Four AMR Vantage GT4s to battle Michelin Pilot Challenges four hour night visit to Indy
Thursday, September 14, 2023
We already know that 2023 has not been quite as successful on track as previous years for the large Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 powered contingent as the car hasn’t exactly been allowed to compete at its maximum potential for most, if not all of the season so far.
Not that we are complacent enough to expect decent results at every race as that would be wrong (obviously), just that sometimes the land upon which some of these crews race is not always – let’s say level and equal at the start!
Anyway, nine races in and now just two to go surprisingly only attracts another four car Aston Martin powered entry as Team TGM again provides two cars with the Van der Steur and Archangel completing the quartet.
Forty-four cars overall are due to run within this weekend’s four hour scheduled race – race the usual and the same as the season opener from Daytona, with twenty-eight GS (GT4) cars making up for more than half of that.
Brothers Hugh and Matt Plumb retain the highest position in class for any of the AMR powered crews so far this season, presently sitting P8 in the Championship and 390 points in arrears within their #46 car. Although again mathematically possible with two race remaining, their chances of Championship success this season look sadly slim to say the least. They will again be joined to Team TGM boss Ted Giovanis and his co-driver Owen Trinkler aboard their #64 car whilst Todd Coleman and Billy Johnson are listed within their #88 Archangel car Rory Van Der Steur but with now Valentin Hasse Clot and Austin McCusker aboard their #19 Van Der Steur car as part of three driver line up.
For Coleman and his supporting Archangel team, the last few races for them have been somewhat painful and expensive to say the least as Johnson spun out of a recent race at Road America damaging that car quite heavily whilst Coleman ended up upside down having been forced wide and (thankfully) into the tyre wall during the last VP Fuels Sportscar Challenge event at VIR.
Hopefully for all crews, anything like that can be avoided this weekend as there is still a championship up for grab s within the front running GS class and maybe the performance of these Aston’s might just shape that into something spectacular next time out at the concluding round from Road America.
Hopefully for all crews, anything like that can be avoided this weekend as there is still a championship up for grab s within the front running GS class and maybe the performance of these Aston’s might just shape that into something spectacular next time out at the concluding round from Road America.
Apart from the length of race, the biggest difference for this weekend’s MPC race will be that it will be finishing under the cover of darkness on Saturday evening.
Green flag is at 16:30hrs local.
Photo credits – Team / Series / Michelin / social media
