The SRO lead GT3 Revival Series completed last weekend’s racing line up as their seventeen strong grid raced out their two fifty-minute races that made up their penultimate round of the season from the Nurburgring.

Despite multiple examples running within previous rounds, there was this time only one V12 Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 competing – this one the Spiderman liveried Britec Motorsport prepared #16 car of Afshin Fatemi.

Qualifying for race one saw the German based surgeon start from P11 on the grid and a couple of quick places were made up upon the opening lap before the race quickly settled into something of a rhythm ahead of the compulsory pit stop window at the halfway point.

 

 

Circulating P9 overall going into the window saw this solo driver have to get out of the car, shut the door before returning to the vehicle to simulate the driver change process as otherwise no fuel and no tyre changes were permitted.

Returning to the track, the #16 was fortunate not to come off worse than it did when it crossed spilt fluid from an earlier contact between others that forced the AMR to take a much wider line on the run-off area around turn 2 before returning to the circuit. There, Fatemi found himself just off the Am class podium going into the final minutes before eventually fading at the end to finish P8 overall / P5 in class.

 

Race two on Sunday morning was initially clean with the first few opening corners before some got carried away up ahead which saw cars spinning and others making for the grass in avoidance to culminate with one stuck in the gravel.

Fortunately staying clear of any Safety Car intervention, the opening lap saw Fatemi maintain his place relative to his start in P11 as the gaps gradually spread and the race again settled. Just ahead of the pit stop window, rain threatened parts of the circuit but fortunately did not amount to much – or at least nothing that affected the racing still going on.

Just after the stops, a Safety Car was called for a car stranded at the final corner after an innocuous spin where they couldn’t get going again and that saw the #16 car circulating in tenth overall. Getting back to green gave a final ten-minute dash to the flag but the #16 was unable to progress any further for Fatemi to eventually finish P10 overall / P7 in class.

 

The final round of the season will be from Barcelona in a month’s time.

Photo credits - Series

 

 

Racing fortunes sadly evaded the Racing Spirit of Leman team earlier today as they transitioned from one ACO rules series to another having just won the GT3 class of the Michelin Le Mans Cup Series with their Aston Martin Racing powered pairing.

Stepping up a notch into their #59 AMR Vantage LMGT3, their all-French crew of Clement Mateu, Marius Fossard and Valentin Hasse-Clot had certainly been pressing all of the right buttons running through Free Practice for the opening round to the 2026 European Le Mans Series from the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona.

Finishing mid-table at the end of Free Practice 1, Mateu climbed the order board during his bronze driver test to finish second fastest before the trio went on to finish the fastest LMGT3 crew out of the class of fourteen entries as the end of Free Practice 2.

 

Qualifying, however, would see a half a second gap make the difference between pole position and a fourth place starting position for the #59 car.

Sundays start to the opening four-hour race would be its usual chaotic self as two separate incidents into the opening sequence of corners bring out the red flag before the end of the opening lap as over seven LMP2 and LMP3 cars lay strewn across of the circuit in various states of broken.

Losing nearly half an hour to that clean-up operation, it was soon go again for Mateu and the remaining grid as he quickly caught and harassed the then class leading Mercedes for position. Things didn’t matter that a Ferrari works driver soon passed him for position as they still circulated in fourth.

 

 

Things then sadly went from bad to worse as first the #59 made contact with another class rival – spinning that around and before he could get back to pit lane for the upcoming full service and driver change, another error saw the #59 spin backwards into the gravel. No damage but that cost the crew over a lap – something that was then made worse with a drive through penalty for both speeding in the pit lane at that stop and another for the earlier contact with the Porsche at turn 6.

That all but destroyed the #59 cars chances within class irrespective of the driving abilities of the team debuting Fossard and despite the confidence of Hasse-Clot having just won his first Michelin Le Mans Cup Series race with the team and Philipp Sager the day before.

With insufficient wave around possibilities over the next two hours of racing (and despite the constant stream of caution periods all dealt with independently by Race Control), the #59 car and crew would eventually finish round one of the season P37 overall and P10 in class.

 

The calendar now gives the team little over three weeks to gather their thoughts before the next round from Paul Ricard. The car and crew had both the speed and the ability – just that the execution let them down this time so the next race is another race!!

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media

 

 

The opening round to the 2026 Michelin Le Mans Cup Series turned out to be one of extremes for the three Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 powered crews earlier today as another combined grid of forty-four LMP3 and GT3 cars took to the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain.

Just days after the official prologue test at the circuit, the weekend’s work from the British based Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn car of Claude Bovet and Tom Canning would come to a crashing halt after the team owner suffered a heavy impact with the barriers during his earlier bronze driver test.

 

That would see the #91 crew sadly unable compete during today’s earlier Qualifying nor the opening two-hour race despite the team finding pace within their group set from their earlier Prologue performances.

That left both the #11 Code Racing Development AMR of Sebastian Moreno and Nico Hantke as well as the now #10 Racing Spirit of Leman powered duo of last year’s Code Racing Development pairing of Philipp Sager and Valentin Hasse-Clot.

 

 

With the ‘lesser’ driver taking to the track for Qualifying, it would be Moreno within the #11 who would claim the season’s first GT3 Pole Position with a best lap time of 1.3 seconds faster than his nearest class rival as well as being faster than four LMP3 crews. Sager would suffer from losing two lap times due to track limits and would have to make do with a P6 starting position in class.

The race itself would start under somewhat chaotic conditions as a Safety Car was called before the end of lap one after three or four LMP3’s came together in the opening sequence of corners and once that was cleared, the restart quickly lead into another situation that would take out the #10 car through no fault of its own.

 

Whilst consolidating its position at the head of the class having seen the Safety Car just removed, a silly lunge down the inside of the #11 car by the #51 Ferrari would see the Aston Martin spin and end up in the gravel with its aggressor. Whilst the Ferrari was at least able to continue, the most the #11 car was able to do was to limp back to pit lane where it sadly played no further part in the proceedings with unquantified damage.

After all of that, AMR were left with just the #10 car of Sager and Hasse-Clot where the bronze driver ran a calculated stint to enter pit lane at the end of his minimum drive time second in class leaving the second hour to the factory driver.

 

Immediately fast, the Frenchman was soon on the tail of the class leading #17 Ferrari and despite being forced off track momentarily during one overtake attempt had to bide his time before his next which was more successful at the ninety-minute mark.

Doubt would be thrown into the mix as whilst the #17 crew would have an additional ten seconds added to their race time for a FCY procedure fault, the same would soon be applied to the #10 car for the same reason (speeding under FCY by Sager) meaning that Hasse-Clot needed to gap whoever would be P2 in class by more than that at the end to win.

 

Eventually, that was what he was able to do as Hasse-Clot took the GT3 chequered flag to claim their first win of the season as the series now moves onto round two from Paul Ricard, France in just three weeks’ time.

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media

 

 

Like the runners and riders of the European Le Mans Series did before them on Monday and Tuesday, the forty-four strong entry within this season’s Michelin Le Mans Cup Series also had their day of testing around the Circuit de Catalunya today ahead of this weekend’s opening race.

Primarily made up of LMP3 powered crews within their available LMP3 and LMP3 Pro-Am classes, ten GT3 powered crews again add a separate dimension for the ACO rules feeder series with three Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 powered crews amongst them too.

 

After a morning and afternoon session availability today, it wasn’t too surprising to see the returning duo of Philipp Sager and Valentin Hasse-Clot secure the fastest times in class as they return to the series for a second chance albeit this year within the #10 Racing Spirit of Leman entry.

The Ecurie Ecosse supported Blackthorn AMR entry of team owner Claude Bovet and former AMR Driver Academy winner Tom Canning will also be running a full season together this time around after the team dipped their toe into the series previously but with a second car already confirmed for the series visit to Le Mans in June.

That pairing ended the day with a steady lap time around the low 1:44’s to finish the day fifth.

 

 

There is still news however revolving around the #11 Code Racing Development AMR Vantage GT3 driver line up of what should have been both Antoine Leclerc and Pascal Huteau as neither driver participated within todays test. That duty was left to both Nico Hantke and Sebastian Moreno.

Not being aware of what preparation these two drivers have had leading into today but both improved to finish the day with a best lap time of 1:43:542.

 

 

Like the ELMS paddock, these cars will now be stripped down again and prepared for the first official season of the first round of the season on Friday before both Qualifying and the two-hour race on Saturday.

 

 

That’s a wrap for the European Le Mans Series Prologue Test from Barcelona as far as the Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin Racing team are concerned as they now focus their attention to this weekend’s opening round.

Like last season, the #59 AMR Vantage LMGT3 entry is the sole AMR powered entry this season although there was only one change in driver line up between this season and last with Clement Mateu and Valentin Hasse-Clot being joined this year by fellow Frenchman Marius Fossard.

 

This season has attracted another capacity grid of forty-seven entries spread across the LMP2, LMP3 and LMGT3 class with the #59 Racing Spirit of Leman crew competing within another challenging group of fourteen entries.

Two days at the Circuit de Catalunya has seen the team pound in nearly three hundred laps between the three available sessions yesterday and the two today and by last year’s standards – that equates to the equivalent lap distance of nearly two and a half four-hour races.

 

Being a test, being the fastest was not necessarily the direct intention of any of the runners but the timing screen has shown a constant display from the #59 crew with a best lap time during the Prologue of 1:42:520 compared to an overall best lap time in class of 1:41:40.

Whilst the drivers will be resting and scrutinising their performances to date, the team will now be stripping down and race readying the car ahead of the first official Free Practice sessions to the new season that start late on Friday morning before extending into Qualifying on Saturday and the start of the four race at noon (local) on Sunday.

Photo credits – Team / Series / social media

 

 

 

 

 

We are now just one week away from the 2026 racing season going absolutely bonkers which will see our own Aston Martin Racing powered race coverage step up from just the one European based series this weekend to up to eight series operating around the globe specifically around the Vantage GT3 and GT4 platforms next weekend.

In between then and now, we will also have three of those eight series run their respective Prologue tests as the ACO based European Le Mans Series and Le Mans Cup Series prepare for their opening round to the year from Barcelona and the SRO ran GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup kicks off at the Le Castellet circuit in southern France.

 

Whilst we thought that we were already aware of the AMR powered entry lists within all three series, further publications today have seen names come and go within existing entries plus an all new F1 inspired entry being confirmed within the other.

Starting with that one, today saw the Belgian based Comtoyou Racing further expand their already chaotic race schedule within the GT World Challenge Series with another AMR Vantage GT3 entry for Aston Martin F1 driver Lance Stroll and former F1 racer Roberto Merhi (alongside third man Mari Boya).

We understood from this week’s British GT Championship Media Day that the team has recently collected their sixth Vantage GT3 platform from the Prodrive factory with this specific car being something of a last-minute rush to build in participation with the Comtoyou team.

 

This takes their racing commitment at next weekend’s series opening to four cars as the new #18 car will compete within the Pro class alongside their already established #007 car and that of their other silver and bronze class entries.

That obviously expands the total AMR powered entry to seven cars with two entries from the German based Walkenhorst Motorsport team in both Pro and silver classes plus the single car from the Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn AMR which will race in the bronze class.

Then just along the south coast of Europe, both the ACO rules European Le Mans Series and Le Mans Cup Series will also be running their pre-season Prologue test ahead of their opening rounds to the year from the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona.

 

Within the headlining ELMS Series, the Aston Martin Racing powered entry from the Racing Spirit of Leman team remains the same as previously announced with Clement Mateu, Marius Fossard and Valentin Haase-Clot racing their #59 car within a fourteen-car strong LMGT3 class.

The remaining driver variations/additions and omissions have come from the ten strong GT3 class of the series within the three AMR powered entries.

Tom Canning’s progression back into ACO rules racing alongside Claude Bovet remains the same within the latter’s own Blackthorn AMR team and their #91 entry but we have unfortunately lost that of Tom Wood and his original Racing Spirit of Leman drive lost.

 

Whilst that young Brit moves across to the Eurie Ecosse Blackthorn team for selected rounds (including Paul Ricard next week) within the GTWCE Endurance Cup, his position has now been confirmed for the returning pair of Phillip Sager and Valentin Hasse-Clot (who raced last year togther with Code Racing Development) whilst within the actual #10 Code Racing Development car being driven by both Antoine Leclerc and Pascal Huteau.

Huteau will also be racing within the Fanta Racing R-Motorsport V12 Vantage GT3 in the GT3 Revival Series that debuts at Paul Ricard next weekend.

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media

 

It appears that misfortune may have befallen the #247 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Racing entry at this weekend’s final round of the GT Winter Series as the car failed to take the start to yesterday’s race.

Looking at the timing results, the Jan Jaap Von Roon and Tom Coronel driven car completed all the preceding’s track sessions up until Qualifying on Saturday where the race commentary team said that the car then aquaplaned off the circuit and sustained damage.

 

 

The extent of that damage is unknown and whether or not we actually get to see the race today is also yet to be confirmed which is always a great shame for all those invested into the project.

Photo credits – GT Winter Series

 

 

It wasn’t all plain sailing for the two Aston Martin Racing powered entries within this weekend’s fourth round of the GT4 Winter Series although sailing was a more appropriate term for the track condition the gid faced for the opening round on Saturday at Motorland Aragon.

Again, we welcomed back the Araujo Competicao AMR Vantage GT4 but with just Frederico Peters running within the #007 Evo whilst within the #700 Mucke Motorsport, we would be seeing both Thilo Goos but also that of former AMR factory driver (and team owner) Stefan Mucke alongside.

 

 

With Thursday testing and Friday practice sessions blighted with passing rain showers, Saturdays opening thirty-minute sprint race started behind the Safety Car before finally being released a few laps in. Things were initially going well as the #007 Araujo car picked off the places to move into P3 overall just as the #700 car of Goos went into a gravel trap.

Firmly stuck, that would bring back the Safety Car again which effectively ended the race for all as the clean-up operation used all of the then eleven minutes remaining. None the less, Peters was still able to claim a P3 overall and P2 in class finish for his efforts.

 

 

The Michelin Le Mans Cup suddenly became even more interesting than it usually is today as they announced their multi-classed entry list for 2026 which this time sees THREE Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3’s entered within their six-round season.

Last year we had just the Code Racing Development team fly the flag for the brand and for the first half the season at least, they were very much in contention at the head of the class before sadly falling away during the final two rounds.

 

 

Again bearing the #11 number, this year sees the French based team join forces with Antoine Leclerc with a bronze ranked driver yet to be determined whilst the new for 2026 #10 Racing Spirit of Leman entry will also carry a familiar surname around the door as British GT Silver-Am Champion Tom Wood deservedly moves back into the European racing arena. The #91 Blackthorn AMR entry will again see team boss Claude Bovet compete within the series as they continue this weekend with their Asian Le Mans Series commitments.

These three entries help to make up the ten GT3 entries within the class as well as the thirty-five LMP3 cars that will compete amongst their two classes making up for a very healthy forty-five car entry.

 

 

The Le Mans Cup season will get officially underway on the 8th March with the pre-season Prologue test from Barcelona before quickly moving into the first race of the year at the Catalunya circuit that weekend. In the meantime, there obviously needs to be three further drivers announced within the teams but already, the season is looking very interesting indeed.

Don’t forget that the series (in support of the European Le Mans Series) will again be attending Silverstone this September as the penultimate round of the season.

 

A multiple incident race opening lap to the final race to the GT4 European Series hands the Pro-Am class Championship to the #7 Mirage Racing Aston Martin Racing pairing of Stanislav Safronov and Aleksandre Vaintrub after their nearest class rival was one of those cars affected.

Having defended a slender class lead into this final round of the season, race one’s Safety Car affected race at the Circuit de Catalunya didn’t exactly play out well for the #7 Vantage GT4 crew as their lowly P6 in class finish yesterday left them with it all to do today.

 

Forty-four crews of the GT4 European Series travel to the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona for this weekend’s final round of the Series with one Aston Martin Racing powered crew looking to add to another SRO Championship already won in their Pro-Am Class.

The French based Mirage Racing team return with their pair of crews but it will be all eyes on the #7 pairing of Stanislav Safronov and Aleksandre Vaintrub again as they look to continue after their championship win in the FFSA GT4 Series from Paul Ricard last weekend.

 

A double Pro-Am class win at the Nurburgring this weekend was enough for the #7 Mirage Racing Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 pairing of Stanislav Safronov and Alexandre Vaintrub to leapfrog into the lead of the class as the GT4 European Series heads to Barcelona for the conclusion of their season next month.

A wet introduction into the race weekend was thankfully replaced with a clear and dry (albeit delayed for earlier kerb damage around the circuit) hour long race into Saturday evening after the #7 car had claimed its first overall pole position of the year.

Alongside them in the thirty-eight strong entry was the #39 Racing Spirit of Leman AMR of Clement Seyler who also secured pole in the silver class sentry that he shares with Baudouin Detout whist each sister car was further back in P9 for the #5 Mirage Racing car of Roberto Faria and Ruben Del Sarte and P23 for the #74 RSLM entry of David Kullmann and Will Orton.

For the latter crew, however, their race weekend abruptly ended between turns 1 and 2 as Kullmann was an apparent victim of secondary contact (maybe from the Ford Mustang that also stopped at the same position on track) to end their day early with front quarter damage whilst Orton’s best qualifying performance for race 2 in P4 never materialised thanks to a late electrical problem before the cars even assembled on the grid.

The #5 Mirage AMR of Faria would also be in the wars before they had even crossed the control line to start the race as the Brazilian jinxed out of line early to try and pass the overall championship leading Audi, only to make contact with the #3 car – effectively putting them both out of the race.

For the other two cars, by the end of the another highly eventful GT4 European Series the #7 Mirage held onto their Pro-Am class win finishing sixth overall whilst the #39 RSLM crew would have their best finish of the year finishing just off the overall (and class) podium in fourth.

Sunday’s finale was another strange bag of fortunes or misfortunes within the series as (already said) the #74 RSLM AMR failed to make the race again whilst the other three crews had to start from the midst of the pack with the #5 Mirage car being the best of the three starting from P10.

Not without its own incidents and accidents again, the start to the race was at least a much cleaner affair with the remaining participants allowed to settle down into their own rhythm. However, it was again only the #7 car that pushed through for any class recognition by the end as they left it late to make the final pass on track to take their second class win of the day down in P11 overall whilst the remaining silver class crews finished P12 for the #39 car and P14 in silver for the #5 crew.

Safronov and Vaintrub now take a slender 8 points margin into the final races of the season in Barcelona in mid-October.

Photo credits – Teams / series / social media

 

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