There was a debut podium finish in class for the American pairing who took over the Mirage Racing Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 within the FFSA GT4 Series penultimate round of the season from Magny-Cours.

Racing the car previously completed with by both Daid Levy and Jodie Sloss (as they move across the Mirage team garage to their new Porsche entry), that left the renumbered #7 car entry assigned to both Grant West and Alex Bachoura.

 

Previously scheduled to race the Aston Martin at Spa, West and Bachoura (two previous Mazda MX5 racers) had to wait until this weekend before making that dream come true.

Race one on Sunday had seen the #7 car fail to finish but at the end of the second hour long race, the pairing had managed to secure a P3 finish within their Am class.

Photo credits – Team / Series

 

 

Heading into this weekend’s penultimate round of the French FFSA GT4 Series from Magny-Cours sees another change within the sole Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 powered entry from the Mirage Racing team.

For the opening two rounds of the season, the #5 Mirage Racing Am classed entry was again piloted by both David Levy and Jodie Sloss where the pairing had rekindled some of last years successes together with a pair of class podium finishes at Nogaro before winning the class in both races at Dijon-Prenois.

 

At the next round from Spa Francorchamps in June, Levy suddenly transferred over to the #24 JSB Competition Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 leaving Sloss to see what quickly become a thorough forgettable event alongside Nicolas Siebenschuh. Following an unseen incident with another car within the pit lane for Sloss, that sadly saw the #5 car sidelined for the remainder of the event with Siebenschuh never getting a competitive run out in the car.

 

The entry list for this weekend’s trip to Magny-Cours is now out and we again see a return of the Sloss/Levy combination but not within the Mirage Racing AMR Vantage GT4. Whilst they will race within the team’s #5 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 for the first time, the team’s #7 Aston Martin Racing powered entry will be driven by the series debuting crew of Grant West and Alex Bachoura – again within the Am class.

Photo credits – Team / Series / social media

 

 

 

 

 

 

A thoroughly eventful but equally confusing third rounds of the British GT Championship and FFSA GT4 Series as fifty-five cars from both SRO series shared the 7km Spa Francorchamps circuit in Belgian earlier today marking the start of Speed Week and the run into the Spa 24.

In a novel way in saving track time between all the SRO governed series between this weekend and next, the idea of running the GT3 and GT4 classes of the British GT Championship with the GT4 and sub-classes of the French FFSA GT4 independently in governance but at the same time as on track with one another had all the hallmarks of something very interesting but reality sadly proved that idea needed further thought.

 

The start to today’s two-hour race started under the searing heat of northern Europe making for some very uncomfortable working conditions for the drivers, team crews and circuit safety teams as air temperature reached into the low thirties.

After yesterday’s Qualifying sessions, the #7 Beechdean Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 of Andrew Howard and Ross Gunn would be starting from the second row of the grid which would this time start along the downhill looking into Eau Rouge along the endurance pit lane. The four AMR Vantage GT4’s from the Townsend Racing, GBR Stratton Motorsport, MK Racing and Grange Racing teams mainly saw adjustments to the original qualifying position to end up starting from towards the rear of the class.

 

Eventually getting the green light coming out of La Source saw the #7 Beechdean car of Howard get jumped by a rampant Lamborghini to drop the Aston immediately down to fifth whilst (first) the British GT GT4 class came through before being eventually followed by the FFSA GT classes for what was a clean start. Such was the speed differential between the GT3 frontrunners and the slowest of the FFSA classes that the race leaders were lapping cars on only the fourth lap of the race.

The rotten weekend for the #005 Mirage Racing AMR Vantage GT4 car of Jodie Sloss and new co-driver Nicolas Siebenschuh continued after the pit lane contact that halted their qualifying runs before they had even begun, as the young Scot only managed six laps before retiring the car before the first drama on track saw a fellow FFSA runner hard off and into the tyre wall.

 

That would be the first of three Full Course Yellow – Safety Car interruptions for various incidents on track that would lose the race nearly half the race as the longest interruption dragged on for over half an hour and Race Control permitted all runners to make their necessary stops at the reduce circulating rate of a FCY.

The end of the third interruption left just over twenty minutes of racing to go for the (mainly) Pro drivers aboard as the #7 Beechdean with Gunn was still in fourth whilst the #27 Grange Racing GT4 of Darren Turner was now battling for the class lead despite Dan Lavery getting pinged for passing FFSA traffic before the green flag – getting them a further twenty seconds hold time in pit lane earlier in the race.

The #40 Townsend car of first James Townsend before Joe Wheeler took over was struggling in the heat, as was the #97 GBR Stratton car of John Hartshorne and Ronan Pearson as the #97 would later get five seconds added to tehir race time for track limits. The final two laps would create a perfect storm for the GT3 front runners as they would find themselves coming up upon the FFSA tail enders again just at the slowest sections of the track which gave the pole setting McLaren the opportunity it needed to pass Gunn again for position into the bus stop for the final time.

Eventually all British GT runners passed the line to take the checkered flag with the #7 Beechdean crew finishing fifth overall but with the #27 Grange Racing crew taking their second class win in succession after their achievements in race two from Oulton Park last time out.

 

The #21 MK Racing silver pairing of Will Orton and Jessica Hawkins would recover from their qualifying issues of yesterday to eventually finish sixth despite the additional forty seconds that they had to spend in pit lane during their stop thanks to both their silver/silver grade and their podium position from Oulton Park. The #40 Townsend car would swap positions at the end thanks to the #97 GBR Strattons final time penalty as they would finish fourth and fifth respectively in GT4 Pro-Am.

The Championship now enters their six-week summer break before it returns to its two sprint race format next time out at Snetterton in mid-August.

 

 

This evening saw perhaps the most confusing Qualifying process that you would ever expect to see within the British GT Championship as the GT3 and GT4 powered crews of this SRO series shared track time with the French FFSA GT4 Series around the track circuit of Spa Francorchamps.

Being the start of their Speed Week and the annual build up to the Spa 24 Hours, the British series would literally share the track alongside the GT4 of lower powered classes of the French FFSA Series for the first time as each competed within their respective third round to their season making for a combined entry of fifty-five cars.

 

That entry has already dropped by one thanks to a Free Practice off for a guesting GT3 car so as far as we were concerned, that still left us the now renumbered #7 Beechdean AMR Vantage GT3 of championship leaders Andrew Howard and Ross Gunn as well as the four AMR Vantage GT4 runners from the Grange Racing, Townsend Racing, MK Racing and the GBR Stratton Motorsport crews.

The additional bonus was from the French side of the equation and the #005 Mirage Racing AMR Vantage GT4 car of Jodie Sloss with Nicolas Siebenschuh as team regular (David Levy) now featured within one of the series Porsche’s.

 

Getting time for just three decent laps of the Spa Circuit during Qualifying, the GT3 Ams were out first with Howard coming back with a lap time worthy of a P6 start. Then in quick succession, the British GT GT4 Ams were out next, quickly followed by the French series runners leaving the two series on track together for the first time. Issues both on and off track saw the #21 MK Racing Vantage GT4 of Jessica Hawkins have an off track experience which damaged the underside of her car (leaving co driver Will Orton unable to put in a lap time during his later session) whilst Sloss had unseen contact within pit lane which also saw her or her new co-driver enter an times so each will be starting tomorrows race from the rear of their respective grids.

 

Gunn was out next within GT3 and a stellar lap from the factory driver saw the #7 planted firmly at the head of the timing screen which on aggregate saw the #7 crew rise up the order for a P4 starting position for tomorrows two-hour race.

For the remaining three British GT GT4’s from the AMR stable, the one off lap time simply wasn’t there as all three finished their session line astern to one another with the #27 Grange Racing AMR of Dan Lavery and Darren Turner best placed in P8, the #40 Townsend AMR of James Townsend and Joe Wheeler next in P9 with the #97 GBR Stratton Motorsport AMR of John Hartshorne and Ronan Pearson now preceding the #21 MK Racing AMR on the grid.

 

With both series starting the race separate upon the grid tomorrow, the #005 Mirage Racing AMR crew will find themselves right at the very back of the grid.

Photo credits – Jacob Ebrey / Phil Hay / FFSA / social media

 

 

 

 

 

The start of Speed Week begins in just a couple of days but this time with a slight twist as two SRO series merge for a joint venture this time around the circuit of Spa Francorchamps.

With each series running this weekend’s visit to Belgium, the British GT Champiosnhip and French national FFSA GT4 Series will share track time togther for the first time to run as a converged event even though both series will run to their differing rule sets and will have their own qualifying and podium celebrations.

 

That means that there will be fifty-five multi-classed cars upon the grid this time around after the British GT Championship opened its 2026 campaign with the Silverstone 500 before moving onto the first sprint round from Oulton Park last time out whilst the FFSA GT4 series has ran at both Nogaro and then Dijon-Prenois.

That means that there will be at least six Aston Martin Racing powered crews taking part this time around – five from the UK and one from France but with still the potential of another as the Mirage Racing team have yet to confirm a chassis for their guesting American racers for their event.

 

If that comes off, that would be in addition to the Mirage Racing AMR Vantage GT4 of Jodie Sloss who will this time have a differing driving partner to David Levy in the form of Nicolas Siebenschuh and their #5 Am class entry.

Last time out at Dijon-Prenois, Sloss and Levy came away with a second and first in class with their Vantage GT4 Evo to now sit third overall in class.

 

Within the British GT Championship entry we again have the #007 Beechdean AMR Vantage GT3 entry of Andrew Howord and (a hopefully not Le Mans 24 weary) Ross Gunn after that dup converted their pair of pole positions into a pair of P2 overall finishes at the end of each hour long, pit stop punctuated sprint race.

Those results now see the pairing sit upon the top step of both the Overall and GT3 Pro-Am Drivers Championship, but their last race result will see them suffer a fifteen second additional time penalty at their scheduled stop this time around.

 

We then have the four Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4’s from MK Racing, Grange Racing, Townsend Racing and GBR Stratton Motorsport teams after enjoying a very successful Bank Holiday weekend outing to Cheshire at the end of May. There the silver classed #21 MK Racing GT4 of Will Orton and Jessica Hawkins secured a P2 result in race one last time out before following the #27 car home for another P2 overall podium after Mondays race.

 

In race one, there was also Pro-Am class success for the #27 Grange Motorsport AMR of Dan Lavery and Darren Turner before there was an AMR 1-2-3 lock out of the Pro-Am class ranks in race two as the #27 car took the win with James Townsend/Joe Wheeler coming home second aboard their #40 car whilst GBR Stratton secured another class podium finish for both John Hartshorne and Ronan Pearson aboard their #97 entry.

These results now see the #21 MK Racing crew sitting second within both the Overall GT4 Drivers and Silver Drivers Championship tables whilst Hartshorne and Pearson sit second within the Pro-Am ranks after three decent points scoring finishes so far. Townsend and Wheeler sit fourth with the Lavery/Turner pairing now just one point behind. The #21, #27 and #40 Aston Martins will also all suffer from additional overall and class winning time penalties come their pitstops on Sunday.

 

This weekend’s race will just be the standard two-hour affair for both group sets of entries – something of a novelty for the FFSA GT4 entries who are more akin to running just one-hour races. The weekend will also run a standard race weekend format with private testing on Friday before Free Practice and Pre-Qualifying preceding Qualifying on Saturday with the two-hour race starting at 14:20hrs on Sunday.

Photo Credits – Teams / Series / social media

 

 

 

 

It was a near perfect return to the French FFSA GT4 Series for the #5 Mirage Racing Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 driving partnership of David Levy and Jodie Sloss.

Racing this weekend at Dijon-Prenois, the #5 crew looked to improve upon their race finishes first time this season from Nogaro where the Am classed crew finished both races upon the class podium, but in P2 and P3 respectively at the end of each one-hour race.

 

Competing again within a combined grid of thirty-two cars, the #5 crew started the weekend better than last time out as each driver qualified their car within the top three in class before taking to the track for the first race later on Saturday afternoon.

Another typically hectic start to another GT4 powered race saw one car knocked into a spin at turn one first time around before the race settled into something of a rhythm. Only a later Safety Car for a car fire spoilt a clean run to the end where Levy finished off Sloss’s start to claim a P9 overall finish – P1 in class.

 

Sunday’s finale was something along a similar vein with dry and bright track conditions only being hampered by cooler temperatures. Whilst others felt it necessary to make contact with others, something that again brought out the Safety Car after the pit window, the #5 car kept things clean again for Sloss to eventually cross the line P9 overall – P1 in class.

 

Rounding off our racing excitement for the weekend will be the (sadly) sole Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 powered crew competing within the second round of the French national FFSA-GT4 Series from Dijon.

Having done so well together as a package last season, David Levy and Jodie Sloss again fly the AMR powered flag together with the French based Mirage Racing team ahead of this weekend’s two one-hour races.

 

At the traditional seasonal opener from Nogaro, the #5 powered crew enjoyed two quick trips to the podium after they secured themselves both a P2 and P3 Pro-Am class finish for their efforts.

This weekend sees a repeat of that two-race format over the weekend with track action starting on Thursday with private testing.

Photo credits – Team / Series / social media

 

 

With the exception of the COVID affected 2020 season, this years the lowest Aston Martin Racing powered entry within the GT4 European Series to date as just the Racing Spirit of Leman remain loyal to the brand for the forthcoming season that starts this weekend coming from the Paul Ricard Circuit in southern France.

Last year we welcomed both the Racing Spirit of Leman and Mirage Racing AMR powered teams along with their three silver and one Pro-Am classed Vantage GT4 Evo’s but in 2026 we will welcome both some familiar names as well as some new ones for the teams silver and Pro-Am entry.

 

Despite this, the series itself remains healthy ahead of its tenth year as thirty-eight cars form ten manufacturers are expected to compete at this first of six double header rounds.

Brazilian racer Pedro Garcia makes the large step across from his Stock Car Jr series back home to GT4 racing in Europe for the first time having taken a literal lead from fellow countryman Eduardo Barrichello. He will be joined by the accomplished and knowledgeable racer Clement Seyler who has raced within the series for many years between teams, taking the Am Championship title with Pascal Bachmann and the Street Art Racing team back in 2019.

 

 

They will compete within the team’s #72 car within the silver class, whilst another new pairing of Louka Desgranges and Florent Grizaud will race togther for the first time within the Pro-Am class.

Grizaud won fared well within the FFSA GT4 AM Class Championship alongside his then regular teammate Kevin Jimenez where they finished second overall twice as well as second in class at the end of the 2024 GT4 European Series – but for 2026, it will be all different.

 

Grizaud will this time be joined by fellow countryman Louka Desgranges who also steps up to GT4 racing for the first time from the similar graded Ultimate Cup Alpine Endurance Cup Series.

This weekend’s timetable will see the series share the timetable with the headlining GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup Series for their two opening one-hour races.

Photo credits – Team / GT Winter Series / social media

 

 

 

 

There may only be one Vantage GT4 crew within this full season’s French FFSA GT4 Series, but it was still a podium double straight out of the box for the Aston Martin Racing powered crew at this weekend’s opening round from Nogaro.

With the #5 Mirage Racing team again fielding the Am classed pairing of young Scot Jodie Sloss alongside the more mature Frenchman David Levy, this weekend’s opening round commitment first took them into downtown Nogaro for the series annual pilgrimage through the town with a meet and greet between the drivers, teams, race fans and local residents.

 

Delaying the race programme to include races over Easter Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday, the #5 pairing basically took off from where they had left off together last season to pedal identical qualification positions to one another – P13 overall out of a grid of twenty-seven cars and P3 in class.

Sometimes notoriously cold and wet at Nogaro for the Easter opener, this time around it was clear blue skies and sunshine on Sunday for the season opening one hour race where the race start passed off relatively quietly until two spinning Alpines brought out the Safety Car for the first time after early gains for Sloss.

 

Swapping over at the halfway mark, apart from one short Full Course Yellow for another car in the gravel, it was a relatively clean run in to the flag for Levy as they and Mirage Racing clocked up a season opening P2 in class finish – P7 overall.

Race two on Monday ran under identical conditions but with starting drivers reversed for all this time around and again, early contact between cars would bring out the Safety Car with another incident just before the pit stop window hampering the progress for Levy.

Sloss would eventually get her turn behind the wheel again and unable to progress himself up the order, she (and Levy) had to make do with an Overall P19 finish but still a P3 podium finish in class.

The next round to the season will be from Dijon-Prenois in mid-May.

Photo credits – Team / Series / social media

 

 

 

The #5 Mirage Racing Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 of David Levy and Jodie Sloss will apparently be flying the AMR flag solo after all this weekend as they have just been confirmed as the sole Vantage GT4 entry within this weekend’s FFSA GT4 opener from Nogaro.

Gone has their sister Pro-Am winning car of last season for drivers Stanislav Safronov and Aleksandre Vaintrub but still leaving a twenty-seven multi-classed entry across all classes (except for silver again) across six manufacturers.

 

Levy and Sloss were only recently confirmed as giving the French national GT4 series another go over the five round, ten one-hour long race season starting this Bank Holiday weekend in Nogaro.

 

Track action will begin on Saturday with two Free Practice session before moving onto both Qualifying and Race 1 on Sunday and Race 2 on Monday.

If the recent testing shots were also anything to go by – we expect a change to the previous livery colour scheme too.

Photo credits – Team / Series / social media

 

 

 

 

Great to see the first Aston Martin Racing powered entry confirmed today within the French national FFSA GT4 Series as both David Levy and Jodie Sloss return for a second season together within their #5 Vantage GT4.

Having debuted last season, the young Scot came with limited GT4 racing knowledge having only competed with a part GT Cup Championship season with the then Forsetti Motorsport team before turning her attention to France.

 

In other Aston Martin Racing powered team related news comes confirmation of another successful national GT4 class champion moving up to the European theatre of GT3 racing as well as another taking the step up to GT racing for the first time.

Today news saw the inaugural SRO Academy winner Gaspard Simon take the plunge with his FFSA GT4 winnings to take the significant step up into the GT World Challenge Europe with the German based Walkenhorst Motorsport team.

 

 

Being listed as competing at Brands Hatch, Misano, Magny-Cours, Zandvoort and finally at Barcelona are clear signs that the youngster will be competing within the Sprint Cup Series with an as-yet unidentified co-driver.

Whilst we had already heard from the Comtoyou Racing team and their GT World Challenge Europe aspirations within both the Endurance and Sprint Cup Series, this is the first news to come out of the German powerhouse who also entered both series last season.

 

 

The other news came earlier this week with the Italian based Gino Motorsport team confirming an AMR Vantage GT4 entry within the new GTC European Challenge Series which will be another series racing both GT4 and TCR based cars together.

Having raced within the Italian XGT4 Series last season, this is the first customer package announcement to come from the team as they confirm Brazilian racer Tiago Pinto within one of the older Vantage GT4’s after he only started racing last season.

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media

 

2025 is rapidly coming to it’s end yet before we get too carried away with racing for next year, here is just a quick look back at some of the racing successes for a few of the Aston Martin Racing Partner and Customer teams around the world within some twenty-four racing series that we paid some sort of attention to.

Class winning podium positions aside, the Belgian based Comtoyou Racing team were the first to claim a full class championship win as Kobe Pauwels and Jamie Day secured the silver class win within the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup Series.