One last-minute piece of domestic GT racing for the Japanese D’Station Racing Aston Martin Racing team this coming weekend when they will have both of their Vantage GT3 and GT8R cars out for the latest round of the Super Taikyu Series from Motegi.

 

Now just a week away of their much-awaited appearance in their home round of the World Endurance Championship at Fuji next weekend, this five-hour race on Sunday will serve as good final practice for drivers Satoshi Hoshino and Tomonobu Fujii ahead of that race weekend before they swap out their Vantage GT3 for their TF Sport prepared AMR Vantage GTE in that event.

Having claimed a double podium in both their ST-X and ST-1 Classes last time out at Autopolis, the #777 Vantage GT3 car will again be driven by both Hoshino and Fujii as well as series regular co-driver Tsubasa Kondo.

 

Their full season Vantage GT8R entry will also be out on track after their class win at Autopolis with drivers Tatsuya Hoshino, Max Orido, Kenji Hama and Jake Parsons again behind the wheel, chasing down that 17.5-point deficit to the class leading KTM crew with this and two further rounds of the season to go.

 

Photo credits – D’Station Racing

 The midway point of the European Le Mans Series sadly didn’t go the way that the Oman Racing with TF Sport had intended in Barcelona at the weekend despite a strong showing ahead of the race.

Victorious at Imola but effectively balance of performance out of the race next time out at Monza, another revision to the series BoP table appeared to give back much of the power lost from the Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTE platform after Imola, with an extra litre of fuel to boot.

 

Making the most of that situation, Ahmad Al Harty then placed his #69 car that he shares with Sam De Haan and Marco Sorenson at the head of the GTE field whilst the #95 of John Hartshorne, Jonny Adam and Henrique Chaves had to make do at the tail end of the pack.

The adage of Qualifying being one thing and the race always being another certainly came into play at the Circuit de Catalunya as (after the lap 1 Safety Car call for three cars off in the first sequence of corners), the #69 car of Al Harthy was soon passed by first one Porsche and then soon another to find himself down in third by the end of the first half hour of the four-hour race.

 

Despite an error from Al Harthy accounting for some of the time lost on track, the JMW Ferrari was then also soon hustling the #69 car for position before passing him just two corners before the 488 pushed its luck and spun the #93 Porsche in front of the Omani racer - but at least that lifted them back up to second in class by the end of the first hour.

Being the first of the two TF Sport prepared Aston Martins to pit, Al Harthy would be on for another double stint whilst Hartshorne stayed out for slightly longer before pitting before falling again to close to the rear of the pack.

 

Trouble was then just literally around the corner for the #69 as contact with the #57 Car Guy Ferrari had the car back on the apron with severe front-end damage. Damaging the bonnet, splitter, wing and undertray, it was a recoverable situation for the team but the repair time would lead to them going three laps down – effectively out of the race and especially so as the car was later awarded a Drive through Penalty for that contact earlier in the race.

 

For the #95 car, it was for them just a process of pounding in the laps with both Adam and Chaves to the finish and that elevated them to seventh by the chequered flag.

Whilst these results don’t look great for the Oman Racing crews (especially after a double class win for the #77 Proton Competition Porsche) their respective positions in the championship with the number of points remaining does mean that neither crew are not yet out of contention.

 

With the Series moving to Spa Francorchamps later in September before a season finale at Portimao, the #95 car now leads their stablemates in sixth on thirty-three points and the #69 crew in seventh on thirty points. With the leading #77 car only on sixty-nine points so with twenty-six points being available per round, anything is still possible and especially so if the Porsche is pulled back in its performance window ahead of the powerhouse Spa round!

 

Photo credit – Andrew Lofthouse

 

It’s still eleven Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 crews expected at the next round of the GT4 European Series from Hockenheim this weekend but with just with ‘one or two’ changes along the way to keep us on our toes about things!!

As per the recently published entry list the differences are: -

· #5 Racing One Team Spirit Racing – no longer Kenton Kock/Thijmen Nabuurs – now Nico Hantke plus Will Tregurtha in Silver Cup

· #6 Racing One – Moritz now not with brother Vincent Gisy – now Ralf Kelleners in Silver Cup

· #7 AGS Events – FFSA GT4 crew mates Mike Parisy and Nicolas Gomar return to the European Series

· #58 Mirage Racing – enter their new GT4 crew of Ruben Del Sarte and Paul Aural-König

· #80 AGS Events – Tom Verdier is now joined by team FFSA racer Loris Cabirou after Del Sarte moved to Mirage Racing

That leaves the remaining #18 Racing One, #10 and #19 Racing Spirit of Lemans, both Prosport Racing and the #89 AGS Events full season crews remaining constant going into this penultimate round of the season in Germany.

The Racing One team has been chopping and changing their line ups as the season has progressed, whether we see Koch and Nabuurs back in the car together again this season is yet to be seen whilst the AGS Events team has been forced to make changes following a rationalisation in crews within the team anyway followed by the departure of Del Sarte to the Mirage team ahead of this round.

With these changes in mind, in Silver Cup it remains the #10 crew of Gus Bowers/Konstantin Lachenauer and the #24 Prosport crew of Mike David Ortmann/Hugo Sasse anywhere in contention within that class some thirty points plus now behind the leading Mercedes crew whilst Julien Lambert and Wilfried Cazalbon remain very much in contention within their Am Class rivals – now just seven points behind and four races remaining. It is also a similar story within the respective Teams Championship’s for the above drivers.

This event will be the first time that the GT4 European Series has visited the German circuit so will be a learning curve for all concerned.

Photo credits – Series / Teams

 

The penultimate round of the 2022 IMSA Weather Sportscar Championship from the Virginia International Raceway also provided the entertainment goods for the three competing Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTD’s but only one would come away with the silverware.

 

Having endured something of a poor show last time out at Road America thanks to their revised BoP window, the Heart of Racing team came back to the Championship at VIR with fire in their belly as Ross Gunn planted his #23 Vantage GTD Pro car firmly onto the front row of the GTD only event for only the first time in his IMSA career. With Roman De Angelis Qualifying sixth in his GTD class, the #44 Magnus Racing AMR of John Potter would be the last of the eighteen runners for this two-hour forty-minute affair.

Again under the pressures of high air and track temperatures and increasing humidity, the #23 car of Gunn held onto the race lead coming out of turn 1, with him and the chasing #9 Porsche gapping the chasing pack even at this early stage. It was a close call for the #27 car however going into turn one for the first time as the young Canadian would have the nose of his car chopped off as all around him jockeyed for position.

 

With the exception of one GTD going off with an engine related issue during the early stages, the opening forty minutes would be clean and error free as Gunn maintained his overall race lead and the pair of AMRs in GTD maintaining their near starting positions as both De Angelis and Potter reached their minimum drive time.

Despite a half second lead coming him, a fuel and tyres only stop for the #23 car would see the Englishman strangely drop down the order somewhat coming out in third overall whilst the driver changing #27 and #44 cars to Maxime Martin and Andy Lally respectively saw them return in P6 and P12 with just over one hundred minutes remaining.

 

Having easily kept the Porsche and the Corvette behind, Gunn was this time unable to close the gap to them down from the eleven second gap before he would hand over to Alex Riberas. Martin and Lally meanwhile appeared ‘quiet’ on track before an attempted pass by a Mercedes around the #27 car forced that car wide through the esses, collecting an advertising hoarding in the process and bringing out the first FCY for the resulting debris on track.

Finally pitting for the mandatory driver change, an error from the team and crew during the #23 cars changeover would lead to further delays as a Drive Through Penalty was assessed for operating outside of the pit box and that would drop them thoroughly out of contention down in P14 overall.

 

With the #27 also taking the opportunity during the caution for fuel and tyres, the #44 Magnus car would continue round and would at one point lead the race with the #9 Porsche again admiring the rear end of an AMR Vantage but for them, their last planned stop would result in another unscheduled stop with Lally getting a rear puncture on his out lap – something that would thoroughly spoil their day.

Once the teams had rolled their final throws of the dice with fuel top ups, the #27 Aston of Martin was now leading the GTD class with only minutes to go. Already having been running for more than an hour, Martin unfortunately became easy pickings for the chasing Mercedes as he had fuel to burn whilst the Belgian must have been running on fumes to finally see the chequered flag to finish P4 overall and second in class.

A great result for that half of the Heart of Racing team as their #23 crew eventually finished P11 overall and P4 in GTD Pro. For Magnus, this was just a late tune up session within the Championship’s Sprint Cup Series before the final endurance round of the season at Petit Le Mans from Road Atlanta in five weeks’ time.

 

Photo credits – Jamey Price / Teams

 

Despite the picture postcard surroundings of the Virginia International Raceway, the penultimate round of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Series turned into something of a nightmare for the GS Championship contending Volt Racing Aston Martin Racing team.

 

Going into the VIR round off the back of a fourth placed finish last time out at Road America in early August, drivers Alan Brynjolfsson and Trent Hindman travelled to VIR in the knowledge that a decent points finish at the end of that two hours of racing possibly being enough for them to secure the GS Championship.

Going into Qualifying on Saturday with air and track temperatures again rising against a backdrop of increasing humidity too, a late red flag during the session blighted the final run of Brynjolfsson leaving him with a third row start but importantly still ahead of the #56 Murillo Racing Mercedes shared with championship rival Eric Foss.

 

A clean start at the end of the field saw Brynjolfsson maintain his position whilst the #56 Mercedes was quickly ‘in the wars’ with a rear end impact into the car in front resulting in front end damage for them and that would hinder their progress throughout the remaining one hour and fifty-three minutes of racing.

Whilst this played into the favour of the #7 crew, Brynjolfsson was unable to progress to car beyond seventh, some six seconds behind the leader as they approached their minimum drive time of forty minutes. As others pitted at the first availability, the #7 continued for another lap before it was seen slowing along the pit straight before stopping on the exit of turn 1. Bringing out the first FCY in the process, the #7 car was eventually recovered to the rear of the paddock where it was met by the team before being pushed along pit lane for fuel, tyres and a driver change. The exact reason for the unplanned stop remains unclear.

Whilst Hindman did get back on track, they were already four laps down, so it became an exercise in damage limitation for the team to be able to go into the final round of the season at Petit Le Mans with the most points possible.

 

Eventually finishing P28 overall and P18 in class, the #56 car only finished six places ahead of them in class in P18 overall and P12 in class all making for a final round showdown at Road Atlanta in five weeks’ time.

 

Photo Credits – Team / Jamey Price

 

Despite the long summer break, it was to be a damaging and frustrating return to the DTM Trophy Series for the two Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4’s of the Team Speed Monkeys crew as the series resumed at the Nurburgring this weekend.

 

Early pace during Free Practice of the #63 car of Jacob Riegel and the #99 of Nick Hancke on Friday was sadly not put to the test on Saturday as all track action was halted due to thick fog with all running on the first race day being put seriously into question.

Fortunately as the hours passed, the fog was to break up enough for racing to be permitted with the series decreeing that Championship position would determine the starting positions for race one meaning that the two Aston’s would be starting from the fourth row.

 

On the long drag to turn one, both Astons would get boxed in amongst the eighteen cars descending into the opening corner, dropping to P11 and P12 respectively as those ahead began to forge a gap between them.

That would be the case until just into lap 12 as the cameras panned to a #63 car nosed into the tyre wall with smoke and flame coming from under the bonnet on the drivers far side. The body language of an exiting Riegel would suggest that he was placed there by another driver, but his race was done and so was that for all as the race would end behind the required Safety Car. Hancke would finish in P9.

 

Sundays race was at least under blue skies and warm sunshine again as fastest laps dictated the order for the two Aston’s to start on the fifth row this time around.

Another clean few opening corners were had but their first journey through the chicane saw Hancke take a hard sideways hit from a BMW, lifting the offside wheels off the ground but at least he was able to continue.

 

Riegel was also in the thick of it again as he battled into P6 whilst his teammate was recovering to P11 after his earlier contact. With the lead Toyota again in a class of its own (most likely just on BoP rather than driver ability), there was again no way back for any of the chasing group as the weekend’s racing fizzled out into a processional finish with Riegel claiming P7 at the end with Hancke in P11.

Next round of the series will be at Spa Francorchamps in two weeks’ time.

 

Photo credits – Team Speed Monkeys

 

 

 

Somewhat inevitable but still sad reading yesterday of Beechdean’s eventual decision to call it a day on their 2022 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup yesterday for their two Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3’s.

Having stepped away from the headline European GT3 series for a couple of years, Andrew Howard’s team was called upon to represent the AMR marque within this Series after the surprise change in allegiances with the Garage 59 from AMR to McLaren over the winter. 

 

Another series having enjoyed a long summer break since their last round is the DTM Trophy Series who are back in business this weekend from the Nurburgring.

Also representing the start of their homeward stretch to their 2022 season after rounds from the Lausitzring, Imola and most recently from the street circuit of the Norisring in early July, this weekend sees both Team Speed Monkeys Aston Martin Vantage GT4’s return to racing after a disastrous round at the Safety Car plagued visit to the Norisring.

 

After their long summer break since their last round at Monza in early July sees the European Le Mans Series finally get back to business this weekend from the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain.

Marking the start of the homeward stretch into their 2022 season with the next round after this from Spa Francorchamps before the season finale again at Portimao, this weekend again sees a grid of forty cars spread across the LMP2, LMP3 and GTE classes with both Oman Racing with TF Sport’s Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTE’s amongst them.

 

It’s also back to the USA this weekend for the penultimate rounds of the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship and Michelin Pilot Challenge Series as all three Aston Martin Racing Vantage cars entered has a chance at the overall titles.

Racing this weekend at the picturesque Virginia International Raceway with only a GT grid to contend with has both the Heart of Racing AMR Vantage GTD’s of course back in action with regular drivers Alex Riberas and Ross Gunn due to be aboard their #23 GTD Pro entry with Roman De Angelis and Maxime Martin aboard their #27 GTD entry.

 

With still a few days to go before the confirmation of the entry list for the latest round of the GT4 European Series is released, social media traffic already hints at a slight change within the Aston Martin Racing fleet ahead of that next round in Germany.

French team Mirage Racing have today posted that they too will be entering the series for the first time this season (which resumes at the Hockenheim ring next weekend) and that news will see a return of last years racer Ruben Del Sarte to the squad to partner ADAC GT4 Germany Aston Martin Racing driver Paul Aurel-Konig.

 

If the GT America Series was anything to go by, the supporting GT4 America Series was to be equally entertaining as they saw out their fifth round of their seven-round season from Road America at the weekend.

Conveniently supporting the same seven Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4’s as GT America but just with the addition of a Pro driver, the opening headlines again went to Gray Newell in his #24 Heart of Racing car who scooped his first competitive class pole position ahead of Saturdays opening hour long race with Bryan Putt starting P5 in class and what should have been Moisey Uretsky in P7 with his #55 AP Racing car (although damage prevented him from taking the start).