Yet another racing season is sadly coming to an end but luckily the next is literally just around the corner.

As many of us around the world get ready to celebrate the arrival of the New Year this week, we at least do not have to wait too long for the first sessions of the new 2020 season to kick off with the first meeting starting on track just this weekend with IMSA's Roar before the 24 test from the Daytona International Speedway.

As previous listed, 2019 was a very successful inaugural season for Aston Martin Racing, their Partner and Customer teams as they raced AMR's latest Vantage GTE, GT3 and GT4 machinery around the world and as we see out the last few days of 2019, we at The-Advantage.org would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for supporting this website and our wittering's throughout what was the busiest year to date!

We hope that you have enjoyed what you've seen to date and we look forward to welcoming you all back in 2020 as our favourite form of motor racing gets back up to speed in the next few months.

Of course we would also like to thank all the race teams and those associated with the teams, drivers and series for their help over the year, keeping us informed as without whom things would be impossible.

Thank you again and have a great New Year.

See you somewhere in 2020 - maybe!!

Just over a calendar year ago, the new turbo charged era of Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GT3 and GT4 machinery opened up their first racing accounts at the Gulf 12Hr race from the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi.

There, we saw the likes of R-Motorsport, Beechdean AMR and Oman Racing with TF Sport AMR Partner Teams get their first hold of their latest AMR acquisitions whilst the factory team also entered their test and development Vantage GT4 to test it against their class peers in a live racing situation in the remaining months before each platform was finally homologated just before the start of the European season later in March this year.


Even at this early stage of Partner team interaction and at the cars first racing event, both showed an inkling of what was to come in 2019 as, and despite some technical 'niggles' with some of the cars, the Beechdean AMR GT3 came through to secure the final step of the GT3 Pro-Am podium after just a brief shakedown before the event - race one/podium one!!

Over the winter months, the Prodrive factory would put into practice lessons learned with both platforms in the Gulf 12Hr (and as we later understood from TF Sport boss Tom Ferrier that that was surprisingly little adjustment from what raced at the Gulf 12hr) as they struggled to meet customer demand for their new chassis in time for pre-season testing and indeed race meetings March/April this year. Whilst most platforms were delivered in time for at least some pre-season testing, there were a few teams that were left wanting as their season commitments came up quickly upon them.


The Vantage GT4 would quickly get its next public race early in the New Year at the opening round of the new Michelin Pilot Challenge Series that supports IMSA's opening salvo of their 2019 season -  the Rolex 24 at the Daytona International Speedway. Running in the hands of long standing AMR team Automatic Racing, the performance of the GT4 certainly turned heads despite a few technical issues that otherwise blighted a successful US audition.

The initial bulk of new cars was delivered to just the European markets, 2019 would show an unprecedented level of demand as teams (some existing - some new to the marque) were entered and had many customer drivers waiting to race these new cars in Series and Championships like the British GT, Blancpain GT Series, ADAC GT Masters, ADAC GT4 Germany, GT4 European Series and GT Open, etc. Several teams would also be running parallel race programmes with the same rolling stock such was the demand for the cars with their initial delivery delay just adding to the then high stress levels within the teams by the time their rolling stock were finally delivered and for some that was on the morning of the Champions Media Day!!


On the eve of these Partner and Customer team racing commitments in the 2019 season, the new AMR Vantage GTE had already come of age having secured its first pole position and race win in the World Endurance Championship so there were now high expectations on these two smaller Vantage platforms as their season began. It turned out that neither would disappoint.

The biggest influx of cars came from within the British GT Championship where no fewer than eleven cars running in both classes - four cars with TF Sport, two with Beechdean, two with Academy and three with Optimum Motorsports. It would be quickly apparent whether AMR's latest weapon would/could carry the mantle established by the V12 machine that it replaced - and it did with podiums for Optimums GT3 and Beechdean GT4 new crews at their opening round.


This Championship would ultimately produce the largest number of Championship and Class winners as well as Jonny Adam extended his Championship credentials to win his fourth overall title with new team convert Graham Davidson whilst across their garage, Ash Hand and Tom Canning would secure their first overall GT4 crown as well as ultimately the AMR Drivers Academy prize for Canning.

These two titles were further bolstered by the GT3 Silver Class win for Optimum's Ollie Wilkinson and Bradley Ellis whilst Martin Plowman and Kelvin Fletcher secured the GT4 Pro-Am title with their Beechdean AMR prepared Vantage GT4.


In what was then the Blancpain GT Series, Partner teams R-Motorsport, Garage 59 and Oman Racing with TF Sport would fly the AMR flag in the Endurance rounds with the highly influential Swiss based team also having two Vantage GT3 cars in the Blancpain World Challenge Europe sprint series.

For the Endurance Series, it would be the new Pro-Am driver line of Ahmad Al Harthy, Salih Yoluc and Charlie Eastwood aboard the #97 Oman Racing with TF Sport who would claim the highest honours in the series whilst the #188 Garage 59 car of Alex West and Chris Goodwin (with a little help from Chris Harris along the way) who would only just miss out in the Am Class.


It was of course not all fun and games for the AMR runners as Garage 59's Pro car of Come Ledogar, Jonny Adam and Andrew Watson as well as the #62 R-Motorsport car of Mathieu Vaxivierre, Maxime Martin and Matt Parry would end up having the most disastrous season imaginable with each car claiming just two and one point respectively by the end of the season. The other R-Motorsport Pro car of Jake Dennis, Marvin Kirchhofer and Alex Lynn would at least finish P6 overall whilst their World Challenge Europe runners Aaro Vainio and Hugo de Sadeleer only just missed out on the Silver Cup title after the final race of the season.

SRO sanctioned series, the GT4 European Series would be another that saw an increased prevalence in AMR runners for their 2019 season as Academy Motorsport, German team Prosport Performance and Belgium team Street Art Racing would offer two Vantage GT4's each together with a periodic attendance from the Generation AMR SuperRacing squad.


For the German based team, Prosport Performance (by now running under the Propeak Performance banner) their conversion to the AMR brand would seem like a choice well made despite the late arrival of their cars with performances and results initially going in their favour as the drivers became more accustomed to their cars. Issues with cars through their over optimistic multi programme of racing in both this and their national ADAC series began to cause performance issues within to such a degree that the team finally pulled it's four cars from the final rounds of the ADAC GT Masters and ADAC GT4 Germany Series before season's end.

Sad for all involved by all means but also verification that modern motorsport is so competitive these days that an 'acceptable' level of success could be measured so precisely.


Whilst that was a large dose of bad news on one hand, the Am Class Street Art Racing entry of Clement Seyler and Pascal Bachmann would go on to establish another AMR overall Class winner in GT4 European Series Am Class in what was the young Luxembourg racers first season in GT's.

The German VLN Series and ADAC Total N24 headliner would also bring about some surprising driver crews and successes as first Peter Cate, Jamie Chadwick and Alex Brundle would secure the new GT4's first overall class win at the 24 hour event before the latter, accompanied by his F1 accomplished father Martin would race together in the same car at a VLN event later in the year where they would finish an incredible P2 again in the SP8T class.


After the initial rush, the factory was soon able to supply cars to its Partner and Customer teams further afield, more GT4 cars to their American market whilst both GT3 and GT4 cars went to the Far East for competition in both Japanese Super GT and Super Taikyu Series as well as the China GT4 Championship.

Whilst the ultra competitive Super GT series proved hard and frustrating work for the factory's new Partner Team D'Station Racing AMR, they would have better success in the Super Taikyu Series finishing just off the top step of the Series by the end of the season. Since then, the team have gone onto enter (and win) their class in the opening round of the Asian Le Mans Series in Shanghai earlier this month with AMR WEC factory Ross Gunn part of the squad.


Gunn also played a part in the Vantage GT4's introduction into the China GT Championship after young AMR Academy Driver Yves Volte initially paved the way with the BSEM AMR gentleman driver with their older, normally aspirated Vantage GT8 whilst they waited for the delivery of their new car. Podiums and race wins were the successes for both Gunn and David Pun by the end of the year before the team later sent two such cars to the Macau GP where one finished an incredible P2 in the GT4 support race.

For Aston Martin Racing, the new goal continues to be that of the North America market with having now gone several years in the American series' without any fully factory backed AMR cars competing within them. 2020 bears the hallmarks that their hard work is now being rewarded with 'more than a handful' of new, turbo charged generation of race cars about to go racing in the USA.


For the Rolex 24 that starts in January, we will have two new Vantage GT3 (GTD) cars compete in the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship for the first time in three years - the Heart of Racing being a full season entry with another cameo attendance of long time AMR customer Paul Dalla Lana with his supporting drivers Mathias Lauda, Pedro Lamy and Ross Gunn. Fellow AMR WEC driver Nicki Thiim also plays a part with the Heart of Racing car.

Beyond them, 2020 will also see two new AMR cars compete in the recently renamed SRO Series GT4 America as well as further (potential) runners in the Michelin Pilot Challenge with the help of AMR strategic North America Partner CSJ Motorsport.


Back in Europe, the preparations for 2020 seem to be a little more sedate with only R-Motorsport announcing details of their Intercontinental GT Challenge Season challenge at the Bathurst 12hr (and the AMR Vantage GT3's audition in Australia) with an international and series diverse line up, Optimum Motorsport have confirmed so far just a single returning driver back to the British GT Championship with AMR WEC driver Maxime Martin announcing his own new GT4 team that will do battle in both GT4 European Series and ADAC GT4 Germany series.

Until further confirmation is received from these multiple teams we can only sit and wait for the deadlines to come and go and hope that something is announced in between. 2019 has been an incredible opening season for the new breed of race car out of the Banbury factory with nearly 50 GT4's and 22 GT3's already having been built in their first year!


2020 may not be as busy at last years but at least it should be just as exciting to watch - whatever the series and whatever the venue - but then, there is a lot more still to come from Aston Martin..........!!!


Photo credits - AMR / Aston Martin / Blancpain / British GT / R-Motorsport / CSJ Motorpsort / IMSA / Gulf 12h / China GT / D'Station Racing

We may only be talking about the first week in January 2020 but things in the racing world will already be warming up nicely for yet another busy and highly eventful season of racing.

As previously listed, the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Challenge will be holding their official test (Roar before the 24) on the first weekend in January from the Daytona International Speedway as they ready themselves for their opening round of the season at the Rolex 24 later in January.

Just after those test proceedings will have come to a conclusion at the Roar, and on the other side of the world we will will see the initial track sessions that will then lead into the opening round of the Creventic 24H Series at the 24 Hours of Dubai that will take place over the 10/11th January 2020.

Initially publishing the provisional entry of at least a coupe of Aston Martin Racing teams, the entry list now bears just the sole AMR entry from Newbridge Motorsports amongst the high seventies entry list made up of GT3, GT4, Porsche and TCR cars. This race will be the teams their first race with their brand new AMR Vantage GT4 as they hopefully gear up or a multi series year of GT racing in and around Europe.

Official driver lists for each entry will be released by the Series very soon but we understand that part of Newbridge's new client list will include two drivers who did very well at the start of last seasons 24h Series with what was a brand new Vantage GT4 before bad luck and misfortune in the latter races  of last year destroyed their then Championship lead.

Track activity for this event will begin with Private Testing on Monday 6th January before more formal Free Practice and Qualifying on Thursday 9th January.


UPDATE - Today, Christmas Eve the Series have finally announced the confirmed driver line up per entry an for the #471 Newbridge entry that includes the two former Prosport Performance 24H Series drivers of Rodrique Gillion and Nico Verdonck who will this time be joined by British driver Ricky Coomber and South African racers Paul Hill and Micheal Stephen.

Photo credit - Newbridge

Three Aston Martin Racing Vantage race cars are being listed to be in attendance at the 2020 IMSA Roar before the 24 Official Test at the Daytona International Speedway on the first weekend in January.

Being the first time that AMR's new turbo charged Vantage GT3 (GTD) has competed anywhere in an IMSA sanctioned series, both the Heart of Racing team and the AMR crew supporting Paul Dalla Lana's Northwest entered car have been mandated to be in attendance at the test for the co-purpose of an having available test weekend ready for the first round of the 2020 season as well as for determining the correct balance of performance criteria for that platform in both the race and the series moving forward from its initial standpoint.


Heart of Racing only this week announced their four man driver for the Rolex 24 featuring their new Weathertech Sportscar Championship full season duo of Alex Riberas and Roman de Angelis who will be joined by their endurance rounds third man and team manager Ian James as well as AMR WEC factory driver Nicki Thiim for Daytona only. They will be competing with the #23 car number.

Joining them in the eighteen strong GTD class is the AMR factory team supported customer entry of their WEC GTE Am driver Paul Dalla Lana who will again be joined with his former supporting drivers in Pedro Lamy and Mathias Lauda. They in turn will be joined by the #98 WEC car's new young hotshot Ross Gunn for his first Daytona 24 experience.


Part of the IMSA series also comes the supporting Michelin Pilot Challenge Series and whilst their attendance is not mandatory at the Roar before the 24, the test is usually well attended by most of the full season entries in that class.

Next months anticipated entry for the test is certainly no exception with over thirty seven cars scheduled to be at the circuit in early January, making themselves ready for their own season opener - the four hour BMW Endurance Challenge that will be held the day before the start of the 24hour event.


Amongst the twenty six GS Class cars is the return of the Automatic Racing team and their popular #99 car number with which provided some of the closest racing despite its age against new OEM machinery at last years event.

With that normally aspirated V8 Vantage GT4 now having been pensioned out by the team at the end of last season, their beautifully liveried Stoner Car Care livery design is now expected to be wrapped around the profile of a new AMR V8 turbo Vantage GT4. The team and this event last year was of course used by Aston Martin Racing to showcase the new iteration of Vantage GT4's international debut in its new full homologated form.


No names have been listed for any of these cars at the Roar - nor does it confirm the full entry into the Friday race before the Rolex 24 but it is expected that the Florida based team and their CSJ Motorsport partners will enter more than one Vantage GT4.

UPDATE - Returning drivers Gary Ferrera and Kris Wilson are the first pairing to be confirmed by Automatic Racing today, indeed racing in a new generation AMR V8 turbo Vantage GT4.

Photo credits - IMSA / Heart of Racing / Automatic

A surprisingly understated announcement from Swiss based R-Motorsport today revealed their latest GT signing for the forthcoming 2020 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance and Sprint Series aboard one of their Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT3's.

Highly experienced in GT racing across the world in some of the most competitive racing arenas, twenty six year old former BMW factory driver Tom Blomqvist becomes the fastest signatory to Florian Kamelger and Andreas Bainzigers GT ambitions for next season.


The signing comes off the back of the teams first signing, Luca Ghiotto who was confirmed just prior to the final round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge event in Kyalami in mid November.

Son of Swedish rally driver Stig Blomqvist, Tom has progressed up the racing ladder the 'traditional' route having started in lower end single seater formulae before progressing up to mainstream European series including European F3 and DTM up until 2015 after which he split his time between BMW GT3/GTE (GTLM) racing in Europe and the USA together with a short spell in Formula E.

"I can't wait to start working with the team and take a seat at the wheel of the Aston Martin Vantage for the first time" was Blomqvist comment made via the team's media post. Team boss Kamelger added that Blomqvist "embodies experience and youth at the same time, which makes him a valuable new addition to our team and we look forward to a successful future together."

As it says on the tin, Swiss based Aston Martin Racing Partner team, R- Motorsport have just announced the opening of their new on-line shop where there is a whole range of replica team apparel and other goodies for you to consider in time for next season' racing events!


Link to their new site is available here - https://shop.r-motorsport.com/en/home

Quoted in Swiss francs - 1 CHF is about the equivalent of 0.79 GBP or $1.02 US

Photo credits - R-Motorsport

It was great to see North America's first Aston Martin Racing Partner team to run the new 2019 specification V8 Vantage GT3 in next seasons IMSA Championship confirm a four driver line up today ahead of next months Rolex 24hr from Daytona.

Featuring a duo of both Team Manager and experience endurance racer, Ian James as well as the return of former team driver Alex Riberas sees the team add two new names to the mix - one for just the 24hour opening round of the IMSA season and the other as the full season pairing alongside Riberas in the Weathertech Sportscar Championship in a car that shall compete in the GTD (GT3) class.

Aston Martin Racing factory driver Nicki Thiim needs no introduction - ambitious, highly determined, a race winner at the highest level - the Dane will be looking for nothing less than a fully committed effort from AMR's latest signatories as he and the team both return to this headline event.

The quartet is made up with the announcement that eighteen year old Canadian, Roman De Angelis will be joining the squad on a full time basis, sharing the car with Riberas as he steps up to GT racing having won the 2019 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama with an impressive record of 13 wins, 18 podiums and 12 pole positions as well as the 2019 Porsche GT3 Cup Canada series.


"Endurance racing has always been my dream. To be making my second start in the 24 Hours of Daytona at the age of 18, as a full-season driver in the IMSA GTD class, is something that I would never have dreamt of. In addition, to be partnered with a brand so rich in racing history like Aston Martin, is an absolute dream come true" said De Angelis.

It was something of a bruising encounter for the two new Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GT4 cars of Generation AMR and Optimum Motorsport as they were the sole representative's of the marque at this weekends Gulf 12Hr from the Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi.

Coming back for another stab at the GT4 crown having won their in 2017 were the crew of the #44 David Appleby Engineering prepared car of James Holder, Matt George and Steve Tandy whereas the #15 Optimum car fielding a trio of drivers new to one another in GT Cup racer David Holloway, BMW tin-top racer Dave Whitmore, both supported by GT4 America racer Michael Dinan all of whom were hoping to learn and develop from the experience rather than having any fighting chance of a podium position considering the strength of the small but perfectly formed GT4 grid.


The difference in abilities between cars was clear after Qualifying when their combined times placed the #44 car P3 for Saturday's Part 1 starting grid whilst the #15 car was another 1.5 seconds slower with a P29 start.

With the customary numbers of clashes between the faster GT3 and the slower GT4 machinery during the opening hours, both teams managed to survive the first six hours of racing conducted in full daylight conditions before the grid headed for a short interlude to resume their final six hours into the night a couple of hours later.


The #44 car was best placed just 36 seconds behind the class leading Balfe McLaren 570s in P4 with the inexperienced #15 crew was still proving their worth being just a lap down in P5.

Drama however would come to both teams in the second half of the race - firstly for the #44 car which would suffer sizeable front end impact damage on the formation lap for the race restart where Holder would collect the race leading Balfe car in front as the grid jostled for the green flag.

Initially coming straight into pit lane for repairs to what first appeared to be a loose bonnet, Holder was sent off again to continue his opening stint before their temporary repairs failed and ripped the unsecured bonnet from its mountings.


Pulling into the garage with coolant pouring from the radiators, a missing bonnet and damage to the roofline - that would ultimately put pay to their 2019 challenge although the team worked hard to get the car out again (with a little help from Optimum with parts)  for just a few more laps before the day was eventually called.

Things wouldn't go much better for Holloway (then in the #15 car) at the same time as the #44 car was having its issues with its bonnet as an over ambitious move from the all women crewed Iron Lynx Ferrari GT3 would result in the bronze driver having nowhere to go in avoidance of the Ferrari's actions that collected wheels with the AMR breaking its rear wheel linkage on the spot, putting the #83 Ferrari car out of the race.

Racing on adrenalin and sheer excitement for the event, the crew of the #15 car would eventually take the chequered flag P5 in class - seven laps behind the class winning Balfe car but finish they did with a smile.


For Mssrs. Holder, George and Tandy - they will be seen again at a race track somewhere in Europe next season whether it be in an AMR GT4 or a historic LMP1 car. For the drivers of the #15 Optimum car however, the Gulf 12hr was all about working out what their next racing steps would be - whether to step up to GT4 as a class for Whitmore or whether to upgrade to an AMR for their ongoing GT4 ambitions wherever they may be for both Holloway and Dinan.


Only time will tell on the latter points but we can be assured that a good time was had by all despite the racing outcome.

Photo credits - Optimum / Gulf 12

Another Rookie Test in the bag after the hugely successful return to the Bahrain International Circuit for the Aston Martin Racing team in Saturday's fourth round of the 2019/20 World Endurance Championship.

Despite what was previously published by both the team and the WEC, six drivers (according to the official timing providers on-line system at least) eventually took in laps around the 5.4km circuit, two of those being the crew of the third placed GTE Pro car in Saturdays eight hour marathon - Maxime Martin and Alex Lynn.

True to the earlier weather forecast, Bahrain was awash with heavy rainfall on Sunday morning and that otherwise limited the effective running time on track for all the teams that stayed behind for Sundays test giving Lynn and AMR Junior driver Andrew Watson just five and seven laps respectively apiece in the morning session.

As the rain subsided and the track began to dry, the team was finally able to get in some more laps for the factory and junior drivers before allowing their auditioning drivers some decent mileage aboard the race winning #95 Dane Train V8 Vantage GTE.


Having last driven the older iteration of V8 Vantage GTE Dane Train at the AMR Festival meeting at Le Mans in 2018 with Bennie Simonsen, Lasse Sorensen (brother of Marco) posted the fastest time of the three audition drivers just ahead of Gabriel Aubrey who had earlier raced in the Bahrain 8Hrs in his Jackie Chan DC Racing LMP2 car.

Last but certainly no means least was TF Sports British GT GT4 and 2019 AMR Drivers Academy winning Tom Canning who posted a lap time only 1 second slower than Sorensen despite never having driven a GTE before in anger and only having driven a new generation Vantage GT3 a few weeks before at Snetterton as he tries to mirror the success of the previous Academy winner - Ross Gunn.

With both Watson and Canning already 'on the books' at AMR, their time will eventually come just like it has with Gunn but as for the others, it's harder to say so to borrow the phrase of another "lets just wait and see"!!


Whilst the test was ongoing, we understand that TF Sport have managed to resolve the technical issues that prematurely ended their 8Hrs of Bahrain prior to all four AMR's and their ancillary equipment being containerised again ready for the long haul via sea to Florida and the 1000miles of Sebring in February.

Can't wait!!

Photo credits - AMR / Social media

Round four of the World Endurance Championship from Bahrain yesterday turned out to be one of the best races of the season so far despite the threat of something like an uneventful, monotonous race that the scheduled eight hours could have always produced.

Even for a circuit located in the Middle East, unseasonal weather had already made its mark on proceedings as rain had already passed over the circuit whilst the teams were setting themselves up for Saturdays race with more forecast before the end of the weekend and the Rookie Test that was scheduled for Sunday.


Both Aston Martin Racing and their Partner Team TF Sport had left the last round of the Championship in China with another large haul of silverware after another successful showing in both GTE Pro and GTE Am classes but that success came with a price - reduced fuel capacity across the range and the maximum success penalty ballast (45kg) for TF Sport. Bahrain was therefore always going to be more difficult than before.

Although all four cars showed periodic pace as the event progressed through the preceeding Free Practice sessions, there were always a fear the the new AMR Vantage GTE platform wouldn't be as fast as certainly the new generation of Porsche 911 RSR -19 that the factory team had nor the older generation of 911 that the Dempsey Proton and Project 1 teams ran in GTE Am. That was obviously so for the #90 TF Sport car of Salih Yoluc, Charlie Eastwood and Jonny Adam considering their additional weight as they were now running as the heaviest GTE on the grid.


Qualifying was something of a disappointment for all as both GTE Pro cars would finish at the foot of the class - worse for the #97 car of Maxime Martin and Alex Lynn who would have to start at the foot of the entire grid having had all of Martins lap times deleted for track limit violations. In GTE Am, both the #98 AMR and #90 TF car would at least start from dangerous position of the midst of the grid.

The start of the race on Saturday afternoon was under much cooler conditions that what the teams had experienced earlier in the meeting with an air temperature of just 23 degrees C - no immediate threat of rain but this all added another variable to the equation.


After the chaotic scenes of the opening lap and resulting Safety Car because of several LMP's tangling together there were at some immediate gains as Marco Sorensen aboard the #95 lifted himself up to P3 on the opening lap and Martin had already made up seven places on track. Betterment in track positions was also the case for both Am cars as Paul Dalla Lana and Salih Yoluc lifted themselves up to P4 and P6 respectively.

Throughout the opening stint the #95 of Sorensen would find himself stuck behind the #92 Porsche, slowly but surely dropping off the tail of the Porsche before being called in early by the team for what would turn out to be a pivotable decision by Aston Martin Racing. Martin in the #97 would meanwhile be left out to continue his recovery drive up to the rear of the Pro field.


Getting out of the from his single stint opener, Sorensen would confirm that they started on their Qualifying tyres, tyres that were less than optimum having been flat spotted in Qualifying but it was something that was tried with great success in Shanghai where only an unexpected deflation of a brand new tyre later in the race would put them out of contention. Single stint openers would also be the case for the rest of the AMR runners as Charlie Eastwood stepped into the #90, Alex Lynn into the #97 and a revitalised Ross Gunn into the #98.

By the time these and the remaining runners in GTE had made their stops we saw the first visualisation of what was then going to happen through much of the remaining seven hours of racing as Nicki Thiim assumed control of the Pro class lead (and by some margin) until such time as his tyres would begin to wear off and the fresher rubbered competitors would first catch and then be able to pass him by - all before the his next stop of course!


Having seemingly recovered from his bout of sickness earlier in the week, Gunn soon went about his business in reducing the lead of the #57 Project 1 Porsche before ultimately taking the class lead at the top of the second hour of racing. Eastwood was enjoying similar fortunes as he hauled his heavyweight car up to P3 in class by the time he pitted and swapped back to Yoluc as the Am drivers needed to make up at least 2hours 20minutes of drive time. The #90 car would loose time at this stop due to an undefined issue with their fuel rig!

With the Bahrain circuit certainly being as equally abrasive as the Shanghai circuit endured by the teams last time, AMR began 'rolling the dice' with the #97 car as they continued to split strategies between their cars by changing only the left hand side at the next stop for Lynn to use.


Ninety minutes into the race we saw what was good about current GTE racing as the top four cars raced nose to tail with one another, everyone on a differing strategy and desperate to make their throw of the dice better than that of their competitors. In the midst of that haste, Lynn would have a moment as a suddenly slowing LMP2 could not be avoided under braking with contact being made, spinning the LMP2 but fortunately no penalty for the #97.

Just before the halfway mark, Race Control announced the first signs of reported rain fall at some point around the circuit but with the temperature of that track asphalt at that time there would be nothing to immediately fear should that rainfall intensify in the short term - which it didn't!!


Drama of another making was soon to occur to the benefit of both AMR and Ferrari as first the #92 and then the #91 factory Porsches both hit trouble of differing issues with both needing garage intervention to allow them to continue. Continue they eventually did but with having both lost more than two laps each both would effectively be out of contention in GTE Pro.

With all AMR drivers warned to stay off the high kerbs, the teams had the benefit of then running P1 and P2 in Pro (#95 then #97) and P3 and P5 in Am (#98 and then #90) as both Jonny Adam and Darren Turner got their first run outs in their respective cars. These would be short auditions as each of their bronze drivers still had at least half a stint to go to make up their minimum times whereas the class leading Project 1 Porsche had already ran out their bronze drivers time in a monumental triple stint at the start of the race. For them, catching and passing the #57 Porsche would be virtually impossible as that car would from then on only feature Pro drivers!


For TF Sport, things started to go uncontrollably wrong just before the six hour mark as Eastwood would return the car back to the garage with (then) reported gearbox and fuel supply issues. The Irishman would later say that although the car was suffering from upshift issues it was the fuel starvation problem that was the real issue. The team would attempt repairs and dispatch Adam back out in the car after a seventy minute stop but after just two further laps it was decided to retire the car to save any further damage. That was a real shame considering their podium filled run in the Championship so far.

At the top of the seventh hour the #95 would make what would turn out to be their final full service stop with Sorensen then back at the wheel to lead the car to the chequered flag having reassumed the lead of the race by virtue of beating the then leading #71 car out of pit lane. Another short Full Course Caution for track debris would raise the excitement of the race to another level especially with the #51 Ferrari right on the heels of the #97 ready for the restart.


Restart - more drama as first the #51 takes position from the #97 car (by driving off track in the process) with the #71 then being pinged for spinning the wheels coming out of their final pit stop. The resulting stop and go penalty for the #71 and instruction for the #51 to 'give the place back' from Race Control cemented the final finishing order as the eight hours of Bahrain came to a close.

P1 for the #95 car of Sorensen and Thiim came as a timely remedy for what happened to them last time out in Shanghai from a similar race leading position. That in turn was backed up by another P3 finish for the #97 crew of Martin and Lynn having showed great patience and character for a crew that started second from last on the grid eight hours earlier.


In GTE Am, whilst the bubble finally burst for TF Sport with their first (and hopefully only) DNF of the season, it was back to the podium for the #98 crew of Dalla Lana, Gunn and Turner after two frustrating races for them in both Japan and China where other cars used them as 'target practice' early on in each.

Those points were enough to lift the #98 crew just above the #90 crew in the GTE Am Drivers Championship with both crews now between 13-15 points behind the Championship leading Project 1 crew. In the World Endurance GTE Drivers Championship table meanwhile, Thiim and Sorensen spring to the top of that table with a 14 point lead thanks to the events 1.5 times points tally with AMR also taking an 11 point lead in the Manufactures table form Porsche.


The next race for the WEC next year will be their first visit to North America in 2020 with the 1000miles of Sebring at the end of March.

Now who said that the WEC wasn't exciting or couldn't be taken seriously???

Photo credits - AMR / TF Sport