There both young guns Gustav Birch and Simon Birch will open the team’s account within the series before Kasper H Jenson after the Belgium based Comtoyou Racing had earlier confirmed that former motocross racer, Matisse Lismont will be joining the squad having served just two seasons so far in GT racing.

With the closing of the entry list just a few weeks away together with the prospect of up to eight AMR Vantage GT3 teams eager to part within the two available series, further news will soon be following.

Rounding of the news was from the French Mirage Racing team who have confirmed their first of an expected two AMR Vantage GT4 entry into the GT World Challenge supporting GT4 European Series.

Today saw drivers Stanislav Safronov and Aleksandr Vaintrub step over to the Aston Martin having started within a Mercedes AMG GT4 together two years ago. The pairing and team will also compete together within the French FFSA GT4 Series.

Photo credits – Teams / Social media

No strangers to running multi-car – multi-class entries of course saw the Henrik Lungaard led team become the third such Partner team to commit to the SRO governed series alongside that of the Walkenhorst Motorsport and Comtoyou Racing teams, also with a yet to be determined driver line up.

Again entering the new 2024 Evo version of the Vantage GT3 platform like the others, sources close to AMR have suggested that the AMR entry confirmed so far could still increase in numbers, even into double figures if everything aligns for those teams involved such is the interest with the latest Aston Martin offering.

With the team also confirming the retention of their long-term sponsor Mascot Workwear, we are just hopeful that the red and black livery of old will be retained by both cars in both series which start off at Paul Ricard in early April for the Endurance Series and at Brands Hatch for the Sprint Series in early May.

With other OEM’s realigning their own driver needs also allowed fresh blood to be droughted into what is being labelled as another busy racing season for the AMR brand and their Partner teams with the imminent release of both the new 2024 Vantage GT3 and GT4 platforms.

Long associated with AMR through both TF Sport and Northwest AMR within the WEC (and others) finally sees the talented Portuguese Henrique Chaves join the fray alongside that of Nurburgring legend David Pittard to the 2024 roster with that of reigning GT World Challenge Sprint Cup Champion Mattia Drudi to round off a talent pool to be proud of despite the recent loss of Charlie Eastwood.

With new teams selecting the 2024 Vantage platform ahead of the new season and with the unavoidable clashing of major sporting dates within the GT programme, extra hands will also be needed to assist Aston Martin Racing’s Partner teams.

Whilst they prepare themselves for next season, the Viper Niza Aston Martin Racing team rounded off their 2023 Thailand Super Series season in fine form last weekend as Douglas Khoo (with the help of Dominic Ang of course) secured himself two P3 Am Class podiums to round off their first full season with their AMR Vantage GT3 from the Chang International Circuit.

With them entering their LMP3 for this winter’s Asian Le Mans Series, we wait to see whether they will be taking delivery of any 2024 Evo’d version of the Vantage GT3 over the coming months.

Again, looking forward to 2024 - (first the good news) in that both the Van Der Steur (Brady Behrman) and Archangel squads (Todd Coleman) appear to be readying themselves ahead of an IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Series return early next year alongside Team TGM whilst (now the bad news) it does appear that the #37 Modena Silverstone AMR Vantage GT3 for both the 24H Series visit to Dubai as well as the 6H Abu Dhabi event have now been scratched and removed from the available entry list.

Whilst this piece does start with a photo of the GMB Motorsport AMR Vantage GTE sitting proudly within the office area of the Danish based team, one post upon their social media does suggest that the ‘Old Lady’ has now been retired after its one and only season within the European Le Mans Series this year!

To round off the 2023 with some good news at least sees the German based BCMC Motorsport and Eastside Motorsport teams formally merge together to create the SAX Motorsport team with potential AMR Vantage GT4 entries into both the ADAC GT4 Germany and GT4 European Series next year. Driver announcements from them are apparently imminent!

That all being said, it just leaves us to say thank you all for watching with us in 2023 and we hope to see you all back in 2024.

Happy holidays

Photo credits – Teams / social media

Running quite the alien timetable that most would note for this ACO rules series sees the forty strong multi-class entry list which includes the three Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTE crews from both TF Sport and GMB Motorsport, all see a track timetable that starts tomorrow (Wednesday) with the first of the private testing sessions. Track action then becomes a little more formal moving forward as the entry prepare to race the opening 4Hrs Algarve into the night race on Friday before having to repeat most ahead of the 4Hrs Portimao on Sunday.

Unfortunately for all three Aston Martin crews, there will be no championship winning celebrations this time around after another ‘difficult’ series visit to Spa Francorchamps which saw the Danish #44 GMB car fail to finish after an outlap crash for the young Gustav Birch after a great opening stint from Jens Moller and Nicki Thiim whilst the all-French #72 TF Sport crew of Max and Arnold Robin with Valentin Hasse-Clot ‘struggled’ with both inter team and inter brand contact that kept losing them time for a P6 finish at the end.

The #95 TF Sport AMR of John Hartshorne, Jonny Adam and Ben Tuck was also never on the pace as they eventually mopped up the last of the available Championship points with a P9 finish but that result still leaves the #95 crew the best placed AMR crew in twelfth, with the #72 now just behind and the #44 sadly at the foot of the table still.

Latest information shows that the Vantage GTE platform will get a final BoP break with an additional two litre fuel capacity and increase in boost pressure across the range. A little late for Championship hopes but at least that may allow this GTE platform to go out on something of a high.

Joining them in Portugal for just one more round will be the LMP3 and GT3 cars of the Michelin Le Mans Cup Series, which happily this time sees the #10 Racing Spirit of Leman AMR of Arnold Robin and Valentin Hasse-Clot remain in front in class after the previous round at Spa Francorchamps.

Despite a major hic-up during Qualifying last time out in Belgium that saw the #10 fail to refire in the pitlane after an outlap crash for another competitor which brought out yet another red flag, the French duo did eventually come home in fifth after a late time penalty added five seconds to their race time after a miscalculation on driver time ‘forced’ Robin to drive extra-ordinarily slowly into pit lane for their compulsory stop.

“Getting away’ with those issues in Belgium has left the crew twelve points clear at the top of the GT3 Drivers Champiosnhip but with twenty-six points still available for both Pole Position in Qualifying and the class win, things are far from safe for the French duo as another three crews line up behind them to take their chances should they stumble at the final hurdle.

All three races will be exciting to watch with all three again visible to watch live via the series media channels.

With TF Sport again supporting a two car ELMS entry for that of Arnold and Max Robin with Valentin Hasse Clot aboard their all French supported #72 car and the #95 car of John Hartshorne, Ben Tuck and Jonny Adam, they were of course joined by the Danish #44 GMB Motorsport crew of Jens Moller, Gustav Birch and Nicki Thiim.

Whilst both the #44 and #95 cars head recent track data from their earlier test to run mid table within their class during the opening session, it was something of a game of catch-up for the #72 crew as they built up their own momentum and used cross series data available to them from their dual Le Mans Cup Series entry with the Racing Spirit of Lemans AMR Vantage GT3.

Next came the Bronze Driver test session and the first signs of real pace from the Aston Martin as both Arnold Robin and Moller took control of the first two places on the timing board with a gap of just over half a second to the chasing pack ahead of Saturday’s second Free Practice and Qualifying sessions.

Declared a wet track in the morning, track limits blighted the #44 crews position where Race Control forced them to sit time out within pit lane whilst the #95 moved up to a mid-table position with the #72 maintaining its momentum to end up P5 as the bronze rated drivers about to perform again in Qualifying.

This time the Aston Martin’s would not get everything their own way as Arnold Robin had to settle for a front row P2 start with Moller immediately behind in P4 whilst Hartshorne again struggled for pace, eventually starting from last in class.

Race day, and with the words of Race Control about the race being a four-hour affair and not just the first corner already in distant memory in the minds of some – the chaos ensued as the now collective forty strong grid hurtled its way into La Source for the first time.

Scattering LMP2 an LMP3 cars around the first corner, the chasing GTE field did at least avoid the carnage, but the race was immediately brought back under the control of the Safety Car for the first time whilst the debris was cleared having already seen a change to the running order with the #44 up to P2 and the #72 down to P3.

Twenty minutes were lost to that caution as the first racing laps showed a great dual in the making between the two lead Aston Martin’s whilst Harthorne had already pitted for a splash of fuel and a change to his cars strategy under the Safety Car.

At the top of the first hour, the first FCY was called for debris on track after which saw both #44 and #72 cars pit for the first time (for only fuel and tyres each) whilst the #95 car inherited the class lead thanks to their earlier stop. Once that sequence had cycled through, the biggest problem for the Aston Martin’s at the time was the pace of the #16 Proton Porsche which was doing more than enough to keep the chasing pack at bay.

The earlier challenging #66 JMW Ferrari meanwhile had clipped the tyre wall at Raidillon have spun coming up from Eau Rouge and their damaged steering would see that car stop on track bringing the Safety Car back out for a second time. Whilst the #72 benefitted with track position after their misfortune, the #44 GMB car would get a Drive Through Penalty for track limits (again), and that would cost the Danes heavily in terms of track position by the time that Nicki Thiim had come out for his hour stint at the midway point.

A further FCY was called for a stranded car in the barriers with 100 minutes remaining, a place in the race where the #72 car was P6, the #44 car was down to P8 and the #95 in P10. Those places would soon change again however as on the restart, small rear contact from Thiim with the #72 car of Robin saw the #72 get turned around but was thankfully able to re-join, albeit twenty or so seconds in arrears.

Ninety minutes to go and a heavy impact in the barriers for an LMP3 car saw another, prolonged appearance of the Safety Car as debris and repairs were made by the ever-efficient circuit marshals. This gave the #95 crew the chance to make their final stop under the slower pace of the caution as Ben Tuck got his first racing laps of Spa in an Aston.

An hour to go, and Thiim pitted the #44 car for their final driver change as the young Gustav Birch stepped aboard form their now P8 position in class. Unfortunately, the combination of cold tyres and over exuberance from the young Dane saw him ride the kerb at Les Combes to get spat back out to nose and tail his #44 car into the tyre wall whilst trying to catch the end of the Safety Car train ahead of the packs impending release.

Losing the rear wing, damaging the defuser amongst other things saw that car limp back to the garage and into immediate retirement leaving just the #72 of (then) Hasse Clot and the #95 of Tuck to see what each could both rescue from their P8/P9 places respectively.

Despite their best of efforts and the further intervention of two further Safety Car periods within the final half hour, the capabilities of those aboard the cars ahead and the gaps between them were too much to overcome in such little time for the #72 and #95 cars to finally come home in P6 and P9 respectively.

A disappointing end to the race and the GTE’s final appearance at the Belgium circuit for the AMR Vantage powered crews as the series now looks ahead to its final two quick fire rounds of the series at Portimao in late October. 

As far as the Championship goes – that has already been determined that it won’t be going to any AMR powered team unfortunately – not this season anyway!!

Competing again within their full season class entry of twelve cars, the #44 GMB Motorsport AMR of Jens Moller, Gustav Birch and Nicki Thiim claimed the lead AMR role after Qualifying with Moller placing his red and black car P8 with the #72 TF Sport prepared AMR of Arnold Robin, Max Robin and Valentin Hasse-Clot just behind in P9. The slightly heavier (thanks to their podium finish last time out at Paul Ricard) #95 TF Sport Aston Martin of John Hartshorne, Ben Tuck and Jonny Adam would start from P11.

Starting later into the late afternoon/early evening at least allowed those working and those spectating to avoid the high heat of the day but it was still extremely hot by the time the green flag dropped at the end of the two formation laps.

It was also back into the hot seat for Arnold Robin having already raced to podium success with Hasse-Clot during the Le Mans Cup race on Friday, but he would have the best part of another two hours of racing to do but that didn’t hamper his efforts and progress as he made early progress during the opening laps.

An early incident for one of the Porsche’s gave everyone another place lift as that car was spun to a halt along the pit straight wall but at least a period of caution was avoided once that car got back on the move in last place overall. 

Maintaining their positions for the next thirty or so minutes had Robin now up to P5, Moller in P8 and Hartshorne in P11 and as the fuel loads lessened, it appeared that it was only the #72 car (out of the three Astons) who could respond to the events ahead of them in class. Having seen the top four GTE’s disappear into the distance earlier, Robin was soon very much back in contention and pushing had to make progress through the Ferrari powered class leaders.

Trouble was soon to hit the #95 car however, as a gaggle of LPM3 cars became three wide across the track and forced Hartshorne to ride off track – over both the kerbs and infield grassed areas in avoidance. That would cost him both time and an earlier visit to pit lane for service as the race hit its first hour mark and also its first Safety Car period for two cars in the barriers.

With the sun setting at the midway point, the #72 car was running a comfortable P4, #44 GMB in P7 with the #95 an unfortunate distant P11 thanks to his earlier bullying off the racetrack. The minimum driver times for these bronze rated drivers was now at an end so it was now time for the silvers – or platinum in the case of the #95 as Jonny Adam stepped aboard.

Both the #72 and #44 cars were to come to the attention of race control however as the #72 was seen to have two mechanics working upon the car during refuelling – earning themselves a plus 20 second hold at their next scheduled stop whilst Moller had banged the track limits drum again and earned them a drive through penalty for his efforts.

Both errors killed off any remaining possibility of a decent track finish for these two Aston Martin crews through by being in the right place should a further incident take place up ahead of them in class so now, the best that the more abled drivers per car could do was to finish as high as possible with the time remaining. That was easier said than done however for the #72 car after contact from behind had broken the cars diffuser, making for a large decrease in aero performance.

As the circuit descended into full dark, even the experience of the likes of Nicki Thiim and Hasse-Clot could not lift the cars up the running order as the third round of the series fizzled out into a P8 finish in class for the #44 GMB crew with the #72 TF Sport just behind again in P9 with the #95 in P11- all virtually two laps down to the eventual class winners.

These results leave the #95 TF Sport crew still the best placed AMR crew within the GTE Drivers Championship in P12 but without something of a minor miracle over the remaining three rounds from Spa Francorchamps and then a double header from Portimao, all championship winning hopes seems to be over in the final year of the GTE platform.

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media / Andrew Lofthouse

 

After previous rounds at Barcelona and Paul Ricard (with Le Mans somewhere in between), forty-two cars figure upon this weekends entry list which is of course split between the Series available LMP2, LMP3 and GTE classes.

No changes within the expected running order for the three full season Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTE entries as TF Sport again provide the mechanical services to their #72 (Arnold Robin/Max Robin/Valentin Hasse-Clot) and the #95 car (John Hartshorne/Jonny Adam/Ben Tuck) as well as the Danish #44 GMB Motorsport AMR of Jens Moller/Gustav Birch and a returning Nikki Thiim.

After the racing horrors of Barcelona when two of the Aston Martin runners were eliminated from the race on the opening lap, a Balance of Performance change to the Vantage ahead of round two saw much better performances all round with the #95 car claiming a class podium in P3 whilst certainly the #72 would have finished higher than its eventual P7 had it not been for earlier contact.

Yesterday’s test saw steady progress from the three Astons during both available morning and afternoon sessions with the #95 TF Sport car second fastest in both sessions whilst the other two ran something of a more conservative pace. In today’s Free Practice, we saw those performances reversed as the #44 GMB car became the fastest Aston in P4 with the #95 towards the bottom of the timing screen – so who knows who’s fastest!!

Tomorrow sees a late Free Practice 2 session before Qualifying on Saturday morning as the teams gear themselves up for this weekend’s four-hour night race.