For some, today's news has come as no real surprise that the team's original 6 car factory entry for this years 24Hrs of Le Mans was possibly a step too far in terms of team effectiveness. Today Aston Martin Racing have confirmed a reduced four (2 Pro - 2 Am) car package for this year's headline event.

Having been caught somewhat off guard at Silverstone earlier this month today's announcement reflects Aston Martin Racing considered position even at this early stage as they are now having to ramp up their efforts in preparation to the 24Hour including further team adjustments for this weekend's second round of the WEC at Spa, Belgium.

Joining the #97 car of Darren Turner and Stefan Mucke at Spa will be another crowd favourite in Bruno Senna out for his first works drive of the year. Commenting earlier Senna said that he was "really looking forward to getting back behind the wheel of the Vantage GTE" and that "Spa was a fantastic track and will be good preparation for Le Mans".
Also for Spa, the #95 Young Driver Car will have Richie Stanaway in for an unavailable Nicki Thiim which may have been just as well considering Thiim's horrible looking accident at Oschersleben over the weekend.



Team principle John Gaw said that "we very much see Spa as preparation for Le Mans so we must work hard to catch up with the developments made by our competition during the winter. After careful consideration we decided that we want to focus our concentration on coming away with the best possible result for our four works cars"

These two cars will be joined at Spa and now at Le Mans by just the #99 Craft Bamboo and #98 Northwest Pro and Am cars respectively.

Photo credits  - RL

It turned out to be second time unlucky for the Leonard Motorsport duo of Stuart Leonard and Paul Wilson in as many races at todays VLN3.

Having qualified their SP9 class car a very respectable P15 out of a grid entry of over 200 cars Leonard and Wilson were looking to clear their memories of what had happened to them in VLN2 and what looked like a certain top ten finish before a last lap puncture had robbed them of that prospect.

Craft-Bamboo Racing has finished its first FIA World Endurance Championship race in seventh place in the GTE Pro class amid changing weather conditions and torrential rain that brought the race to an early finish after five and a half hours.

The #99 Vantage GTE – driven by Fernando Rees (BR), Darryl O’Young (HK) and Alex MacDowall – had a clean race and, despite it being the drivers’ first competitive race in the V8-charger, all three showed great pace and control even with the mixed weather conditions.

“The drivers and team all did a fantastic job,” comments Richard Coleman, CEO of Craft-Bamboo Racing. “They didn’t make any mistakes in the pit stops and the drivers brought the car home in one piece, which isn’t easy with a track that wet."

The rain held off throughout the morning but, as the green flag waved for the start of the race, the team’s radar showed rain on the horizon. With five hours left on the clock, the start-stop rain came, making tyre choice a challenge.



“When the rain first came we made the decision to go stay out on slicks so we could complete a five-stop strategy,” explains Rees. “The gamble didn’t pay off and we lost a few places but we did well to recover our qualifying position.”

MacDowall and O’Young had completed the team’s first WEC qualifying session on Saturday. In order for a car to qualify, two drivers must complete at least four laps and the average of the best four is the qualifying time.

“I was pleased with my laps in qualifying,” comments MacDowall who completed the session with O’Young. “I was up there with some of the experienced GT drivers and I know there was more time for me to find, had I had more laps. It’s great to know that going forward.”

It was experienced WEC driver Rees who started the race from seventh on the GTE grid and he went on to complete a two-hour double stint before handing over to MacDowall and then O’Young.

As the day progressed the rain got heavier and, 25-minutes before the six-hour race was due to end, a red flag signaled an early conclusion.

“The weather was challenging today but it was great to race with Aston Martin Racing and Craft-Bamboo for the first time,” comments O’Young. “The car was faultless and the team did a great job so we could finish the race and collect some points. We learned a lot and know where we can make improvements so we look forward to getting to Spa and progressing even further.”

The team next races at the FIA WEC Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps on 3/4 May.

Three of Aston Martin Racing’s four Vantage GTEs finished in podium positions in the opening round of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), the Six Hours of Silverstone, after finishing first and second in the GTE Am class and third and seventh in the GTE Pro class thanks to great strategy in the changing weather conditions.

The #95 Young Driver Vantage GTE returns for a second season with Danish drivers Nicki Thiim, Kristian Poulsen and newcomer to the team David Heinemeier Hansson and has its sights firmly set on the championship win. After finishing its opening race of the year in first place in class, it is firmly on track.

“We returned to the WEC but with a completely new team, a new team-mate and a new engineer,” explains Thiim. “My co-drivers did a great job and there has been fantastic teamwork from everyone. In the race, tactics played an important role with the changing weather conditions and we got it right. Kristian and David did a great job to keep it on the track, especially in the heavy rain.”

The #98 NorthWest Vantage GTE of Pedro Lamy (PT), Paul Dalla Lana (CA) and Christoffer Nygaard (DN) finished closely behind in second place.

In the Pro class, Darren Turner (GB) and Stefan Mücke (DE) finished in third place, despite a difficult start to the weekend for the Gulf-liveried #97 Vantage GTE that saw it struggle to match the pace of its competitors. As the weekend progressed, the team worked hard to get more out of the car and Mücke and Turner were impressed with the improvements.

“We had a very difficult Friday and Saturday in practice and qualifying,” explains Turner. “The team found a small problem with the car and fixed it overnight, which gave us a bit more confidence and more pace in the car.

“The start of race was good – we kept up with the Ferrari but the Porsche was long gone. The team did a great job with strategy, as the change in weather conditions made it a very difficult race and there was no room for errors. Third place is more than we could have hoped for at the beginning of the day.”

Making its competitive debut in the WEC, the Valero-liveried #99 Craft-Bamboo Vantage GTE finished in seventh with Fernando Rees (BR), Darryl O’Young (HK) and Alex MacDowall behind the wheel.

“We came here with no expectations,” comments Darryl O’Young. “It is our first WEC race as a team and we came here to develop and learn - we are really pleased with our progress and how we worked together as a team. The car was great and we all look forward to racing at Spa in a few weeks time.”

The 2014 season marks Aston Martin Racing’s tenth year in international sports car racing and the team adds this home-win to its long-list of successes.

“We came here well prepared but knowing that we would be slightly on the back-foot given the additional 5mm of ride-height we have to run this year,” comments Team Principal John Gaw. “Our results today are reflective of the maturity of the team that we have taken two years to develop. We have good strategists who can work with our engineers, mechanics and drivers to get the most out of the team in difficult and changing conditions.

“While we might not have been the quickest today we focused on being the smartest and the team did a perfect job.”

The second round of the championship, the FIA WEC Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, takes place on 3/4 May.

Easter weekend saw the opening round of the 2014 World Endurance Championship at the Northamptonshire circuit.

With the teams already having the two previous free practice sessions and set up under a warm and sunny sky the 6Hours of Silverstone entry arrived at the circuit on Saturday morning to clear and bright sky's again but this time with the air temperature notably cooler.




After Free Practice 1 and 2 Aston Martin Racing's two GTE Pro and two GTE AM cars were already lagging behind their respective opposition on the timing sheet and with qualifying straight after this not looking very promising for the team either.

Come the two driver average qualifying session that level of struggling performance was unfortunately to continue with the #97 Turner/Mucke car uncharacteristically languishing down in P18 (P5 in class) and nearly one whole second behind the GTE Pro leading AF Corse car followed by the new #99 Craft Bamboo driver line up in P23 (P7 in class).

In LMGTE AM class things were a little more competitive with the #98 Northwest car qualifying P20 (P2 in class) and then the #95 Young Driver "Dane Train" car in P22 (P4 in class).



Having had the drivers complain about the lack of ultimate speed and changes in car characteristics through technical changes the team were to find themselves spending many an hour stripping the cars down tweaking this and that, with the drivers examining their own performances via the telemetry data in search of those illusive tenths of a second per lap. Surely AMR hadn't been left so far behind over the winter with Darren Turner suggesting that the predicted deterioration in weather on race day being their only potential salvation.

Race Day - Come the formation on the grid under darkening but as then still dry'ish conditions Turner would be starting the #97, Lamy the #98, Heinemeier-Hannson the #95 and Rees in the #99 respectively. For the first 30 minutes or so the GT field split into their own respective battle groups - then the rain came………….!!





With the AMR's lack of speed and seeing the faster prototype cars sliding off the race track the task for the AMR drivers was simple - keep it on the black stuff and the weather would be the equaliser. By the end of the second hour the #95 had climbed to third in class.

With the rain briefly abating misdemeanours from others helped - Stop & Go penalties for the GTE Pro leaders, self inflicted fuel fires in the positioned GTE Am cars whilst in pit lane. At the half way mark the tides were definitely turning with the #97 up to 4th in class but #98 and #95 second and third respectively in class. Then came the rain again and ensuing carnage that would lead to a safety car to control and bunch up the field again presenting of all things an inter AMR battle between the #98 and #95 cars for the AM class lead.



Come the final 60minutes of the race and the rain had returned with a vengeance leading to appalling driving conditions. With only about 25 minutes left the race was, and not for the first time in WEC history Red flagged by Race Control due to these appalling circuit conditions.

By the time the standings were confirmed as a result a little while later what had started for Aston Martin Racing as potentially a damage limitation exercise had turned nothing into something in both GT classes.



In LMGTE Pro - the #97 Darren Turner and Stefan Mucke had achieved a very commendable third place whilst in LMGTE AM the #95 Young Driver Danish line up of David Heinemeier-Hannson, Kristian Poulsen and Nicki Thiim secured class victory with their sister #98 car of Pedro Lamy, Paul Dalla Lana and Christoffer Nygaard in second.


With the 6Hours of Spa next up on the calendar there is still much to be done at Aston Martin Racing to improve the cars performance just in case there's no rain in Belgium!!!

Photo Credits - WEC / Richard Leach / Aston Martin Racing

It was at this point 12 months ago that celebrations were well under way in recognition of the 100 year anniversary of one of Britain's most iconic names in automobile production - Aston Martin. Twelve months later the start of the 2014 season sees Aston Martin's motorsport division Aston Martin Racing celebrate its own 10 year anniversary.

So just how much can be achieved in 10 years……………………….?

Aston martin Racing was officially established in 2004 as a venture between Aston Martin Lagonda and the renowned motorsport engineering company Prodrive.

Its aim was simply - put the Aston Martin brand back to the forefront of international sportscar racing with race version (DBR9) of their then recently launched DB9 road car.

Sebring 2005 was the teams first internationally competitive race for the DBR9 yet despite that the car scored a spectacular class victory and then a further class 1 and 2 at the FIA GT event at Silverstone a few months later. With that catalyst to succeed the team went on to score further class victories and event podiums at many more prestigious events including the 24Hours of Le Mans in 2007.

With the subsequent addition of the cheaper DBRS9 car to their racing sportscar fleet in 2005 the number of teams running Aston Martin race cars increased


2008 also saw the introduction of a closed top LMP1 car featuring a new  Lola B08/60 chassis but a standard racing V12 DBR9 GT1 engine block. Variants of this car lasted (or at least were due to) until 2011 with the introduction of the all new AMR One LMP1 car. However disastrous performances on track saw this project being shelved the same year with both 'works' cars only completing 2 and 4 laps respectively at the showcase event at Le Mans.

In light of this debarcle the team decided to return to those original ideals that were set out in 2004 to race against its peers like Ferrari, Porsche, McLaren, etc in a race car based upon a road going model rather than compete against the larger automotive conglomerates. This decision making process gave us what we all know today as the Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE and V12 Vantage GT3.



In what has really been an emotional and financial roller coaster ride for both the team and parent companies, the last 10 years have given us (race fans) what any motor race should from the highest highs of outright victory to the lowest lows of what might have been.

So, at the start of Aston Martin Racing's anniversary year much has been achieved not only by the 'works' team but also by their numerous customer and partner teams across the world. National victories and titles galore and in 2013 a World title.

We have seen famous racing names come and go through Gaydon's door's. One however has been a constant - Darren Turner, who himself celebrated a birthday of some significance last week so lets just hope someone at Gaydon has remembered to order a very large birthday cake!!



See you at Silverstone for the WEC.

Photo Credits - Richard Leach/Aston Martin

Last weekend saw the first round of the Blancpain Endurance Series at Monza with both MP-AMR and Oman Racing Team (Motorbase) each having a single car, full season entry into the Pro-Am and Pro Cup categories respectively.



Being the first race weekend of the year and with a new chassis team MP-AMR (Mark Poole, Richard Abra and Joe Osbourne) reported issues with pure straight line speed together with normal set up balance but still qualified the car in P26 - 1.8seconds off the pace.

With Richard Abra taking the opening stint and looking very racey there were early tussles between him and the TDS BMW Z4 but after only 12minutes into race the TV camera picks up the MP-AMR car behind a dusty shroud in the gravel at the Curva Parabolica. Not until the end of Richard's stint was it disclosed that the Vantage received some outside assistance into placing it into that predicament. Video footage a few corners beforehand may lay the blame at the door of one of the Belgium Audi Club Audi R8's seen chewing at the rear valance of the black and red Vantage.


Intervention by the circuit vehicles and inevitable debris clear out in the pit lane lost the team 3 laps to the leaders and despite some serious chasing down (and some further technical issues for Mark Poole possible as a consequence of the off) left the team right back where they started finishing in P26.





The Motorbase ran, Oman Racing Team Vantage of Ahmed Al Harthy, Michael Caine and Stephen Jelley were entering their first Blancpain GT Series in the Pro Cup class.

With Jelley taking the opening 1hour stint he was able to push his way up to 12th before handing over to Al Harthy. He again was able to find good speed and climbed the leader board still further before the second scheduled pit stop but it was at this point their hopes and plans for a good finish faded, and all within a lap of Caine taking over the car.

One of those very annoying and difficult to find electrical, possibly an earth fault had manifested itself within the car causing unusual things to happen with the windscreen wipers and pit lane limiter which unfortunately forced Caine to pit. Despite frantic attempts by the team to find the fault they couldn't and the car was retired having completed 70% of the race.


Emphasis for both the team will now shift to the British GT Series with their respective cars/teams for the season's opener at Oulton Park over the Easter weekend.

Photo/Video Credits - Blancpain GT Series

Tuesday 8th April saw the official Media Day for the British GT series take place at the Donington circuit. Although a bit on the chilly side and with a stiff breeze those who made the trip were blessed with 27 out of the now confirmed 36 cars turning up for the test.

Reigning champion(s) Andrew Howard and Jonny Adam return in their Beechdean liveried Vantage GT3 to defend his (their) 2013 title. Despite a slightly smokey issue with the car during the lunchtime VIP laps the duo were still able to clock the fastest time in the second session.




At the end of the 2013 season team owner Andrew Howard expressed a desire to help promising young racing drivers in reaching their potential with the creation of a new Beechdean GT4 team for 2014. Confirmation of this was made when Ross Wylie and Jake Giddings were formally announced to the world at the Autosport International Show audience back in January. With only a couple of GT4 testing sessions under their belts the young duo will be on a steep learning curve indeed.




MP Motorsports, who raced under the umbrella of Barwell Motorsport in 2013 have this year received full Partner status from Aston Martin Racing and have thus rebranded to MP-AMR. Competing this year with full season entries in both British GT and Blancpain Mark Poole and Richard Abra will have their work cut out managing their increased workloads.

The menacing urban camouflaged red and black machine MP Vantage GT3 was sadly missing from Donington on Tuesday as this weekend sees the opening round of the Blancpain GT Series at Monza. 



This week also saw Richard Abra being confirmed as an Aston Martin Racing rostered driver, the same as Beechdean's Jonny Adam last year - well done and well deserved to him.

Last year's Porsche running team saw Motorbase's arrival with their new two V12 Vantage GT3 cars with Ahmed Al Harthy and Michael Caine in the blue #4 and GT returnee's Rory Butcher and John Hartshorne in the red #5.  


Whereas the #5 car reported good track times its sister car was somewhat hampered with a front wheel hub issue that called for prolonged, factory attention in the garage. 

Business executives Phil Dryburgh and John Gaw return in their PGF-Kinfaun GT3 car for another full season having finished 19th overall last year. Unlike last years round when Dryburgh managed to damage the radiators in an accident at the start of the race the pair ended the day just 0.70seconds behind the leaders were both looking forward to next weekend's opening round at Oulton Park.





Being only set up at the turn of the year, full Partner status team TF Sport will enter two cars into the championship. First being the Vantage GT3 of the highly competitive and race winning pairing of Paul Bailey and Andy Schulze who will race under the Horsepower banner within the team.


Paul Bailey was being comically candid in his garage saying that despite all his racing experience he was actually 'cr@pping himself' about entering a grid with the depth of what was being displayed. Those fears were obvious unfounded as the man fresh from that Rolls Royce programme finished his gorgeously coloured Vantage a very credible sixth on the timing sheets.





The second TF Sport car was for reigning Aston Martin Challenge Champion Andrew Jarman and Renault Clio UK driver Devon Modell with their new Vantage GT4. Reading what was being issued prior to the event it was somewhat of a surprise to see the liveried car there at all.




"I'm obviously well aquatinted with the V8 Vantage, I know its a great car and the goal has to be to win the GT4 title buts its a strong field of drivers and teams and I've got no doubt of the challenge ahead" said Andrew Jarman at the recent team announcement. His body language at the track showed that he was more than keen to get out there in the car finishing mid table in the GT4's which for a first time pairing wasn't bad.

The final surprise of the day was to see the Silverstone Auctions sponsored car of Aston Martin Racing Accounts Manager Harry Whale again. Obviously entering the series at the final event at Donington last year with AMR works driver Richie Stanaway was obviously too much excitement for someone to miss. This year Whale is joined by former GT Cup champion and businessman Andy Ruhan in their V8 Vantage GT4.


The first round of the British GT series starts Easter Weekend at Oulton Park with raceway being on the bank holiday Monday to comply with local track restrictions. The weekend also sees the opening round of the Aston Martin GT4 Challenge support race.