Aston Martin Racing will have a front-row lock-out in the GTE AM class of tomorrow’s FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) Six Hours of Shanghai after a close qualifying session that saw an incredible inter-team fight.

In just his second WEC event, British driver Liam Griffin (GB) took the #96 Vantage GTE from team-mate Stuart Hall (GB) and, on his second flying lap, went quick enough take pole position. However, Paul Dalla Lana (CA) in the #98 Vantage GTE put his three years of WEC experience into play and, on his final lap, snatched the number one spot away to claim his team’s fourth pole of the year.

TF Sport concludes the 2015 season with an entry in the final round of the International GT Open at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and the priority for drivers Salih Yoluc and Euan Hankey is to simply build on their recent success (31 October-1 November).

The official Aston Martin Racing Partner Team raced to the top step of the podium on its first ever International GT Open outing in 2014 and made a victorious return to the fray earlier this year at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium and Italy’s ‘Temple of Speed’, Monza.

Yoluc of Turkey and British racer Euan Hankey piloted a TF Sport-prepared Aston Martin V12 Vantage to a class win in Italy before a one-off outing in the European Le Mans Series (ELMS), and the teammates will reunite for one final time in 2015, in the concluding part of the International GT Open at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

The Catalan racetrack is the home of the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix and a mix of high- and low-speed corners, plus an abrasive and rather bumpy track surface, makes for a physically and mechanically demanding race.

However, having shown great speed over the past month, there’s a belief that Yoluc and Hankey can close the year with a flourish, although the teammates simply want to continue learning the ropes in preparation for a dual GT Open-ELMS campaign in 2016.

“I think I would just like to finish, as it’s an important for Salih (Yoluc) to continue his learning process heading into the winter months,” said Hankey. “This is more of a sprint race compared to our most recent outing in the ELMS and that should be good for Salih, as he improved a lot in the previous GT Open round at Monza.

“For me personally, I’ve only raced at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya once before in 2007, but I’ve taken part in several trackdays there, so I definitely know which way the circuit goes and I’m confident in my ability to do the job. I’m also pretty sure it will suit the Aston Martin V12 Vantage more than Monza did, as it places more of an emphasis on aerodynamics, rather than just straightline speed.”

Hankey added: “Looking ahead to 2016, I feel the International GT Open is definitely something we’d like to do, but I wouldn’t expect to achieve many significant results, as a team can field any combination of drivers, from a bronze-level pairing to platinums. However, it would certainly be good practice for the European Le Mans Series (ELMS), with many of the circuits featuring on both calendars.”

Source material - TF Sport
Photo credit - GT Open

Young Driver AMR will not take part with its Aston Martin Racing entered #95 Aston Martin Vantage GTE in this Sunday’s seventh round of the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) at Shanghai/China. The team made a common decision with sponsor’s and partners to skip the penultimate round of the season. Young Driver AMR takes the consequences out of a performance cut made by the organisers for the last three rounds, which sidelined the Aston Martin Vantage GTE.

"We are deeply sorry for our fans and partners in China, but racing for fourth or fifth place is not the way we like to represent ourselves to our sponsors and guests in China“, Jan Struve of Young Driver AMR said. "In three of the last four rounds, Young Driver AMR was the best placed Aston Martin team. But after a rule change for the last three rounds, no GTE Pro class Vantage GTE had the fair chance to fight for a podium. We expect the same scenario in China, therefore we decided to withdraw from this round as doesn’t make sense for us to fight only our fellow Aston Martin teams. We are racers and we don’t do anything for free, but we feel there should be a fair chance to race with our competitors and we don’t see this currently given. The decision with our sponsors to withdraw from the Shanghai round will not influence our very close and good relationship, they have promised to back us up when we are competitive again.”


Source material - Young Driver AMR

Yesterday's simple announcement from Aston Martin Racing that Partner team Young Driver AMR has elected not to compete in this weekend's forthcoming World Endurance Championship round at Shanghai International Circuit surely must surely come as no real surprise!

Citing the continuing poor Balance of Performance criteria being dealt to the V8 Vantage, the levels of performance expected by the teams commercial sponsors and the expectation that the car will again 'under perform' against that the Porsche's and Ferrari's equivalents, but whilst there maybe sanctions placed upon the team by the series for withdrawing a full season GTE Pro class car from the event Young Driver AMR has a difficult decision and chosen to not participate at the event.

As a fan of the team and of the series the prospect of having to travel half way around the world for a prospect of having a GTE Pro car finish behind that of a Porsche GTE Am car is not one worth relishing. As a commercial venture the question of financial/logistical outlay versus expected return is also negative

Hopefully this action from Young Driver will serve as a catalyst to wake the organising bodies of the corporate consequences to the constant 'meddling' and whilst any further action would be too late for the 2015 season a more consistent and level field could be established for 2016 at least.

Whilst it has been reported in other media that AMR boss John Gaw has been very critical of the team's reduced performance since Le Mans because of the multiple changes in BoP, he has also been very keen to praise the team and driver's for the 'character' in seeking out and pushing for any possibility of a result through this imbalance since the disappointment of Le Mans. #TeamAMR.


For Shanghai he expects more of the same - “Shanghai looks like it will be a similar story and, while we will clearly go with the full intention to do the very best we can, with the performance deficit, we have a huge challenge ahead" he said.

In other news for Shanghai the team have confirmed the return of Richie Stanaway into the #99 car alongside Fernando Rees and Alex MacDowall having now completed his GP2 duties with Status GP.

Liam Griffin rejoins the #96 RoFGo car with Stuart Hall and Francesco Castellacci due to the continued absence of Roald Goethe. He for one will be looking for an improvement in his own driving after his difficult GTE baptism in the weather affected Fuji round.


Whilst the #98 Am car of Pedro Lamy, Paul Dalla-Lana and Mathias Lauda remains the same after their well earned podium finish in Fuji the most notable exception comes in the remaining #97 Pro car of Darren Turner and Jonny Adam.

Whilst these two have shared the car in the last two rounds the name of Stefan Mucke was never far away, but for Shanghai the German does not figure in the AMR equation in any of the cars. Whilst there may be a perfectly good explanation for this it will also serve as 'fuel to the fire' of his imminent release to new GTE project! He does however, figure in Aston Martin Racing's plan for the forthcoming FIA GT World Cup event in Macau next month.

For the penultimate WEC event of the 2015 season at Shanghai and for those of us in Europe most of the track action will unfortunately be in the early hours of Friday 30th October. Qualifying starts at 05.30Hrs GMT on Saturady and the race 03:00Hrs GMT on Sunday.

Photo credits - Aston Martin Racing

Craft-Bamboo Racing driver, Darryl O’Young took the 2015 GT Asia Series drivers’ championship in an incredible nail biting finish to end a roller coaster weekend of racing in Thailand. After teammate, Daniel Lloyd, started from P2 and took an early lead, the #99 Aston Martin pulled away from the competition and O’Young was able to continue expanding the gap until crossing the line to take the title. Frank Yu and Richard Lyons’ luck did not improve for the final race of the season, with Frank being hit on turn three of the first lap. This put the #88 Interush on the back foot but they fought hard to take P9 by flag fall.

Lloyd started the race from P2 knowing that the championship rested on getting ahead of the Bentley that sat on pole position. As the lights went out, Lloyd expertly placed the Aston Martin and timed his start perfectly before passing the Bentley with a superb maneuver into the first corner. The young Brit had executed the crucial championship move and set about widening the gap between their title rivals as quickly as possible. Using the clear air ahead to his advantage, Lloyd was able to dive into the pits and change over to his teammate with a healthy gap. O’Young hit the track knowing that the title rested on his ability to stay ahead and keep the Bentley at bay. Immediately his pace was impressive and began to pull away, adding to the gap that his teammate had created. O’Young drove on the limit for his entire stint, elevating his pace to another level and expanding his lead to over 11 seconds. As the flag fell for the final time this season, O’Young crossed the line eight seconds ahead and became the first Hong Kong driver to win the GT Asia Series drivers’ championship. O’Young’s title would never have been possible without the talented help from young Australian Jonathan Venter and Englishman, Daniel Lloyd, who are both members of the elite Aston Martin Evolution Academy.

The entire 2015 GT Asia Series championship has boiled down to the final round in Thailand this weekend, where Craft-Bamboo Racing will be fighting to take both the drivers’ and teams’ championship at the Chang International Circuit. #99 VLT driver, Darryl O’Young, is four points clear of his closest competitor after a stunning double win in Shanghai with teammate, Daniel Lloyd. The pair will be looking to make a repeat of their performance this weekend to seal the drivers’ championship and help Craft-Bamboo Racing to close the gap in the teams’ championship. Richard Lyons and Frank Yu will be hoping for a better weekend after a tough round in Shanghai but the pair is positive that they can deliver the results to move the team into the number one spot in the teams’ championship.

After their dominant double victory in Shanghai, Darryl O’Young was able to take the lead in the drivers’ championship and stay four points clear of his closest competitor. The #99’s season rivals in the Bentley sit only four points behind, placing them within striking distance of the VLT Aston Martin. O’Young and Lloyd will be doing everything in their power to keep the Bentley behind them while they make their final championship assault, and a good qualifying session will give them the best opportunity of staying ahead. Achieving pole position in the last two rounds, the #99 pair are set on continuing their streak and have shown how quick they can be at the head of the pack.


Richard Lyons and Frank Yu were off to a great start last round in Shanghai after taking pole and were leading for the majority of the race. Unfortunately, the pair’s bad luck struck once again and thanks to multiple incidents, prevented them from taking home a top result. With the #88 Interush Aston Martin’s pace undeniable; Lyons and Yu will be challenging at the very front of the field in Thailand and are on the hunt to capture their first win of the season. With only 14 points separating the top of the teams’ championship, the #88 pair will be fighting to score as many points as possible to help the team towards their goal of taking both championships.

Practice for rounds ten and eleven of the GT Asia Series will begin on Friday, October 23rd. Qualifying one will be held on Saturday, October 24th, from 9:40-9:55, with qualifying two running from 10:05-10:20. Race one will be held on Saturday from 13:35-14:35 (local time GMT +7) Race two will be held on Sunday 15:15-16:15. Live streaming of the event will be available from the GT Asia Series YouTube page, https://www.youtube.com/user/afosTV.

Richard Lyons, Driver

"It hasn't been the campaign we had hoped for in the #88 Interush Aston. However, Thailand is a new circuit for most teams and drivers so we might see a shakeup in the results. I've raced there twice in the last year so I'm hoping I can share this experience with Frank and get us running at the sharp end."

Frank Yu, Driver

“It is the last round of the championship and we haven’t had much luck this year so we are looking for a strong finish to score some points for the teams’ championship. We would also like to see our VLT sister car win the drivers’ championship this year.”

#99 VLT Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3

Darryl O’Young, Driver

“I'm looking forward to the weekend in Buriram as the championship is really down to the wire. With only a 4 point spread and several competitors in the championship fight, anything is possible heading into the season finale. I'm not going to think too much about the points, we just want to repeat the job we did in Shanghai which is to execute a mistake free weekend, and hope that is enough to win the title. It’s anyone’s championship and Craft-Bamboo Racing is ready to step up our game in this critical moment in the championship.”

Daniel Lloyd, Driver

“Really looking forward to Thailand, it is a little different because not many people have been to the circuit before which is a good thing for me because I haven’t been to any of the circuits out in Asia. I have been doing a lot of preparation on the simulator to get ready for the last round. The track seems great, a real driver’s circuit. The main focus is going to be working together to take the championship the last two rounds have been really positive and we will be trying to repeat this success in Thailand.”

Richard Coleman, CEO of Craft-Bamboo Racing

“This is the most important race of the season and with both the championships on the line we are going to have to dig deep. After the success in Shanghai, the team has proved what they can do and we will be going out there with the intention of taking both championships.”

A battle scarred TF Sport overcame adverse weather to finish fifth in class during its maiden European Le Mans Series (ELMS) outing at Circuito do Estoril in Portugal (17-18 October).

Strong winds and downpours lashed the Estoril track on Saturday morning and the organisers were forced to cut the first of two ELMS free practice sessions short as cars span and debris was blown onto the track.

As a result, the entire field was placed on the back foot and the reduction in track time was particularly costly for two of TF Sport’s three drivers, Salih Yoluc and Euan Hankey, who arrived in Portugal with no prior experience of the former Formula 1 Grand Prix circuit.

Mercifully, the high winds and heavy rain subsided for FP2. Richie Stanaway, who has tested in Estoril twice before, spent most of the session on the sidelines to give Yoluc and Hankey as much seat time as possible during the build-up to qualifying and the main event – the 4 Hours of Estoril – on Sunday (18 October).

However, ‘Kwik Kiwi’ Stanaway was elected to qualify the #77 entry and recorded the fourth fastest time – 1m53.180s – but it was up to Hankey to start the race later in the day and the London-domiciled driver did a storming job to head the class midway through his stint while being lapped by the overall leaders from the headlining LMP2 division.

Hankey found himself in among the main GTE and LMP3 battles, some three places ahead of his nearest GTC rival, AF Corse’s Giorgio Roda, approaching the first driver-change, when he handed the reins of the TF Sport-prepared Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 to teammate, Yoluc.


The Turkish driver immediately found himself in the thick of a three-way fight for top honours in GTC with the TDS Racing BMW Z4 in the hands of Dino Lunardi and Roda’s Ferrari and he made good use of traffic to put up a valiant defence, but ultimately lost track position prior to two short, sharp downpours.

TF Sport reacted quickly to the change in climactic conditions, switching to Dunlop’s intermediate tyre, but there were two costly delays when Yoluc span on the slick surface and collided with the wall, before receiving a stop/go penalty for crossing the blend line at pit exit.

Carrying severe cosmetic and aerodynamic damage, TF Sport was relatively down on pace. Yoluc gave way to Aston Martin Racing factory driver, Stanaway, but Hankey returned to the fray for the final 35 minutes and the Englishman was relieved to bring the ailing V12 Vantage home fifth in class.

“It was our first time in the European Le Mans Series and we didn’t really know what to expect, but, on the whole, it has been a very positive experience,” said Hankey. “Circuito do Estoril was completely new to me and Salih (Yoluc) and a few unfortunate mistakes cost us time and track position, but that’s how you learn.

“We saw how quick the TF Sport Aston Martin, Salih, Richie (Stanaway) and I were in the dry, but we have to perform in the sort of changeable conditions we experienced this weekend. It was very tough with the weather and we were carrying splitter damage at the end, so the front wheels and windscreen were vibrating terribly and it was quite difficult to control the front end. It’s important that we take this experience and learn from it – I certainly have.”

An electrifying finale to the 2015 European Le Mans Series saw Beechdean AMR trio Andrew Howard, Jonny Adam and Alex Macdowall take a well deserved second place podium finish on their first race in the series at the Autódromo do Estoril in South Portugal. In the 4 hour endurance race, all teams experienced a variety of conditions which saw the ELMS debutants beat the established teams in the GTE class.

The team knew the step up to the Aston Martin Racing GTE from GT3 was a big one and toughed it out to grab a very creditable second in the GTE class. The car’s involvement secured a first ever GTE podium in the current iteration of the ELMS that did not feature a Ferrari!

Looking to make a strong impression ahead of a potential full 2016 season graduation, British GT champions Andrew Howard, Jonny Adam and Aston Martin Racing driver Alex Macdowall backed up a solid Saturday of practice sessions with a great start to the race. Starting the race eighth in class, Macdowall drove a blinding first stint, rising to a comfortable second after the first hour. A slick first pit stop and driver change to Andrew Howard saw the team remain in contention.


After Howards first few laps of running, the Autumn Portuguese weather took a turn for the worst with two rain showers within twenty minutes proving to be a big challenge for team and driver. A mixture of great strategy, tyre and pit stop calls gave Howard the chance to maintain a fantastic pace during the stint and he was able to bring to car to Aston Martin Racing Factory Driver Jonny Adam in a great condition despite to tricky nature of the second hour.

With the track drying at a rapid rate of knots, Beechdean AMR took a tyre gamble for the third hour, fitting Adam with the Dunlop cut slick tyres. Despite no previous experience on these tyres, Adam drove a consistent stint, handing the car to Macdowall in a untroubled second position for the last stint. Despite early pressure at the beginning of the final stint, Macdowall kept composed and was able to protect second place.


Jonny Adam:

To get a podium with Beechdean AMR debut in ELMS is brilliant. It’s a high profile championship and something we are looking into for 2016. Andrew and Alex drove fantastic all weekend and the changeable weather played into our engineers strategy. The Aston Martin Vantage GTE is a great car and with the help of Dunlop staff we got the best out the tyre in all conditions.

Andrew Howard:

What a great way to finish what has been a outstanding year for everyone involved in Beechdean AMR. The level of ELMS in GTE is very high but we managed to get the best out of everything over the weekend. The weather was so changeable but that played well to some risky but great calls by the team. This is a championship I am looking to compete in for 2016 as I want to achieve success here and help get to LeMans in the near future.

Alex Macdowall:

It's a great feeling to come into a new championship and finish on the podium. After qualifying I thought a podium was out of reach but the car was unbelievable to drive. My team mates equally did a fantastic job in very tricky conditions.

Tens days after confirming just one driver for the forthcoming FIA GT World Cup event at Macau in mid November, Aston Martin Racing and their customer team Craft Bamboo Racing yesterday confirmed the remaining two driver slots.




Joining Craft Bamboo Racing stalwart Darryl O'Young will be fellow Craft Bamboo Racing and GT Asia entrant Richard Lyons together with works driver Stefan Mucke.






Lyons shall compete in his 'regular' Interush sponsored #99 car, now with a hint of Gulf sponsorship and livery whilst Mucke (no stranger to the team from previous events) will compete in the W11.com sponsored #97 car.


“It is great to be back in Macau this year. It is an amazing event on the craziest street circuit and will be my second race with Craft-Bamboo in 2015. After our podium finish in Bathurst we want to be at the very top of the podium in the FIA GT World Cup final" said Mucke whilst Lyons was a little bit more surprised at the opportunity. “I never thought I would get the chance to race at the inaugural FIA GT World Cup in Macau. This is a fantastic opportunity for me" he was reported to have said.

Perhaps the feel good story of the 2015 GT race season in North America was in the IMSA Tudor United SportsCar Championship and the efforts of TRG-Aston Martin Racing. The privateer team from Northern California featuring a rising star driver in her first full season of racing in the V12 Vantage took the fight to the mighty teams of Porsche, Ferrari, BMW, Viper and Audi and almost pulled it off.

TRG-Aston Martin Racing driver Christina Nielsen began the season on a high note as the team captured the Pole Position at the 24 Hours of Daytona 24 race with co-drivers James Davison, Brandon Davis and fellow Dane, Christoffer Nygaard. Unfortunately, part way through the race with the 007 car in the race lead, an amateur driver in a Ferrari pulled back out onto the racetrack after a spin and collided with the #007 V12 Vantage -- taking the team out of contention. The team made the decision to work throughout the night to get the car back on the track to capture a few valuable points for the championship. They fought back in the next race at the 12 Hours of Sebring and rallied to a 2nd place podium finish to regain championship points momentum that stayed with them right to the end of the season.

Christina Nielsen and James Davison continued to drive the #007 V12 Vantage to Top 5 qualifying and finishing results, including leading at the IMSA race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The duo of Nielsen and Davison followed up their performance with a strong P2 finish at the Belle Isle race in Detroit.


Later in June, the team brought in reigning 2014 IMSA GT Le Mans champion, Kuno Wittmer to serve as Christina’s co-driver for the balance of the season and it proved to be an immediate fit. Wittmer provided solid driver coaching for Nielsen as she was getting faster and faster on the track -- including consecutive podium finishes at Lime Rock and Road America. These results vaulted Nielsen and the team into the points lead in the IMSA GT Daytona championships and placed an Aston Martin in the lead of a North American championship for the first time in history. This was also the first time a female driver had the chance of winning an international GT championship and it vaulted Nielsen and her #007 Orion/LaSalle Solutions/Royal Purple/Passtime V12 Vantage into the media spotlight through August and into September.

The team then extended its points lead in the IMSA GT Daytona class by finishing on the podium again at VIR with only two races remaining in the 2015 IMSA season (Circuit of the Americas, Road Atlanta).

The three-way battle for the GT Daytona championship between Aston Martin, Ferrari and Audi made for epic media coverage and fan excitement. At Circuit of the Americas, TRG-AMR would see their luck change however, as an untimely full-course caution flag undermined the team’s fuel strategy and the #007 V12 Vantage would finish the race off the podium and allow the Ferrari and Audi to regain ground as TRG-AMR were now leading the driver and manufacturer championship by only 1 point heading into the final race of the year -- Petit Le Mans.

As the team entered the final stretch, the pressure was on as the media and the fans wanted to see history made with the #007 V12 Vantage and driver Christina Nielsen in this epic 10 hour battle. The torrential rain and poor weather conditions that had struck the Atlanta area for the October 2-3 weekend had disrupted race strategy for all the teams. Multiple full course caution flags, safety cars, and even a red flag stoppage of the race wreaked havoc on all fronts. The team went down a lap due to poor visibility conditions but was just moments away from regaining the position due to fuel strategy but IMSA officials decided to stop the race just before eight of the scheduled ten hours had been completed. That IMSA decision placed TRG-AMR one lap down to the Scuderia Corsa Ferrari team and resulted in a 2 point advantage for the Ferrari over the Aston Martin after 10 months of hard racing.


While not the season result that TRG-AMR had hoped for, the team proudly accepted its second place driver and team championship awards as the crowd cheered Danish driver Christina Nielsen, the team and the performance displayed throughout the 2015 race season. The TRG-AMR team has much to be proud of and is determined to return in 2016 to win the GT Daytona championship and with an Aston Martin racecar.

Darren Turner took the fight to Fuji in Japan last weekend as Aston Martin Racing continued the battle to regain its early season pace in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Along with his British teammate, Jonny Adam, Turner finished the Six Hours of Fuji in sixth place.

A Balance of Performance (BoP) change after Le Mans had a huge effect on all of the Vantage GTEs so the team was pleased to receive an adjustment after the last race in the U.S. but unfortunately it wasn’t quite enough to allow the Aston Martin squads to take the fight to Ferrari and Porsche.

“We had a small BoP change after COTA that took us around halfway back to where we were at the start of the year,” said Turner. “We all know that BoP is necessary to level the playing field across the different manufacturers and it is a difficult thing to get right. It wasn’t enough this time but it was a step in the right direction.”

A perfect teamwork ended in a slightly disappointing fifth place for Young Driver AMR at the sixth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship in Fuji/Japan. Christoffer Nygaard and Marco Sørensen drove an almost faultless race in the Aston Martin Racing entered Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin Vantage GTE and finished fifth in class after six hours of racing. For the third time in the last four rounds, Young Driver AMR was the highest-placed Aston Martin team in the GTE Pro class.

Due to heavy rain, the race started behind the behind the safety car in difficult conditions. After 40 minutes behind the safety car, the race was eventually green flagged and starting driver Marco Sørensen began to make up positions and soon moved up to fifth place after starting seventh. Similar to the last rounds, the Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin was soon leading the GTE Pro Aston Martin trio, but wasn’t able to race the Porsche and Ferrari at the front. After six hours with a perfect strategy, clean pit work and a only a minor spin which only cost a few of seconds, Young Driver AMR finished fifth and was the best highest placed Aston Martin team in the Japanese WEC round.

Dawn will soon be breaking for those sleeping in the shady of Mount Fuji, Japan and who are preparing to kick off round 6 of the 2015 World Endurance Series with the first of two Free Practice sessions this Friday morning.

Aston Martin Racing has once again dispatched its five V8 chargers to the land of the rising sun but with a slightly revised driver line to that of the last round with the hope that the post CoTA Balance of Performance re-adjustment will at least let the cars race competitively against their opposition instead of being left behind 'eating everyone else's dust' as was sadly the case in Austin.

With the Prodrive prepared cars now being allowed to re-increase its air restrictor size back to 40% of what it was pre Le Mans together with the slight weight increase imposed on the now domineering Porsche 911 RSR's, the FIA's hope is to re-merge the GTE field back into a pack for which its racing is renowned for.

We will wait and see whether or not these readjustments will have such an effect - opinion seems divided.



As for drivers Beechdean's British GT Champion Jonny Adam rejoins Darren Turner again in the #97 GTE Pro car as a pair whilst Stefan Mucke is relisted into the #99 car of Fernando Rees and Alex MacDowall to make up for Richie Stanaway who has been released by the team to continue in his GP2 duties in Russia this weekend.


Nikki Thiim is also missing again from the #95 Dane Train car (probably not to be seen again in it) leaving the much more accomplished driving duo of Christoffer Nygaard and Marco Sorensen to pick up the Danish mantel again.

In GTE Am the #98 car line up remains the same whilst Roald Goethe is absent again from his #96 car as was the case in Austin. The third driver allocated to the #96 (for possibly more than just this event) is a certain Liam Griffin who competed with great effect with an Oman Racing V12 Vantage in this years British GT. This will be only the second time he has competitively driven a V8 GTE car following his 'baptism' in the Beechdean GTE at the Aston Martin Festival event at Le Mans this year.


Qualifying is due to start at 05.40hrs BST on Saturday 10th with the start of the race itself beginning at 03.00 BST on Sunday.

Photo credits - Aston Martin Racing / British GT

The fly-away-season of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) is on a high. Three weeks after the U.S. round of the World Championship, Young Driver AMR is back in action, this time in Japan. The sixth round of the championship will take place this weekend at Fuji Speedway in Japan. Christoffer Nygaard and Marco Sørensen will chase their first podium finish of the season in their Aston Martin Racing entered Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin in the second-to-last round of the season.

Young Driver AMR travels with good memories to Japan: In the past two years, the team took class victories there in the GTE-AM-class. But after the switch to the GTE Pro class this season, the competition will be tougher at the track located in the shadows of the scenic Mount Fuji. The past two rounds at Nürburgring and Austin/Texas have been tough ones for Young Driver AMR, after a performance cut by the organisers post the 24 hours of Le Mans. However, there is hope as the Aston Martin Vantage GTE was given a performance break and is allowed slightly more power for the six-hour race at the quick track in Japan.

"The last two races were frustrating for us as we couldn’t race with our competitors on a equal level“, says Jan Struve of Young Driver AMR ahead of the race in Japan. "Still, with good teamwork we made the most of this situation, even if we were denied a chance to fight for a podium finish. For the upcoming rounds we received a performance break that will bring us closer to our competitors. We will be closer to them, but most likely not on the same level. We will give our best, not at least as fans in Japan are second to non und always give us a very warm welcome.“

Source material - Young Driver AMR
Photo credit - WEC

The FIA today announced the provisional entry list for their inaugural GT World Cup event due to be held at the Macau Grand Prix on the third weekend in November.

Alongside manufacturers like McLaren, Porsche, Audi and Mercedes-Benz Aston Martin have had three Craft Bamboo Racing prepared V12 Vantage GT3 entries confirmed for the event but unlike all the other entries only Craft Bamboo Racer Darryl O'Young has been confirmed.


Seeing that the #97 and #99 CBR cars have yet to be allocated a driver it is surely highly likely that at least one of these slots will be filled with an Aston Martin Racing factory driver.

The event will be made up of a Qualification race of 12 laps or 45 minutes (whichever comes first) on Saturday, November 21, and the main event lasting 18 laps or 60 minutes on Sunday, November 22.

The top two cars from each registered manufacturer will accrue points and the marque with the most points will win the first FIA GT World Cup crown.

An impressive performance from TF Sport’s Euan Hankey and Salih Yoluc resulted a GT-Am class victory on the Surrey-based team’s return to the International GT Open at the history-rich Autodromo Nazionale Monza circuit in Italy (3-4 October).

Turkish racer, Yoluc, was elected to start the first 70-minute race of the weekend on Saturday (3 October) and made his way up to 12th from the rear end of the grid on the opening tour of the charismatic Monza circuit.

Yoluc was determined to progress further and this was evident when he attempted a lunge on Lorenzo Bontempelli’s Audi R8 into the second Lesmo, but, unable to dispose of his Italian rival, the TF Sport racer focused on soaking up the immense pressure from Claudio Sdanewitsch’s AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia behind.

The race was in a state of flux during the pit window and a well-executed driver-change approaching half-distance and some pacey lap times from Euan Hankey saw the TF Sport Aston Martin V12 Vantage leap to eighth in the definitive order.

The Tom Ferrier-led TF Sport team, a race winner on its International GT Open debut at Silverstone in 2014, pushed on and followed GT-Am rivals Sdanewitsch and Ilya Melnikov during the final throes to complete a shortened race in eighth overall and second in class.

TF Sport – an official Aston Martin Racing Partner Team – went on to surprise the International GT Open regulars on Sunday (4 October), perfectly exploiting damp, but drying track conditions to qualify on the front row of the race two grid, alongside the Radical RXC of James Abbott.

A conservative start meant Hankey maintained second position on the initial run through the Variante del Rettifilo chicane, but looked racy and confidently held the racing line, despite coming under threat from Matt Griffin’s Ferrari.

It was on the third lap that Hankey put the hammer down in pursuit of the agile Radical coupe and the top trio ran nose-to-tail when a slow exit from Variante della Roggia for race leader Abbott enabled Hankey to snatch the initiative on the wide line through the first Lesmo.

Griffin also moved past Abbott and into second position and he was an ever-present fixture in Hankey’s rear-view mirrors as Michele Rugolo made it a three-way fight prior to the stops.

Hankey placed his Aston Martin perfectly and frustrated his GT-Pro foes to create what was hailed as one of the most enthralling tussles of the 2015 International GT Open season, although the fight was neutralised when AF Corse switched Griffin for Duncan Cameron.

TF Sport opted to extend its stint until the limit of the pit window and, although Yoluc was still in the lead when all the strategies played out with 20 minutes of the race remaining, the Turk was relegated to fourth overall, but still took top honours in GT-Am.

A slow but progressive programme at TF Sport earned the team their second brace of podiums in what is only their second entry into the International GT Open Series at Monza this weekend.

Suffering like all were with a damp/wet track during both Free Practice sessions the teams converted Spuer GT Aston Martin Vantage GT3, with drivers Euan Hankey and Salih Yoluc were unable to get the best of the car in terms of ultimate pace what with a cooling track/air temperature and increased humidity.


In Qualifying 1 and with Yoluc at the wheel the the #10 car was only able to establish a P13 out of fourteen cars starting position. Come the start of the race on Saturday however, the drier track allowed the young Turkish driver the confidence to 'mix it' with his Am class counterparts, moving up a couple of places before handing the car over to Hankey at the half way stage.

With the pro drivers now in the cars Hankey was soon able to move the car up to 8th overall and 2nd in class before a horrific accident involving a Villorba Corse Ferrari curtailed Race 1 with an immediate red flag. Fortunately the driver was able to remove himself from what were the remnants of his car unaided and relatively unscathed.  P2 in class for TF Sport.


Come Sunday morning it was the turn of the pro drivers to set the qualifying positions ready for Race 2 later in the day. Building up momentum during the thirteen qualifying laps that he drove, Hankey left it to his penultimate lap to set a time sufficient to qualify the car in P2 overall, just behind the pole sitting Radical of James Abbott.

At the green flag for Race 2 it only took Hankey two laps to pass the Radical for the overall race lead, a position that the team would maintain all the way up to the pit stop cycle and several laps after before ultimately being passed by the full season Ferrari and McLaren protagonists.


All that said Race 2 earned the team a P4 overall finishing position and a further Am class win to go along with the won they had at Spa a few weeks ago. Another great weekends work for the team.

With that done the team now move onto the final round of the 2015 International GT Open season at Barcelona at the end of the month. Before that however is a little distraction called the European Le Mans Series at Estoril in just two weeks time with the accompaniment of a certain young AMR works driver for their GTC entry.

Photo credits - Int GT Open

Aston Martin Racing and Beechdean Motorsport's Jonny Adam has tonight been confirmed as the winner of the 2015 Sunoco Whelen Challenge landing himself the covered seat in the Whelen sponsored Daytona Prototype for the 2016 Rolex 24 at Daytona.

Following in the footsteps of last years winning driver and fellow British GT driver Phil Keen, Adam will now have to find a gap in his surely increasing driving schedule to take part in one of the worlds most prestigious endurance events at the end of January, an event that many WEC drivers now use as a 'warm up' for the forthcoming season.

Open to drivers competing in either the British GT, Radical Masters, Britcar or Radical Enduro Masters tonight sees Adam confirmed the winner of this years prize eventually seeing off the close attention of GT driver Alex Sims and Radical drivers Scott Malvern and Scott Mansall.

Over in the Sunoco 200 Challenge, the 2015 honours went to Radical driver Patrick McClughan who secures himself a drive in the 200 mile endurance support race prior to the Rolex24.

Well done and good luck to you both.

Photo credits - Aston Martin Racing / Sunoco