Making up for lost ground regarding last weekend’s racing results, especially around the Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 powered arena – it was unfortunately a disappointing weekend for those AMR powered competitors within both the Iberian Supercars Espana Series and IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Series.
The former competing down in Jarama for the second round of that series after the opening round roan concurrently with the races then of the Iberian Supercars Series but with a reduced AMR powered entry list of just three cars amongst the twenty-three strong GT4 entry.
Race one couldn’t have gone a lot worse really as both the #28 Racar Motorsport entry for Vasco Oliveira and Ivan Velasco and the #52 Monterios Competicoes AMR of Henrique Oliveira and Louis Leveau each failed to finish with the remaining #77 Racar Motorsport of Mathieu Martins and Anton Morsing having to make do with a distant P17 result overall, P9 in class.
Race two did get slightly better for at least one AMR runner as the #28 car turned their earlier misfortune around to secure a P12 overall / P2 in the GT4 Bronze class finish whilst the #77 car was this time a non-finisher with the #52 car down in P17 overall/P7 in GT4 Pro.
It was a similar story within last weekend’s four-hour round of the Michelin Pilot Challenge which ran at Mid-Ohio as the fourth round of that IMSA series and as the second elongated round to that of the usual two-hour race.
Hopes were high going into this round for the four AMR Vantage GT4 powered runners with the #66 Van Der Steur crew of Trenton Estep and Allen Patten securing a second row start in third after the rain affected preceding track sessions.
As the race got underway, an unsighted spin by a Porsche up front sadly claimed the #4 Medusa Motorsport AMR of Hunter Yeaney/Athan Sterling and Jacob Loomis as the #4 car slammed heavily into the Porsche as that faced the racing traffic on only the opening lap. Despite being able to limp back to pit lane, the loss of a front wheel and suspension linkages sadly put paid to their efforts for the day.
There were also early issues for the #14 Circle H Racing AMR of David Hampton/Thomas Merril and Martin Sarukhanyan as they also disappeared behind the pit wall during this opening caution – to return some fifteen minutes later but to run off the pace before finally coming to a halt on track thirty minutes before the end.
The #26 Heart of Racing AMR of Hannah Grisham and Hannah Greenemeir were also looking racey as they quickly elevated themselves from their P18 overall starting position to run strongly within the top ten for much of the race. Unfortunately for them, late braking issues within the car would eventually drop them down to P12 overall whilst the #66 Van Der Steur had to make do with a P9 result for their efforts.
Overall, they were many disappointed people within the AMR powered camps at the end of last weekend.
Photo credits – Teams / social media
