Yesterdays Advent Health 120's second round of the heavily revised 2020 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge from Sebring in Florida again provided for some great GT4 inter class racing albeit interrupted with some timely and very seasonal Florida weather.

As previously reported, Thursdays Free Practice sessions didn't go exactly to plan for either of the Automatic Racing or Kohr Aston Martin Racing customer teams as errors and gremlins within the cars somewhat limited the track time of some before yesterday morning Qualifying.


Those gremlins certainly didn't affect the Kohr team with Nate Stacey and Kyle Marcelli putting their #60 Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GT4 on the front row of the grid with a P2 start. The two cars from local team Automatic Racing would start in P14 and P18 amongst the 35 car grid.

Originally starting under a patchy blue sky with dry track and an air temperature of 31dec C, Stacey was certainly keen to make up for the near six months of missed racing as he pushed the pole setting CarBahn Audi around the bumpy, partly concrete sectioned Sebring circuit before he soon lost P2 to Robbie Foley in his BMW. Eight minutes in and Stacey set the then fastest lap just before the race had its first Full Course Yellow for what first appeared to be for a minor shunt involving a GS and TCR car.


That turned out to be for a local weather warning for lightning that resulted in the race being red flagged, drivers allowed from their cars and circuit workers advised to seek shelter. With the race clock still counting down their would eventually be over forty minutes of race time lost whilst Race Control waiting for these weather cells to pass them by.

By the time of the restart, the track was now wet, temperatures had cooled and all cars had to be released back onto the circuit on the slick tyres on which they finished the starting portion of the race. The #60 car would retain its then P3 slot whilst the #99 Automatic car of Gary Ferrera would come out again in P12 and Ramin Abdolvahabi would return in P17 aboard his #09 car.


Two more laps around the circuit behind the Safety car with the clock again ticking left just over 65 minutes of race time - but race plans soon went south for both Automatic cars as both would suffer self induced spins on the wet track on the first two green laps. Fortunate neither to be hit, these spins left these two AMR's at the tail of the pack.

Fifty minutes to go, Stacey put a very forceful yet clean move on Foley's BMW to take P2 overall with P4 and P5 very close behind piling on the pressure. Minutes later that P1 turned into the race lead as the #60 car threaded the needle between the #39 Audi and a slower TCR car to take the race lead - and then to gap him by two seconds.


Eventually, minimum driver times had been served by the respective Am drivers and most cars elected to stop at the 40 minute remaining mark - not the #39 Audi however, who stayed out for another two laps on a quiet track to develop enough time to overcome their original time deficit to the #60 and then some so by the time the pit stop cycle was over the #39 CarBahn Audi was again in front.

With Kyle Marcelli now aboard the #60 car, he unfortunately had to spend of a lot of his immediate time and energy defending his position against a very fast Trent Hindman in the bright yellow Porsche Cayman behind. Lighter and with tyres already back up to temperature after their stop, Hindman pushed Marcelli hard and that lost him track time to the leader now breaking away ahead.


With seventeen minutes remaining the race was again neutralised with another FCY and again it was weather related. This time Race Control elected to keep all cars circulating out on track behind the Safety Car as track workers again took cover. Why?, we don't don't as their rules state that that kind of period of caution was for a minimum time period of thirty minutes so, as with any SC ruleset, that moment became the concluding part of an exciting and extra-ordinary return to racing for the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge.

Results are still provisional at the moment but they do confirm that the P2 finish for the #60 Kohr Aston Martin and Nate Stacey and Kyle Marcelli. The #99 Automatic car of Gary Ferrera/Kris Wilson finished just ahead of the #09 car of Ramin Abdolvahabi/Rob Ecklin in P18 and 19 respectively in class.


Next round is at another iconic US race track at Road America at the end of July.

Photo credits - IMSA / Kohr / Automatic

Don't forget like we did, that this evening (not Saturday) sees the running of the latest round of the 2020 restarted Michelin Pilot Challenge from Sebring International Raceway in Florida.

Having started their season way back in late January at the Rolex 24 supporting BMW Endurance Challenge, the American IMSA sanctioned Series has obviously had to radically re-align its calendar to cope with the fallout from Covid. Even this weekend in Florida, COVID remains a major issue with continuing high numbers of perfections within the State with this second round again seeing withdrawal from the series by teams and confirmed infections with the drivers.


Anyway, yesterday saw the three Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GT4 runners from Automatic Racing and Kohr Motorsports conduct their first official testing of the event - something that didnt exactly go to plan with Kohr experiencing technical issues with their #60 car of Nate Stacey and Kyle Marcelli and the both local cars of Kris Wilson/Gary Ferrera and Rob Ecklin and Ramin Abdolvahabi suffering from the wrath of the Race Stewards for procedural transgressions in pit lane and on track.

Then earlier today the twenty two GT cars and thirteen TCR cars ran their respective Qualifying sessions for this evenings two hour Advent Health 120 race.


The #60 Kohr car again finished highest in P2, just 0.5 seconds behind the pole setting CarBahn Audi R8 GT4 with #09 Ecklin/Abdolvahabi leading its sister car in P14 with the #99 car in P18.

With such a long time between races, the demands of the historical Sebring circuit and the Pro-Am nature of the event, excitement won't be too far away!!

Photo credits - Stoner Car Care / Kohr / IMSA 

Yesterdays final round of the IMSA sanctioned Michelin Pilot Challenge had all the hallmarks of something good for both Automatic Racing and their CSJ Motorsport partners but some poor choices  off track changed those possibilities.

Indian driver Akhil Rabindra had been again quick in their new Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 since joining the team at Road America back in early August and Fridays pole position for the #09 was their best Qualifying performance yet.

Running the usual two hour race format, Rabindra ran a domineering open stint (up until the first safety car intervention) leading the field by nearly three seconds by lap six. That lead was of course cancelled out by the caution but even on the restart, Rabindra was comfortably able to see off the Ford Mustang advances of Seb Priaulx.


Two more periods of full course yellow followed after that before a more significant off for a TCR car on the pit straight lead to an extended period of caution that took the cars beyond the first hour of racing. Whilst many teams used the caution to pit and fully service their cars the #09 was left out, maintaining track position behind the Safety Car.

Just after the hour mark the race went back to green but still Rabindra was kept out on track - we had seen in previous races that the team struggled with multiple pit stops for their small crew but this time it was evident that they had managed to stagger them to avoid cars queuing so pits lane space wasn't an issue.


The real issue for the team came with just 42 minutes left on the clock when another FCY was called, sealing off the pits for the start and leaving the #09 stranded on track but needing to pit. By the time that the stranded car had been removed from track only 37 minutes of the race remained yet co-driver Tom Long needed to serve a minimum of 40 minutes! Even when Rabindra did eventually pit (in the lead of a gaggle of cars going into pit lane) something else still went wrong with the stop that meant Long would leave last in that gaggle of cars and way down in the field of cars.

Not letting a poor stop distract him, Long drove some monumental opening laps to soon recover his track position to P5 with still 24 minutes remaining. That progress continued to where Long found himself just 3.2 seconds behind the leading Mustang with just five minutes remaining.


At the chequered flag the #15 Mustang would take the win only by a noticeably smaller margin from the #09 Aston Martin but the damage had already been done with the cars minimum driver time already under investigation by Race Control. Sure enough, that error by the team had been confirmed and the #09 car placed at the tail of the finishing field despite taking the chequered flag.

That must be a real disappointment for all concerned with the team, especially after securing their first pole position with the new era of turbo charged AMR's and obviously a very quick duo of drivers within the car who could have very easily secured both the team's second and that car's first podium of the year!


This meeting also marked the end of the end of racing for the team's remaining normally aspirated AMR Vantage GT4 as Automatic look to move over to a full fleet of turbo charged cars ready next season. Racing again in its gorgeous blue livery, the #99 car of Ben Waddell even lead the race going into the closing stages of the race having pitted under an early FCY but eventually had to pit for a splash - eventually finishing P17 in class.


What the last four rounds of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge have shown is that the new AMR Vantage is a serious race contender within the technical parameters of that IMSA series and is also a very comfortable car to driver. With CSJ Motorsport already conducting a number of private tests for prospective customers in-between rounds, we can hope that there might be a few more AMR's running in this series in 2020?

Photo credits - IMSA / Stoner / Automatic / CSJ 

Having been frustrated by misfortune on track for his previous two visits to the IMSA sanctioned Michelin Pilot Challenge Series, Indian driver Akhil Rabindra was hoping for something better as the Series visited the Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca on the west coast of the USA at the weekend.

Being joined this time by Stoner Car Care's Rob Ecklin Jnr, the crew of the #09 CSJ Motorsport supplied Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GT4 Qualified for Saturdays two hour race in P7 having had some overheating issues with the car in the earlier sessions of Friday.


With Ecklin starting the race, he did well to avoid a first lap multi car incident that affected three cars immediately beside and to the rear to establish a consistent pace in P6 until a Full Course Yellow for debris neutralised the race immediately before the first scheduled stops for the GS (GT4) class cars. Being permitted to pit under the Safety Car another case Automatic Racing's poor pit stop procedures dropped the #09 down to P13 by the track went back to green.

The sister #97 Invisible Glass liveried car of Kris Wilson Gary Ferrera would also be penalised for spinning the wheels again during their stop and that would ultimately spoil their race.


With tyre degradation becoming an obvious issue it soon became a case of not whether on not the car had enough fuel to get to the end but also that of whether the tyres would last out with other teams sacrificing track position for the benefit of new rubber - that was shown to be anything up to 5 seconds per lap difference.

The #97 would add to their woes after a heavy impact with a BMW GT4 whilst overtaking a TCR car - simply a case of the Aston not being aware of the immediate proximity of the BMW in that manoeuvre.


With less than 30 minutes remaining, Rabindra had quietly made his way up to P2 in a top trio of cars that had yet to made their final stop for fuel. Taking the gamble, the team elected to only refuel him and not replace any of his somewhat 'tired' rubber. The delay in his fuel stop alone dropped him back to P9 by the time he returned to the track but that was only to get worse when it was realised that they didn't get enough fuel on board for him to reach the end of the race.


A further 'splash and dash' stop for Rabindra dropped the #09 car back to P18 at the finish an away behind the sister #97 car who finished in P11 despite all of their issues.

With all having travelled so far to get to this penultimate round of the season, that was all a bitter pill to swallow - hopefully the crews can shine at the season finale at Petit Le Mans later next month.

Photo credits - CSJ / Stoner Car Care

This weekend sees the ninth and penultimate round of the IMSA sanctioned Michelin Pilot Challenge Series from the iconic WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca circuit sited just off the Coast near Monterey, California.

Aston Martin Racing Partner Team's Automatic Racing and CSJ Motorsport have both made the long journey from their bases in Florida and Texas respectively to be at the circuit in time for Saturday's two hour race into the Californian evening with both of their AMR Vantage GT4's.


Long term series partners Gary Ferrera and Kris Wilson reunite for the first time in a couple of races aboard the #97 Automatic Racing Invisible Glass sponsored AMR Vantage GT4 whilst Indian driver Akhil Rabindra shares the CSJ Supplied AMR Vantage with fellow long term team favourite and Stoner Car Care boss Rob Ecklin Jnr.

In the 'merry go round' of driver swaps and replacements that have taken place within the team since the Daytona 24 season opening weekend, it appears that all the drivers have been smitten with the new turbo charged V8 Vantage GT4 since its international audition with the team at Daytona.


Rabindra has certainly made a massive impact with the team and series with his speed and consistency of his driving since his arrival at Road America where he shared the predominately white car with Kris Wilson. There, only bad luck and misfortune after first contact and then a resulting off for Wilson in the wet and wild conditions of Road America thwarted a near certain podium assault in their first time of asking together.


Then last time out at the Virginia International Raceway three weeks ago, Rabindra joined up with AMR WEC Factory driver and AMR Driver Academy Coach Ross Gunn to again only just miss out on a shout of the podium due to track and weather conditions at the time ending the day in P6.

With precipitation unlikely to be an issue in California we should (hopefully) see what this young man can do!

Photo credits - CSJ / IMSA / Automatic

Already deeply involved in the 2019 24H Series and GT4 European Series' with the German based PROsport Performance team in one of their new 2019 specification Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GT4, twenty three year old Akhil Rabindra has spread his racing wings still further to race this weekend in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Series.

Competing at the beautiful Road America circuit in Wisconsin, Rabindra joins Kris Wilson for this weekends race in the new Vantage platform for the first time for Wilson in the new Vantage and for the first time for Rabindra in the IMSA Series.


Normally competing in the blue, normally aspirated AMR Vantage GT4, Rabindra's early performance in Free Practice and Qualifying aboard the Stoner Car Care car has already left the Florida based Automatic Racing team impressed as he placed the car P3 to todays race after similar performances in the CSJ Motorsport sourced car yesterday.

This car joins the teams other new Vantage GT4 being driven by Rob Ecklin Jnr and Ramin Abdolvahabi the in the Invisible Glass liveried #97 car.


With bad weather threatening the start of track proceedings today, the race is due to start in about an hour.

Photo credits - Automatic Racing

Florida based Automatic Racing shall this weekend be fielding three Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GT4's at the Lime Rock Park round of IMSA's Michelin Pilot Challenge season.

Whilst the #99 Stoner Care liveried car shall remain the 2016 specification Vantage GT4 for drivers Kris Wilson and Gary Ferrara, the other two #97 and #09 cars will be the two 2019 specification cars that have raced for the team before with the latest chassis only joining them at the previous round at Canadian Tyre Motorsport Park.


The newer chassis' will be driven by Rob Eckin Jnr and Tom Long in the #97 Invisible Glass liveried car and by Ari Balogh and Greg Liefooghe in the principally white #09 car. The latter was the duo who were doing so well at CTMSP before an error at the final stop (spinning the rear wheels whilst the car was on the jacks) removed any chance of a debut podium


This car has been provided to the team by the new Aston Martin Racing agent for North America in CSJ Motorsport.

Photo credits - IMSA / CSJ Motorsport / Automatic

Yesterdays audition of Automatic Racing's latest Aston Martin Racing acquisition nearly saw its  driver crew compete for a podium in the latest round of IMSA's Michelin Pilot Challenge from Canadian Tyre Motorsport Park - had it not been for a simple pit lane transgression.

First seeing the new car displayed by the CSJ Motorsport organisation last time out in the series at Watkins Glen a couple of weeks ago, saw drivers Ari Balogh and Greg Liefooghe rekindle their former Sprint X partnership (also with an AMR Vantage GT4) to make remarkable progress in their new 2019 specification GT4, a car that they had only shaken down briefly at Sebring prior to this event.


Displaying what appeared to be a very simplistic yet thoroughly attractive multi-colour livery in the colours of Air BnN (a company that Balogh has direct connections with), that #97 car would race alongside the long standing Automatic Racing pairing of Kris Wilson and Gary Ferrera in the Stoner Car Care 2016, normally aspirated Vantage GT4.

Qualifying in P10 in class for the two hour race, Balogh soon messaged out his statement of intent posting successive fastest laps of the race in the opening quarter as he moved up to P5. The older #09 car of Ferrara was having no such luck as the venerable old Vantage struggled for pace to only just maintain a gap to the chasing TCR class yet alone challenge the leading GS cars.

Over ten minutes of the race was lost to a Full Course Caution after two TCR cars collided leaving one stranded just off track.  During the resulting wave around, that gave the  teams a chance to service their first stop and driver change placing Liefooghe in P14 overall and the #09 car of Kris Wilson down in P19 in class with just over an hour to go by the time they existed pit lane.


It was the now the turn of Liefooghe to pound in some quick laps in the sleek new Vantage GT4, quickly raising his track position up to P3 before many of the leading GS cars needed to pit for enough fuel to last the 40 minutes left to the chequered flag.

Pitting from just two seconds from behind the overall leader, the #97 car would be caught spinning its rear wheels whilst still on the car jacks - earning itself an immediate drive through penalty that would ultimately ruin its inaugural race.

Despite a further Safety Car period later that would leave just ten minutes of racing, that was sadly not enough for either AMR car to make any further in roads leaving them finishing in P10 for the #97 car and a class P19 for the #09 car.

It is hoped that this pairing see out the remainder of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge together.

Photo credits - IMSA / CSJ Motorsports / Automatic 

Stoner Car Care Racing and Automatic Racing launched the 2019 MICHELIN Pilot Challenge season with a strong showing at Daytona in Friday’s BMW Endurance Challenge. With three Aston Martins being fielded by the team, it was a big effort to be prepared for the four hour enduro to open the 2019 IMSA season.

Leading the charge for the Orlando-based squad was the No. 99 Stoner Car Care Aston Martin, driven by rookie Gary Ferrera and veteran Kris Wilson as the team came home with a second place finish after leading nine laps and making a daring last-lap pass to seal second at the finish. 

Two cars - five drivers was the order of last weekends Roar before the 24 Official Test for Automatic Racing as they prepare to face the opening round of the 2019 Michelin Pilot Challenge season from Daytona Speedway in Florida at the end of the month.

Two 2016 specification Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GT4's remain the 'weapon' of choice for this series regulars ahead of whats expected to be a swap over to the new turbo charged Vantage GT4 in time for the next round at Sebring in March.


In its familiar Stoner Care livery, Kris Wilson again joins forces with gentleman driver Gary Ferrera in the #99 car whilst a new trio of Dale Katechis, Ramin Abdolvahabi and Mikel Miller join forces in the #09 at least for the opening four hour endurance race that runs in support of the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship's 24hour opener.

Whilst Automatic remain the only AMR entry into any of the IMSA sanctioned series for at least the start of the 2019 season, there are a number of other drivers competing in other cars who all have a strong AMR association. The most notable are again the Paul Dalla Lana lead squad with World Endurance Championship AMR Vantage GTE Am regulars Mathias Lauda and Pedro Lamy again joining the Canadian businessman in their Spirit of Race prepared Ferrari 488 GTD alongside former AMR GTE driver Daniel Serra.

Photo credits - Automatic Racing