Three Aston Martins make the long journey for British GT's first ever visit to Portugal
Monday, July 17, 2023
Stepping away from the championship at the end of last season having successfully defended his GT4 Pro-Am Drivers crown alongside Darren Turner, Matt Topham and the Newbridge Motorsport team were all set to compete within this year’s GT4 European Series with their AMR Vantage GT4.
As with all plans, they can often change and before we knew it, Topham was soon back within the BGT ranks with the Enduro Motorsport team racing their McLaren 720S alongside their driver Marcus Clutton at Snetterton. That partnership has further evolved over recent weeks that has seen the team test Topham’s own AMR Vantage GT3 down in Portimao from where the team have since elected to try something a little different within their own GT3 Pro-Am class and run with the Aston Martin this weekend.
Whilst that does not change the headcount, it does obviously put a second AMR Vantage GT3 within the class to go alongside the #97 full season entry from the Beechdean team who themselves have had to make a change due to the non-availability of Ross Gunn to his IMSA duties this weekend. The team have already confirmed that fellow AMR factory driver Nikki Thiim will take his place alongside team boss Andrew Howard.
Rounding off the AMR trilogy will of course be the #23 R-Racing AMR Vantage GT4 crew of Josh Miller and Seb Hopkins who will be looking to replicate the pace and success that they enjoyed last time out at Snetterton where they scooped a class second and third over those two-hour long sprint races.
Their R-Racing team have also come to our attention over recent days having placed their Vantage GT4 up for sale upon the racecarsdirect.com website, stating its availability from the end of this British GT season. When we enquired with the team, the reply was it for “new adventures” coming up!!
Thirty-three GT3 and GT4 cars are listed to make the long drive down to Portugal with some cars already there having tested there last week whilst others have only just started the trek. Despite the distance, the programme remains the same with private testing on Friday before Free Practice and Qualifying on Saturday before a three-hour endurance race on Sunday.
Due to the last visit to the podium, the #23 crew will have another elongated pit stop of a further 10 seconds for their P3 at Snetterton.
Having never competed at Portimao before, this British GT Championship round could make all the difference to someone’s championship aspirations!!
Photo credits - Enduro
