Mirage Racing and co secure the FFSA GT4 Pro-Am title at last weekends finale
Featuring another Vantage GT4 double entry within the French series, their #7 crew of Stanislav Safronov and Aleksandre Vaintrub made the best of their slight championship lead going into last weekend’s fifth and final round of the season from Paul Ricard to end their 2025 account in the best way possible with a P4 finish in race one before their season clinching race win in Sunday’s second and final race.
Meanwhile, the team’s #5 Am class entry of David Levy and Jodie Sloss showed off their fine form again both on the car as well as team apparel as their #5 car was adjusted in livery form for this final round to incorporate a distinguishable red tartan attire.
Obviously taking Sloss by surprise upon her arrival at the circuit, members of the team elected to wear the kilt as well as having parts of their car reliveried in a red tartan design. That change obviously inspired the duo as they both converted their P12 and P7 starting positions into a pair of P3 class finishes to round off an otherwise successful first dip into the French series for the young Scot and her more established teammate.
As a results of Sunday’s results, the Mirage Racing team also secure the Pro-Am Team title alongside that of the drivers as well as third placed within the Am Class Teams and Drivers Championships.
For the team, Safronov and Vaintrub, they also embark upon a final championship battle within next weekend’s final round of the GT4 European Series from Barcelona.
Photo credits – FFSA GT4
Monday, October 06, 2025 |
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JMF Motorsport come out on top after the GT4 America triple header from Barber
With five Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 powered crews again participating within either their Silver or Am classes saw the two JMF Motorsport crews come away with four podium finishes between them.
Their #3 car of Jesse Webb and Jonathon Neudorf secured both a P3 in class finish after Fridays catch up race before adding to it with a P3 finish in class after race 2 on Sunday. Their sister #4 car of Mike David-Ortmann and Braydon Arthur fared slightly better as they secured a pair of P2 class finishes in both race 1 and race 2 over the weekend.
The other podium finish gained was from the #07 Skip Barber Racing AMR Am class entry of Alex and Micheal Garcia who secured a P3 finish in class on Sunday.
The #26 Heart of Racing AMR entry of Hannah Grisham and Hannah Greenemeir suffered something of a trying weekend as they finished the Friday catch up race in sixth before then suffering technical issues that would force them to start both race 1 and 2 from the back of the pack before retiring from race 1 with further technical issues but at least they finished the otherwise difficult weekend with an encouraging P4 finish in class on Sunday.
The remaining #39 Van Der Steur AMR of Max Hewitt and Luca Mars unfortunately suffered slightly worse for their efforts with a DNF in both the catch-up race and race two on Sunday – punctuated only by a P4 finish on Saturday.
The series now moves onto its final race weekend of the season from Indianapolis in just over a month’s time.
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
Monday, September 08, 2025 |
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A trio of podium visits for the Mirage Racing Aston Martins in FFSA GT4
Racing with a car apiece within both the Pro-Am and Am classes saw the #7 Pro-Am entry of Stanislav Safronov and Aleksandr Vaintrub slightly stall on their championship aspirations after they struggled to recover from their lower-than-expected P7 overall qualifying position ahead of Saturdays into the night opening race.
Eventually finishing P6 overall, the team’s other #5 Am classed entry of Jodie Sloss and David Levy did do better after they improved their qualifying position of P13 overall/P4 in class to finish P10 overall/ P3 in class for their efforts.
Sundays second, hour long to the weekend was a more traditional daytime affair where the #7 car had this time qualified in sixth with the #5 car P9 overall/P3 in class.
That race eventually finished with both cars claiming a P3 class win as the series now moves onto final round to the season from Paul Ricard at the beginning of October where both available Pro-Am and Am classes will be decided.
Photo credits – Team / Series /social media
Monday, August 04, 2025 |
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Both Mirage Racing AMRs chasing continued class success as FFSA GT4 visits Magny-Cours
Racing what will be their fourth round of a six-round season, both Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 Evo entries from the French based Mirage Racing team will again be in action as Pro-Am runners Stanislav Safronov and Aleksandr Vaintrub go again within their #7 car whilst Am class runners David Levy and Jodie Sloss do likewise within their #5 car.
An upturn in results from the #5 crew now sees the Am pairing kicking themselves after their non points finish in the second race of the opening round from Nogaro as they now feature just thirty-one points behind the class leaders after their recent string of podium finishes at both Dijon-Prenois and most lately from Spa Francorchamps over a month ago.
The team’s Pro-Am pairing meanwhile, have continued through from the second race of round one with an impressive string of podium or race winning finishes to so far lead their Pro-Am class by fourteen points going into this round at the former home of the French F1 Grand Prix.
Friday starts the track action with both Free Practice and Pre-Qualifying ahead of individual qualifying sessions and race one on Saturday before concluding on Sunday with its second one-hour race of the meeting.
Photo credits – Team / Series / social media
Monday, July 28, 2025 |
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Seven Aston Martins due for the third round of the GT4 America Series at Sebring this weekend
Whilst the GT America Series appears to struggle for numbers within the mixed class availability, its sister GT4 America Series continues to shine as thirty crews move onto the Sebring International Speedway this weekend for their third round of the season.
Having raced so far at both Sonoma and the Circuit of the Americas, the number of Aston Martin Racing powered participation has now increased to seven crews after the #39 Van Der Steur AMR crew elected to swap from the solo driven GT America Series to that of the dual driven GT4 America Series from this point forward.
Max Hewitt and his VDS crew will now join forces with accomplished GT4 racer Luca Mars within the ultra-competitive silver class – something that will push the former karter and this year’s GT debutant to the maximum if he wants to replicate his podium winning success within the other series so far this season.
They will be joined by the full season AMR powered entries from the JMF Motorsport team (with Jesse Webb/Jonathon Neudorf aboard the #3 and Mike David Ortmann/Braydon Arthur aboard the #4 car), the #07 Skip Barber Racing AMR of bothers Alex and Michael Garcia, the #15 Archangel Motorsport AMR of Adrian Comstock and Thomas Merrill and the #26 Heart of Racing AMR entry for Hannah Grisham and Hannah Greenemeir. The #007 Prosport Competition AMR entry for Tim Savage is still awaiting confirmation of a co-driver for the event.
The single three-hour event at Cota at the end of April saw class honours for the #4 JMF Motorsport and the #26 Heart of Racing car (P2 and P3 respectively within silver) and for the #15 Archangel car who also finished P2 within Pro-Am.
For this round, the sequence of events is back to its usual two, hour long pit stop and driver change punctuated races over both Saturday and Sunday.
Photo credit – Team / Series / social media
Thursday, May 15, 2025 |
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Mirage Racing scoop three podium finishes at second round of FFSA GT4
This time competing under clear blue skies and brilliant sunshine, both the French based Mirage Racing team’s two Vantage GT4 crews went onto secure further class success with a double class podium visit for their #5 Am class entry of FFSA Academy entrants David Levy and Jodie Sloss at the end of the weekend’s two, hour long races.
The team’s #7 Pro-Am entry of Stanislav Safronov and Aleksandr Vaintrub went some better than first time out at Nogaro a few weeks ago as they secured an overall win after race 1 followed up with a P4 finish to round off a great weekend for the team.
The next round of the season will take them to Spa Francorchamps in about five weeks’ time when the series will support the annual Spa Week, ahead of the 24 Hours of Spa.
Photo credits - Series
Sunday, May 11, 2025 |
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Mirage Racing return to the FFSA GT4 with their pair of AMR Vantage GT4 Evos at Dijon-Prenois
It was a similar case for the opening round of the season from Nogaro that saw the previous announced Pro-Am #7 entry of Stanislav Safronov and Alexandr Vaintrub return for another attempt at their class alongside the later announced #5 Am pairing of David Levy and Jodie Sloss.
This weekend’s entry list also possibly sees a one car increase in grid numbers (possibly now up to sixteen cars) for a series now split between just the Pro-Am and Am classes.
Last time out saw the grid take to the track in lovely spring conditions during testing but qualifying and race one were completed in horrendous track conditions as the heavens opened for most of the day. Despite that, both Mirage Racing cars finished P12 overall and P4 in class for the #5 car and P6 overall and in class in race one for the #7 before improving to a P3 overall and in class at the end of race two.
Having already been part of the Aston Martin Racing Drivers Academy last season (may still be on their books for this year but that hasn’t yet been confirmed either way by AMR) sees the young Scot Sloss part of the FFSA Drivers Academy process as she now takes to a confirmed full season entry in the series with Mirage and Levy.
Photo credit – Team / Series / social media
Tuesday, May 06, 2025 |
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Heart of Racing claim the class silverware in GT4 America this weekend
Already having scooped a podium double in the solo driver GT America Series for Gray Newell, he and co-driver Roman De Angelis did the same within the Pro-Am class of the GT4 America Series but with the sister Silver classed car of Hannah Grisham and Hannah Greenemeir almost following alongside as well.
Like all the racing on Saturday, proceedings were again affected by the torrential rain that blighted the event, but the #24 Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 of Newell and De Angelis were still able to meet the chequered flag P7 overall and P3 in class.
Racing within their third class of the season so far, the #26 Heart car of Grisham and Greenemeir followed their teammates home in eighth for a P5 finish in silver. The #13 Flying Lizard entry of Todd Parriott and Tom Dyer were not able to emulate Parriott’s earlier podium finish within the GT America Series to finish P12 overall and P7 in Pro-Am whilst the #16 Skip Barber Racing father and son duo of Marc and Tyler Sharinn finished P22 overall and P6 in class.
Sundays concluding hour long race did however go better for the Heart of Racing team as Newell and De Angelis went two better to secure another class win with their P3 overall finish whilst the #26 car also come home to secure their first silver class podium finish P6 overall and third in class.
The other two AMR runners again finished P7 within class for the Pro-Am #13 Flying Lizard entry whilst the #16 Skip Barber duo improved again to claim a P18 overall finish – P5 in Am.
The series now moves onto Barber Motorsports Park near Birmingham, Alabama for its next round the second week of September before concluding at Indianapolis a month later.
Photo credits – Teams / series / social media
Sunday, August 18, 2024 |
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Another tough GT4 European meeting brings slight reward for two AMR powered crews
Another two frantic races from the GT4 European Series from Hockenheim this weekend saw little reward for the eight Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 crews amongst another healthy and highly competitive grid of fifty-one runners.
High temperatures and blistering sunshine this time around produced a differing set of considerations for the teams and drivers to make after the cooler temperatures and precipitation of the last round at Spa Francorchamps three weeks ago as tyre management again became the focus of their attention.
High temperatures and blistering sunshine this time around produced a differing set of considerations for the teams and drivers to make after the cooler temperatures and precipitation of the last round at Spa Francorchamps three weeks ago as tyre management again became the focus of their attention.
Saturday’s opening race saw Roberto Faria become the highest qualifying AMR driver in P6 within his (and Baudouin Detout’s) #39 Racing Spirit of Leman car with the sister #82 car of Mateo Villagomez (and Jamie Day) down in P10/
Unfortunately, their joint sister #74 car of Alexandre Machado (and Kevin Kullmann) didn’t see much of the opening race here either, following on from his Spa qualifying accident that sidelined the car for the entire round, as contact was made going into turn one for the first time that put paid to both their efforts.
With all the Aston’s looking slow compared to certainly the BMW’s, Ford’s and Alpine’s, early place losses were inevitable for all the AMR crews as the race eventually settled into a natural rhythm. The #100 Prosport Racing AMR of Fabio Rauer (with Henrik Still) was another early casualty as he slowed and stopped off track at T16, something that he and another car stopping brought out the Safety Car just ahead of the pit stop window.
Despite recovering somewhat from early race place losses, the #39 car of Faria would also not make the opening pit window after damage received from unseen contact with another car left them with no further to go in pit lane whilst the #5 Mirage Racing AMR of Josh Miller and Ruben Del Sarte saw them penalised with a revisit to pit lane for a too short a minimum pit stop time.
With all the stops over, the #84 RSLM car of Day was now the highest placed AMR in P8 although the #72 GPA Racing AMR of Florent Grizaud and Kevin Jimenez were hanging onto P3 in class within their Am class and with the #7 Mirage Racing Pro-Am entry of Stanislav Safronov and Aleksandre Vaintrub now P3 in theirs.
Another FCY and resulting Safety Car brought all the cars back together again with just 15 minutes of the hour-long race remaining for another frantic dash to the flag but as the laps countered off, tyres started to hinder some as the race eventually finished to another BMW powered win. The #82 car eventually finished P8 overall but whilst the #7 car hung on to take P2 in Pro-Am, the #72 GPA Racing car eventually finished third in theirs.
Sunday’s second race was very much of the same ilk as the Alpines, BMW’s and Ford’s raced off out front to leave the Aston Martins dicing to be the best of the rest again.
The #100 Prosport car of Still hadn’t got off to the best of starts having been consigned to the back of the grid but that would get even worse when the car again had to pull over out of the race with technical issues just after the halfway point for a double DNF.
Others, like the #82 RSLM were having to work very hard for their money just to remain in contention as there were some clearly faster cars out there than the Vantage GT4. A lengthy Safety Car period for two cars going off within the opening five minutes helped to manage tyre longevity at the expense of a thrilling first half of the race with the mainly faster drivers aboard.
The #5 Mirage car would again be in the wars as contact either side of the pit window saw firstly Miller lose ground before secondary contact that would see Del Sarte penalised for causing a collision before retiring themselves from the race as a result.
Another late Safety Car again brought the pack together with just ten minutes to go, but again, the Aston simply didn’t have the pace to compete with the brands ahead as any hopes of a podium finish within the silver class needing nothing short of a minor miracle with the #72 GPA crews hope of another class podium also being spun around at the hairpin and the #39 RSLM again in the wars with frontal damage.
At the flag, the only AMR crew celebrating were the #7 Mirage Racing Pro-Am crew of Safronov and Vaintrub as a last lap lunge earned them a class win to add to their P2 finish of Saturday to help elongate their championship lead.
The series now takes a few weeks off before their penultimate round of the season from Monza in late September before concluding in Saudi Arabia in late November.
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
Sunday, July 21, 2024 |
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Heart of Racing hit the SRO podium in both GT America and GT4 America season openers
The No. 26 Heart of Racing team had Hannah Grisham and Hannah Greenemeier team up for the first time as the duo combined for a victory in the Pirelli GT4 America AM category during Saturday’s first race. Greenemeier started from second where she maintained position before handing the Aston Martin Vantage GT4 to Grisham who made a late race pass for the lead in turn nine.
“Overall, a really good weekend to start off the season,” said Grisham. “We came home with a win and a third place finish today, ultimately really strong points for us to go after the championship. I think the weekend went almost as good as it could have gone. Thank you to everyone on the Heart of Racing Team for the opportunity to be back again and I've really enjoyed being paired up with Hannah (Greenemeier). She's done a really amazing job and has gotten acquainted with this car very quickly. We’ll just try to carry that momentum into Sebring.”
Grisham started Sunday morning’s race from fourth in class making her way to sit third before Greenemeier took the wheel. Greenemeier was battling for second when a caution slowed the field for the remaining seven minutes of the race.
“It was a great end to the weekend, with the third place finish,” said Greenemeier. “I just wish that caution had not come out at the end of the second race. I think we could have made our way to second, maybe even first. Hannah (Grisham) did a great job keeping up at the beginning and allowing me to be able to push as hard as I could for the last bit of the race. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the championship. Two podiums this weekend is the right way to kick it off.”
Roman De Angelis and Gray Newell teamed up in the No. 24 Aston Martin Vantage GT4 in the Pirelli GT4 America ProAm category, scoring a second place and fourth place finish during the opening weekend.
Newell was first in the No. 24 Aston Martin Vantage on Saturday afternoon where he started from third in class. Newell passed the car to De Angelis in third. The Canadian driver laid down steady laps to make a battle for the lead, but unfortunately came up just short at the finish line.
De Angelis started Sunday morning’s race from fifth in class, he was able to make his way up to third when he passed the Aston Martin Vantage to Newell. He was able to continue to battle for podium position all the way up to the checkered flag.
“It was a good start to our GT4 campaign this year with Gray,” said De Angelis. “ The Heart of Racing did a great job all weekend. A second and a fourth, I think, is a really good way to start our season. The car is relatively unscathed, which is important as well. We are just trying to collect points and see if we can be there at the end of the championship. So great job to the team. Our sister card did a great job as well, two podiums, and looking forward to the next race.”
In addition to his Pirelli GT4 America driving duties, Newell also competed in GT America powered by AWS where he scored a second and third place finish to start the championship season.
Newell started second for the first GT America powered by AWS race Saturday afternoon. The Washington-state native was able to maintain his position over the 40 minute race to cross the finish line in second.
Newell had the third fastest lap time in race one securing a second row starting position for Sunday morning’s race. The No. 25 Aston Martin Vantage GT4 initially fell back to fourth at the start of the race, but Newell was able to pass for his third place position shortly after to secure his finishing position.
Source material - Heart of Racing
Monday, April 08, 2024 |
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The AMR class of 2024 in the Gt World Challenge Endurance Cup Series
Having spent the last few weeks testing their 2024 generation of Vantage GT3 with minimal livery decals and (very pleasingly) just bare carbon, this weekend’s opening round from the Circuit Paul Ricard in southern France is our first chance to see some very colourful and exciting livery designs as the crews prepare for Sundays three-hour opener.
The Belgium based Comtoyou Racing team will be running four cars this season – the #007 in Pro, the #12 and #21 cars in Silver and the #11 car in the Am class.
New season, new teams and new cars can always be a little confusing so here they are with their allotted drivers mentioned as well.
#007 Pro Class
Drivers – Nicki Thiim, Marco Sorensen, Mattia Drudi
#11 Bronze Class
Drivers - John De Wilde, Job Van Uteirt, Kobe Pauwels
#12 Silver Class
Drivers – Nicolas Baert, Sebastian øGaard, Finlay Hutchinson
#21 Silver Class
Drivers – Sam Dejonghe, Matisse Lismont, Charles Clark
Then we have the German based Walkenhorst Motorsport team who have swapped from the BMW M4 GT3 programme to the new Aston Martin for this season in many of their chosen European race programmes.
They too have split their three Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 entries across the Pro, Silver, and Bronze classes with the following crews.
#34 Pro Class
Drivers – Ross Gunn, David Pittard, Henrique Chaves
#35 Silver Class
Drivers – Romain Leroux, Lorcan Hanafin, Maxime Robin
Drivers – Romain Leroux, Lorcan Hanafin, Maxime Robin
#36 Bronze Class
Drivers – Tim Creswick, Mex Jensen, Ben Green
We think that we can all agree that the livery designers have done a great job on these cars!
Photo credits – GTWCE / AMR
Saturday, April 06, 2024 |
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