le Mans start since 2022 where he won with Gradient Racing. The German driver teamed up with Gunn and Riberas at Daytona and Sebring where the trio scored a fourth and fifth place finish. Farnbacher also filled in for Riberas during WEC event conflicts at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.

“I’m definitely looking forward to the special event,” said Farnbacher. “Petit Le Mans was my very first IMSA race back in 2012, it also doubled as my first win in IMSA because of that Road Atlanta and Petit Le Mans are pretty special to me. It is one of the best races on the calendar, it’s a ten hour battle and is usually pretty intense. I’m really looking forward to the challenge with the Heart of Racing. I can’t wait to get into battle!” 


Robichon will return to the team after co-driving with De Angelis for the better part of the 2024 season. The duo had a high finish of second place at VIRginia International Raceway. The Canadian driver will make his sixth start at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta with his highest finish being second in 2021, where he was a part of the championship winning team.

The Motul Petit Le Mans ten hour race will take the green flay Saturday, October 12th.

Source material - Heart of Racing
Thursday, October 10, 2024 | Read more...
Five Aston Martins at this weekends WRL 8+7 from Watkins Glen

Five Aston Martins at this weekends WRL 8+7 from Watkins Glen

 


North America is certainly the place to be at this weekend if you want to see some Aston Martin Racing powered teams competing – not just at the IMSA finale for their Weathertech Sportscar Championship, Michelin Pilot Challenge Series and VP Racing Sportscar Challenge Series from Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

Whilst they command eleven such Vantage GT3’s and GT4 machinery, the latest round of the World Racing League will see a further five Vantage GT4’s do battle with another of the series hard graft double headers of this time eight hours on Saturday and seven hours on Sunday around the Watkins Glen International circuit in upstate New York.


Formally six Aston Martin’s but now apparently just five such cars compete in this weekend’s eighth round of the season (excluded the cancelled round from Daytona in June) where the likes of the 89X Motorsport team, TLM Racing and Automatic Racing will enter their own assortment of Vantage GT4/GT8R cars for their customer drivers.

As we have said before, the series is extremely efficient at giving us both a cohesive entry list and session/race results over the course of the season but the one thing (the many things we lack in fact) is of course a full driver roster.


What we do have however, is confirmation that the #89 89X Motorsport / #172 TLM Racing / #289 89X Motorsport / #888 TLM Racing and #909 Automatic Racing AMR Vantage GT4’s have been entered.


This event will also be the first for the Automatic crew since the untimely passing of Ramin Abdolvahabi just a couple of weeks ago so any GTO class win for those guys – well that would be a fitting tribute to their lost friend.

Photo credits – Teams / series / social media
Tuesday, October 08, 2024 | Read more...
Team TGM going for their second Michelin Pilot Challenge championship win at this weekends Road Atlanta finale

Team TGM going for their second Michelin Pilot Challenge championship win at this weekends Road Atlanta finale

 


It is not just within the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship that an Aston Martin Racing powered team retain a class championship winning potential this weekend as IMSA moves onto to the Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta for its traditional Petit Le Mans season finale.

Having already scooped the Michelin Pilot Challenge Bronze Cup Championship win earlier this season, the other Team TGM Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 crew of Matt Plumb and Paul Holton could also secure the overall Michelin Pilot Challenge win for the team this weekend if results go the way of their #46 car.


For much of the year, Plumb has led the GS class having first driven alongside Owen Trinkler before his enforced convalesce and him being replaced with Holton, so whilst Plumb presently heads the overall table – Holton is some three hundred points behind simply having not raced at the season opener at Daytona way back at the start of the year.

It was also a multi-AMR powered championship title contest going into the final rounds of the season as the #19 Van Der Steur Vantage GT4 of Rory Van Der Steur was not far behind the #46 car in the Championship but a disappointing performance last time out at Indianapolis three weeks ago finally put paid to that ambition as he and Valentin Hasse-Clot can no longer beat the #46 car in the points table.


Alongside these two AMR powered entries we also welcome back four more AMR Vantage GT4 entries for this final round of the season with the #64 Team TGM of Hugh Plumb and team owner Ted Giovanis again race alongside the #71 Rebel Rock car of Robin Liddell and Frank DePew (still the only 2024 Vantage GT4 Evo within the group), #82 Ruckus Racing car of Scott Blind and Brady Behrman as well as the #88 Archangel car of Todd Coleman and Aaron Telitz to help make up the expected thirty three car grid spread again across the GS and TCR based field.


With three hundred and fifty points on offer but retaining just a one-hundred-and-ten-point lead over the second placed Porsche crew of Trent Hindman and Steven McAleer, there are a further two crews who could snatch the overall title at the end but only if those in front faulter at the last.

So much like the headlining Weathertech Sportscar Championship – this weekend’s finale is a ‘winner takes all’ event in terms of Drivers, Manufacturers and Teams Championship stakes between Aston Martin Racing, Porsche and potentially BMW and Mercedes too!


This weekend may get just a little bit stressful for some!

Then to round the weekend off, the fellow IMSA supporting VP Racing Sportscar Challenge Series also rounds off their six event season with another pair of forty-five minutes races over the course of the weekend with two Aston Martin Racing bronze rated drivers again helping to make up the twenty-five strong grid in the GSX class.


Also racing within the Michelin Pilot Challenge race above, we see Scott Blind within his #45 Ruckus Racing entry alongside the #72 Rebel Rock entry for Frank DePew within his second 2024 Vantage GT4 Evo.


Whilst Blind is the best placed AMR powered driver in third, his own points position is such that he is unlikely to improve his championship position much beyond second at best but we are sure, he will give it his best shot.

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, October 08, 2024 | Read more...
Heart of Racing going for gold in GTD Pro at Petit Le Mans season finale

Heart of Racing going for gold in GTD Pro at Petit Le Mans season finale

 


Whilst the Heart of Racing only had a remote chance of any championship winning possibilities within the final round of the SRO GT America Series last weekend, the Aston Martin Racing powered team have further chances of racing success this season with one of their IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship entries competing at the final round of the IMSA season this weekend.

Competing at the annual seasonal ten-hour finale from the iconic Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta with their Petit Le Mans event, the #23 GTD Pro AMR Vantage GTD of Ross Gunn remains in a great position within the class to battle for overall top honours this weekend. 


Now just ninety-nine points behind the drivers championship leader, Gunn is this weekend joined by his usual co-driver (when WEC duties permitted) Alex Riberas as well as Roman de Angelis who himself only stepped up to the full GTD Pro class for the first time last time out Indianapolis having raced within the GTD class before that. As a consequence of that, the teams #27 GTD entry driver line up has been reformatted to include Mario Farnbacher, Zacharie Robichon and the return of Marco Sorensen to the team.

The narrow points margin is similarly reflected within both the Manufacturers and Teams Championships so the stakes could not be higher for all especially with the number of drivers/teams and manufacturer suitably placed to capitalise upon any mistakes of misfortunes of those up front.


Also being the final endurance round of the season, we also welcome back the #44 Magnus Racing AMR Vantage GTD of John Potter, Spencer Pumpelly and Andy Lally for their penultimate outing within the IMSA series after their recent announcement of stepping away from GT racing after next year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona.

These three Aston Martins will be running within a full IMSA grid line up of fifty-four entries including eleven GTP’s, ten LMP2’s, thirteen GTD Pro cars and twenty GTD cars around the 2.54mile undulating circuit before finishing in total darkness late into Saturday evening local.


Track action for these guys begins on Thursday with three Free Practice sessions before Qualifying on Friday and a race start scheduled for 12:10hrs local on Saturday after which the race will present itself as a literal winner takes all event for one lucky crew.

Photo credits – Team / series / social media
Monday, October 07, 2024 | Read more...
L&A Infinity AMR claim another podium finish at the Temple of Speed

L&A Infinity AMR claim another podium finish at the Temple of Speed

 


There was also podium winning success for an Aston Martin Racing powered team within the final round of the Italian GT Championship Sprint Cup as the L&A Infinity enjoyed further success at Monza.

Rounding of another sprint season of four rounds at the Temple of Speed, the #5 L&A Infinity crew of William Alatalo and Matteo Di Giusto narrowly missed upon their first double of the season as the team and crew were penalised within both of the weekend’s races for a driver change non-compliance that added nearly five seconds to their final race time for each race plus a further five second penalty after race one.


These time additions did drop the dup down to fourth in GT3 Pro-Am after race one but only to P3 in class at the end of Sundays hour long race for their second podium finish of the season so far.

That is not however, how the story ends for Alatalo and Di Giusto as both will be back with the team as well as former MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo at the end of the month for the final round of the Endurance side of the Italian GT Championship – again from Monza.


Whilst the Sprint side has been the more successful side so far, any podium success at the end makes it all worth the investment.

Photo credits – Team / Series / social media
Monday, October 07, 2024 | Read more...
Weyrich and Villagomez see out their FFSA GT4 Series season out in style at Paul Ricard

Weyrich and Villagomez see out their FFSA GT4 Series season out in style at Paul Ricard

 


The newly crowned FFSA GT4 Series Silver Champions from the Racing Spirit of Leman team ended their 2024 season endeavours in emphatic style at the weekend with another pair of podium finishes at the SRO Festival finale.

Racing for the final time at the Paul Ricard circuit in southern France, the #74 Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 pairing of Victor Weyrich and Matteo Villagomez enjoyed the spoils of a further class win after the into the night race on Saturday before rounding off a very successful season by winning the overall race later on Sunday.


Having already secured their championship win at the last round at Dijon-Prenois, there was no pressure upon the two individuals to succeed but succeed they did in this spectacular manner.

Indeed, not to be left out of the party atmosphere saw the stablemates within the team’s #39 AMR Vantage GT4 entry of Baudouin Detout and Oskar Kristensen (yes, a relative of that certain Tom Kristensen) also follow the #74 home after race one to also claim a P2 podium finish within the silver class before just missing out upon the double with a P4 finish to end their season’s worth of activity.


For the #7 Mirage Racing crew of Stanislav Safronov and Aleksandr Vaintrub, it was another case of what might have been for the Pro-Am pairing as their P7 and P5 finishes respectively in class were way off what was needed of them to have any championship opportunities within their class where they eventually finished the season sixth in class.


There was also the return of the team’s #5 car as Ruben Del Sarte returned with former AMR Vantage GT4 and GT4 America racer Fred Roberts in an interesting combination for future reference within the ultra-competitive silver class where the duo finished the weekend P10 and P8 respectively across the two races. There was also a good showing from the #1 Street Art Racing AMR Vantage GT4 pairing of Pascal Bachmann and Jahid Fazal Karim where they ended their European race calendar with P5 and P4 finishes within their Am class.


The series returns to action next year from Nogaro in mid-April.

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
Monday, October 07, 2024 | Read more...
Heart of Racing round off another SRO America season at Indy

Heart of Racing round off another SRO America season at Indy


After a deflating pair of opening races, the Heart of Racing Team rebounded on Sunday to finish second overall and in class in Pirelli GT4 America PRO-AM and fifth in Pirelli GT4 America’s Silver class at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the season ending event weekend for SRO. Newell scored a second place finish in GT America powered by AWS Sunday morning.

Roman De Angelis and Gray Newell teamed up in the No. 24 Aston Martin Vantage GT4 to finish second in the Pirelli GT4 America PRO-AM championship after a tough Saturday race where the duo had an unfortunate flat tire as well as a penalty to finish 25th overall. 


On Sunday, the De Angelis / Newell duo started from 26th overall and worked their way to finish second earning the Super Fuel Hard Charger Award for the 60 minute race. Newell was first behind the wheel gaining several positions before De Angelis took over just before the halfway mark. De Angelis drove through the remainder of the field to take the duo’s sixth podium finish.

“Today (Sunday) was a bit of a turnaround from Saturday,” said De Angelis. “We had a great result today with second in PRO-AM and overall. It was a really good day for the team. I think being second in the championship is always a good thing. Of course we wanted to win, but the No. 7 car was great all year, so we did what we could. Gray (Newell) did great all season developing as a driver and I look forward to what is in store for the program next year.” 


Hannah Grisham and Hannah Greenemeier finished their season with a fifth place finish in the Pirelli GT4 America Silver category. After starting the season in the AM class, before being moved to PRO-AM for a single event weekend, the female pair finished the season in the Silver class with two podium finishes.

Unfortunately on Saturday, Greenemeier had encountered a flat tire on the formation lap. This put the No. 26 Aston Martin Vantage at the back of the field, but both drivers did their best to drive through the field, and ultimately finished 22nd overall and sixth in class. 


“Another great weekend with the Heart of Racing,” said Greenemeier. “Maybe not the results that we wanted, but I think Hannah and I showed great pace this weekend. I know that we had the best team behind us, and I just can't thank the Heart of Racing enough for this whole season for all their hard work and the late nights. We are very appreciative and proud to be a part of the team.”

On Sunday, Grisham started from seventh in the Silver category making it through a four lap caution. Grisham handed the Aston Martin Vantage to Greenemeier who crossed the finish line fifth in class.

“Overall, I think it was a good way to end the season,” said Grisham. “We had issues in race one that were out of our control that put us a lap down, so we weren't really in the fight on Saturday. I think today we're good. We kept the car clean and ended up fifth in class. You always want a better result, but I think in the grand scheme of things, it's been a pretty good year. I think Hannah and I have meshed really well and I’m super grateful to be her teammate and really grateful for the Heart of Racing for this opportunity to compete at this level.” 


Newell bounced back from a tough first GT America powered by AWS race to finish second in the final race of the season. The driver of the No. 25 Heart of Racing Aston Martin qualified third on Friday morning before the first race Friday afternoon.

The first GT America powered by AWS race of the season finale weekend saw a great start from Newell as he maintained third for a majority of the race. Unfortunately the No. 25 Heart of Racing entry was penalized following the race for incident responsibility being classified with a sixth place finish. 


Sunday’s GT America powered by AWS had Newell starting from second, where he was able to maintain position throughout the 40-minute caution free race.

Source material - Heart of Racing
Monday, October 07, 2024 | Read more...
L&A Infinity AMR see out the final Sprint round of the Italian GT at Monza

L&A Infinity AMR see out the final Sprint round of the Italian GT at Monza

 


The final round of the Italian GT Sprint Championship concludes our global coverage of this weekend’s racing events as far as we are concerned as the #5 L&A Infinity Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 of William Alatalo and Mattia Di Giusto race together for one last time within this particular section of the Championship at the Temple of Speed of Monza.

After previous rounds at Misano, Imola and Mugello, the #5 16A Vantage GT3 powered crew find themselves within fifth place in their GT3 Pro-Am Drivers Championship with an available points margin that could see them raise up as far as second should all the results combinations go in their favour.


Struggling at the start of the season, success finally came the way of the Finnish/Italian combination during the opening half of the Mugello weekend last time out in late August when the crew earned their first podium finish with a P3 in class in race one before an unfortunate technical glitch during their mandatory stop in race two thwarted any possibilities of any repeat.

This weekend, the #5 car has again proved fast within the rains of early testing but with the race weekend forecasted to be warm and dry – that set up now counts for nothing.


At the end of the month, the team will return to Monza for the final round of the Italian GT Endurance Championship with former MotoGP Champion Jorge Lorenzo again joining both Alatalo and Di Giusto within the car.

Photo credits – Team / Series / social media
Friday, October 04, 2024 | Read more...
GT Cup concludes at Snetterton this weekend with still an overall win opportunity for Forsetti??

GT Cup concludes at Snetterton this weekend with still an overall win opportunity for Forsetti??

 


The UK’s GT Cup Championship will be another closing its 2024 account this weekend as they round off their year with another quartet of races around the 300 circuit of Snetterton.

Within the provisional entry list issued so far, we can see that the former locally based Forsetti Motorsport team (now moved to an undefined new location since only taking over their Snetterton unit earlier this year) have entered two of their 17A Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4’s.


One will be for their already declared GTH Class champions in Mikey Porter as he again pairs up with Sam Nesser within the #9 car having debuted together last time out at Donington Park, before which Porter was paired alongside Matthew Higgins.

Whilst their GTH class is already in the bag, there is still a remote chance that the crew could secure the Overall Drivers Championship as well if results go in the favour across the weekends pairs of sprint and pit stop races over Saturday and Sunday as they remain just fifty points behind the Topcats Racing Lamborghini GTC classed car.


The provisional entry list also details an as yet unidentified driver line up within their #10 car for this final round as well as you see today on social media of a possible return of a previous GT Cup stalwart team with something rather new – but that is rather their news to release than ours.

So we will have to wait and see!

Photo credit – Teams / series / social media
Wednesday, October 02, 2024 | Read more...
Five AMRs with familiar faces for the FFSA GT4 finale from Paul Ricard this weekend

Five AMRs with familiar faces for the FFSA GT4 finale from Paul Ricard this weekend

 


An Aston Martin Racing powered crew may have won one of the available classes within the FFSA GT4 Series last time out at Dijon-Prenois but the French series is again back in action for one last time this season as the grid competes at Paul Ricard for the annual SRO Festival.

Last time racing with the sole two remaining AMR powered crews from both the Mirage Racing and Championship winning Racing Spirit of Leman team, this weekend’s provisional entry list a least shows five such Vantage GT4 crews for an hour-long night race on Saturday before their season finale later on Sunday afternoon.


Mateo Villagomez and Victor Weyrich of course need mentioning first as the crew overcome previous seasons shortcomings to secure their silver class championship win with races in hand after their P2 and P4 finishes were enough to see off their closest class competition.

They will be joined by one of their teams GT4 European entrants as Baudouin Detout comes out for one last race after his Monza event within the other SRO series ended heavily into the crash barriers for his then teammate during their first qualifying run with damage then ruling their #39 car out of any further involvement.


This time arriving with another co-driver in Oskar Kristensen (a fellow Porsche racer within the GT4 European Series this season), hopefully the pair will get to see a lot more track action this time around.

From the Mirage Racing team, we have the return of their #7 full season Pro-Am entry with Stanislav Safronov and Aleksandr Vaintrub again behind the wheel of the 2024 Vantage GT4 Evo. Sadly for them both, their P4 and P7 finishes last time out at Dijon-Prenois was not sufficient to keep their class title hopes alive so this event is ‘just for fun’.


We then have a second entry from the Mirage Racing team again as Ruben Del Sarte returns to the series with another co-driver this time after he and Josh Miller opened their 2024 account togther within this series at Nogaro before moving onto their main GT4 European Series commitments. He will be joined within his new Vantage GT4 Evo with a one Fred Roberts from Canada within the Pro-Am class.

The only Fred Roberts I know was the one who purchased the former Beechdean AMR British GT GT4 Championship winning 17A Vantage GT4 within which he raced a number of rounds within the SRO America series before Covid put paid to that back in early 2020.


Finally, but certainly by no means least, we will also have the #1 Street Art Racing entry for both Pascal Bachmann and Jahid Fazal Karim again as they see out another varied season of racing together within one of their trusted AMR Vantage GT4’s within the Am class.

Photo credits – Teams / series / social media


Wednesday, October 02, 2024 | Read more...
Just six AMR crews travel to the brickyard for the end of season GT and GT4 America Series

Just six AMR crews travel to the brickyard for the end of season GT and GT4 America Series

 


As we now move into the move of October, we are now very much into the final flurries of (certainly) North American and European based motorsport series with SRO America running their final races of the season over at Indianapolis this weekend alongside that of both the FFSA GT4 Series and GT Cup Championship back at Paul Ricard (France) and Snetterton (UK) respectively.

It may also be that and that many an Aston Martin Racing powered team may not have done as well as they might have hoped has resulted in one of the lowest AMR powered team participation within these events for some time.


Stateside, we see just three AMR powered crews taking part within each of this weekend’s final two races of the GT America and GT4 America Series from the historical home of American racing at the Brickyard. Within the solo driven bronze rated GT America Series, we welcome back the #2 Flying Lizard AMR Vantage GT3 Evo of Jason Bell alongside the #007 Prosport Competition AMR Vantage GT3 of Tim Savage as well as the only AMR Vantage GT4 of the Heart of Racing #25 car for Gray Newell.

2024 saw a big step up the GT racing ladder for the presently still reigning GT America GT4 Champion Jason Bell which to his credit, he and his Flying Lizard team have stuck with all season as he brought himself up to speed with his new car even after his teammate (Elias Sabo) elected to walk from his own AMR part way through this season.


Savage, meanwhile, has been getting to grip with his ex. The Racers Group 16A AMR Vantage GT3. Again, that has not always gone according to plan with both technically or accident induced issues on track that has kept him usually towards the rear of the GT3 field, but again, this is still his first year within a GT3 platform.

Then there is the HoRT AMR Vantage GT4 of Newell. Consistent throughout the season is certainly the case but unfortunately usually only the bridesmaid to Isaac Sherman as the Porsche racer has won all but three of the rounds so far (then two were in second place) with Newell usually ending up fighting for either second or third in class to stand third within the GT4 Drivers Championship with not much else place to go apart from sneaking P2 in the championship from Curt Swearingin if he could.


Then within the sister GT4 America Series, we have both Heart of Racing AMR entries for both Newell and Roman de Angelis within the teams #24 Pro-Am entry alongside the #26 silver entry for both Hannah Grisham and Hannah Greenemeier.

Within the Pro-Am class, there is still a championship to be won as Newell/De Angelis stand just thirty points behind the leaders with still fifty points on the table whilst the two young ladies find themselves in the bizarre position of having their names and points listed within all three classes of the series.


Having originally started the year in Am, they were soon moved across to Pro-Am after scoring well within the first four races before being moved again to the silver class in time for race 6 at VIR. No championship possibility for them this weekend but they have already done themselves and their team more than proud already so another class podium finish this weekend like they had last time out at Barber would be a brilliant way to finish the year.

The #16 Skip Barber Racing AMR Vantage GT4 will complete the racing trilogy this season with another new pairing as both Alex and Michael Garcia both set up the racing ladder themselves from the TC Class and into GT4 which one or both hope to continue with the team into 2025.


Due to the extended/combined eight-hour GT world Challenge America / Intercontinental GT Challenge, the GT America races will be run over both Friday and Sunday whilst the GT4 America Series will run as usual over both Saturday and Sunday.

Photo credits – Team / Series / social media
Tuesday, October 01, 2024 | Read more...