Smiles all round at Street Art RAcing after a successful outing to Paul Ricard
Fielding both a Vantage GT3 for Pascal Bachman and Jahid Fazal Karim in the Am Class of the GT Open Series as well as a Vantage GT4 for Jayan Fazal Karim and Julien Darras within the Trophy Class of the supporting GT Cup Open Series, the GT3 finished the weekend with their best overall performances to date with a P11 and P9 in class finish whilst the GT4 crew left with two class wins and the silverware to go with such an accolade.
Having raced solo within the series last season, Bachman has this year teamed up with Jetcraft owner and team backer Fazal Karim aboard their GT3 after he spent last year learning the cars and the circuits aboard the teams Vantage GT4 alongside Darras.
This year, Fazal Karim’s son Jayan joins the series mix, again under the tutor ledge of Darras at only his second race meeting of the year having debuted at Portimao at the end of April and having missed the second round of the season from Spa Francorchamps.
Whilst the GT Open Series is out again at the Red Bull Ring in early September, the GT Cup Open Series will not be out again until the Monza round at the end of September.
Photo credits - Series
A second Street Art Racing Art car for the 2023 GT Open Series
The fifth art car creation from the Albert Bloem led team, this GT4 entry will be a parallel effort for Jetcraft boss Jahid Fazal-Karim alongside driver coach Julian Darras and will be in addition to Jahid’s GT3 efforts alongside Pascal Bachmann.
Photo credit - Fotospeedy
This weeks news so far................
The International GT Open Series saw the #007 AMR Vantage GT3 from the Belgium based Street Art Racing team confirmed back for its second season but with Pascal Bachmann this time having a driving partner for the full season.
Having raced solo for as much of last season that business would allow, Bachmann will this year be partnered by their main sponsor’s (Jetcraft) owner in Jahid Fazal Karim after Karim was introduced to the GT4 class of the sister GT Open Cup Series with the team’s driver coach Julien Darras. News of a further GT4 entry within that series is also apparently imminent too.
This time around and for when business keeps one away from the circuit, the team have reached out to Xolile Letlaka from the South African GT Series as the South African looks to push out his Africa Race together Foundation. Letlaka presently races another AMR Vantage GT3 within his domestic series with the technical help of Street Art Racings Race Engineer Matty Driessen.
Next, we had a Dorr Motorsport AMR Vantage GT4 testing at Sundays NLS official test ahead of the Nurburgring Langstrecken Serie that starts next weekend. We don’t know the identity of the drivers, but the snow of Saturday wasn’t sufficient to detract them from what might well be another N24 commitment this season. For the locally based Prosport Team, the cancellation of Saturdays running due to the weather was enough to earn them a weekend off having had back-to-back running in Spain recently within the GT Winter Series.
Over in the GT4 European Series, the #18 Racing One AMR Vantage GT4 has taken on a differing guise and driver line up ahead of the 2023 season as Henrik Lyngbye Pederson takes a back seat and supports young gun Lorenz Stegmann a chance alongside Marcus Lungstrass in the Pro-Am Class.
That news in on top of the GPA Racing team confirming an Am Class entry for their FFSA GT4 race winners Kevin Jimenez and Florent Grizaud as well as both Victor Weyrich and Konstantin Lachenauer confirming their presence again with the Racing Spirit of Lemans team (not sure on driving partnerships just yet but a dual FFSA / GT4 European commitment from Weyrich).
Finally today, we have seen that the Malaysian Based Viper Niza Racing team will be entering what will probably be a brand-new AMR Vantage GT3 chassis into this weekend Sepang 12Hr. Having written off their last car at the final round of the Asian Le Mans Series ay Yas Marina last month, the Douglas Khoo led team will be back with co-driver Dominic Ang again – alongside Jazeman Jaafar for what is actually an 8hour race.
This weekend's weekly round up of AMR runners around the world
Starting in Japan, the D’Station Racing team raced out their penultimate round of the Super Taikyu Series from Okayama and came away with a P3 finish overall and within their ST-X class for their AMR Vantage GT3 crew of Satoshi Hoshino, Tomonobu Fujii and Tsubasa Kondo after technical issues with the car lost them ground during that three-hour race. The teams ST-1 class Championship contending Vantage GT8R did not race at this event due to their class not being scheduled to complete although both cars are expected back for the season finale at Suzuka in late November.
The European Le Man Series and Le Mans Cup Series both raced out their final races of the season down in Portimao in Portugal with the AMR marque again being represented by both the Oman Racing with TF Sport Vantage GTE’s and the Bullitt Racing AMR Vantage GT3.
For the Spanish based Bullitt Racing team, their pain had already been suffered at the previous round at Spa when a pre-race incident for Stephen Pattrick lead to the #99 car that he shares with Valentin Hasse-Clot not being able to start and therefore lost all possibility of maintaining a class Championship charge at this final round.
With winter plans from the team still to be confirmed, a spin for Pattrick during Qualifying meant that they had to start the race from the very rear but a good recovery after the earlier red flag for an accident on the pit straight following an earlier Safety Car had put them at the front of the class, before the Frenchman’s final pass for the lead was over aggressive for which he was to serve a drive through penalty for avoidable contact.
They were to finish the race in fourth as Pattrick would within the GT3 Drivers Championship.
The two Oman Racing cars within the ELMS would be hoping for a better end to their topsy-turvey season after having already lost out on any further championship contention at the previous round at Spa as well.
Things were looking good for a time as the #69 of Ahmad Al Harthy / Sam de Haan / Marco Sorenson had Qualified fourth and was running line astern with their sister #95 car of John Hartshorne / Jonny Adam / Henrique Chaves until the dying moments of the race.
Whilst the #69 did succeed in claiming another podium finish to their year, the #95 car was involved in an unfortunate incident with an LMP3 car whilst being overtaken by an LMP2 car which lead to contact between the Aston and the LMP3 car to end each of their races within the gravel/barrier.
In the final races of the French FFSA GT4 Series from Paul Ricard, it was a great finale from the #74 Racing Spirit of Lemans AMR Vantage GT4 of Romain Carton and Victor Weyrich who took a pole position start in Saturday’s night race to a P2 finish before claiming a further P2 finish in Sundays final race of the season.
Whilst their sister #92 car of Ronald Basso and Sandro Perissouthi also claimed a class P2 finish on Saturday, the only championship contending crew – that of the #72 GPA Racing AMR of Kevin Jimenez and Florent Grizaud sadly failed in their quest to win the Am Class after only finishing in second in race 1 behind the then crowned class winning Audi (sounds familiar?)
That leaves just the GT Open and GT Open Cup Series that concluded at the Circuit de Catalunya with the Belgian Street Art Racing team fielding their Vantage GT3 and GT4 cars.
With neither being in any Championship contention, the #007 GT3 of Pascal Bachmann narrowly missed a second-class podium of the year, finishing P4 at the end of race 1 before ending the final race of his debut GT3 season in sixth.
The team’s GT4 crew of Julien Darras and Jahid Fazal Karim came back from their bruising round last time out at Monza to see out Karim’s first step up to GT4 racing with a P4 and then a podium P3 class finish to see out their year.
The bitter-sweet side of motorsport for the Street Art RAcing AMR team at Monza
Back in the series after skipping two previous rounds due to prior business engagements, the Pascal Bachmann driven Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 entered the main GT Open Series as a solo Am classed driver kept his #007 car firmly rooted to the black stuff whilst others were not during the deluge that marred Saturdays opening round to come away with an opportunist P3 in class for his efforts.
Whilst that brought a smile to the Swiss drivers face, the face of Jahid Fazal-Karim was probably etched more to the side of pain and discomfort than delight after he experienced a 170kph+ off in the teams AMR Vantage GT4 during Free Practice.
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Having had to climb out of his upside-down car, the Jetcraft owner was fortunately able to continue aboard the teams spare chassis with little more to some bruising to his lower leg to at least utilise his time investment in competing at this round.
At the close, Karim and co-driver Julian Darras came home in P10 and P8 over their two races whilst Bachmann’s podium in race one was unfortunately followed up with a race 2 technical DNF!
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Their final rounds of the season are from Barcelona in two weeks’ time.
Photo credits – Series
Back to the GT Open fold for the Street Art Racing AMR team in Italy
Featuring amongst another grid of twenty-four comparable GT3 race cars, the bespoke liveried #007 Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 of Swiss driver Pascal Bachmann makes a timely return to the series after business kept him and the team away from the race track over the previous round.
Indeed, having only raced at both Paul Ricard and most recently at the Hungaroring in early July, the ‘day job’ has very much kept the former GT4 European Series Am Class Champion away from the race seat of his latest acquisition – particularly after he has ran in those races as a solo driver.
That remains the same in Italy this weekend as Bachmann is one of two solo drivers within the Am Class ahead of this weekend’s two races.
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No Street Art Racing Aston Martins for the Red Bull Ring this weekend
For those of you who may have missed it, the entry list for this weekend’s GT Open Series visit to the Red Bull Ring in Austria again omits both Street Art Racing’s two Aston Martin Racing Vantage entries.
With the team running the economies of scale of only attending if both sets of drivers are available, the continued absence of Pascal Bachmann for business/personal reasons obviously means that he will not be there with his AMR Vantage GT3 and nor will the AMR Vantage GT4 of Julian Darras and Jahid Fazal-Karim who compete within the parallel GT Open Cup Series
Liaising with Bachmann earlier in the week, he did confirm that they will be back for the final two rounds of the season at Monza at the end of this month and at the season finale in Barcelona in mid-October.
Photo credits – Team / Series
Two become three Aston Martins for the next round of the GT Open Series in Hungary
Also supporting the GT3 series will again be the GT Open Cup Series for GT4 cars and for us Aston Martin Racing fans, that means an AMR Vantage apiece in each series as the Belgian Street Art Racing team returns to the track after another enforced sabbatical from the last round at Spa Francorchamps.
Running a race programme for their customer drivers that relies on up both being present to share crew costs, prior business arrangements again forced Pascal Bachmann to miss the teams ‘local’ round at Spa and as a result, Jahid Fazal-Karim did likewise with his AMR Vantage GT4 that he shares with Julian Darras.
Confirmed as both in attendance this coming weekend from Hungary sees not only these two cars but also something from AMR’s past as the local GFS Racing team brings along their V12 powered AMR Vantage GT3 that racer Janis Santa races in and around Europe in the smaller GT events for his first adventure into a higher-level GT event.
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Last seen by us having been shaken down by Tom Canning on the Silverstone Stowe circuit following a recent Prodrive rebuild earlier this year, the entry is presumably another solo driver effort for Santa within the main GT Open Series, much like the #007 Street Art car of Bachmann.
So far this season, both SAR crews have only competed at their respective round at Paul Ricard in May so neither now have any championship contention but then, it all might be for the fun of it and to see what happens!!
Photo credits – GT Open / Teams / Social media
Another busy weekend of AMR customer racing coming right back at you!
On a sad note, this weekend’s visit by the GT Open and GT Open Cup Series to Spa Francorchamps will now not involve the local Street Art Racing team as prior business arrangements again keeps Pascal Bachmann and his colourful AMR Vantage GT3 away from the track.
The British Endurance Championship competes at Silverstone again this weekend with what will be their fourth round of the season. With no entry list presently available, it is envisaged that season regulars including the #6 Venture Aston Martin Vulcan and the AMR Vantage GT4 crews of #50 T7 Motorsport, #68 Team Brit and (possibly again) the #33 Infinity Racing will again be competing - all now confirmed on this this weekends entry list
After a disappointing round last time out at Snetterton, the #68 are now tied on 77 points with the #50 car, but both just six points off the lead of the performance adjusted championship.
The New Zealand North Island Endurance Series hosts its final round of the season from Hampton Downs with the #91 Race Lab prepared Vantage GT3 of John Penny and Ronan Murphy looking to improve upon their P6 average finish within the previous two three-hour rounds before.
Back across to Italy and the second round of the DTM Trophy Series takes place from Imola this weekend with another expected grid of twenty GT4 cars competing with single drivers.
The two Team Speed Monkey entered cars of Jacob Riegel and Nick Hancke will both be back this weekend after both drivers showed distinct pace last time out at the Lausitzring despite the results of the two opening races not necessarily showing that with just one P4 in race one for Hancke and Riegel being literally knocked off track whilst fighting for a podium position in race two.
As already revealed, six AMR Vantage GT4 drivers are scheduled to compete within the two GT America races, whilst seven crews will compete within the pit stop/ driver change punctuated GT4 America races. Looking at the entry, the difference being the #55 car of Moisey Uretsky joining into the GT4 America Series for the first time with co-driver Justin Piscitell.
Its certainly going to be another busy one!!
AMR's Class of 2022
Following in the footsteps of previous winners in the likes of Ross Gunn, Tom Canning, Valentin Hasse-Clot and last year’s winner Roman De Angelis, this year’s contenders mainly feature within the GT4 category with just one driver presently competing within the AMR Vantage GT3 for one of AMR’s many Customer and Partner teams.
As reported previously, the 2022 season is by far the busiest season yet with the 2019 AMR Vantage GT4 platform within the global racing scene despite GT3 take up has unfortunately been at the opposing end of the scale.
2022 ASTON MARTIN RACING DRIVER ACADEMY CANDIDATES
Driver | Team | Series | Car |
Josh Miller (GBR) | R-Racing | British GT | GT4 |
Nick Hancke (DEU) | Speed Monkeys | DTM Trophy | GT4 |
Jacob Riegel (DEU) | Speed Monkeys | DTM Trophy | GT4 |
Konstantin Lachenauer (CHE) | Racing Spirit of Leman | GT4 European Series | GT4 |
Gus Bowers (GBR) | Racing Spirit of Leman | GT4 European Series | GT4 |
Thijmen Nabuurs (NED) | Racing One | GT4 European Series | GT4 |
Theo Nouet (FRA) | Beechdean AMR | GTWC Endurance Cup | GT3 |
Tom Wood (GBR) | Racing One | ADAC GT4 | GT4 |
Ben Dorr (DEU) | Doer | ADAC GT4 | GT4 |
Romain Leroux (FRA) | Doer | ADAC GT4 | GT4 |
Emil Heyerdahl (NOR) | Prosport | NLS | GT4 |
Loris Cabirou (FRA) | AGS Events | FFSA GT4 | GT4 |
Ewen Hachez (GBR) | AGS | FFSA GT4 | GT4 |
Hugo Bac (FRA) | AGS | FFSA GT4 | GT4 |
Andy Noah (FRA) | AGS | GT4 European Series | GT4 |
Hugo Conde (FRA) | AGS | GT4 European Series | GT4 |
Julien Darras (FRA) | Street Art | GT Open GT4 | GT4 |
Clemence Rouceau (FRA) | Street Art | GT Open GT4 | GT4 |
Akhil Rabindra (IND) | Racing Spirt of Lèman | GT4 European Series | GT4 |
Jamie Day (GBR) | R-Racing | British GT | GT4 |
Kenton Koch (USA) | Racing One | GT4 European Series | GT4 |
Phil Dorr (DEU) | Doer | ADAC GT4 | GT4 |
Most of these above drivers will require no further introduction from us as all the series/championships listed have already started their 2022 season, with great success to for many. The only name that is new to us is that of Clemence Rouceau – stated as competing with the Street Art Racing team in the GT Open Cup series but was not present at the opening round of the season at Paul Ricard last weekend.
Again, not necessarily dependent upon race results, the AMR Drivers Academy process will again have a judging panel comprising of drivers Darren Turner and Hasse-Clot, AMR Managing Director John Gaw, Head of Customer Racing Hugh Tusker and Head of Performance Engineer Gus Beteli to ‘interrogate’ the seventeen- to twenty-six-year-olds for the lucrative prize of funding towards their 2023 programme as well as the technical and developmental improvements a direct connection with the AMR factory will provide.
“The Aston Martin Racing Driver Academy is an excellent tool for assessing the level of talent within our partner ranks and is the ideal way for the brand to give back to the sport in a constructive and meaningful way. As our former winners have proven, and I’m sure Roman will too, this initiative holds enormous value to us, to the drivers who participate and the wider sport in general. We hope to continue this tradition as we look to support our partners across the GT racing around the world” said Tusker with today’s announcement.
Photo credits - AMR
Street Art Racing fly the AMR flag in GT Open and GT Open Cup at Paul Ricard
Having already competed at Estoril in Portugal at the beginning of May, twenty other GT3 crews are again listed upon this weekend’s entry list, this time including the #007 Street Art Racing AMR Vantage of Pascal Bachmann who will race solo for this event and possibly the remainder of the season.
Having missed the opening round due to business commitments, the former GT4 European Series Am Class Champion has tested their former Optimum Motorsport AMR at various circuits around Europe in preparation for his GT3 race debut at Le Castellet but his quest for a suitably funded co-driver has so far gone unfulfilled.
Now confirmed as competing within the Series Am class, the #007 shares a solo driver status with that of the #8 Lamborghini car within a class of eight other entries.
As usual, the GT Open Series will feature two races over the weekend with a seventy-minute race on Saturday followed by a reverse driver (where applicable) sixty-minute race on Sunday.
The GT Cup shares the weekend with the opening round of the smaller GT Open Cup Series where it is expected that Street Art Racing are again the sole AMR entry for their drivers Julian Darras and Jahid Fazal-Karim. They will also compete with a two fifty-five-minute race programme over the weekend.
That entry list has yet to be confirmed by the series
Photo credits - SAR
Street Art Racings Aston Martins due to run at next round of GT Open at Paul Ricard next month
Looking at yesterday’s reveal of the entry list ahead of the opening round of the GT Open Series from Estoril this weekend, highlighted for us a clear and obvious absentee from the list of nineteen GT3 entries.
Having expected to see a listing for the Street Art Racing Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 of Pascal Bachmann, its omission did worry us for a time before the gentleman driver later confirmed the situation with us today.
It appears that the good old fashioned ‘day job’ has again gotten in the way of the ‘fun job’ with unavoidable business commitments now keeping the Swiss driver and his Belgium team away from the Portuguese racetrack for this opening round of the season.
He did however assure us that they will be at the next round of the season that takes place at the Circuit Paul Ricard in the south of France in little under three week’s time when his co-driver (if any) will also be finally revealed!
That event will also see the team’s AMR Vantage GT4 entry of Julien Darras and Jahid Fazal-Karim take to the track within the GT Open Cup Series as their season opener in France.
Photo credit – Street Art Racing
