Two Vantage GT4 Evos confirmed by the Arauji Competicao team in Iberian Supercars this season

Friday, February 28, 2025

Portuguese based Araujo Competicao have this week confirmed the finer detail of what will be at least a two car Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 Evo entry in this season’s Iberian Supercars and Campeonato de Portugal de Velocidade series.

This news confirms that one car will be an all-bronze line up Vasco Oliveira and Francisco Carvalho whilst the other will be a Pro-bronze line up featuring Bruno Pereira and Goncalo Araujo.

Last season, the team ran both an Evo and 17A version of the GT4 platform and sees Oliveira move across to the newer model this season with a new co-driver.

After an official test day at Estoril in late March, the series will embark upon another six round series starting at Portimao in April through to its conclusion back at the Portuguese circuit in late November.

Photo credits – Team / Series / social media

Labels: Araujo Competicao, Aston Martin Racing, campeonato de Portugal de Velocidade, Estoril, iberian Supercars, Vantage GT4

Only Marty on IMSA duty this weekend from the Circuit of the Americas

Thursday, February 27, 2025

The second round of the IMSA VP Racing Sportscar Challenge separates from the main body of the IMSA programme this weekend as they compete alongside another American racing institution (series) at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

Having started their 2025 season off over the Roar before the 24-test weekend at Daytona back in mid-January, the entry list is down upon that event with just a solo Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 within the mixed LPM3/GTDX and GSX classes.

Last time out in Florida we saw the #72 Rebel Rock Racing AMR from Frank DePew be joined with the #09 Automatic Racing entry of Matthew Siegal and the #89 89X Motorsport AMR entry of Christopher Tasca. The latter two are sadly not in attendance this leaving the #72 Vantage GT4 Evo of DePew amongst the nine strong GSX class for their two forty-five-minute races on Saturday.

Photo credits – Team /social media

Labels: 89x motorsport, Aston Martin Racing, Automatic Racing, CoTA, Daytona, DePew, imsa, rebel Rock Racing, Roar before the 24, Vantage GT4, vp racing Sportscar Challenge

Four Aston Martins all set for opening round of FIA WEC in Qatar tomorrow

Thursday, February 27, 2025

After three Free Practice, Qualifying and (where applicable) class Hyperpole Qualifying sessions now under their belts, the grid for tomorrows opening round of the 2025 World Endurance Championship has now been set in Qatar.

Following on from last week’s Prologue test at the Losail International Circuit, the two Heart of Racing Aston Martin Valkyries and two Aston Martin Racing Vantage LMGT3’s from the same and Racing Spirit of Leman teams have done what they can in practice and preparation ahead of what will be a very protracted and demanding 1812km or ten-hour race around the 5.4km track.

Running two brand new cars for the first time at both the Prologue and the earlier track sessions of this opening round hasn’t always gone according to plan for the Heart of Racing team with at least one car faltering on track during Free Practice whereas the two Vantage GT3 crews have basically picked up where last season left off even though this is another step up the GT racing ladder for the Racing Spirit of Leman team.

Despite running Free Practice times equivalent to the LMGT3 Hyperpole qualifying times set last season when the Vantage LMGT3 was itself a brand new car, todays Qualifying session saw both the #10 RSLM and #27 HoRT Astons run a more sedate pace with both Derek DeBoer and Ian James behind the wheels to end that session P12 for the American in the #10 car and P7 for the Brit (living in America) in the #27 car – hence they progressed into the latter Hyperpole session where they would eventually finish P7 in that top ten in class shootout.

In the Hypercar class, there were obviously no comparisons for either the #007 or #009 cars as tomorrows race is the world racing debut of their new Hypercar programme in either its WEC or IMSA format. That should have been at Daytona at the Rolex 24 of course but the team elected to delay that appearance by a few more weeks, so its debuts are now at Qatar in WEC and at Sebring next month in IMSA.

Starting off the week with gentle 1:44:00 lap times in FP1, 1:42:00 laps times were then achieved by both chassis at the end of the practice process earlier today. That was improved again later in Qualifying within the #007 car of Harry Tincknell who posted a best time of 1:41:766 but that was still over three seconds off the lead pace and worthy of a P16 starting position.

The Qualifying lap times of the #009 of Marco Sorensen were having deleted by Race Control for speeding within the pit lane at the end of the session – not that that mattered too much as the #009 crew still looked to replicate the faster pace of its sister car on track.

As Tincknell commented after Qualifying, he thinks that the race pace of the new Valkyrie is stronger than that of Qualifying and so for them, two cars finishing tomorrows race will be seen in a positive way by the team as they them move across to Sebring and an indicated full 24-hour test there in advance of Le Mans in June.

Completing each car’s driving rosters are: -

#007 – Harry Tincknell / Tom Gamble / Ross Gunn

#009 – Marco Sorensen / Alex Riberas / Roman De Angelis

#10 – Derek DeBoer / Valentin Hasse-Clot / Eduardo Barrichello

#27 – Ian James / Zacharie Robichon / Mattia Drudi

Tomorrows race will be waved off at 14:00hrs local tomorrow.

Photo credits – AMR / Team / Michelin / social media

Labels: Aston Martin Racing, Barrichello, De Angelis, DeBoer, drudi, Gamble, Gunn, Hasse-Clot, Heart of Racing, hypercar, James, Prologue, Qatar, Racing Spirit of Leman, Riberas, Robichon, Sorensen, Tincknell, Valkyrie, WEC

First a GT4 and now a GT3 from the Prosport Racing for the GT Winter Series finale next weekend

Wednesday, February 26, 2025

Now fully deserving of its own post sees further news from the Prosport Racing team confirmed today that goes along with their other news of yesterday.

Having confirmed their return to the GT4 Winter Series for their final round of their season in Barcelona next weekend with one of their 2019 Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4’s and a GT rookie driver line up, today sees the German based team reveal an AMR Vantage GT3 driver line up for the same event within the GT Winter Series set of races.

Former ADAC GT4 Germany racer Fabienne Wohlwend returns to the Christoph Esser ran team stepping up to the GT3 platform for the first time alongside fellow GT3 debutant Adrian Rziczny does likewise for this final triple header in Spain and in advance of any further 2025 programmes yet to be confirmed.

Wohlwend ran with the team alongside Celia Martin within the German GT4 series in 2023 whilst Rziczny has also come through both the BMW M2 series and most latterly within the ADAC GT4 series but in a Porsche.

This news is in addition to the Vantage GT4 pairing of Roman Fellner-Feldegg and Anton Abee announced yesterday for the same event.

Photo credits – Team / social media

Labels: ADAC GT4 Germany, Aston Martin Racing, Barcelona, GT Winter Series, gt4 winter series, Martin, Prosport Racing, rziczny, Vantage GT3, Vantage GT4, wohlwend

Ready to turn the page of a new era as the FIA WEC kicks off in Qatar this weekend

Tuesday, February 25, 2025

A thrilling new chapter in the Aston Martin story begins next weekend as the British performance brand gives the all-new Valkyrie hypercar its debut in the opening round of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship, the Qatar 1812km at Lusail International Circuit.

The first ‘Le Mans Hypercar’ to be produced by Aston Martin, Valkyrie is the only car in the WEC’s premier category derived from a road-legal hypercar. Its global debut, masterminded by the works Aston Martin The Heart Of Racing team in Qatar, begins an historic season for the British challenger, which will be the only LMH to compete in both the FIA WEC and in North America’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

The Valkyrie competition version blends a race-optimised carbon fibre chassis with a modified 6.5-litre, Cosworth-developed, V12 naturally aspirated engine that revs to 11,000rpm and produces over 1000bhp in standard form, but adheres to a strict 500kw (680bhp) power limit as per hypercar regulations.

Valkyrie positions Aston Martin – present in the FIA WEC every year since the series’ inception in 2012, and one of its most successful manufacturers with 11 championship titles – in the top class of world championship sportscar racing for the first time since the AMR1 Group C challenger of 1989. It also provides the opportunity to challenge for a first outright victory at the world’s greatest endurance race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, since Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori triumphed in the Aston Martin DBR1 in 1959.

The driver roster for the two-car programme features a fascinating blend of experience and youth within the Aston Martin works driver ranks. The #007 Valkyrie comprises an all-British line-up as Harry Tincknell, the 2016 European Le Mans Series overall champion and 2020 Le Mans LMGT3 winner, is joined by rising star Tom Gamble, ELMS LMP3 title-winner in 2020, for the full, eight-race, season. Ross Gunn, a race-winner in IMSA’s GTD and GTD Pro categories in each of the past four seasons, joins the duo for the longer-distance races, including the Qatar 1812km and Le Mans.

Marco Sørensen, three times an FIA WEC title-winner in GT classes, is joined in the sister #009 Valkyrie by long-time THOR racer Alex Riberas; a GTD Pro winner in IMSA in each of the past three seasons as well as part of the team’s FIA WEC LMGT3-winning line-up at the Circuit of the Americas last year. Roman De Angelis, the 2022 IMSA GTD Champion, strengthens the line-up for the longer-distance races, including the Qatar 1812km next weekend and Le Mans.

“To be running at world championship-level with a manufacturer like Aston Martin, with the car acknowledged as the ultimate hypercar – and the only one that has gone from road to track – is a ‘pinch me’ moment. It’s Year One and we have to be realistic about what we can achieve so our goal initially is just to go out there and get better every time, but if I didn’t think we could reach the summit of the mountain, we wouldn’t be doing it. I’m confident in the abilities of all involved and our ambitions are incredibly high” said Ian James HORT Team Principle.

While Valkyrie contests the Hypercar division, Aston Martin will also battle for victory in the LMGT3 category as the latest version of the Vantage GT3 will be fielded by 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship race winner The Heart of Racing Team and by series newcomer Racing Spirit of Leman.

Sharing the mechanical architecture of the Vantage road car, the Vantage GT3 triumphed at last year’s 24 Hours of Spa.

Fresh from a GTD-class podium finish at January’s Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, the opening round of the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship, the US-based THOR team prepares for a second full season of WEC competition with a highly-accomplished driver line-up.

Team Principal Ian James – a multiple sportscar champion in North America and an LMGT3 winner at the Circuit of the Americas last year – will be partnered by 2021 IMSA GTD title winner and 2023 European Le Mans Series GTE champion Zacharie Robichon and by Aston Martin works driver Mattia Drudi, the 2023 GT World Challenge Europe Sprint champion and a member of last year’s 24 Hours of Spa-winning line-up.

Joining THOR for a first FIA WEC season is Racing Spirit of Léman. The Swiss team won the 2023 Le Mans Cup GT3 crown with Aston Martin works driver Valentin Hasse Clot, who remains as part of the line-up for his first full season in the series.

Hasse Clot is the third winner of the Aston Martin Racing Academy to race an Aston Martin in the 2025 FIA WEC, joining Valkyrie drivers Ross Gunn and Roman De Angelis. He will share with Derek DeBoer, continuing a partnership that brought the pair podium finishes in last year’s ELMS, and Brazilian Eduardo Barrichello - son of 13-time Formula 1 Grand Prix winner Rubens Barrichello. Eduardo was a title contender in Brazil’s Stock Car V8 Series in 2024 before switching to GT racing this year.

Source material and photo credits – Aston Martin / Michelin

Labels: Barrichello, De Angelis, DeBoer, drudi, Gamble, Gunn, Hasse-Clot, Heart of Racing, hypercar, James, Qatar, Racing Spirit of Leman, Riberas, Robichon, Sorensen, Tincknell, Valkyrie, vantage LMGT3, WEC

Safronov and Vaintrub go again with Mirage Racing in FFSA GT4 Series in 2025

Tuesday, February 25, 2025

With just over fifty days still to go before the start of the FFSA GT4 Series season, the first Aston Martin Racing powered team has just been confirmed with a large degree of familiarity about the package.

Back in their familiar Mirage Racing AMR Vantage GT4 Evo sees Stanislav Safronov and Aleksandre Vaintrub return to the series for another attempt at the Pro-Am title having come up a little short last season in a year that they competed in both the outgoing and incoming variants of the Vantage platform.

Despite a steady supply of championship points over last season, visits to the class podium sadly evaded the duo as they eventually finished sixth in class with the team finishing one place higher within the Team’s title hunt.

This season starts again in Nogaro in mid-April, presumably after an official test at the circuit a week or so beforehand but this year, the series will only be running with both the Pro-Am and Am classes so that should free up a little track space for the lesser abled drivers over the five-round season.

This news means the French based Mirage Racing team are again splitting their efforts between the French FFSA GT4 Series and the bigger European GT4 Series in 2025.

Photo credits – Team / Series / social media

Labels: Aston Martin Racing, European GT4, FFSA GT, Mirage Racing, Nogaro, safronov, Vaintrub, Vantage GT4

Reduced AMR numbers in both WRL and GT4 Winter Series this weekend (Updated)

Monday, February 24, 2025

Whilst the FIA World Endurance Championship’s opening round of their 2025 will obviously take centre stage this weekend with their 1812km of Qatar, there are two further race meetings that we are aware of that have Aston Martin Racing powered entries within their midst.

Stateside of the Atlantic, we will have the next round of the World Racing League Series visit to Barber Motorsport Parkway in Alabama for another of their 8 plus 7-hour races for the multi-classed entry.

Unlike the previous round Eagles Canyon two weeks ago, only the #68 Team Speed Syndicate AMR Vantage GT4 will be taking part as for as the local AMR powered contingent are concerned. Having taken two overall P3 podiums last time out and the absence of the 89X Motorsport team, hopes of higher finishes will be there.

Out of interest, the 89X Motorsport team were out racing last weekend with the TransAm Series where their #89 Vantage GT4 of Mike Fitzpatrick finished second in class at the Sebring opener.

Then back upon the European side we have the halfway point of the GT4 Winter Series from Motorland Aragon in southern Spain.

Unlike the previous round at Valencia, there will be no AMR Vantage GT3’s from the Comtoyou Racing team for reasons unknown. Originally sporting the series to help two of their younger GT3 crews, a potential destroyed chassis and another damaged during the three GT Winter Series may have put paid to their return or Valencia might have been a one-off entry.

On the plus side however, we do still have the two AMR Vantage GT4’s from the Mucke Motorsport and Racing Spirit of Lemans teams with their constant Club and Pro-Am classed drivers.

Thilo Goos presently leads the Club class with his orange coloured #700 car whilst Baudouin Detout and Max Hewitt stand P6 in class after a disastrous visit to Valencia that saw the American get spun out of a podium winning position in race 1 before the Luxembourger suffered race ending contact within both race 2 and the longer race 3 on Sunday.

Update

There is however better news ahead of the next round of the series in Barcelona as we expect an AMR Vantage GT4 from the German Prosport Racing team for two of their new recruits as Anton Abee and Roman Fellner-Feldegg sample GT4 racing for the first time.

Photo credits – Team / D Burgin / Series / social media

Labels: Aston Martin Racing, Comtoyou Racing, detout, goos, GT Winter Series, gt4 winter series, Hewitt, Motorland Aragon, mucke motorsport, Racing Spirit of Leman, Valencia, Vantage GT3, Vantage GT4

GT4 drivers confirmed at Propsort Racing for the NLS

Monday, February 24, 2025

Only last week were German based Prosport Racing hinting at a two cars Aston Martin Racing powered driver line up for this year’s Nurburgring Langstrecken Serie but todays sees them go one step further.

Running both a Vantage GT4 and Vantage GT8R again within the Nordschleife based series sees the Christoph Esser lead team confirm both Guido Dumarey and fellow Belgian Alexander Hommerson compete within the SP8T classed GT8R whilst the SP10 classed GT4 will be driven by Jorg Viebahn and Yannik Himmels.

Like Dumarey has ran many times within the Prosport family, Viebahn has done likewise but extending back to the first time the then Prosport Performance team acquired two new 17A versions of the Vantage GT4 for their ill-fated venture into the ADAC GT4 Germany Series in 2019 as did Hommerson last season. Himmels is however new to the team.

Photo credits – E Metzner

Labels: Aston Martin Racing, Dumarey, Himmels, hommerson, NLS, prosport, vantage gt4, vantage GT8R, viebahn, VLN

Dress rehearsal done - next stage the opening round for the four Aston Martins with the FIA WEC

Sunday, February 23, 2025

Two extensive days and nights of testing are finally over and its time now to refocus our attentions from that of testing and to that of actual racing again as the World Endurance Championship readies itself for its opening round of the 2025 season with its 1812km of Qatar next weekend.

Having completed just over one thousand laps of the 5.387km Losail circuit between them, the Heart of Racing and Racing Spirit of Leman teams will now take time out to refettle their Aston Martin Valkyrie Hypercar and Aston Martin Racing Vantage LMGT3 cars ahead of next week’s official Free Practice sessions that will begin again on Wednesday.

As with any Prologue test, as far as Aston Martin/AMR powered teams are usually concerned, being the fastest of the bunch within this testing environment is never on the cards as they will usually cycle through familiarity of function for both crews and drivers (as well as the car as far as the new Valkyrie would have been concerned) before moving into setup and performance from all towards the end of the test.

From the fastest lap times entered from the #007 and #009 Hypercars and the #10 and #27 LMGT3 cars, that is precisely what has happened again although an early incident for the #10 Racing Spirit of Leman car with Derek DeBoer aboard put their continued involved within the test to a premature end with damaged sustained from a heavy impact with the guard rail.

What was most important was that the American bronze rated driver was unwise unhurt, his car did suffer extensive damage from the impact but is due to be back in fine form ahead of next week’s track action – the barrier damage did take nearly an hour to repair which did delay matters for the remaining thirty-five entries for the final session on Saturday.

Harry Tincknell gained the plaudit of being the fastest Valkyrie driver with a 1:41:089 is session 4 (still 2.118 seconds off the leading car over the Prologue test whilst Zacharie Robichon did likewise within the LMGT3 class for the #27 Heart of Racing team with a best lap time of 1:54:939, this time just 0.149 off the lead pace.

What all the teams will be eager to see now will be any Balance of Performance change ahead of the opening round form the data available to the series from the onboard telemetry of each car. With existing BoP parameters remaining in force until changed, it will again the case of no news is good news on that front.

Either way, the new Aston Martin powered Valkyrie again smashed the internet with its arrival and ‘soundtrack’!!

Photo credits Teams / FIA WEC / social media

Labels: Aston Martin, Aston Martin Racing, Heart of Racing, hypercar, Prologue, Qatar, Racing Spirit of Leman, Valkyrie, WEC

More #TeamAMR news from this week

Friday, February 21, 2025

Whilst the FIA WEC tick off their first of a two-day Prologue test today in Qatar, more images and news has been released over the course of the week regarding multiple Aston Martin Racing race programs for various teams around the world.

With the Heart of Racing already busy in Qatar with the first appearance of their fully homologated Aston Martin Valkyrie Hypercars and one Vantage LMGT3, the team has also been busy back home at the Apex Motor Club in Arizona testing with both the AMR Vantage GT3 and Vantage GT4 that they will run within this seasons GT World Challenge America and GT4 America Series.

Darren Turner was again on hand to assist Gray Newell with his transition from the GT4 to the GT3 platform in time for the season opener at Sonoma in just over a month’s time. The team’s returning all-female driver line up of Hannah Grisham and Hannah Greenemeir also got to grips again with their new Vantage GT4 Evo before moving off to Sonoma to have a look around there.

Over in Japan, the D’Station Racing team enjoyed a similar two-day official Super GT test at the Okayama circuit. With just Tomonobu Fujii again behind wheel of the #777 car with recently confirmed co-driver Charlie Fagg again absent, the purpose of further Dunlop tyre testing as well as shakedowns of their new Vantage GT3 Evo machinery.

This all came alongside announcements that the Prosport Racing team intend to enter at least one AMR Vantage GT4 and one Vantage GT8R within this season’s NLS series as well as a scheduled appearance within the GT Winter Series in Barcelona in early March.

Within the Britcar Endurance Champiosnhip, we see Martin Addison return with his AMR Vantage GT4 proving again that once a race car – always a race car, despite its age!

Photo credits – Teams / social media

Labels: Apex Motor Club, Aston Martin Racing, Britcar, D'Station racing, GT world challenge America, GT4 America, Heart of Racing, NLS, Okayama, Super GT, Testing, vantage gt4, Vantage GT3

Another new chapter in 2025 for the Comtoyou Racing team in DTM (updated)

Thursday, February 20, 2025

Now confirmed by the series but the Belgian based Comtoyou Racing team have today expanded again their 2025 racing programme with an envisaged two car entry within the German DTM Series.

Having pushed their limits of endurance with their then fleet of four new Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 Evo’s last season, today’s news sees the Jean-Michel Baert led team enter what is already their fourth series of 2025 after entries and confirmations already ran and made within the Dubai 24, GT Winter Series, GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup and now the headline German GT series.

Again, liking to keep things within the family sees Nicolas Baert get confirmed within the team’s #008 car with fellow Belgian and team newcomer Gilles Magnus is confirmed within the #007 car.

Both drivers come with a long pedigree of multi-discipline racing experience through from karts and single seaters to more recent GT experience and success which will all be needed for the forthcoming eight round season that kicks off at Oschersleben in late April through to its conclusion at Hockenheim in early October.

Photo credits – Team / social media

Labels: Aston Martin Racing, Baert, Comtoyou Racing, DTM, dubai 24, GT Winter Series, GT World Challenge Europe, magnus, Vantage GT3

The first officially released Aston Martin confirmed today with British GTs new Endurance Cup

Thursday, February 20, 2025

It’s just late February still pre-season for most series around the world but that hasn’t stopped two further Aston Martin Racing powered teams from confirming more of their plans for the forthcoming season earlier today.

Starting more locally to ourselves, we see the first officially released confirmation of the first Aston Martin Racing powered team to join the British GT Championship as the MKH Racing team mark a return to the topflight UK championship within the all-new Endurance Cup.

Having dipped another toe back into the Championship last season with ad-hoc pairing Ron Johnson and Tom Ingram in a 17A version of the Vantage GT4 platform, today’s news sees team co-owner Peter Montague and Stuart Hall step up from previous involvement within the British Endurance Championship and the GT Cup Championship to that of the British GT Championship within their new 2025 Vantage GT4 Evo.

We understand from post season last year, it was still a tight decision for the bronze ranked Montague as to what competition to operate in this season but with a sizeable amount of testing within their new car already, the British GT’s recent announcement of the Endurance Cup class for GT4 runners may have been the clincher.

“We are very excited to be in British GT; it has been an ambition of the team to compete at this level for some time,” said Montague. “It’s taken a lot of hard work to get here, but we have a very strong and experienced team and are confident we will do our best.

“We have raced with the Aston Martin brand for a number of years, so it’s exciting to be racing the new GT4 Aston in British GT. Stu and myself have been team-mates for some time, and it is a natural progression for the MKH team to progress to British GT.”

The Endurance Cup will comprise of the season’s four longer rounds from Donington Park, Spa Francorchamps and Silverstone starting at the Leicestershire circuit in early April after Media Day at Silverstone in late March.

Photo credits – Team / series / social media

Labels: Aston Martin Racing, British Endurance Championship, British GT, donington, endurance cup, gt cup, Hall, MKH Racing, montague, Silverstone, Spa, Vantage GT4

Aston Martins latest FIA WEC racing chapter begins this week at the Prologue test

Wednesday, February 19, 2025

The start of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship starts tomorrow as the new cars begin the scrutinising process and the drivers indulge in some photographic and video works for the series ahead the start of track action for this week’s Prologue test from Qatar.

Thirty-six cars and crews have been listed for the test and for the first time, Aston Martin powered teams now feature within the new world Hypercar and LMGT3 classes that now make up the series. American Heart of Racing team provided three of the four Aston Martin entries with two of its debuting Aston Martin Valkyrie Hypercars alongside its AMR Vantage LMGT3 with the Swiss based Racing Spirit of Leman team supplying the second LMGT3 as they step up the main event for the first time this year.

Having seen the Valkyrie test for the Heart of Racing team at a recent IMSA test at Sebring, this will be the first time both of their WEC Valkyrie entries will be seen on track together in their green based WEC livery with its full driver line ups after a brief shakedown test at Silverstone a week or so ago.

With just two classes again this year, it is an equal split in numbers between classes that will see the teams being able to run within two test sessions per day over the available Friday and Saturday running before the opening round of the season at the Losail circuit next weekend.

As already confirmed, the #007 Hypercar will be driven at the test by Harry Tincknell, Tom Gamble and Ross Gunn with the sister #009 car will be driven by Alex Riberas, Marco Sorensen and Roman De Angelis. These are each cars respective Le Mans 24hr driver crews with each car runner just the first two drivers for all other rounds whilst both Gunn and De Angelis will operate the team's IMSA programme.

Meanwhile in LMGT3, the #27 Heart of Racing entry will again see Ian James take charge alongside that of Zacharie Robichon and Mattia Drudi whilst the #10 Racing Spirit of Leman entry carries the familiar names of Derek DeBoer, Valentin Hasse-Clot and Eduardo Barrichello. These cars will race with the stated trio including at Le Mans.

Preliminary Balance of Performance parameters has been issued to each manufacturer within each class, but these will be expected to change between the start of the test and Qualifying for the next weekend’s opening race as more technical test information becomes available to the technical body within the FIA.

We already see that the Heart of Racing team have applied to the WEC to have access to their Valkyrie test chassis that apparently remains in Qatar after private testing there last year as a source of spare parts if required – but the series has rejected that request stated that spare cars remain prohibited, so we assume that that car must be dismantled first to allow the scavenging of parts (if required).

Track action brings the season off to an official start with the first test session beginning at 13:00hrs local on Friday.

Photo credits – Aston Martin / Team / social media

Labels: Aston Martin, Aston Martin Racing, Heart of Racing, hypercar, imsa, Prologue, Qatar, Racing Spirit of Leman, Valkyrie, vantage LMGT3, WEC

Disastrous events for the AMR runners in GT Winter Series visit to Valencia

Monday, February 17, 2025

The weekend’s latest round of the GT Winter Series proved itself to be nothing short of a disaster for the Aston Martin Racing powered teams entered at Valencia with all the positivity of new teams and cars quickly lost with incidents on track.

Having previously just seen the two AMR Vantage GT4’s from both the Racing Spirit of Leman and Mucke Motorsport teams, this time we saw the first inclusion of two current AMR Vantage GT3 Evo’s from the Comtoyou Racing team as they too looked to the series for pre main season seat time for what appears to be (at least part) of its GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup squad.

Racing again as separate series between GT4 and GT3/Challenge/Cup cars, it was the GT4 cars who were first effected by the weekends run of ‘bad luck’ within the first of the two sprint races after Max Hewitt was busy defending what would have been his first podium finish since 2019 when another hobbled car distracted him for a moment which allowed the Porsche behind to go up the inside of him – contact was made and the #39 Vantage spun out to recover to disappointing sixth place finish.

The irony here was that the hobbled car was limping back after being collected by the #700 Mucke Motorsport AMR Vantage GT4 of Thilo Goos.

That misfortune continued for both cars as Baudouin Detout suffered early sprint race two contact when it was his turn and was forced to pit at the end of the first lap with linkage damage before further contact for the Luxembourger did similar with the endurance round to complete a miserable weekend for them all. Goos would fare no better in race two and three after finding the gravel trap in race two and front-end damage in race three.

It was within the GT Winter Series that the most polar opposite kind of results were had by the two Comtoyou Racing entries as Matisse Lismont and Kobe Pauwels gained from their experiences togther of last season within the GT World Challenge Europe whilst the team’s new Brazilian duo of Ricardo Baptista and Rafael Suzuka experienced a European baptism of fire.

Race one and it was all Lismont within the GT3 class to secure an encouraging P1 in class whilst Baptista ran a wisely conservative race to come home P9 overall and P3 in class for his first GT3 race. Then, it all went wrong!

Race 2 for Pauwels and Suzuka and contact at the front for the two Astons saw the #700 car luckily recover its line into turn one but the #270 of Suzuka was spun around on track to fortunately face the right direction as the remainder of the pack blindly thundered passed. Having missed contact from all except the extreme tail of the pack, first one car ripped a wheel off the #270 before another impacted heavily into the rear of the car bringing out the Safety car. Fortunately, nobody within that five-car incident was hurt although the #270 wouldn’t be seen again on track.

Within all of that, a great run from Pauwels was finally blighted with a rear puncture after contact from behind and whilst being able to recover to the pit lane, was able to salvage a P23 finish overall, P3 in class. The final endurance race of the day for them at least went something like it was planned as their P4 qualifying position was rewarded with another P2 finish in class.

Photo credits – D Burgin / social media

Labels: Aston Martin Racing, Comtoyou Racing, detout, goos, GT Winter, gt4 winter series, Hewitt, mucke motorsport, Racing Spirit of Leman, Valencia, Vantage GT3, Vantage GT4