The Comtoyou Racing team suffered something of a reality check at the weekend after their pair of Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3’s suffered both misfortune on and off the track that put their double race winning exploits of last time a distant memory within the DTM Series.

Racing this time at Oschersleben within the fifth round of the German based series, the #007 car of Nicki Thiim and the #008 car of Nicolas Baert were hoping to continue the fine form that the Dane enjoyed last time out at the Norisring despite their cars being affected by the expected increase in Balance of performance base weight.

 

Early sessions lead to the obvious prediction coming true of nether car being competitive amongst its class of eighteen other runners as both drivers eventually qualified at the tail of the pack going into Saturday’s opening hour long, pit stop punctuated race.

Despite the hot and dry conditions, Baert would again be saddled with another puncture which the team this time elected not to repair and send him on his way but rather wait until race two on Sunday. Thiim, meanwhile, would do what Thiim does and push to the end where he would eventually recoup a P12 finish for at least a few championship points to add to his tally.

 

Race two would be affected by another bizarre situation on the wrong tyres being fitted to the wrong wheels (i.e. fronts onto rears and vice versa) which again left both cars this time at the very back of the grid.

Missing the rain that affected the ADAC GT4 Germany race, it was another frenetic start to the race as Thiim quickly moved up the order ahead of the pit window. Baert’s own misfortunes within the series would continue just after as his car suffered suspension failure, but he and his crew did at least earn themselves the fastest pit stop time for their efforts.

 

Thiim would eventually finish P13 at the end of race two together with the fastest lap of the race to again secure a handful of valuable championship points as the series moves onto the Nurburgring next time out in mid-August.

Photo credits - DTM

 

 

Both the DTM and ADAC GT4 Germany Series are back in action this weekend as both series move across to Oschersleben for what will be the fifth round of the GT3 based DTM but only the third round of the GT4 series.

Last time out at the Norisring was something special for the #007 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 of Nicki Thiim as the crew and driver did what was necessary to secure the double overall race wins at the end of each of the hour-long races despite each race being interrupted either by accident of weather.

However, that success last time out comes at a weight cost this time out as the Vantage GT3 will suffer from the addition of a 30kg increase in car base weight as well as an additional 20kg increase in handicap weight.

With the circuit layout being a sequence of short straights before ninety-degree bends, that additional weight for the car will have a clear impact on both its acceleration out and braking into the corners. The team did suffer from brake issues in the second race of last weekend’s GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Series from Misano before Thiim could get into the car but that should be upon another chassis to his DTM entry.

 

Thiim will once again be joined within his #008 car by Nicolas Baert who is still to demonstrate any kind of improvement in terms of racing performance in what is now his second season within the series. Three weeks ago at the Norisring, the Belgian failed to get to close to the midway point in the timing during either qualifying nor in the race each day whilst Thiim proved that the car had pace this time around.

This weekend also sees the entry reduced to twenty cars after the race one halting crash landed one driver in hospital with leg injuries after heavy contact from another car going into the tight hairpin.

 

Then there will be the competitive nineteen car grid of the ADAC GT4 Germany Series which again sees the #4 Cosy Racing by ESM Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 Evo of Jan Philipp Springob and Philipp Gogollok.

Unlike the bigger Vantage GT3, the Vantage GT4 didn’t quite get the performance envelope that it needed to race around the improvised street circuit of the Norisring despite two bites at the apple by race organisers.

 

A P5 overall qualifying performance from each driver ahead of the weekend’s racing wasn’t still forward enough for the pairing to capitalise with a race finish higher than P5 overall. For this weekend at least, the Vantage GT4 will be given a 5kg BoP weight reduction (25kg over declared base weight) over that at the Norisring.

Photo credits – DTM / ADAC

  

 

The Comtoyou Racing team alongside driving talent Nicki Thiim today achieved that extremely race event in modern GT racing by scooping not just a pair of overall pole positions but also two overall race wins at this weekends DTM Series visit to the Norisring.

Again fielding a pair of Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3’s for the Dane and fellow teammate Nicolas Baert, it was the Dane who took the performance momentum secured at the previous round from the Lausitzring into the improved street circuit layout within Nuremburg to achieve this feat.

 

Saturdays race opener proved itself to be the usually expected exciting one as twenty-one GT3 cars (with their solo drivers) entered the tight hairpin for the first time. Securing the race lead during the opening laps, the race was soon red flagged for a nasty incident at the hairpin that saw one car miss its braking point/or lose their brakes, to hit into the barrier before slamming into the car in front. Whilst both drivers were eventually hospitalised as a result – neither are understood to have sustained life-threatening injuries although one did sustain a significant leg injury.

That meant that Thiim had to take on another restart with just over twenty minutes of the hour-long race remaining but at least his tyres were still relatively fresh from his mandatory stop just before the red flag. Getting back to green, Thiim didn’t have too much to defend from the opening lap pressure to come home for his only second race win within the series of his career and Comtoyou Racing’s first. Baert would come home P15 overall.

 

Race two on Sunday in contrast was at least started under cloudy but dry conditions before the rain arrived at the circuit forcing Race Control to send out the Safety Car for the initial wet laps. Getting back to green, the pack endured the slippery conditions until another red flag was shown – again for a multiple car incident at the hairpin, just this time not as serious as Saturday but with only twenty minutes having elapsed.

 

The restart allowed those to fit wets if they chose to as the quick quickly dried. With some close company by a Ford Mustang, Thiim had to very dominant on track to maintain track position as the compulsory stop was still looming but another quick stop from the team saw the Dane maintain his lead and take his second race win of the weekend. Baert again finished down in P15.

Photo credits – Team / DTM

 

 

 

 

There’s no let-up in the race schedule for the Comtoyou Racing team as they move on this time from the Spa 24 of last weekend and on to the latest round of the German DTM Series this weekend from the Norisring and their two Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 entries.

Whilst the teams exploits within the 24hr proved itself to be something of a brutal one with all four cars cashing out of the event at one stage or another, we believe that the Belgium based team retains series specific chassis that would allow their drivers Nicki Thiim and Nicolas Baert to arrive without the worry of any post event repairs.

 

This round will be the fourth round of the eight-round season with two more-hour long races to look forward to around what usually becomes a very brutal street circuit layout that hasn’t always been kind to previous AMR powered entries.

Last time out in the series from the Lausitzring two weeks ago, Thiim attained his and the team’s best results to date in the DTM by taking pole position for race one (with a P4 result) before standing upon the second step of the podium in race two but the differences in circuit layouts between last time and this time are profound.

 

We also welcome back the supporting ADAC GT4 Germany Series for the first time since their opening round way back at the end of April when nineteen GT4 powered crews competed at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.

 

Within that group set we will see the #4 Cosy Racing by ESM Aston Martin Vantage GT4 of Jan Philipp Springob and Philipp Gogollok who will be looking to repeat their fine start to the season in Austria where the German pairing secured both a P2 and then a P1 start to each of the two, hour long races before delivering a P10 and P1 finish at the end.

 

We have seen both the team and both drivers compete at this circuit before and like both GT4 and DTM series, it will be a case of who can keep out of trouble will prevail.

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

It sadly wasn’t to be that fairytale ending to Nicki Thiim’s first Aston Martin Racing powered adventure within the DTM Series opening race weekend in Austria but the writing already upon the wall as to where his intent lies.

Racing his #007 Comtoyou Racing AMR Vantage GT3 alongside that of the #008 Comtoyou Racing entry for Nicolas Baert, the two Astons formed part of the twenty-one-car entry for this weekend’s opening round from the Red Bull Ring in Austria.

 

Racing their two one-hour pitstop punctuated races as solo drivers, Saturday’s Qualifying and race one certainly didn’t go in the favour of either AMR racer as Thiim would start from P12 whilst Baert would start P18.

With neither driver inexperienced within this series, it was a case of building upon what you had available to you as Thiim would rally before finishing P10 at the end whilst Baert would continue to experience significant issues within his car before he was ultimately forced to retire with suspension failure.

 

Race two on Sunday was better for both drivers (thanks to an overnight reduction in their cars Balance of Performance minimum weight) after their respective P7 and P17 qualifying positions saw the Dane come home P5 overall, just nine seconds off the race winning time but having grabbed the accolade of the fastest lap in the process. Baert would also have better fortune this time securing his first finish to the season in P17.

The next round will be from Zandvoort at the end of May

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

 

 

 

 

There is obviously some serious method in their madness from the Belgian based Comtoyou Racing team as they today confirm a fourth car in this year’s Spa 24.

Already fielding three such Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3’s into the Blue Riband event of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup Series, the team has today reported on a driver line up that raced one of their cars at last weekend’s visit from the Creventic 24H Series at the circuit plus one more extra-ordinary signing.

 

Their new #700 entry will again be the trio of drivers that ran so well within last weekend’s first half of the Spa 12Hr in Nicolas Baert, Xavier Knauf and Gregory Servais but they will also now be joined by Sarah Bovy in her first AMR powered race since the fall of the Iron Dames team at the end of last season.

Reporting this news upon social media earlier today, the team also confirmed a patriotic livery for the car in lieu of the more standardised green with yellow stripe that we have been accustomed to.

The 2026 Spa 24 will run over the 27-28th June.

Photo credits – Team / 24h Series

 

 

 

The trio of Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3’s which will be competing within this weekend’s second round of the 24H Series visit to Spa Francorchamps have now been confirmed.

Naturally, we will be seeing the #90 full season entry from the Spanish based E2P Racing team with their trio of drivers in Pablo Burguera, Oliver Campos and Antonio Sainero.

 

We have already seen that the Belgian based Comtoyou Racing team will be expanding their early 2026 racing endeavours with two additional AMR Vantage GT3’s with their DTM racer Nicolas Baert joining forces with his countrymen Gregory Servais and Xavier Knauf within their #41 entry.

They will now be joined by the returning Tom Coronel and Jan Jaap Van Roon within their #40 car for a second attempt at a GT3 race meeting after their somewhat disastrous debut within the GT Winter Series this year that saw them fail to make either race following an accident during Qualifying for Jaap Van Roon at a rain soaked Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona in mid-March.

 

Whilst this will be just a toe in the water for both Comtoyou Racing entries, it will be serious business again for the E2P Racing crew after they secured a P6 finish in class after the opening 6 plus 6-hour races from Mugello a month ago.

Photo credits – Teams / Series / GT Winter Series

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Belgian based Comtoyou Racing team are certainly putting an early stamp onto their 2026 racing commitments as they today confirm a two car Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 powered entry into the German DTM Series.

Having earlier announced an expanded Vantage GT3 entry into both the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance and Sprint Cup Series, today’s new sees their DTM 2026 ambitions take a massive step forward as their driver line up now includes factory driver Nicki Thiim within their midst.

 

 

Taking tentative debut steps within the series last season with their young drivers Nicolas Baert and Gilles Magnus, today’s news also confirms that the son of the team owner (Baert) will also be returning to the series where he acknowledges that “We made huge progress in 2025,” said the 24-year-old. “DTM is a tough arena to race in, but this year we go in with the advantage of knowing the car, the circuits, the tyres and the championship. This combined with Nicki's experience, which I'm sure I can learn from, gives us all the elements to make big steps forward in 2026.”

For the Dane, he lists this as something of a dream come true, “It's no secret that I have wanted to race in DTM all my life, because when I was a kid, it was the centre of my universe when my father raced in it,” said Thiim, who already has a DTM victory to his name, at the Norisring in 2024. “I've already achieved that ambition, but when the DTM moved to an-all GT3 platform, I've wanted to represent Aston Martin in the series. So, this is another dream come true for me.

 

 

This season will be another eight event – two races per event format for the solo driven cars with the season starting at the Red Bull Ring in Austria towards the end of April.

Photo credits – AMR / social media

 

Five now familiar Aston Martin Racing powered cars and crews will again take to the race track this weekend as both the DTM and ADAC GT4 Germany Series conclude their final races of their 2025 season around the Hockenheimring circuit in Germany.

Whilst it has been an eight-round double header undertaking for the mostly twenty-four strong GT3 powered grid of the DTM Series, the numbers of participants within the supporting GT4 Germany Series has fluctuated a bit over their five previous rounds but this final weekend will again see both Comtoyou Racing AMR Vantage GT3’s within DTM and the Eastside Motorsport and pair of Prosport Racing Vantage GT4’s with the ADAC series.