The Michelin Pilot Challenge Series visit to the Virginia International raceway next weekend will see a change within the Aston Martin Racing powered team numbers as the CSM team swap over to the AMR Vantage GT4 platform for the remainder of the season.
That takes the AMR powered entry into this eight-round event to a healthy six car field although one of the full season entries does now feature a driver confirmation following on from an accident last time out at Road America.
That unfortunate news relates to Athan Sterling after his sizeable impact with the concrete wall towards the end of that two-hour race at Road America, something that brought about another Safety Car intervention and then subsequent red flag as corner workers and medical staff attended to the needs of the driver.
After the event, the team confirmed his initial admission into the local hospital for checks before later confirming his release without giving any further detail. We can only assume that his absence next week is still a consequence of that incident.
The good news is that from the Czabok-Simpson Motorsport team as they upgrade their car of Ismaeel Ellahi from the VP Racing Sportscar Challenge to that of the Michelin Pilot Challenge alongside new co-driver Aryton Houk within their #3 car with their pairing of Morgan Burkhard and Gordon Scully swapping over from their Porsche 718 GT4 RS to the Vantage GT4 – each for the remainder of the 2026 season.
That leaves the remaining three full season entries from the Heart of Racing, Circle H Racing and Car Blanche teams as certainly the latter crew continue to chase down that coveted championship crown.
The #26 Heart of Racing crew of Hannah’s Grisham and Greenemeir will be looking to extend their somewhat extra-ordinary run of three pole positions BUT will be desperate to avoid all of the rotten luck that has come their way within those three races where unnecessary contact from others has seen them repeatedly spun out of decent running positions, but at least their championship hopes are not over yet.
Then there is the #14 Circle H Racing crew of David Hampton and Thomas Merrill who have seen a decent start to the season somewhat flatline in the middle to see their racing efforts over the last few races go into reverse with third party contact and accidents of their own.
Finally, it’s the #66 Car Blanche entry of Trenton Estep and Allen Patten who presently lay sixth overall in the Championship, just 190 points behind the leading crew with this and two further rounds of the season to go. With consistency the name of the game within any series, the crews lowly points finish at Mid-Ohio in early June may prove to be their Achilles heal with those around them averaging a higher points haul than themselves.
Their win last time out at Road America certainly needs repeating around the picturesque circuit of VIR if they are to have any hope of the title with the final rounds at Indianapolis and Road Atlanta still to come.
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
