A further two days of Official Testing was successfully completed by the Pacific Racing Team and D'Station Racing AMR from Fuji Speedway at the weekend as the series looks again at restarting their 2020 season in just under three weeks time.

Again competing in their familiar green liveried Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GT3, all driving duties had to be left to Tomonobu Fujii over the two day - four session test with co-driver Nicki Thiim unable to travel to Japan due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation - a repeat of the situation that team found themselves in at the previous Official Test at Okayama back in March.


No stranger to the car having raced it in the series last year with JP de Oliviera nor the cars new Michelin tyres having raced on them in last seasons Asian Le Mans Series  saw the Fujii and #9 car move up the timing screens from the lower half in the dry of Saturday through to mid table in the wet of Sunday. The #9 car was one of five GT300 entries to only test with a single driver - mainly down to the co-driver being unable to travel.

The first round of the multi revised 2020 calendar is due to kick off at the Fuji Speedway over the weekend of the 17/18th July.


We will keep our fingers crossed for the Series and will wait to see how things pan out for the team. We know not if there is a plan B to cover Thiim if he still cannot travel by then.

Photo credits - Super GT / D'Station Racing

Tomorrow sees the first of a two day Official Test for the French FFSA GT4 Championship at the Nogaro circuit in south-west France for which the AGS Events Racing team will be fielding their four new brightly liveried Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GT4's.

Like most race series worldwide, the SRO sanctioned FFSA GT4 now operates to a heavily revised timetable and will now feature a five event season that will operate between late August at the Nogaro circuit through to early November at Ledenon.


AGS Events had up to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic confirmed a four car driver line up in the Pro-Am and Am only series but todays test attendance confirmation from the series leaves one of those pairings in doubt with the position amongst the thirty car entry now been taken by today's GT4 European Series line up of Valentin Hasse-Clot and Theo Nouet.


Joining these two will be team regulars of Mike Parisy/Nicolas Gomer, Christophe Carriere/Didier Dumaine and Julian Lambert/Gilles Vannelet/David Fischer with both Vannelet/Gomer also confirmed for the GT4 European Series.

Photo credits - AGS Events Racing

With what someone close to our #TeamAMR hearts has today described as a "weird old world at the moment" sees young Frenchman Valentin Hasse-Clot become the latest driver to confirm an addition to his 2020 programme of racing.

Just two weeks behind their previous driver squad announcement sees French team AGS Racing Events confirm Hasse-Clot and Theo Nouet as their latest recruits for their 2020 GT4 European Series of racing in their pair of new Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GT4 machinery. They join drivers Gilles Vannelet and Nicolas Gomer already confirmed for a revised series that starts in just over three weeks time at Imola, Italy.

First reported on Endurance-Info, Hasse-Clot has now confirmed these details with us as he undertakes his first lot of pre season testing at Silverstone today and again tomorrow at Nogaro with the FFSA GT4 series Official test with AGS Events Racing as the team will again run parallel programmes in both GT4 series.

We understand that there is also some additional news to come out following this GT4 European commitment today but that is their news to release so we will rightly await for that information with bated breath.

Photo credits - AGS Events Racing

Today, Sussex based TF Sport have confirmed a reduction in their 2020 British GT Championship campaign with the withdrawal of both their Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GT3 entries.

Citing on-going issues arising from the continued COVID-19 situation, this news sees the pairings of Jonny Adam/Ahmad Al Harthy as well as Graham Davidson/Tom Canning sadly miss out of the split defence of their 2019 titles, a return to the Championship for Omani racer Al Harthy and the fruition of his 2019 AMR Academy prize for Canning.


Travel restrictions for Al Harthy have so far prevented any return to the UK since Media Day whilst Davidson is rightly concentrating on his business affairs back in Scotland. They are also calendar clashes for Adam between his British GT and World Endurance Championship commitments.

This news still leaves the team with their two AMT V8 Vantage GT4's to campaign their title defence with and have been testing as far as possible over the last few weeks.

Sad news indeed.

Saturdays opening round of the revised Nurburgring Langstecken (formerly VLN) Series from the infamous 24km Nordschelife circuit in the Eifel mountains ended up being one of disappointed for the #176 PROsport Racing Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 crew.

Featuring a pair of returning customer drivers, this season stepping up from the VT3 and V5 classes of last year in one of the teams Porsche Caymans to the latest GT4 creation from AMR, as well as 'resident' team driver coach in Belgian Nico Verdonck.


Competing in the SP10 class for SRO homologated GT4 cars amongst a starting field of over 140 cars for this opening round, it was the duty of Verdonck to set the cars Qualifying position for the car in the tricky damp and windy conditions of Saturday morning, placing the car P6 in class and P34 overall.

Also starting the race for the team, Verdonck lifted the #176 car up to P3 by the time of the cars first full service stop, a stop that was made using the new paddock area created behind the usual garages for the teams to change tyres and drivers with cars then progressing to the pit lane for refuelling - very much like how the 24H Series sometimes operate.


Being their first race in the AMR Vantage GT4, it wasn't too surprising to see Belgian Guido Dumarey drop down the order during his stint of seven laps before he too pitted to swap over to the Swiss based Alex Walker for the race to the flag.

Walkers stint unfortunately came to a premature end when, still on his out lap onto the older Nordschleife circuit, he picked up a puncture that left him unable to get the car back to the pits without wasting an indeterminable amount of time or more importantly, risking probably significant damage to the car and himself. The car was retired out on circuit on lap 15 - thirteen laps behind the class winning BMW M4 GT4.

We will have to wait to see if the car returns for the second round of the series in two weeks time.

Photo credits - Verdonck / NLS

This weekends two day test will again be affected by travel restrictions arising from the worldwide Covid-19 situation with Thiim again missing out on the test as well technical personnel from Prodrive who would usually be on site with their Partner team in these situations not being able to travel without having to self isolate for two weeks on their return to the UK.

 

After the official series test only last week, this weekend sees the first competitive round of the newly renames Nurburgring Langstrecken Serie (nee VLN Series) from the beautiful but treacherous Nurburgring and Nordschleife circuits.

A series made up of rounds managed by individual racing clubs, this weekend sees the Ardenauer ADAC Rundstrcken Trophy take to the near 22km track for the opening four hours of racing in this post Covid-19 revised calendar of eight races.


Amongst the initial entry of nearly 150 cars across the many permissible classes that the Series allows sees the German based Prosport Racing make a return to the circuit with one of their Aston Martin racing V8 Vantage GT4's that they have returned to competitive racing in the Creventic 24H Series earlier this month.

Competing in the SP10 class for SRO homologated GT4 machinery, Belgian racer Nico Verdonck supports fellow countryman Guido Dumarey as well as Swiss racer Alexander Walker in the #176 car.


Like all other racing series that have already started, this series will be heavily affected by the requirements of social distancing and personal hygiene requirements to combat the spread of the CV19 virus amongst the paddock.

Race starts at noon (local).

Photo credits - Prosport / 24H Series

F anyone who had been paying attention to the social media channels of the International GT Open Series would have realised that over the last couple of weeks there was Aston Martin Racing related news in the offering.

That news has today been official confirmed by both team and Series and makes for some great news especially after something of the disappointment in our last AMR Partner team post from North America and comes in the form of Salih Yoluc and TF Sport now confirming their return to the European GT3 series after something of a four year break.


Having last competed in the series with one of Tom Ferrier's V12 AMR Vantage GT3's back in 2016 with his then partner/driver coach Euan Hankey, Yoluc soon progressed up into ACO rules racing with the then GT3 Le Mans Cup Series and ultimately into the World Endurance Championship over the consequitive years after. Yoluc has today confirmed that this year he be partnered by current WEC team mate Charlie Eastwood for another full season entry for the already heavily Covid-19 revised calendar in his V8 turbo charged Vantage GT3.

With their WEC racing duties now few and far between, the amended GT Open calendar has allowed for a new dual racing season for the Turkish and Irish duo as Yoluc continues to push for personal improvement in his racing commitments as they this time around he races within the Series full Pro class.


This news also comes as good news for Ferrier's team and for the Series in general as troubled times loom in the not so distant future for many of their racing competitors as society struggles to recover from the latest world pandemic.

“I am very happy to be coming back to the GT Open championship, it has grown so much since I last competed in 2016. Charlie and I have shared many successes in the last couple of years, so I’m really looking forward to being out on the grid once again” said Yoluc in the teams press release today.

Disappointing news from the Heart of Racing team today concerning their now non attendance at the resumption of the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship from Daytona early next month with their Aston Martin racing V8 Vantage GTD.

Todays press release reads-

The Heart of Racing team will sit out the first race of the rescheduled 2020 season at Daytona. “As a team, we are very fortunate to not have any external commercial pressures factoring in our decision-making process on when we go back racing. We are racers to the core and want to be out there competing, but we have decided on a conservative approach to going back”, said Ian James, Team Principal. “Our team owners are incredibly supportive and team well-being is priority number one.


“From what I know IMSA are doing everything possible to make sure that the conditions will be safe for all involved and I am sure we will be back in the paddock in the near future.

The Heart of Racing team wishes all teams competing at Daytona, a safe and exciting race weekend.


Source material - Heart of Racing

Tragically lost on this day seven years ago at the Circuit de La Sarthe, Le Mans

#Gonebutnotforgotten

#RaceOn

#TeamAMR

Fresh off the back of their return to 2020 racing and the first chapter of the heavily revised 24H Series in Portimao at the weekend, this week sees German team Prosport Racing confirm another Series addition for their customer drivers for later this year.

Having raced with what was then Prosport Performance for most of last season in one of their then brand new Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GT4 within the Creventic organised series, this news sees the team and drivers Rodrique Gillion and his professional driver coach Nico Verdonck confirm a tentative 'double toe into the water' within the GT Open Cup Series.


Having only raced for either twelve or twenty four hours with the five class 24H Series, this marks a change in direction for the Belgian racers with this series two, fifty five minute races after two Free Practice and one Qualifying session over the course of a race weekend for solely GT4 machinery.

This weeks news see them confirm entries initially for the rounds just at both Paul Ricard in late August as well as their 'home' round at Spa Francorchamps in mid October.

Their race in Portimao at the weekend was curtailed in the ninth hour after a passing car terminally damaged the #401 cars drive train in what was described as an 'ambitious' move on them whilst the team were leading the GT4 class.


This news also doubles the expected AMR attendance within the GT Open Cup to two cars with what should be a full season entry for the Spanish based Team Virage outfit as already announced.

Photo credits - 24H Series

Thanks to Japanese based team D’Station Racing AMR for posting some photos of their workshop on their social media channels today as well highlighting some of the preparations that they have been making ready for when Super GT and Pirelli Super Taikyu Series resumes later next month.


The team return to each series with one of their Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GT3’s that they ran with last year as well as a brand new AMR Vantage GT4 that is now eligible to run in the Super Taikyu Series. The team tested their latest acquisition at Fuji back in March http://www.the-advantage.org/2020/03/dstation-racing-test-their-new-amr.html


Drivers Tomonobu Fujii and Nicki Thiim have already been confirmed for their 2020 Super GT efforts but their Super Taikyu crews are yet to be confirmed by the team.

Full details of their posting can be found HERE

Photo credits - D’Station Racing

Whilst the Aston Martin Racing factory crews were busy racing at the 24 hours of Le Mans Virtual with some degree of success by the end of their twenty four hours, customer racing of the real kind resumed in Portimao, Portugal as Creventic's 24H Series held what was to be the first competitive race meeting in mainland Europe since the start of the global Covid-19 lockdown.

Despite a small entry of just fifteen cars across the five available classes, one of those entries was at least an Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 of German based Prosport Racing returning to the series again in 2020 for customer racers Rodrique Gillion and his driver coach Nico Verdonck. There should have been two Aston running but the Team Virage entry was withdrawn before track proceedings began with insufficient attending drivers.


Joined in Portugal by fellow Belgium racer Tom Heeren and late additional Constantin Scholl, all looked to be pretty rosy for the #401 crew having Qualified P1 in class after a close contest with the Mercedes AMG GT4 Parkalgar Team.

Starting at noon the race initially progressed without incident until the pole setting Mercedes AMR GT3 crashed out in spectacular fashion not too long before the Parkalgar Team Mercedes car also hit technical strife and disappeared from the timing sheet with engine issues after just 133laps.


That obviously left the #401 car at the top of the GT4 class but without any direct competition in class but with all endurance races it isn't always your class advisories that you need to look out for.

Just as daylight was beginning to fade and with Gillion back behind the wheel again and with the race having just clocked up nine hours of racing, contact was made with another an as yet unidentified car that caused immediate damage to the rear running gear of the V8 Vantage GT4. Initially stopping out on track at turn 15 before being recovered back to pit lane, the crew immediately went about to identify and repair the apparent seized wheel hub.


As the hours in the garage passed, it became apparent that the orange and white liveried Aston wasn't going to come out and sure enough the car was officially retired during the night.

Leading their class rivals by over 90 laps by the time the car entered pit lane for the final time, the #401 continued to be listed as the winner of the GT4 class - not the result that they wanted but a great result for motor racing in general in this post Covid-19 era of face protection and social distancing - next time guys!!


The Series now moves onto its next round at Monza in July.

Photo credits - 24H Series

The FIA World Endurance GTE Championship leaders Aston Martin Racing secured a dramatic runner-up spot in the GTE class of the first ever Le Mans 24 Virtual, the spectacular official online simulation of the event of the world’s most famous endurance race.

Having qualified fifth on Friday, the four-man crew of the #95 Aston Martin Vantage GTE ‘Dane Train’ comprising of GTE Pro points leader Nicki Thiim (DEN), fellow Aston Martin Racing driver Richard Westbrook, Lasse Sørensen and sim-racing ace Manuel Biancolilla (I) held their nerve in a fiercely-contested battle with old real-world foes Porsche and Corvette to rise up to P2 in the final hours of the race.

With the teams now having completed their second and final private test session today ahead of the start of the weekend's more formal proceedings, there as just a couple of updates that need to be made.

Firstly but unfortunately unsurprisingly, the entry list has now seen seen Team Virage withdraw their Aston Martin racing V8 Vantage GT4 from the Series opener in Portugal - presumably due to an insufficient number of available drivers.


However, on the flip side of that we see the #401 Prosport Racing AMR Vantage GT4 secure a fourth driver join the already announced Belgium line up of Rodrique Gillion, Nico Verdonck and Tom Heeren as they are joined by Austrian racer Constantin Scholl about a car that sports a 2020 version of the German team's usual white and orange livery theme.

Todays test saw #401 crew finish second fastest car beyond the faster GT3 entries.

Tomorrow sees the first and only Free Practice session ahead of Qualifying for all classes tomorrow evening and Night Practice tomorrow night. The start of the 24 hour race itself begins at 12:00Hrs local.

One of only ten such examples ever made by Aston Martin Racing, Racecarsdirect.com are listing for sale one such example of this rare breed - the DBR9 GT1.

Raced for the last few seasons within both the Masters Historic and the Peter Auto Endurance Legends Series, we last saw this car compete with its present owner Dominic Roschmann at the Aston Martin Festival at Le Mans in 2018 where the car finished third overall in that race behind  race winners Peter Dumbreck/Chris Harris in their Aston Martin Vulcan and second placed Benny Simonsen and Lasse Sorensen in their AMR Vantage GTE.



Original built as chassis nine, this cars racing career lasting just two seasons before a substantial accident at the 2007 Spa 24hr that warranted a complete chassis change by Prodrive but despite this work, the chassis retained its DBR9/9 numbering. The damaged chassis is even included in this sale.

Full details can be found Here