There was also disappointment for the Comtoyou Racing team at the weekend as they battled both the elements and a lowly performing Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 platform as they battled it out again in both the DTM and ADAC GT Masters Series from Hockenheim.

Within the headlining DTM Series, Nicki Thiim needed something nothing short of a minor miracle if he was to be in any position of lifting that coveted title despite having lead the drivers’ championship at the midway stage to the season after back-to-back race wins were met with serious Balance of performance challenges alongside that of the series own success penalties.

 

Within what was a pretty much constant soaking of the former home to the German Grand Prix, both Thiim and Nicolas Baert battled things out last time but with even Thiim qualifying no higher than P15 – things were never going to go their way.

With both hour-long races then done, their best race result was for a P14 finish for Thiim in the final race for him to eventually finish sixth overall within the Drivers Championship with Baert coming in twenty first despite having raced all sixteen races. There was, however, small consolation for the team as they secured the Pit Stop Challenge Award for their efforts again upon their #8 car of Baert.

 

It was a similar tune with their #39 ADAC GT Masters AMR Vantage GT3 entry of Jamie Day and Baudouin Detout as they eventually came home a still very credible tenth overall within the Drivers’ Championship in what was still Detouts debut GT3 powered season.

 

Contact and a puncture during race one of the weekend hampered things there and despite a BoP break and a front row start for Day ahead of the season concluding race, another P12 overall was the best result that they could muster within the changeable conditions at the circuit at the time.

Photo credits – Team / ADAC

 

 

Three more German based GT3 and GT4 series will also race to a seasonal conclusion this weekend as the DTM, ADAC GT Masters and ADAC GT4 Germany Series all head to Hockenheim for their final two races of the season.

Working from top to bottom, this second year within the DTM Series has been a very frustrating one for the Comtoyou Racing team and their two Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3’s of both Nicki Thiim and Nicolas Baert.

 

Whilst Baert has again struggled for pace for much of the season with only the periodic and brief episodes of pace during qualifying at some rounds, all the headlines have been made with Thiim and his #007 car taking pole positions and double race wins to be in real contention for the championship going into these final rounds.

However, and like all within the twenty-one strong grid, that pace has been all too quick in terms of type of balance of performance in operation within the series that quickly saw Thiim (and others around him at the top of the order) somewhat ‘hobbled’ for pace as at the subsequent rounds – something that eventually saw those championship possibilities end of low scoring performances.

 

As a result of that, this weekend’s two hour long and solo driven races will be just for pride (and hopefully further preparation ahead of a 2028 assault upon the series by the Belgian based team as Thiim would need to score maximum points with all five drivers ahead of him basically failing to score. Stranger things have happened before in other series – maybe it’s just that liitle bit too far within DTM but never say never!!

 

Comtoyou Racing will also be fielding another one of their fleet of AMR Vantage GT3’s as Jamie Day and Baudouin Detout round off their debut season within the DTM supporting ADAC GT Masters Series with their #38 entry.

For Luxembourger Detout, this has also been his first full season of racing within the GT3 class having only swapped over to GT4’s just a couple of years ago so their own podium finishes along the way so far have been much deserved.

 

After the five previous rounds so far, this combo of drivers presently stands sixth within the overall drivers’ championship table as well as sixth within their own silver cup and Teams classes as well as P7 for Day within the Road to the DTM sub-class.

Although they now cannot win anything outright – two decent finishes this weekend could easily see the pairing rise up the order by the close of play on Sunday.

Photo credits – Team / Series / social media

After something like an eight-week summer break, just thirteen cars of the original grid size of sixteen cars of the ADAC GT Masters Series will head to the grid of the Salzburgring this weekend for the penultimate round of the season.

Fortunately to be within one of those runners will be the #39 full season entry of the Comtoyou Racing team and their silver/silver pairing of Jamie Day and Baudouin Detout. Last time out the Brit and Luxembourger secured their first GT3 race win togther and in the series with a near lights to flag performance from the pairing and team after Day had claimed pole position earlier in the weekend.

 

With this being Detout’s debut season within the Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 having stepped up from the Vantage GT4 at the end of last season, life within the AADAC series has been tough but with four races still to come this season they duo still sit a respectable P8 within the overall championship table.

As with any series, consistency is key and at least the pairing have secured a points scoring finish at the end of the previous eight races so far but with the points deficit to the present leaders already being too great to cover, the remainder of the season will remain that of a development curve for all.

Photo credits – Team / Series

 

 

 

Good times finally came the way of the Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Racing powered team this weekend as their silver graded crew finally made it through to a podium finish early today to take an overall race win within the ADAC GT Masters Series.

Racing this time from the Nurburgring, the #39 AMR Vantage GT3 of Jamie Day and Baudoin Detout benefitted from this weekend’s adjustment in Balance of performance for the turbo charged Vantage to take full benefit of that fact within Sunday’s hour-long race although opportunities were lost within Saturday’s race.

 

With Detout qualifying the car tenth out of the sixteen strong grid for the hour-long race yesterday, the Luxembourger was penalised not only for his false starting position (for which he received a visit to the penalty lane) but also had the effects of that exaggerated with being spun out at turn one for only the second time around.

From that point, and despite the support of DTM racer Nicki Thiim being within the camp this weekend, there was no return for the AMR pairing throughout the hour -long race and they had to make do with another P12 finish.

 

Sunday was, however, a completely new day and Day literally made the most of his qualifying run by securing his first pole position within the series this year.

Also taking the start to race two of the weekend, Day managed to maintain his race lead throughout his half-hour stint before he eventually handed over to Detout with a gap to second place of no more than two seconds. This time, a faultless stint from Detout saw the #39 car running unchallenged at the head of the grid whilst those from second to fourth were left to squabble over the remaining podium places.

 

At the end, the #39 Comtoyou Racing AMR team took their best results of the ADAC GT Masters Series so far with a fine lights to flag race win – Aston Martin Racings first in the series since 2012!!

Photo credits – ADAC / Social media

Having skipped a beat last weekend with both the DTM and ADAC GT4 Germany Series from the Norisring last weekend, the ADAC GT Masters Series is this weekend back in action with their two races of their fourth round of the season from the Nurburgring.

With just sixteen GT3 powered entries again being listed, it will again be the #39 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 car of Baudouin Detout and Jamie Gray taking our attention.

 

The team will presumably be on fine form this weekend after helping Nicki Thiim transfer his pair of pole setting times in DTM to take two overall race wins last weekend around the improvised street circuit layout of the Norisring in downtown Nuremburg.

The season so far has been a progressive and predictably difficult one as Day helps Detout step up to top-flight GT3 racing for the first time after the Frenchman started GT racing for the first time in GT4.

 

Last time out at the Lausitzring back in mid-June, the pairing secured both a P9 and P6 overall finish at the end of each hour long – pit stop punctuated races so they will no doubt be looking for more this time around.

Photo credits - ADAC / Team

 

 

It will not just be the Walkenhorst Motorsport team who will arrive at the Spa Francorchamps racetrack later this week in time for this weekend’s Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa with a spring in their step after a podium winning build up elsewhere last weekend, as the Comtoyou Racing team have done similar.

Whilst the German based Aston Martin Arcing powered team did well at the NLS with one of their AMR Vantage GT3 powered crews, the Belgian based Comtoyou Racing AMR team did better as they secured their best racing results this years within both the DTM and ADAC GT Masters Series at the fast Lausitzring in eastern Germany.

 

Having been beaten quite convincingly last time out at Zandvoort, the AMR Vantage GT3 platform clearly got a more favourable BoP adjustment this time out as Nicki Thiim secured his first AMR powered pole position of the year for race one on Saturday.

An intense rainstorm just before the start however, changed matters lightly for the #007 car of Thiim to lose out at the start before regrouping to come back with still a season best so far finish in fourth with Nicolas Baert also getting his best result to date in P16.

Qualifying ahead of race two on Sunday didn’t go quite as well as before with Thiim this time being third quickest before making use of the hot conditions at the speed oval circuit to deliver his first podium finish of the year in second with Baert in P17.

Within the supporting ADAC GT Masters Series, the teams #39 AMR Vantage GT3 of Baudouin Detout and Jamie Day also did better than last time out in Holland as the young crew improved upon their P11 starting position on Saturday to come home in P9 before rounding the weekend off with a P6 overall finish after another P11 starting

position.

 

The team and drivers (with the exception of Detout) will now compete within the Spa 24 this week as both the Walkenhorst and Comtoyou Racing teams field an AMR powered entry of six cars between them (plus the Blackthorn car as well).

Photo credits - DTM / ADAC

 

 

 

 

 

Germany will be the venue of three significant race series this weekend as both the DTM and ADAC GT Masters Series pair up again at the Lausitzring whilst the NLS Series get back underway after their annual break for the ADAC Ravenol N24 event just a few weeks.

Whilst the total entry numbers may be now considered modest compared to others, there will of course be at least one Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 powered crew within each as the Comtoyou Racing team again fields all three entries at the Lausitzring, it’s both the Walkenhorst Motorsport and Prosport Racing team doing the honours around the Nurburgring Nordschleife.

 

It’s the third round of the year for both the DTM and GT Masters runners and all three Comtoyou Racing AMR crews will be looking for more after a poor showing last time out around the coastal circuit of Zandvoort in the Netherlands.

Running solo as usual, the #007 car of Nicki Thiim and the #008 car of Nicolas Baert struggled to keep within the top ten at the end of both races (for Thiim) whilst Baert was again the last of those still running out of their twenty-car entry. It was a similar tail within the GT Masters Series for the #39 Vantage GT3 of Jamie Day and Baudouin Detout whose best result at Zandvoort was a P8 out of their entry of just fifteen cars.

 

Whilst the entry remains constant for DTM, the other series has seen a two car drop in numbers for this weekend.

Rounding things off in Germany will be the running of the sixth round of the 2026 Nurburgring Langstrecken Serie which sees about one hundred and ten cars listed ahead of Saturday’s four-hour race.

 

 

Now that the main event has now passed, we will just see the #35 Walkenhorst Motorsport SP9 Pro-Am entry of Mateo Villagomez, Christian Krognes and Dennis Fetzer alongside the #37 Prosport Racing SP9 Am class entry for father and son, Guido and Maxime Dumarey. Both crews will be looking to make amends to their DNF finishes at the twenty four hour race back in mid-May.

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media

 

 

It was a frustrating trip to the Dutch circuit of Zandvoort for the Belgian based Comtoyou Racing after they arrived earlier this week for the second rounds of both the DTM Series and the ADAC GT Masters Series.

Having already had a busy couple of days at Spa Francorchamps with their Prologue testing duties ahead of the Spa 24, it was double driving duties for all but one of their drivers and a triple stint for one of those.

 

Having raced already at the faster and wider Red Bull Ring in the opening rounds of both series, the tight and twisty coastal circuit of Zandvoort was always going to be a tall ask for their three Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 powered runners with their available BoP never going to see their cars of either series.

Race one in DTM was uneventful for the #007 of Nicki Thiim and the #008 of Nicolas Baert as Thiim qualified and finished ninth overall whilst Baert improved from his P19 start to finish P17 within the twenty-one starters.

 

Race two also didn’t go their way after Baert suffered from another tyre failure whilst Thiim was given penalty for earlier contact which resulted in both Aston’s finishing at the rear of the pack.

Within the ADAC GT Masters Series, it was still a learning curve for Baudouin Detout as he prepared to compete in only his second competitive GT3 powered race weekend under the watchful eye of Jamie Day aboard their #39 Aston Martin.

 

Starting the weekend in sixth after Day’s earlier qualifying run, Detout would start the car before handing over the Englishman to end the busy day of Saturday P11 out of the entry of fifteen cars. Race two on Sunday would start the other way around in driver rotation with Day being able to elevate their car from its P15 starting position before handing over to Detout to eventually finish P8 overall.

The next round for both series will be from the Lausitzring in mid-June.

Photo credits – Team / Series

 

 

 

 

The second rounds of the German based DTM and ADAC GT Masters Series take place this weekend from the Dutch coastal circuit of Zandvoort with the Belgian based Comtoyou Racing team back in action within each series.

For the programme heading DTM Series, the team will be back with their two Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 Evo’s as Nicki Thiim carries on his incredibly busy week that started over a week ago in fact during the earlier Qualification stages of the ADAC Ravenol N24, through the twenty-four-hour race itself before moving onto Spa Francorchamps earlier this week for some Crowdstrike Spa 24 testing.

 

Whilst the Dane drives his #007 car, the sister #008 car will again be driven by Nicolas Baert having also attended Spa for the two-day Prologue test with the team.

First time out this season in the series was at the Red Bull Ring, Austria back in late April where a difficult opening qualifying session and later Race 1 was improved upon on the second day where Thiim finished P5 overall and Baert P17.

 

This weekend will see another difficult weekend for the AMR Vantage platform in terms of power characteristics around the tight and twisty circuit where the teams only data from last season saw both cars finish at the tail of the pack. This weekend’s entry list also shows another nineteen strong entry (21 cars in total) for the two one-hour races.

Joining them at the circuits will be the fifteen-car entry of the ADAC GT Masters Series with the Comtoyou Racing team also fielding another AMR Vantage GT3 Evo powered crew within that series.

 

Their #39 entry of Jamie Day and Baudouin Detout will take on only their second race together in their silver class.

Last time out for these guys in Austria saw Day secure a front row start for race 1 for them to finish eighth before dropping down to P10 in race two for what was still Detout’s first competitive GT3 racing weekend.

 

This weekend will be fast and furious for sure!

Photo credits – Teams / Series

 

 

 

 

 

Completing the trio of events at the Red Bull Ring this weekend also saw the Belgian Comtoyou Racing team enter another of their Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3’s within the ADAC GT Masters Series.

Signifying a significant step up the GT racing ladder for Luxembourger Baudouin Detout as he enters his first full season with the AMR Vantage GT3, he at least had the (albeit young but already) vastly experienced Jamie Day by his side for this this weekend’s opening round and their first two one-hour races together.

 

Day was quickly able to show his pace amongst the nineteen strong grid as he secured a front row start to Saturdays race within their #39 car. Despite losing ground in early laps, Day was at least able to hand the car over to Detout from fifth for the regulated timed pit stop.

Initially holding that position on his own merit, Detout did slowly drop away slightly to eventually claim a P8 overall / P7 in class finish at the end.

Sunday’s qualifying was this time Detout’s responsibility where he returned a P12 starting position to work from. Initially surviving the frantic opening laps, Detout showed some great race craft in attempting challenges with those ahead but also some racing inexperience that ultimately cost his position as he handed the car over to Day in P13.

Stops over and Day was up to P11, but the brit was unable to make up for lost ground as the #39 chalked up another respectable P10 overall finish for their season opening efforts.

 

The next round to the season will also be from Zandvoort at the end of May alongside that of the DTM.

Photo credits – Team / ADAC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It will be a very busy race card at the Red Bell Ring this weekend as three German based GT series kick off their 2026 season just over the border in Austria.

The headline series will again be the DTM Series but supporting them this weekend will be both the ADAC GT Masters Series and well as the ADAC GT4 Germany Series with an interesting line up of Aston Martin Racing powered crews between them.

 

The Belgian based Comtoyou Racing team have come back for a second season within the DTM, having dipped that metaphorical toe into the series last year with two ‘junior’ drivers but this year they will have a real race winning contender within their midst as Nicki Thiim is finally released amongst the expected twenty one car full season entry with one of their AMR Vantage GT3 Evo’s.

Supporting him will be Nicolas Baert who returns to the series within his #008 car to prove just what he has learnt from his last season efforts as a solo driver within this weekend’s two one-hour races.

 

In the ADAC GT Masters Series, the Belgian team also has another of their AMR Vantage GT3 Evo cars within their expected fifteen strong GT3 based grid as Luxembourger Baudouin Detout steps up to the GT3 class for his first full competitive season with that platform alongside the Dubai domiciled young Brit, Jamie Day.

They too will compete in two 0ne-hour races over the weekend.

 

Rounding off the Red Bull Ring race card as far as we are concerned will be the return of the Cosy Racing by ESM and their lone Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 that they raced so well last season despite arriving late to the party.

Jan Philipp Springob returns to the team after something of a success debut season with the Eastside Motorsport team last season and he will be joined by another returnee to the team in Philipp Gogollok after he was one half to the teams endeavours within this series with there then brand-new Vantage GT4.

They too will compete in two one-hour races after all three series recently enjoyed an official test day at the circuit earlier this month.

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media

 

 

 

 

 

The Class of 2026 has today been revealed by Aston Martin Racing as they again go searching for a worthy winner to their Drivers Academy.

With previous winners to that accolade going on and flourishing within their respective racing careers, todays earlier news of last year’s winner Kobe Pauwels getting the chance of a lifetime to debut within the opening round to the World Endurance Championship with the Heart of Racing team, that in itself will give this year’s competitors reason to try just that little bit harder.

 

Again, the main pre-requisite of a driver entry into the Academy process being that they are running within an AMR Vantage GT3 or GT4 powered entry across any number of recognised global series – that has again attracted another global entry with twenty-two names being confirmed but with some which still haven’t been officially confirmed as yet.

“Winning the AMR Academy is a great honour for me,” said Pauwels. “I learned a lot working with Aston Martin through the season and the test at the end of year was an amazing experience, because you get to work with some outstanding people and that allows you to validate what you are learning as you develop. The WEC debut is very exciting, and if I’m honest, has come earlier than I expected it would! I will do my best to show the Heart of Racing Team and Aston Martin that I was the right choice!” as he steps up onto the world stage for the first time.

Indeed, many of these names were at the AMR factory at Banbury as well as the Aston Martin F1 team headquarters at Silverstone during last week’s British GT Championship Media Day from Silverstone so we knew that an announcement was due imminently.

 

 

Belgian based Comtoyou Racing announced earlier this week their participation within what will be their fourth race series of this forthcoming season as two familiar names pair up for the first time within the ADAC GT Masters Series.

Having already thrown ad-hoc entries into the GT Winter Series and having already confirmed multi-car entries within the GT World Challenge Europe (Sprint and Endurance Cup) Series as well as the German based DTM Series, this week’s news saw both Jamie Day and Baudoin Detout confirmed within this (also) German series within one of their many Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3’s.

 

 

Already an accomplished GT3 racer with the Vantage GT3, Day will be taking on GT3 racing graduate Detout as the Luxembourger steps up from the Vantage GT4 that he has now raced over the last couple of seasons within the GT4 European Series, FFSA GT4 and GT4 Winter Series.

The team have also now embarked upon a “Road to DTM” pathway for their now increasing younger driver roster across this six round season that starts at the Red Bull Ring in late April before continuing top the final round at Hockenheim in late October – partly in line with the 2026 DTM calendar.

The team have already confirmed a two car AMR Vantage GT3 entry into this years DTM with drivers Nicki Thiim and Nicolas Baert.

Photo credits – Team / DTM / social media

 

Congratulations to Jamie Day for today being confirmed at the latest winner of the coveted Aston Martin Racing Drivers Academy for 2024 after his championship winning exploits in both the British GT Championship and the GT4 Winter Series with the Forsetti Motorsport team.

Building on previous successes within an Aston Martin over the two previous season’s, Day claimed early seasonal success last year as the Norfolk based Forsetti team entered the upward coming GT4 Winter Series (alongside Mikey Porter) where they enjoyed near dominant performances to take the Spanish/Portuguese based series before his main attentions within both the British GT Championship and GT4 European Series had even started.