Philipp Sager and the Racing Spirit of Leman team finally landed the Michelin Le Mans Cup Series GT3 Drivers, and GT3 Teams championship wins from the Autodromo Do Algarve circuit near Portimao earlier today although that achievement was still far from simple.

Going into this final round of the ACO rules with just a slender five-point advantage of the chasing #21 Kessell Racing Ferrari, bronze driver Sager would again be leaning heavily upon his co-driver Valentin Hasse-Clot to help him get over that line first having both fallen just short of that achievement last season with their #10 Racing Spirit of Leman prepared Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3.

 

Like the previous five rounds so far the #10 car was again supported by the #11 Code Racing Developments AMR Vantage GT3 with another new driver line up for this race in American racers Antoine Comeau and Nicky Hays whilst the #91 Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn AMR of Claude Bovet and Tom Canning were also there to fulfil what has been for them to be a challenging season too.

Whilst the #91 Blackthorn car would suffer from technical issues during Qualifying to start last in class for today-s final two-hour race, the #10 was given a lifeline after the pole setting #21 car was later disqualified from those results for failing the post session ride height check which resulted in both the #10 and #11 cars moving up one to start the race P2 and P3 respectively.

 

The gain for the #11 car of Comeau would however, last only as far as turn one of lap one before the #11 found a wrong way facing LMP3 car in his tracks to impact heavily with each other at the start. Despite being able to limp back to pit lane, their day was already over even before it had really begun.

With any series running LMP3 cars these days, that incident again set the tone of the race with multiple incidents stagnating the race at near regular intervals as first Full Course Yellows, local yellows and then Safety Cars were needed to “pick up the pieces’.

Despite the #21 car having now run though the GT3 class pack with their Pro driver to now lead the class and the championship at that moment in time, Sager needed to push as his points buffer to the #21 had already by surpassed on track but his eagerness to go after one such caution period earned him a ten second penalty at their scheduled stop for a FCY procedure infringement.

At the halfway mark and the final pit stop sequence of the season, the #10 car found itself down in sixth and a near lap down to the #21 car thanks to the timing of the last Safety Car intervention and their additional penalty time. It was time for Hasse-Clot to play his part within the car itself rather than just via the headset.

 

Now the roles were reversed for both the #21 and #10 cars as the #21 quickly became the hunted with their bronze now behind the wheel but with everyone else with their Pro’s aboard thanks to the penalty imposed upon the #21 for their earlier technical infringement.

Steadily but surely the #21 was passed on track for position by others as Hasse-Clot did what he could from the second half of the class as the race entered its final quarter. The Blackthorn’s season would unfortunately end with another mishap for them as Canning was seen spinning off at the fast final corner to impact rear on into the tyre wall and into immediate retirement. Was that self-inflicted or not was hard to tell, there were other cars around him at the time, but it changed nothing for them at the end of the day.

 

That left just the #10 car representing the brand with still everything to gain but also everything to lose as the Frenchman finally stopped that agonising wait to claim a P6 result in class at the final – enough for Sager to claim the GT3 Drivers Championship (VHC missed a round due to other commitments) as well as securing the GT3 Teams Championship win for those supporting the car and the two drivers.

Any congratulations to everyone involved.

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media

 

A small but perfectly formed entry of just two Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 powered teams completes our racing itinerary for the weekend as the German Nurburgring Langstrecken Series also complete their 2026 calendar on Saturday.

Rounding off the year with another standard four-hour affair around the infamous Green Hell circuit (weather permitting off course) will this time see just the Walkenhorst Motorsport and Prosport Racing teams enter one car apiece.

 

The #36 SP9 Pro class entry of both Christian Krognes and Matteo Villagomez will again be on hand amongst the expected one hundred and eighteen strong, multi-classed entry alongside the older 16A variant from the locally based Prosport Racing stable for their regular father and son drivers Maxime and Guido Dumarey.

Joining them for the first time this season as well as within the teams Mercedes-AMG GT4 car will be their former ADAC GT4 Germany Champion Hugo Sasse.

Photo credits – Teams / social media

Competing at Hockenheim this weekend alongside both the DTM and ADAC GT Masters Series will again be the ADAC GT4 Germany Series with an unusual three race format final round of the season to decide most of their available championships.

With both track damage and the impending rainstorm forcing the cancellation of race two of the weekend last time out at the Sachsenring, that missed race has been bolted onto the more usual two race format and that makes room for a three-way head-to-head battle between three crews for the overall title.

 

Within those three crews will be those within the #4 Cosy Racing by ESM Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 of Jan Philipp Springob and Philipp Gogollok who presently lie second within the Overall Drivers Championship table with just five points covering those top three teams. With up to seventy-five points on offer this weekend, it really will be the survival of the fittest to lift that crown at the end.

This weekend sees a familiar eighteen car strong entry list which will see each of the three one-hour races raced over each of the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the programme.

Photo credits – Team / Series / social media

Three more German based GT3 and GT4 series will also race to a seasonal conclusion this weekend as the DTM, ADAC GT Masters and ADAC GT4 Germany Series all head to Hockenheim for their final two races of the season.

Working from top to bottom, this second year within the DTM Series has been a very frustrating one for the Comtoyou Racing team and their two Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3’s of both Nicki Thiim and Nicolas Baert.

 

Whilst Baert has again struggled for pace for much of the season with only the periodic and brief episodes of pace during qualifying at some rounds, all the headlines have been made with Thiim and his #007 car taking pole positions and double race wins to be in real contention for the championship going into these final rounds.

However, and like all within the twenty-one strong grid, that pace has been all too quick in terms of type of balance of performance in operation within the series that quickly saw Thiim (and others around him at the top of the order) somewhat ‘hobbled’ for pace as at the subsequent rounds – something that eventually saw those championship possibilities end of low scoring performances.

 

As a result of that, this weekend’s two hour long and solo driven races will be just for pride (and hopefully further preparation ahead of a 2028 assault upon the series by the Belgian based team as Thiim would need to score maximum points with all five drivers ahead of him basically failing to score. Stranger things have happened before in other series – maybe it’s just that liitle bit too far within DTM but never say never!!

 

Comtoyou Racing will also be fielding another one of their fleet of AMR Vantage GT3’s as Jamie Day and Baudouin Detout round off their debut season within the DTM supporting ADAC GT Masters Series with their #38 entry.

For Luxembourger Detout, this has also been his first full season of racing within the GT3 class having only swapped over to GT4’s just a couple of years ago so their own podium finishes along the way so far have been much deserved.

 

After the five previous rounds so far, this combo of drivers presently stands sixth within the overall drivers’ championship table as well as sixth within their own silver cup and Teams classes as well as P7 for Day within the Road to the DTM sub-class.

Although they now cannot win anything outright – two decent finishes this weekend could easily see the pairing rise up the order by the close of play on Sunday.

Photo credits – Team / Series / social media

The French FFSA GT4 Series is another series that will be coming to their racing end of their 2026 season this weekend as they hold their final meeting close to the home of the SRO organisation at the Paul Ricard circuit in southern France.

Sporting another healthy thirty-two GT4 car entry for these final two races of the year again sees the two American racers Grant West and Alex Bachoura return to the French based Mirage Racing team and their #7 Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4.

 

After both occupants of what was earlier this season numbered as the #5 AMR of Jodie Sloss and David Levy elected to go the route of a Porsche chassis with the Mirage team from the last round at Magny-Cours back at the start of August, the team managed to secure these two European debuting drivers at that round. Unfortunately failing to finish within race one on the Saturday, the #7 crew then came through the next day to secure a very credible P7 overall finish.

With almost a three-month hiatus between rounds, this duo are again the sole Aston Martin Racing powered representatives within the series as they again compete within the Pro-Am class.

 

Track action begins on Thursday with private testing before running through Free Practice and into Qualifying by Saturday morning before the first hour long race just after lunch with race two of the season just after lunch on Sunday.

Photo credits – Team / Series / social media

 

 

Whilst there wasn’t any last-minute opportunity for any of the five Aston Martin Racing powered teams to secure a class championship with the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup finale at the weekend, there was still time for one last piece of silverware for their efforts.

Down at the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona for the final race weekend of the Sprint Cup Series saw the usual three crews from the Comtoyou Racing team as well as the two Walkenhorst Motorsport who had all had one of those seasons where period moments of magnificence and a podium gong along the way just wasn’t enough to put them into any of the four-class championship hunts this time around.

 

Racing purely for pride and next seasons possibilities had Kobe Pauwels and Nicki Thiim togther again one last time within their #007 Pro class car along with Oliver Soderstrom and Arthur Dorison aboard their #21 silver entry as well as both Felice Jelmini and Marcelo Tomasoni in their #11 Comtoyou Racing AMR Vantage GT3 bronze cup entry. They would again be joined by the two silver class entries for both Jamie Day and Matteo Villagomez and Gaspard Simin and Maxime Robin aboard their #34 and #35 cars respectively.

Getting Saturday’s qualifying in just before the monsoon that was to follow as the forty-four cars assembled upon the grid for the first of the two final one hour sprint races but despite the track conditions, everyone enjoyed a miraculously clean opening few laps.

 

Quickly the circuit became flooded in places and that saw a number of cars take a spin or two along the way, including the #11 Aston Martin as the Safety Car was finally called out for a two-car incident at turn 11 after fifteen minutes.

Whilst the race did get back going again, a later off for the #35 Walkenhorst car just before the completion of the obligatory driver change at the halfway point – together with the intensifying rainfall saw the race red flagged for safety before getting back going again after something like a twenty-minute delay.

 

At that restart, the #007 of Thiim was the highest placed Aston Martin and he quickly made good use of the compact running order as he progressed through from P21 to P13 as another Safety Car was called to recover the stricken #35 car after all. Going back to green from that one and with little over six minutes remaining, the #007 had an (unseen) moment on track that dropped them back down to P18 overall- still making them the highest placed AMR powered crew but with the #34 crew of Day and Villagomez just missing out on another class podium in fourth.

Sunday’s much delayed race would be effected of the remainder of Saturday’s race programme being carried over until Sunday morning instead, so their grid was set by the fastest time of each nominated driver from Free Practice 2 – such was the rush to get through the actual racing rather than running qualifying sessions.

 

This time under near clear blue skies and warming sunshine, the circuit was poles apart from the day before as the remaining class championship wins still needed to be determined. Another frenetic start again saw contact into turns 1 to 2 with another Safety Car being the result before going quickly back to green.

With light already fading, Thiim was running within the top ten again overall with Villagomez again running just off the silver podium in fourth as the cars made for pit lane for their final stops of the season. Just as the pit window closed, a brief FCY was shown to allow marshals to recover a stranded car off track at Turn 13 before leaving a twenty-minute dash to the flag.

 

The race and indeed the season finally ended with the #007 finishing as the best placed Aston in P7 overall / P5 in class, but the final gong went to the #34 Walkenhorst crew of Day and Villagomez as they went one better than yesterday to finish the year in Sprint P15 overall and P3 in class.

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media

 

 

 

It was something of an unfortunate whimper to end the year with as the SRO sanctioned GT3 Revival Series saw out its inaugural race season earlier today from the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona, as just over a handful of cars took the chequered flag at the end of the final forty-minute race of the year.

Seeing the early entry lists to this new series swell from the low thirties for the opening round of the at Paul Ricard to nearly fifty cars at the round from the Spa Classic next time around, this weekend’s entry list did mention a respectable eighteen cars for this finale but even some of those didn’t arrive.

 

Within those who did turn up was the Fanta Racing By Code Classic with their former #62 R-Motorsport V12 Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 for Pascal Huteau as well as the #16 Britec Motorsport supported #16 V12 AMR Vantage GT3 of Dr Afshin Fatemi.

There was much excitement around the running of race one on Saturday just as an impending rainstorm reached the circuit with the cars already upon the grid, but they did at least get off behind the Safety Car with the #62 Aston leading the way from pole position. Many laps later with doing battle with the #20 Ford GT, a brief interlude was had by all as all served their compulsory stop.

 

Coming out again, however, had witnessed the rain intensify to a point where it was now flooding the circuit and the #20 Ford already in the grave at turn one, the red flag was shown on the grounds of safety. With the rain continuing, that would prove to be the end of all racing at the circuit for the day with the #62 car given the race win on countback.

Race two on Sunday was at least at a circuit filled this time with clear blue skies and warming sunshine but sadly at a cost with only ten of yesterday’s fifteen cars running took the start on Sunday. The #62 car was one such car missing but the #16 car was at least there having missed both qualifying rounds and the first race with technical issues.

Making up for lost ground, Fatemi soon elevated himself up the order to run as high as P4 overall by the start of the pit window. Having made its scheduled stop, all was looking good for the #16 car until about six minutes before the end when Fatemi was pulled to pull off track at turn 2 with an apparent continuation of his technical issues of earlier to another unfortunate DNF to end the year with.

Hopefully, all will have seen just what this series is all about with the possibilities of a diverse grid, driving abilities and a wide range of circuits being visited through the season and just maybe, the grid sizes can be maintained throughout the year in 2027.

Photo credits – Series / social media

 

 

 

There were emotional scenes to be had from either end of the spectrum as three Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTD’s and one Aston Martin Valkyrie saw out the final round of the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship from its own Petit Le Mans event at the Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta circuit in Georgia yesterday.

Moving into the event, all eyes were upon the #27 Heart of Racing AMR Vantage GTD as Brazilian racer Eduardo Barrichello still stood a mathematical chance of lifting the GTD Drivers Championship at the end although he did have a 126 points deficit to the class leading Mercedes AMG crew of Philip Ellis and Russell Ward to overcome first.

 

Going into Qualifying on Friday, what we hadn’t realised was the team had undertaken a precautionary engine change within the #27 car just ahead of Qualifying as they were concerned about the volume being consumed within the old unit used with all the Free Practice sessions until. Ordinarily, this AMG based power plant within the Vantage GTD has been extremely reliable over the years but that was an informed decision of the own alongside the AMR technicians who are ever present with any Partner team.

 

Whilst that did allow Zacharie Robichon qualifying the car in sixth, issues were noticed even before the race that saw the #27 fail to take the start as apparent electrical issues were investigated and sorted. As the number of laps passed by at an alarming rate, it soon became apparent that the championship title hopes had now turned into a championship position preserving exercise that finally saw Robichon complete just thirty-seven laps to surpass the equally technically affected #96 Turner BMW within the race to hopefully secure P3 within the championship at the end of the ten hours as both Barrichello and third man Tom Gamble would never get to participate within the race.

 

On a lighter note however, the returning #44 Magnus Racing AMR Vantage GTD of John Potter, Spencer Pumpelly and Mario Farnbacher would put on a racing display that would question whether or not this weekend’s race was just their third of a twelve-race season having electively missed all the sprint in favour of most of the endurance rounds. Despite qualifying P18 out of eighteen GTD runners, Potter was soon climbing the class order – albeit aided by the racing demise of both the #27 and #96 cars to complete his minute two and a half hours minimum drive time without incident.

At times in the pit stop sequence – something that was getting more and more fluid as the circuit full course yellow interventions for incidents and then the red flag just after halfway for lightning, the #44 car ran within the top five in class on merit as Farnbacher again showed his worth for anyone paying attention.

 

As the race then went into darkness for the final couple of hours, the #44 Magnus Racing entry would come through to post a P5 in class finish at the end of this ten-hour race to add to their P2 finish in class at the opening round of the season at the Rolex 24 from Daytona.

It was a similar experience for the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Valkyrie GTP of Ross Gunn, Roman de Angelis and Alex Riberas as they battled to improve upon their best position within the series so far this season than their P5 class finish at Road America back in August.

 

Qualifying the car P8 in class, Gunn again took the elongated opening stints before passing the car through to Riberas and De Angelis as the hours went by. The #23 was also noted under investigation for a couple of incidents during the daylight hours of the race but appeared to have got away with just warnings at the time with these incidents not being as severe as some happening around the track at the time and especially when the rainstorm returned with its latter lightning risk intervention.

Despite cycling up and down the class order according to individual cars strategy on track and even to lead the race outright for a time going into darkness, the #23 car would eventually drop back slightly to complete the remaining hours at the tail end of the top five to equal their best result of the season.

 

That result sees Gunn and De Angelis finish the season P14 within the GTP class on 2242 points within the overall championship making for a significant improvement on their points-based performances of last year when the Valkyrie was then, still in its infancy.

The result of the weekend for Aston Martin Racing came at the end when the #68 Car Blanche AMR Vantage GTD Pro entry of Valentin Hasse-Clot, Marco Sorensen and new third man Mattia Drudi secured their best ever result within the IMSA series so far as they took a remarkable class win.

 

With the team and their YRB Racing backers having taken over what was then the Van Der Steur Racing team mid-season, the new look team started their new adventure within GTD before sticking one metaphorical toe into the GTD Pro class before committing to the latter for the final couple of rounds of the season.

With one AMR factory driver (Hasse-Clot) joining forces with another (Sorensen) from the sprint round at VIR, the writing was already upon the wall as to the teams intent moving forward as both drivers were soon confirmed as the first crew to be listed in class ahead of next season.

 

Drudi’s inclusion for this round also cemented that racing possibility at Petit Le Mans as the Italian qualified the car second in class and for the crew then to cycle through the hours never short of being within the top five for much of it. Keeping themselves importantly out of trouble, that pace and consistency was rewarded at the end with the class win.

Results at the end of the season also confirmed the retention of P3 within the GTD Drivers Championship for Barrichello with him and co-driver Gamble also securing third within the GTD Endurance Cup just two points off the title win.

 

It’s been another great IMSA season and it all starts again in mid-December with the Balance of Performance tests at Daytona – all ahead of the Roar before the 24 and the Rolex 24 later in January 2027.

Photo credits – Teams / social media

 

Like IMSA did last weekend, the SRO America race organisation will be bringing their trilogy of GT based series to their seasonal conclusion next weekend as the GT World Challenge America, GT4 America and GT America take to trip to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Round seven of seven for each series this time around, we again just see the near full season #71 Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 from the Rebel Rock Racing team take to the track as part of a twenty-eight-car entry for what will again be a race within a race event around the infield circuit of the motor speedway.

 

Whilst there will still be the traditional three-hour final race of the GT World Challenge Series being run at IMS, most if not all of the GT3 powered running will also be competing within what will also be the fifth and final round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge Series with their now usual eight-hour race.

The issued entry list shows three cars not listed with IGTC listed against them – that includes the #71 Rebel Rock crew which has been confirmed as being Frank DePew and Robin Liddell as usual alongside their third man Andrew Davis for what could be just a three-hour race for them but with three drivers this time around.

 

Moving into the GT4 classes and whilst we had a complete mix of Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 powered entries throughout the year within both GT America and GT4 America, we sadly see no further such entries within the seventeen multi-class strong entry for that final two races of the year.

The only one that we do have will be within the GT4 America Series two final races of the year with the CSM Motorsport returning to the family of series with their #007 Vantage GT4 with a combination of their 2026 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Series runners Ayrton Houk and Ismaeel Ellahi.

 

We also do not see the VPX Motorsport team and their Vantage GT4 after one of their young guns totalled their new GT4 racer last time out in their first ever GT4 race at Barber Motorsport Park.

Whilst the main eight-hour race is being run on Saturday, the other GT races will be being run either side of that main race across both Saturday and Sunday.

Photos – Teams / Series / social media

 

Forty-seven cars and crews of the ACO rules Michelin Le Mans Cup Series will soon be making that long road trip down to southern Portugal in time for next weekend’s sixth and final round of the season with one Aston Martin Racing powered team with a class title to confirm by the end of that two-hour race.

As races at Barcelona, Paul Ricard, Le Mans, Spa Francorchamps and most recently at Silverstone, the #10 Racing Spirit of Leman AMR Vantage GT3 of Philipp Sager still heads the GT3 class going into this final round after something of a disaster last time out which has now cut his championship lead to just five points.

 

Supported again this season by Valentin Hasse-Clot for all rounds bar Spa (for which the young Frenchman was pre-occupied with his IMSA commitments for which Marius Fossard stepped up the plate), the #10 crew secured three out of three podium finishes out of the first three races before finishing fourth in race five to muster a healthy lead going into the penultimate round of the season last time out.

Silverstone is clearly a circuit that the Austrian just does not like as he also suffered from multiple on track penalties that eventually saw him and Hasse-Clot finish with just two points whilst their nearest rival clawed back sixteen more points to cut their deficit to just five.

 

The #91 Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn AMR Vantage GT3 of Claude Bovet and Tom Canning also feature again within the entry list as does the #11 Code Racing Development AMR but with another driver pairing.

Last time out on their home track of Silverstone, the #91 Blackthorn car secured their best qualifying to date with a second row start in class before returning a P7 finish for their efforts – only their second points scoring finish of the year unfortunately.

 

For the #11 Code Racing Developments entry, it was again class pole position at Silverstone (their third of the season so far) for their then crew of George King and Stephane Lemeret but that has again been changed for this last event. The team now list American registered racers Antoine Comeau and Nicky Hays within the car. Both drivers have Lamborghini Super Trofeo racing experience with Hays also competing within this year’s IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Series with Random Vandals.

Track action for this series will begin on Wednesday with private testing before going through two Free Practice and bronze driver tests before qualifying on Friday before the two-hour race is waved off at 09:30hrs local on Saturday.

 

Sunday will also see the ELMS and LMC rookie tests take place at the circuit before the annual awards ceremony later in the evening.

Podium Photo credit – Team

It’s now that sad time of year when we see many race series and championships come to their natural conclusion with both the ACO rules European Le Mans Series and Michelin Le Mans Cup Series no different as they both travel down to Portugal for their final races of the year.

Round six of their 2026 seasons sees a forty-four car, multi-class grid travel down to the Autodromo Do Algarve near Portimao for their final four-hour race alongside the LMP3/GT3 powered grid of the Le Mans Cup Series who will see off their final two hour race with their forty-seven strong grid.

 

As far as Aston Martin Racing powered teams are concerned, the #59 Racing Spirit of Leman AMR Vantage LMGT3 has again been the sole full season representative for the British marque within the series this season but even that hasn’t come easy for the team with multiple driver changes forced upon them.

Starting the year with a driver crew line up of Clement Mateu, Valentin Hasse-Clot and Marius Fossard – all went ‘well’ as far as racing was concerned whilst the results may not have been preferable until the third round of the season from Imola.

 

After that, Mateu stepped away from the team and series citing family reasons (always a very valid point) but hoping to be back as and when situations changed and for the next round of the season from Spa Francorchamps, his and Hasse-Clot's (who was committed to IMSA that weekend) places within the team-were taken up by both Anthony McIntosh and Parker Thompson but as just a one-off entry.

Next time and last time out at Silverstone, the crew was back to Fossard and Hasse-Clot but this time with fellow countryman François Heriau joining the #59 car for what turned out to be another ‘difficult’ round to the season.

 

However, that has all gone full circle now as Mateu has confirmed his immediate return to the car and team in time for this seasonal finale from Portimao that features both a maximum grid entry size within a series that still has all of its available class championship titles up for grabs. The #59 crew of whatever combination is already massively out of championship contention this season so this race will be all about pride and just what come into play for them all next season.

Track action begins on Thursday with the first of two Free Practice and bronze driver sessions over that day and the next before class qualifying on Friday before the final race is waved off at 14:30hrs local on Saturday.

Group photo credit - Team