Having last seen competitive track action at the Aston Martin Festival at Le Mans back in June, one of the two Aston Martin GT12 'racing' cars will return to the track at the weekend for the VLN 5 ADAC Barbarossapreis meeting.

Resorting back to the #144 number the car originally displayed back in April when it first hit the track the SP8 class car will this time be driven by Aston Martin Nurburgring Test Centre director Wolfgang Schubauer alongside both founding members of the Swiss Aston Martin Customer Team St Gallen and highly talented GT4 drivers Florian Kamelger and Andreas Baenziger.


With qualifying starting at 08:30 local the four hour race itself starts at 12:00Hrs local and should feature some 152 cars.

It will still be interesting where the Gaydon factory go with this platform as it clearly works within this sort of racing environment although Andy Palmer did day at Le Mans that one of the next projects would involve a road going variant of the V8 GTE race car that just might get re-engineered back into a race car!!

We will wait and see ………………………!!

Photo Credits - Richard Leach

For several Aston Martin customer teams competing in the British GT series the last few days has been something of an organised panic in order to ready themselves for Round 6 of the 2015 season and the 2hour race at Brands Hatch on Sunday 2nd August.

Oman Racing's #2 car of Ahmad Al Harthy and Daniel Lloyd would be the busiest having just competed in last weekend's Spa24 coming agonisingly close to what would have been a triumphant result for the Pro-Am car. Hopefully the relatively short hop back across the somewhat stagnating channel crossing routes will not have cost the team too much lost time in the workshop.


Having suffered from power performance issues at the British GT event at Spa two weeks ago GT4 team JMB Motorsport would shakedown their V8 Vantage at Snetterton last week to confirm the diagnosis of a faulty fuel pump by the Prodrive factory. Jake Giddings was at hand at the damp Norfolk track for that exercise.

Due to the ongoing financial issues the Stratton Motorsport V8 Vantage entry of Jade and Chloe Edwards will again be missing together with the #71 Quantamatic V8 Vantage of Mike Hart and Terry Langley for the same reasons.


Hart however did appear with Chris Webster in the #62 Academy Motorsport V8 Vantage GT4 at the Spa event having covered the costs from his own pocket. Tonight we can though confirm that another 'one off' deal has been struck between the team and Hart for him to again complete alongside Webster in the #62 car at Brands Hatch at the weekend.

Remaining entries are as follows


Photo credits - Richard Leach

This weekend (1st/2nd August), in round 6 of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship, Beechdean AMR hope to maintain their current first place position in the GT4 class Championship, and aim for GT3 victory, where they are currently second in the Championship.

The two hour race will take place on Sunday 2nd August after qualifying races on Saturday, at Britain’s best loved motor racing circuit, the Brands Hatch GP circuit.

After fantastic GT3 victory for Andrew Howard, 2013 British GT Champion, and race partner Jonny Adam, Aston Martin Factory driver, in the last round at Spa, the Beechdean team are confident they can score some strong points.

With 20 seconds of extra pit stop time, and as the Championship is nearing its end, it’s even more vital that the Beechdean Aston Martin GT3 Vantage performs at its best. Howard and Adam have proved throughout the season so far that they are more than capable of this, as well as proven by their success at Brands Hatch in 2013 with their overall win.

A clean, unimpeded race still eludes TF Sport and there’s a keen desire to turn the tide in the Avon Tyres British GT Championship’s second consecutive points-and-a-half race on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit (1-2 August).

There were green shoots of recovery for TF Sport in the sole British GT ‘flyaway’ race at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, deep in Belgium’s beautiful Ardennes forest.

Jody Fannin and Milton Keynes teammate, Andrew Jarman, have been unable to showcase their talents in what has so far been a character building season, but came out punching at Spa by threatening for the podium until a race-ending collision dashed TF Sport’s hopes of an unimpeded, uneventful run to the finish.

The sixth round of the 2015 British GT season will be staged on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit, which is home territory for both TF Sport and Surrey-based racer, Fannin, who is one of only ten drivers to be selected for Aston Martin Racing’s Evolution Academy.

With race opportunities and test days strictly limited due to local noise constraints, prior experience of the fast, nine-turn 2.34mile former Formula 1 British Grand Prix venue can make a significant difference and Fannin says: “I’m really encouraged after Spa because we had good pace there. From my point of view, simply having time in the Aston Martin V12 Vantage has helped and I believe Andrew (Jarman) and I can have another strong run at Brands Hatch, which is my favourite UK circuit.

Jonathan Venter drove the endurance race of his life during the Total 24 Hours of Spa, running as high as fourth in class during the weather plagued endurance event. Running 6th in the Pro-Am class and 14th overall out of the 58 car grid, the Oman Racing Team #44 was on its way to a solid result, with Venter’s three faultless double-stints contributing greatly as he battled through the grid of top international drivers. Unfortunately though, after 22 hours of punishing racing which pushed both man and machine to the limit, a failed engine belt caused the #44 Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 to lose oil to the engine, forcing their retirement after 444 laps. The #44 car was eventually classified 30th despite never seeing the last two hours of the race. Venter has come away learning a great deal from the race itself and his three young teammates, praising them for their pace and consistency.

Race

The 67th edition of the 24 Hours of Spa began under torrential conditions and several cars were caught up in incidents early on. This saw the safety car take to the track on multiple occasions and for extended amounts of time as repairs were carried out on the barriers. This brought about a period of strategic gambles in the pit lane and caused the positions at the front of the field to change constantly.

The race progressed through the terrible weather and the #44 Aston Martin kept out of trouble and settled into a rhythm, showing good pace right from the start. After five hours of trouble free running, Ahmad Al Harthy pulled into the pit lane and handed over to Venter for his first stint. It was the young Australian’s first time at Spa but that did nothing to stop him from impressing right from the start. He had a two hour stint to complete and kept the pace on the boil as the race descended into total darkness. Venter drove an incredible run, keeping pace with many of the factory drivers on the track and proving that even on his Spa debut he was one to look out for. After a strong drive he returned to the pits to hand over to fellow Aston Martin Evolution Academy driver, Daniel Lloyd.

Following an impressive performance at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen race last month, TRG-Aston Martin Racing drivers, Christina Nielsen and Kuno Wittmer, captivated the crowd in Lakeville, CT this past weekend with another incredible appearance, placing third at the Northeast Grand Prix. This puts Nielson in second place in the TUDOR United SportsCar GTD Drivers Championship and the Royal Purple/Orion/LaSalle Solutions/Passtime USA number 007 Aston Martin V12 Vantage now remains only five points from the top spot in the team championship.

Nielsen adds her third podium result of the 2015 season who finished in second place at Detroit and at the 12 Hours of Sebring. This will be her second consecutive podium finish at Lime Rock Park, securing Neilsen as one of the toughest GT competitors on the 1.50-mile course.

“To finish in third place after facing some fierce competition feels incredible,” exclaimed Christina Nielsen, TRG-Aston Martin driver. “The entire team worked tirelessly together to push us through the finish line; we needed a strong run this weekend and we did it. I couldn’t be more proud!”

Nielsen finished as the darling of the race, who knocked on many competitors’ doors throughout her stint and ended her day for the number 007 Aston Martin V12 Vantage in second place. Wittmer took over at the halfway mark and put in a strong performance through a series of pit stops and yellow flags, bringing the number 007 home in third.

“Christina and Kuno are a great team in and out of the car and that shined through this past weekend,” said Kevin Buckler, CEO at TRG-Aston Martin Racing. “We pushed through to a very strong finish and I have confidence in our drivers and team for an even better performance at Road America— a track in which we have a long and successful history, and one that favors the strengths of the Aston Martin GT3.”

Source material - TRG-AMR

In preparation for the fourth round of the 2015 World Endurance Championship some twenty cars from across the LMP and GTE fields have converged on the Nurburgring circuit for a two day test.

Aston Martin Racing has sent a two car - eight driver line up for the test with the #95 Young Driver GTE Pro car running alongside the #98 GTE Am car. Nikki Thiim, Christoffer Nygaard, Marco Sorensen, Fernando Rees and Richie Stanaway will run the the Pro car whilst Paul Dalla-Lana, Mathias Lauda and Jonny Adam will run in the Am car.

As today featured a closed to the public and media paddock little information is known other than what can be sourced from social media. Day two tomorrow should see the media being allowed into the paddock along with public access beyond that of the main pit straight stand.

Marco Sorensen posted a nice little video clip from the test on Instagram today showing the 'challenging' conditions of the track here. Another video clip available on Youtube showed the #98 car being returned to the garage (undamaged) upon a flat bed so all did not run to order.

Hopefully more information and pictures shall become available tomorrow.

Video clips from Youtube and other social media

A trio of podium finishes for Paul Bailey and Andy Schulz in Rounds 13, 14 and 15 of the 2015 GT Cup on the Snetterton ‘300’ circuit were well received by everybody at TF Sport (25-26 July).

Three red flag stoppages and a downpour in qualifying one put paid to all hopes of a representative grid position for Saturday’s compulsory pit stop race, as Bailey and Schulz were prevented from completing a flying lap and ended the 20-minute session underwhelmed in tenth position.

Determined to consolidate their position as title contenders in the weekend’s first of three races, both Bailey and Schulz drove with vim and vigour to breach the podium places at the driver-change, with the Ferrari 458 Italia of Adam Carroll and Darren Nelson and the Porsche of Richard Chamberlain well within range.

A poignant one minute silence in memory of Jules Bianchi, observed at 2.00pm before the start of the Aston Martin GT4 Cup and V8 Vantage Cup, was a touching reminder of the bravery, risks and camaraderie involved in motorsport.

Test driver Gavan Kershaw (invited to take part in the race in a Lotus GT4) took the lead from the start, but was under pressure from the Aston Martin GT4 of frenchmen Olivier Bouche and Pierre Mantello, who flew in from Belgium and the Caribbean respectively especially for the race. They were driving with Roger Bennington’s Stratton Motor Sport. 

The highly-anticipated Aston Martin Vulcan will attend the showpiece of the Blancpain Endurance Series, the TOTAL 24 Hours of Spa, this weekend (25 July) and will demonstrate its abilities as the ultimate track-only machine as it completes two flying laps of the world-famous circuit.

With its 800-plus bhp powertrain developed in conjunction with Aston Martin Racing, the 7.0-litre V12 Aston Martin Vulcan will be driven by works driver Darren Turner (GB), who has been involved in the design and development of the car from its inception. Turner has more than 20 years experience in developing racing cars and relished the opportunity to put this track-knowledge into Aston Martin’s most extreme sportscar.

“It’s been amazing to have been involved in this project from the beginning,” said Turner. “From the conceptual sketches through to working with the designers on driver ergonomics, it is a fascinating process to be part of.

 “It was very early days for the car when we first ran it at Goodwood Festival of Speed, but we certainly made a good impression and now we get to show the car in its most natural environment. I’m looking forward to our laps prior to the race and then being able to watch one of the best 24-hour events on the calendar.”


 In the 24 Hours of Spa, two of the top Aston Martin Racing customer teams will contest the PRO-AM class with their V12 Vantage GT3s.

 Leonard Motorsport AMR will field Stefan Mücke (DE), Stuart Leonard (GB), Michael Meadows (GB) and Tom Onslow-Cole (GB) and Oman Racing by Motorbase will race with its regular Blancpain Endurance Series line-up of Jonny Adam (GB), Ahmad Al Harthy (OM) and Dan Lloyd (GB), as well as welcoming Aston Martin Evolution Academy driver Jonathan Venter (AU) to the team.

 “At Leonard Motorsport we have a very strong driver line-up and a good chance of a podium in the PRO-AM class,” commented Mücke. “I’ve had pole with the V12 Vantage GT3 here a couple of years ago and I’ll be aiming for the same again this year to give us the best chance of staying out of trouble at the start - in this event we are wheel-to-wheel racing from start to finish.”

 Also returning to the 24 Hours of Spa is Scotsman Adam, who took British GT Championship victory at Spa just a fortnight ago in the Beechdean AMR V12 Vantage GT3. “Although I’ve had pole positions and wins at Spa previously, I’ve never qualified in this event before, so I’m looking forward to that new challenge. The top 20 shoot-out is exciting - it really is a list of the top GT drivers in the world so the competition is fierce. The V12 Vantage GT3 is ‘tried-and-tested’ and that gives you a lot of confidence going into a 24-hour race like this.”

 The V12 Vantage GT3 has already had great success in long-distance endurance racing around the world this season, with podiums at Dubai 24 Hours, Bathurst 12 Hours and Daytona 24 Hours, and Team Principal John Gaw is hoping to get a similar result in Europe’s largest event.

 “We have some of the top teams in GT racing running V12 Vantage GT3s,” Gaw commented. “And, they are having great success in some of the toughest endurance challenges around the world. Both Leonard Motorsport and Oman Racing by Motorbase are capable of getting a class podium finish at the 24 Hours of Spa and we are looking forward to supporting them.”

 The 24 Hours of Spa starts at 1630hrs on Saturday 25 July and fans can watch live on the Blancpain Endurance Series YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/GTworld

 The Aston Martin Vulcan laps will take place on Saturday 25 July at 1410hrs.

Source material - Aston Martin

Confirmation of a two car and six driver Aston Martin Racing test at the Nurburgring 27/28th July here

The aim is for TF Sport to return to winning ways in Round 5 of the 2015 GT Cup on the Snetterton ‘300’ circuit, with Paul Bailey and Andy Schulz targeting podiums to reignite their championship bid and professional driver coach, Phil Glew, partnering Martin Johnston for the first time this season (25-26 July).

TF Sport – an official Aston Martin Racing Partner Team – retained its position at the top of the GTO class standings following a turbulent outing at Silverstone.

Bailey and Schulz had their backs against the wall in all three races at the Northamptonshire circuit, which was struck by torrential rain, but recovered valuable points and a podium finish in a solid damage limitation exercise.


Snetterton has the honour of hosting Rounds 13, 14 and 15 of the GT Cup and Bailey and Schulz have previous form at the East Anglian venue, having already achieved a race win there with a similar specification Aston Martin V12 Vantage.

The 2.99mile Snetterton ‘300’ circuit is perched in among picturesque farmland and encompasses a number of flat out straights and a tight, technical infield section that draws inspiration from some of motorsport’s most iconic corners, such as Monza’s Parabolica and Montréal’s Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve Hairpin.

Bailey and Schulz both feel they have the ability to return the winners’ rostrum in Norfolk, where the second half of the 2015 GT Cup season commences, and, speaking during a day of testing, Bailey said: “We’ve done well at Snetterton and I will always hold fond memories of this place having achieved my first ever race win here. The past two rounds of the GT Cup were blighted by ill-performing car. At Rockingham, we had an engine that was increasingly more unreliable and we considered not running it in Sunday’s races and then a spin was followed by an ECU-related gearbox issue. However, we did remarkably well in terms of points and we will have a fresh, rebuilt engine from Aston Martin Racing for Snetterton, so there’s plenty to be positive about. The only negative is the 40-second success penalty we carry into the weekend, but we will be doing our utmost to negate the lost time and pull representative results out of the bag.”


Meanwhile, AllFloors Express Managing Director, Martin Johnston, used advice given by his professional driver coach, Phil Glew, to get in the thick of the action at Silverstone, qualifying better than ever and holding his own in some edge-of-the-seat tussles involving more accomplished opposition.


“I’m really looking forward to Snetterton, as it’s a fantastic circuit and this time I’m sharing the drive in Saturday’s main feature race with Phil (Glew),” said Johnston. “It’s great that we will have a Pro-Am driver line-up like most of our rivals and we should be quite effective and he was my driver coach in the previous outing and will be there to give me instruction prior to this coming weekend, and the knowledge and advice he shared proved invaluable, as a different approach to driving brought my times down massively and got me in among it at Silverstone.” was the first time I’d have any instruction with the car and the impact it has had is encouraging, given that I’m fourth in class, only one point behind third and a single point ahead of fifth. It’s all to play for!”

Source material - TF Sport
Photo credits - TF Sport / HPR Facebook

New class, new challenge for the Oman Racing Team in Total 24 hours of Spa

The Oman Racing Team will unveil its new look driver line-up this week as the squad heads to the spectacular Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium for the biggest event of the 2015 GT season; the Total 24 Hours of Spa (July 25/26).


Arguably the biggest GT3 race in the world; this year marks the 67th annual event of what is undoubtedly the highlight on the Blancpain Endurance Series calendar. The Oman Racing Team returns to Spa with high hopes of a strong finish where it will compete in the Pro-Am class for the first time during Saturday’s round the clock contest.

19 year-old Australian and Aston Martin Racing Evolution Academy driver Jonathan Venter joins the existing Oman Racing Team driver line-up and will make his debut on the Belgian circuit alongside Aston Martin works driver Jonny Adam, fellow Evolution Academy driver Daniel Lloyd and Ahmad Al Harthy in the #44 Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3.


“You look forward to certain races during the season and Spa 24 hours is one of those races that it’s a massive privilege to be a part of;” said the Oman Racing Team Principal David Bartrum. “This year with the quality of the grid being what it is in the Blancpain, you need to go there with a clear plan in your mind of how you’re going to tackle it. For us this year the big decision has been to move into the Pro-Am class.”

Bartrum continued: “To then add a driver to the strong line-up that we already have you need to make sure that you have the right ingredient so that team balance stays right. It’s essential not only to get the grading right but also that to find a driver fits well within the team, has the character we need, offers the turn of speed required and is also able to use the product - and in Jonathan we have the ideal man.

“He comes very highly recommended and from what we know so far we have a young, dynamic driver that fits perfectly in the Oman Racing Team line-up and I’m really, really excited about Spa now;” added the Team Boss.


Bartrum’s squad faces a remarkable grid of competitors this year, with 59 GT3’s from the world’s leading endurance teams set to race on the mighty Ardennes track and the Team Principal is confident that with a little good fortune this time out the Oman-backed team has the potential to deliver a strong result.

“Spa feels like unfinished business for us after last year, especially when we were running as high up as we were. Everyone is really looking forward to going back this year and hopefully getting the chance to finish off what we started 12 months ago. If we can stay out of trouble and things go our way then I feel confident that the driver line-up and our pace should see us right in the mix of the action."

The build-up for the Total 24 hours of Spa begins with a town centre grand parade on Wednesday (July 22) before race preparations get underway in earnest on Thursday (July 23) with free practice, qualifying and night qualifying sessions running into the late evening. Friday then plays host to the Super Pole shootout where the top 20 qualifying cars compete ahead of Saturday’s 24 hour race (July 25).


Free practice starts at 12noon local time on Thursday, with qualifying from 8.30pm followed by night qualifying at 10.15pm. The 24-hour race will start at 4.30pm on Saturday (July 26). A full timetable of this week’s events and build up to the Total 24 hours of Spa can be found on the official website.

Live timing of Thursday’s qualifying sessions and of the entire 24 hour race can also be found on the official 24 hours of Spa website here.

MotorsTV will be showing intermittent live coverage of Saturday’s race from 3pm (UK time) with replays of the Super Pole session at 2.30pm. Highlights of the race are also scheduled from 9pm (UK time) on Sunday (July 26).

MotorsTV can be found on the following channels: Sky 447, Virgin 545 and Freeview 71 & 240.

Driver quotes:

Jonny Adam:

“Spa 24 hour is the hardest GT race in the world. This will be my fourth year of doing it and I’m really looking forward to racing there with Motorbase.

“It’s nice to dip into the Pro-Am class, we’ve got a really strong line-up and the Aston should be quite strong around Spa. If we finish and manage to avoid any issues or dramas during the race then I think realistically we could aim for a podium this weekend. We have the speed in the car and a good line up with the four drivers in the team to make it happen, but it’s a massive team effort and all of the elements have to work together.”

Daniel Lloyd:

“After not getting a drive last year, it feels a little like unfinished business so I’m really looking forward to going back and getting the chance to have a proper run in the Aston.

“It’s going to be a huge challenge but we’re all looking forward to it. One of our strengths this year has been our race pace and that’s what this race is all about so it should be interesting.”

Ahmad Al Harthy:

“We’re all looking forward to this weekend at Spa. It’s the biggest event of the year, and the most popular one. We had a good run last year but it’s definitely unfinished business for us. The first thing we hope for is to finish the race then if we can do that, the second thing would be to aim to finish in the top part of the grid.

“It all depends on so many factors but as a team we are ever so prepared, we’re in the best position in terms of gelling as a team and welcoming Jonathan to the team only strengthens our line-up.”

Jonathan Venter:

“It’s a great privilege to be racing for the Oman Racing Team at Spa 24 hours. They have a great track history in many categories and will be strong contenders this year in the Pro-Am category.

“The car line up looks quite strong with lots of talent, so I’m eager to add my own experience to the car and work hard to get up to speed quickly as I have not raced at Spa before.”

Source material and photo credits - Motorbase

The Craft-Bamboo Racing team has a reason to celebrate even after some mixed results at Fuji. Drivers Darryl O’Young and Jonathan Venter of the #99 VLT Aston Martin were able to take the joint drivers’ championship lead after a hard fought second place podium in race two. The #88 Interush sister car of Richard Lyons and Frank Yu had a run of bad luck this weekend, suffering contact at the start of both races which prevented them from being able to challenge for any podium positions. This was made more frustrating by their excellent qualifying performance that saw them start race one in P3. Venter achieved another brilliant qualifying lap that saw the #99 car take pole position for race two and was instrumental in helping them secure the joint lead in the GT Asia drivers’ championship.

Qualifying

It was Richard Lyons who would take to the circuit first and as with the other Japanese circuits featured in the GT Asia Series, Lyons was certainly no stranger. Having raced at Fuji for the past 15 years, expectations were high and Lyons did not disappoint, setting a 1:52.329 which secured them P3 for race one.