Two Aston Martin Racing powered crews appear on the entry list ahead of next weekend’s 24H Series visit to Misano in Italy.

‘Long time no see’ as far as Aston Martin powered teams are concerned within the Creventic Series, next weekend will see a further ad-hoc showing from the Belgian based Street Art Racing team with one of the Vantage GT4 platforms after they ran a ‘warm up’ event for drivers Pascal Bachmann and Jahid Fazal Karim at the last round of the FFSA GT4 Series at Spa Francorchamps. These two will be joined by Julien Darras.

 

Aston Martin has recorded a glorious overall victory in the Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa – the world’s most prestigious all-GT3 24 hour race which took place at Spa-Francorchamps, in Belgium, over 29-30 June weekend.

The win, claimed by Aston Martin partner team Comtoyou Racing, and works drivers Mattia Drudi (ITA), Marco Sørensen (DEN) and Nicki Thiim (DEN), was the first for the British ultra-luxury sportscar brand since 1948. The result also marked a maiden 24-hour triumph for the new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 and was the first time the famous Wings had beaten its major competition in the Belgian endurance classic since it became an-all GT event in 2001.

For double FIA GT World Endurance champion Thiim and triple world champion Sørensen, affectionally known within the sport as the ‘Dane Train’, victory represents the first time the duo have won a 24-hour race overall as team-mates in the same car, in spite of them having three 24 Hours of Le Mans class wins between them.

Sørensen said: “This is a very special moment. To win already in the first year with the new Vantage GT3 is an amazing achievement. It’s a fantastic car, and we’ve had a good feeling about it all year. But to win an event like this takes more than good driving and good luck, and the team, and everyone back at Aston Martin Racing, as well as my team-mates deserve credit for a victory I will remember forever.”

Thiim added: “It’s difficult to put into words what this means to me, and to Aston Martin. We have been trying to win this race for a long time, and do it in this way is an incredible feeling. I think everyone knows how I feel about Aston Martin. We have had so many special memories together, and this win is up there with the best of them for me.”

For Drudi, a Fanatec GT World Europe champion, it was an opportunity to shine on one of endurance racing’s biggest stages, and that he did, putting the #007 car in contention every time he stepped in the cockpit – including during the opening hours of the race, where he’d worked the team into a leading position before the first of multiple Safety Car Periods.

A complicated night of racing, where torrential thunderstorms and multiple incidents neutralised the event for several hours, Comtoyou Racing remained composed and kept the car in touch with the leading fight, even as pitstops during the Safety Car periods forced 20-car swings in the race positions on occasion.

Each time, the team rebounded and raced back to the front so that as morning came and the track dried out, it found itself in a straight fight for victory with a rival Ferrari, two BMWs and the other Pro class #34 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 of partner team Walkenhorst Motorsport, driven by Henrique Chaves (POR), Ross Gunn (GBR) and David Pittard (GBR).

In the final hour of the race the #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin trailed the Ferrari by 10s, when its rival pitted and was held-up in the pitlane entry by a stranded car. This turn of events prevented Ferrari with the chance to race for the win, and denied the fans a grandstand finish as Drudi raced to the flag unopposed.

“To win with Nicki and Marco has been a fantastic experience,” said Drudi. “This is such a tough race, but I would say we had the perfect run, with no problems and a very good execution. I am very proud of everyone in the team.”

Gunn brought the #34 Walkenhorst Vantage GT3 home fourth following a strong run for the team that saw it lead on several occasions.

Indeed Walkenhorst Motorsport, a previous winner of the event, came close to clinching the Silver Cup class victory in the #35 Vantage GT3 driven by 2022 AMR Driver Academy graduate Romain Leroux (FRA) and 2024 candidates Lorcan Hanafin (GBR) and Maxime Robin (FRA). Unfortunately, the car was the innocent victim of an accident, following a Safety Car period on Sunday morning, while fighting for the lead of the class.

Of Comtoyou Racing’s four-car entry, which completed a record seven-car assault on the race by Aston Martin, the #007 was often the fastest car in the race, but the team’s #21 Silver Cup car driven by Charles Clark (GBR), Sam Dejonghe (BEL), Matisse Lismont (BEL) and Xavier Maassen finished sixth, having led the class earlier in the race.

The new Vantage GT3, closely derived from the new Vantage road car unveiled earlier this year at Silverstone, and built around Aston Martin’s proven bonded aluminium chassis and powered by its fearsome twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 engine, is in a rich vein of form. In the month of June alone it has clinched victories in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the SUPER GT Series, the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie and Road to Le Mans event. Now Aston Martin can add one of the most famous wins in its racing history to that tally.

Adam Carter, Head of Endurance Motorsport, said: “We offer our sincere congratulations and thanks to our partners Comtoyou Racing on this fantastic victory for the new Aston Martin Vantage GT3. We’ve known since the start of the season what the car is capable of, and this performance at Spa was through a combination of technical excellence, endurance, fortitude and execution. I’d also like to congratulate Walkenhorst Motorsport on a hard-fought performance worthy of a podium finish. The hard work of everyone at Aston Martin Racing is paying off already in a car that is still so young. To win the 24 Hours of Spa is no small achievement and given that it had only been done three times by a British manufacturer in its 100-year history, and now twice by us, it ranks as one of our greatest endurance victories.”

Aston Martin’s previous best Spa 24 Hours finish of the GT3 era was in 2021, when Gunn, Sørensen and Thiim secured a competitive third place overall, having been in the lead fight for much of the race. Prior to that, the best GT finish for an Aston Martin was also third, in 2008, with the Gigawave DBR9 GT1. Aston Martin last won the event in 1948, when it was run to different regulations, with a 2-Litre Sports DB1 driven by Britons St John Horsfall and Leslie Johnson.

Source material - AMR

Photo credits - Series / AMR

 

Remember this date - 30th June 2024 – the day when Belgian team Comtoyou Racing team and Aston Martin Racing won the Spa 24 Hours.

Making history together at the centennial running of the this great event, The Jean Michel Baert led team also won their first Spa 24 race alongside that of the new 2024 Vantage GT3 as well as Aston Martin Racing first win at the Ardennes circuit in over seventy years.

Again, the event didn’t fail to deliver on excitement, incident and accident as well as heart break and elation as sixty-seven similar powered GT3 cars competed for the top honours with the five available classes.

 

The third round of the GT4 European Series from Spa Francorchamps this weekend again provided us with another example of just why modern GT4 racing is so entertaining with its balanced competitive nature.

Whilst the two races over Friday night and Saturday morning provided that spectacle – it wasn’t always to the advantage of the nine Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 powered teams who were part of the original fifty-seven strong entry.

 

Starting positions have all now been determined for the sixty-six GT3 cars still running in this weekend’s centennial running of the Spa 24Hours.

Having been blessed with fantastic weather around the Ardennes circuit throughout the track sessions so far, the real business began yesterday evening with the first of four Qualifying sessions that would be used to determine each cars starting position except for the top twenty who would move onto the later Superpole session on Friday.

Aston Martin’s new Vantage GT3 will make its Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa debut this weekend as the British ultra-luxury sportscar brand bids to win the race outright for the first time since the event became a GT3-only race in 2012.

No less than seven Vantages – the largest ever contingent of Aston Martin GT3s – are entered by two of Aston Martin’s new-for-2024 partner teams, ComToYou Racing and Walkenhorst Motorsport. This represents more than 10% of the giant 67-strong entry, which comprises nine competing global manufacturers and five integral classes.

Both teams head into the 100th anniversary of an event Aston Martin last won in 1948 (when the race was run to different rules), aiming to crown a landmark month that has produced maiden victories for the new Vantage GT3 in North America, Asia and Europe. The Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa represents the last opportunity to bring home some silverware in a blue riband ‘twice around-the-clock’ race in 2024, with Vantage having shone brightly in the Rolex 24 Hours, Nürburgring 24 Hours and the recent 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Both teams’ bids are boosted by the presence of an all-works driver line-up with their single Pro class entries. ComToYou Racing’s #7 will bring a familiar feel for Aston Martin Racing fans the world over as the ‘Dane Train’ duo of Nicki Thiim and Marco Sørensen are reunited alongside Mattia Drudi (ITA). Between them, Thiim and Sørensen boast five FIA GT World Endurance Championship titles and two 24 Hours of Le Mans class wins. Neither has ever won the Spa classic however, though their team-mate Drudi, the reigning Fanatec GT World Europe Sprint Cup champion, finished second overall in 2020.

Walkenhorst Motorsport’s #34 entry boasts an equally exciting line-up with David Pittard (GBR), the 2023 Nürburgring 24 Hours winner, being joined by Henrique Chaves, the 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans class winner, and Ross Gunn (GBR) hot off the podium from recording the new Vantage GT3’s first victory in IMSA.

Between them, the six works Aston Martin drivers represent the strongest-ever assault on the race’s Pro class by the brand. Moreover, it comes into the event with Vantage in a rich vein of form having clinched victories in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the SUPER GT Series, the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie and Road to Le Mans event in the past four weekends.

ComToYou Racing has entered three further Vantage GT3s, which all share the mechanical architecture of the new Vantage road car unveiled earlier this year at Silverstone, and which are built around Aston Martin’s proven bonded aluminium chassis and powered by its fearsome twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 engine.

The Belgian team’s #11 Bronze Cup entry will be driven by John de Wilde (BEL), Kobe Pauwels (BEL), Job van Uitert (NED) and Dante Rappange (NED). It also has two Silver Cup entries; the #12 will be raced by Nicolas Baert (BEL), Esteban Muth (BEL), Sebastian Øgaard (DEN) and Erwan Bastard (FRA), while the #21 will feature Charles Clark (GBR), Sam Dejonghe (BEL), Matisse Lismont (BEL) and Xavier Maassen (NED).

Walkenhorst Motorsport brings a strong Silver Cup line-up to its fleet of Vantage GT3s, with Romain Leroux (FRA), Lorcan Hanafin (GBR) and Maxime Robin (FRA) in the #35. Meanwhile the team’s Bronze Cup #36 car will also be a competitive force with drivers Tim Creswick (GBR), Mex Jansen (NED) and Ben Green (GBR).

Adam Carter, Head of Endurance Motorsport, said: “The Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa represents perhaps the purest form of GT endurance racing, given that it is open only to GT3 cars. It makes it a unique and difficult, and therefore perfect, test of our new Vantage GT3. The car has performed well through June, winning in three continents including North America, and it shone brightly in the 24 Hours of Le Mans two weeks ago. Misfortune has played its part in all the major 24 hours races so far this season, so let’s hope we’ve had our fill of that ahead of Spa. Sixty-seven entries from nine manufacturers tells its own story about what this race means to the sport on its 100th anniversary, and it would be a proud claim to say that new Vantage had excelled in this event.”

Aston Martin recorded its best finish in the GT3 era in 2021, when Gunn, Sørensen and Thiim secured a competitive third place overall, having been in the lead fight for much of the race. Prior to that, the best GT finish for an Aston Martin was also third, in 2008, with the Gigawave DBR9. Aston Martin last won the event in 1948, when it was run to different regulations, with a 2-Litre Sports DB1 driven by Britons St John Horsfall and Leslie Johnson.

Source material - AMR

 

Surprisingly still only their third round of the season so far sees a mighty fifty-seven GT4 crews arrive at the Spa Francorchamps circuit in Belgium earlier this week for the next two races in support of the headline act of the Crowdstrike Spa 24 Hours.

Within that healthy entry list, we will find nine Aston Martin Racing powered crews listed – one more than usual as Mikey Porter makes his first steps within the European series to go along with his British GT and GT Cup aspirations in his first year of GT racing. Unlike the other two series, Porter will this time be joined by former McLaren GT4 British GT4 racer Aston Millar within the #19 car.

 

Just the one Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 from the Forsetti Motorsport team will great the GT Cup grid this weekend as the muti-class format championship will battle out their fourth round of the season at Oulton Park.

Usually a two-car entry of course, but this weekend’s events over at Spa Francorchamps will see Mikey Porter otherwise engaged within an ad-hoc entry into the GT4 European Series visit to the Belgian circuit whilst Jody Sloss will also be otherwise engaged with her F1 duties in Austria.

Last weekend’s start to the SRO Speedweek from Spa Francorchamps again provided a complete topsy-turvey set of race results for the multitude of Aston Martin Racing powered teams that competed within either the British GT Championship or the FFSA GT4 Series.

With the Belgian circuit again providing these grids a varying selection of weather arrangements across the race weekend, at least Sunday was a day where both the track and grids were shown off in their finest although many of the results saw these cars finishing at the extreme ends of the timing screen.

 

The Heart of Racing Team managed both the challenging conditions and the competition to fight back from an early race penalty and win the Sahlen’s Six Hours At The Glen with Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas on Sunday.

The victory marks the first IMSA win with the new Aston Martin Vantage GT3, which debuted with Heart of Racing at the 24 Hours At Daytona in January.

Gunn and Riberas teamed up in the No. 23 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 once again combining for a podium finish in Detroit earlier this month. Gunn qualified for the pair on a warm Saturday afternoon securing a third place starting position in the GT field.

Gunn drove the first two stints remaining in the top three positions throughout his time behind the wheel. When Riberas took over, he immediately had to come back through the pits for a drive through penalty as a result for working outside the No. 23 pit box.

Riberas was able to navigate through traffic cleanly, and put the great team strategy to work as he was able to sit second when a caution came out. After a debate between staying on wet or switching to slicks, Riberas took the green flag from the front of the GTD PRO field but pitted the next lap for slick tires, forcing the No. 23 Aston Martin a lap down.

Gunn took over with two hours to go when the fourth caution of the race came about due to rain as several cars went off track. IMSA race control red flagged the field for standing water with an hour and twenty minutes to go - Gunn was in ninth. When the field went back to green with 36 minutes remaining, Gunn had moved up to second after others took to pit lane for slick tires and fuel.

The No. 23 Heart of Racing Team made the call to remain out on slicks, having pitted just nine laps before the rain had arrived. After battling the No. 4 Corvette for the final 15 laps, the Corvette dove into the pits from the lead with one lap to go, leaving Gunn to defend from the McLaren behind them. Gunn took the checkered flag in first, winning the Sahlen’s Six Hours At The Glen.

“It's hard to really describe in words the emotions of the team right now,” said Riberas. “These guys deserve it more than anybody. I'm so happy for the team, it was truly a big team effort and one hell of a race. I love Ross (Gunn) like a brother so anything I can do to get him this championship that he deserves, I will do. We are in it together and we're going to get this championship!”

“Wow, what a day for the Heart of Racing. I'm just super proud of everybody,” said Gunn. “We had a tricky start to the race, and again things came back to us towards the end. I think the team showed a true spirit and ‘never give up’ attitude. Alex drove a phenomenal race once again, and, like in Detroit, was given some tough things to deal with. I had some easier stints at the start, and then obviously the rain came down towards the end, and that put everyone in a tricky position. We came here with a strong car and a strong package. The team was operating at an incredibly high level, and I'm just so proud of everyone. We start the second half of the season with a really good shot, we just need to keep pushing.”

The endurance trio of Roman De Angelis, Zacharie Robichon and Ian James reunited in the No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3. James qualified eleventh in a field of 21 GTD entries.

James was behind the wheel of the No. 27 Heart of Racing machine for the first hour and a half of the six hour race, driving up to seventh before handing the Aston Martin to De Angelis on lap 78. De Angelis maintained the seventh place position when Robichon took over on the next stint.

Unfortunately a sudden rainstorm came over the track. Robichon hit the brakes to avoid contact with a competitor in front of him when he spun and was impacted by another GT car, forcing the No. 27 Aston Martin to the garage where it later retired after completing 82 laps.

“A very unfortunate ending to our race,” said De Angelis. “We were in a pretty good position at the time and the car was feeling decent. The team was doing a really good job. We knew the weather conditions were going to be interesting, but I think that would have benefited us. It’s just an unfortunate incident, I’m glad Zach is okay. I feel as though I’m saying this for the fifth or sixth time this season, but it seems like we can't get any luck at all.

“I feel sorry for the guys, but I just hope we can come back at some point and get them what they deserve – hopefully my home race at CTMP brings some good luck,” continued De Angelis. “I think if there's anywhere that it should happen, it should be there! I know the track quite well and I've had success there in the past few years so let's hope that's our place to get a win or at least a podium. It would be great to get a win at home.”

Source material - HoRT

 

Saturday’s third round visit of the Nurburgring Langstrecken Serie proved itself to be more than a bruising episode of the German Club hosted series for many of the Aston Martin Racing powered entries although one did finally come out on top in class.

Starting with the good news – the #35 Walkenhorst Motorsport AMR Vantage GT3 SP9 Pro-Am entry of Benjamin Mazatis, Anders Buchardt and Sami-Matti Trogen finished at the head of the queue within their class at the end of this four-hour race although they, and the one hundred and thirty of competitors have to wait for it as early morning fog again caused race organisers issues with the timetable.

 

The midway point of the IMSA sanctioned Michelin Pilot Challenge Series surpassed even its own track record yesterday with both incident and accident leaving an ‘all bets off’ scenario even onto the final lap of this weekend’s two-hour affair.

Competing this time from the hot and sweaty Watkins Glen International Circuit, nine Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4’s formed part of the twenty-five GS (GT4) strong line up alongside that of the fourteen TCR based entries.

 

Just the one last time around but this time there will be three Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3’s competing at the next round of the GT World Challenge Asia from Fuji in Japan for that and the next round of Japan Cup.

With Le Mans 24Hours otherwise keeping them from their GTWC Asia duties, the #777 D’Station Racing Vantage GT3 of Satoshi Hoshino and Tomonobu Fujii returns after both Tatsuya Hoshino and Kenji Hama doubled for them at the opening round of the Japan Cup Sugo two weeks ago.