This time qualifying in P8 within a total entry list of just nine cars saw the #2 car make up early ground as the race got underway amid a rain shower leaving the grid split over tyre selection. Electing to start on wets, Bell quickly moved up to third in the opening laps but was penalised for having crew members working upon the car whilst on the grid for which they received a drive through penalty.

Initially returning to the track in sixth, the now drying track lead to the cars who started on slicks to finally come through leading to another disappointing P8 finish. For race two on Sunday, the #2 car failed to take the start for (as yet) unknown reasons.

Then, within the longer GT World Challenge America Series, the #24 Heart of Racing AMR Vantage GT3 of Gray Newell continued his GT3 development under the watchful eye of AMR factory driver Darren Turner who was racing at the circuit for the first time.

A change in strategy within the #24 car saw Newell ran longer in his opening stint in race one for the car to eventually return home fourth in class after Turner lost out to contact from another car whilst challenging for a podium position.

Their chances in race two a thwarted at an early stage on Sunday after the car found itself being boxed in during the opening corners where Turner lost momentum to then become baulked by slow cars on track up until the pit stop window. Again pitting differently to the pack, it was hoped that Newell could achieve the undercut but eventually lost out after himself being punted off track before returning for a lowly P7 finish.

The season will now conclude at Indianapolis for their eight-hour finale next month.

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Much like last time out at Road America three weeks ago, there will be one Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 apiece in each of the GT World Challenge America and GT America Series racers as the #24 Heart of Racing AMR of Gray Newell and Darren Turner look to duplicate their P3 class winning podium winning efforts at Road America whilst the #2 Racers Edge AMR Vantage GT3 of Jason Bell just looks to get in some quality racing laps after another miserable venture out last time again.

Whilst the #24 HoRT AMR will again compete against fourteen other Pro, Pro-Am and Am class rivels, the entry list for the GT America races has thankfully increased to (albeit just) nine GT3 only based entries. For both crews, championship winning aspirations are not upon the radar this time around.

Finally, there will be the three, one-hour long races of the GT4 America Series as its scheduled twenty-three strong entry list- again featuring Aston Martin Racing powered entries across its silver and Am classes.

Road America started well in Qualifying for the JMF Motorsport and Van Der Steur AMR Vantage GT4 crews of Braydon Arthur and Mike David Ortmann secured pole position in their #4 car ahead of their #3 sister car of Jesse Webb and Jonathon Neudorf in second and the #39 Van Der Steur AMR of Max Hewitt and Luca Mars in third but for the rain storm that descended upon the circuit immediately prior to the start of that opening race. For that reason, race one from Road America has been rescheduled to run within this race weekend on top of its usually rostered two races.

For race 2 which did run on Sunday from Road America saw the #4 JMF crew take an overall solo race win for Ortmann after Arthur proved to be unwell on the day with the Am classed Skip Barber Racing AMR of Michael and Alex Garcia who claimed a second in their class whilst the #26 Heart of Racing Vantage Gt4 of Hannah Grisham and Hannah Greenemeir finished just off the podium this time around, P4 in silver.

Championship wise – the #4 JMF crew of Arthur and Ortmann do still retain something of a mathematical possibility of lifting the silver class drivers crown at Indy, but they would need to certainly finish upon the podium for the remaining five races whilst hoping that the falter along the way themselves.

In Am, the Garcia brothers have a slightly easier points deficit to climb being just forty-two points the current leaders in fourth with these five races to go.

The revised race programme for the GT4 America Series will see the Road America make-up race being ran after Free Practice 2 on Friday before reverting back to its more usual race programme format over both Saturday and Sunday.

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“But the team did an incredible job, they dug in and pulled an all-nighter on Friday, and I simply can’t thank them enough. They really had to make parts and repair the unrepairable to get us back out there, but they did, and we ended up with a fast race car as well!”

The crew rebuilt the Vantage enough for both drivers to cautiously complete a single lap in their respective qualifying sessions to register for the races, Newell in ninth and Turner seventh.

The first race proved to be a washout as an electrical storm and then torrential rain brought an early halt to proceedings. Newell worked his way up to sixth in the 15 laps that did take place, many of which were behind the Safety Car to clean up another crash at Turn 11. Turner didn’t even get to drive the car.

It meant that Darren’s first competitive laps of the breathtaking, undulating and superfast 4.05-mile Road America since 2006, were completed at the start of the second race; this time held in blazing sunshine. And he had the bit between his teeth. Moving up a position on each of the first three laps, Turner was up to sixth in the Pro-Am class and 11th overall before the race had even settled into its stride.

“The car was really fast,” said Turner. “I had some great battles. But then I caught one of the Pro class BMWs and we got stuck behind them until they pitted. I then had another four laps before my stop, and I used those to get my head down and really press on.”

Use them he did, and by the time Turner pitted he was fourth in class, as well as overall. Once the dust had settled and the field had completed its driver changes, Newell found himself running third and sixth overall… thanks in no small part to slick work by the pit crew.

“Gray did a superb job and was really strong,” said Turner. “He was closing in on the BMW in second place and if the race had gone on for three or four more laps under green flag conditions, he would have had a real chance of attacking for the class's runner-up spot.”

Newell’s pursuit of second place was cut short by a late full course caution, which ultimately released the field into a chaotic one-lap sprint at the race’s end, but Gray stayed calm and out of trouble to deliver the podium. If you discount the race Turner didn’t drive in on Saturday, it marked the fourth time in succession that Turner had stepped onto the podium, having recorded a second and a third in the previous GT World Challenge America meeting at Virginia International Raceway in July. He then followed that up with third place in the Aston Martin LM4 at Silverstone, immediately prior to the Road America weekend.

In the end though, this weekend was all about THOR and the team’s remarkable engineers and mechanics.

“The pace on Friday looked good. We should have been starting further up the grid and who knows what we could have achieved if we hadn’t been put on the backfoot by the incident,” said Turner. “There is a feeling of frustration because my mistake probably didn’t give us the best opportunity, but that’s racing, and these things do happen. But it’s how you bounce back that counts, and the team achieved a deserved podium. I’m just massively grateful to them all for their efforts and for getting us back on track on Saturday. Everyone just went above and beyond, and I’m super happy that we were able to reward everyone.”

Turner’s next outing in the GT World Challenge America is at Barber Motorsport Park, on 5-7 September.

Source material – Darren Turner

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Whilst the preliminary sessions had been undertaken within dry conditions, a P5 starting position ahead of Saturdays forty-minute opener was looking promising – at least until the torrential rain arrived ahead of their assembly upon the grid.

Starting from behind the Safety Car, visibility was atrocious even at those low speeds as the race clock had already begun for at least the first couple of laps before going green but even before the grid got that far, Bell would be seen spinning off into the grass outfield to nudge the tyre wall. Getting going again and catching the rear of the pack before the end of the next lap, there didn’t appear to be too much damage done to the car.

With just twenty-eight minutes remaining, the race finally went to green further but more substantial rear end contact with the circuit barriers saw the #2 car stranded across the track with significant damage before that first racing lap was complete.

Later reported as being otherwise OK for that impact, Bell and his car were also done from Sundays second race due to the extent and nature of the damage that could not be repaired in time at the circuit to end yet another miserable race weekend for them all.

Next stop for the series will be from Barber Motorsport Park in early September.

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Last time out at VIR little under a month ago saw the Heart of Racing take monumental steps forward within their SRO3 class after positive Balance of Performance changes to their car saw the Pro-Am pairing secure a double class podium finish with a P2 in race one and a P3 at the end of the second ninety-minute race.

Those results lifted the #24 crew up to fifth within the Pro-Am Drivers Championship with a pair of races left at both Road America and Barber Motorsport Park before the final race of the season at the joint GT World Challenge America / Intercontinental GT Challenge round from Indianapolis in mid-October.

Within the GT America Series however, we will witness one of their smallest grid entries for some time as just seven GT3 based (SRO3) classed cars will compete within their two forty-minute rounds of the weekend.

Jason Bell, like at VIR last time out, has again elected to race solo under the tutelage of Michael Cooper and the Racers Edge Motorsport team as he continues in his development within his #2 AMR Vantage GT3 Evo.

Despite qualifying third in class last time out at VIR, an off for him at the old Oak Tree Bend saw his car nosedive into the tyre wall and have his internal fire extinguisher go off for his first DNF of the weekend before having to pit early during race two with similar internal car issues. Hopefully, those issues have now been long since sorted with the more open layout of the Road America circuit hopefully playing into the hands of a more powerful Aston Martin.

Having seen a variety of GT4 teams and drivers compete within the series over the previous five rounds and with two 89X Motorsport AMR Vantage GT4 cars running at VIR last time out, none have returned for this fifth round of the season and that must be worrying for the series officials.

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The first of the two ninety-minute races of the weekend started under hot and humid conditions after the earlier rain with the threat of more storms never that far away as Newell prepared to start the race from his P9 overall/P5 in class qualifying position.

A bullish but otherwise clean opening lap saw the #24 car drop one place before eventually settling into something of a rhythm where that place was soon recovered. Just before the end of the first half hour of racing, the first reports of rain first began to circulate as teams prepared wet tyres ahead of their scheduled pit stops and driver changes still nearly fifteen minutes away.

That worry soon went away but everything was thrown up into the air as one car left the track, struck and landed upon the outside tyre wall to bring out the Full Course Yellow for the first time. Still too early to pit for service straight away, many teams were mulling the thought of taking a very slow pit stop to see out both the tyres, refuelling and driver change but also to see out any possibility of exceeding maximum drive time for the second driver.

The HoRT Aston Martin took that gamble, and whilst the two cars ahead of them existing pit lane had not quite beaten the maximum 50 minutes’ drive time issue, Turner was OK and had moved up to P3 overall/P2 in class. Eventually getting back to green with just 45 minutes remaining, these were Turners first racing laps at Virginia International Raceway.

Unfortunately unable to resist the pressure of the Porsche behind, Turner was forced to let that car by as they weren’t within the same class as a possible class win still looked possible with the leading Corvette bound for the pit lane at some point but on the penultimate lap, the #29 BMW took then P2 away from them in class. As expected, however, the race leading Pro-Am classed Corvette did pit on the last lap and that allowed the #24 up another place to finally claim their best race result of the season so far – P4 overall and P2 in class.

Race two nearly ended very quickly for Turner and his P10 overall/P7 in class starting position as too much kerb on the opening lap saw the rear end of his car step out – narrowly having it chopped off by one of the many chasing pack. Survived, however, he did as he (and others) got onto terms with another green track after further rain in an earlier session.

Another FCY for another car in the tyre wall saw many racing minutes lost to that recovery again, but Turner was to go long into that pit window eventually pitting and handing over to Newell with just over forty minutes remaining whilst P8 overall/P5 in class.

This time Newell was pushing the Chouest Povoledo Corvette hard for position and an (unseen) start of an incident on track between the two cars saw Newell come off the better after apparent side to side contact between the two cars to climb up to P4 in class.

With just minutes of the race to go, the live stream going offline again blanked out the viewpoint of Newell claiming another last-minute pass for position as he and Turner finished race two of the weekend P7 overall/P3 in class.

Next stop of the championship will be from Road America in just over three weeks time.

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Unfortunately for the series, the three Aston Martins helped bolster a meagre eight strong GT3, GT2 and GT4 grid for these two races as Bell struggled for pace within his #2 AMR Vantage GT3 (despite the earlier Balance of Performance gains allowed by the SRO earlier in the weekend) whilst the two Vantage GT4 crews obviously did what they could against the faster cars in the pack.

Trouble soon struck two of those three cars as first Dean entered pit lane reporting both tyre and overheating issues that would quickly negate his GT4 debut with both the car and series whilst Bell suffered from both an off and having his in-car fire extinguisher go off after that understeering issue at the Old Oak tree that resulted in the dark livered car nestled within the tyre wall.

Whilst both of those cars would be out of the race, Fitzpatrick did what he needed to do to end his opening race with an effective lights to flag class win for his efforts.

Race two on Sunday would follow a similar route as Dean would quickly sacrifice his racing efforts in that event to save the car for the following GT4 America race whilst Bell would also have his fire extinguisher go off again that resulted in him quickly coming into pit lane, with the door wide open to again jump quickly out slightly worse for wear (again) for that experience.

Although Dean had been leading the two GT4’s at the point of his retirement, that obviously allowed team boss Fitzpatrick to secure the double at the end of that forty-minute race.

Depending upon just who we get (if any) within the Aston Martin Racing powered contingent to enter the next round of the series, that will be from Road America in mid-August.

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At the top of the list, the headlining GT World Challenge America Series this week sees just one AMR Vantage GT3 take part within the expected sixteen strong entry for these two races as the #2 Racers Edge Motorsport AMR makes alternative arrangements for its bronze rated driver Jason Bell within just the GT America Series.

That leaves the #24 Heart of Racing AMR of Gray Newell and Darren Turner to try what they might after their pair of P7 finishes within Pro-Am last time out.

Within that GT America Series, the Vantage GT3 of Bell will not be the sole Aston Martin either as Michael Fitzpatrick and his 89X Motorsport team come back for some more, hoping that consistency can be more the key after he secured a P2 class finish over the bumps of Sebring in race one but failed to finish race two.

They and just seven other cars will compete within their two forty-minute, non-pit stop punctuated races over the weekend.

That leaves the ultra-competitive GT4 America Series and their expected twenty-nine car entry, within which will feature five AMR Vantage GT4 crews. That’s unfortunately a two car drop from Sebring but will again feature two cars from the JMF Motorsport team and a car apiece from each of the Skip Barber Racing, Heart of Racing and Van Ders Steur AMR teams as well.

Sebring saw the #39 car of Max Hewitt step up from the GT America Series to compete within the busier GT4 America Series for the first time alongside accomplished side-kick Luca Mars within the silver class and from where the dup secured two class pole positions, a P2 class finish (P3 overall) in race one and an P5 class finish in race two to round off a successful weekend in Florida.

Obviously, they were will trying to show that that was no fluke around VIR but the two JMF crews suffered lots of mistakes and misfortune at Sebring that effectively saw them take themselves out of race contention both times whilst the #26 HoRT AMR of Hannah Grisham/Hannah Greenemeir and the #07 Skip Barber Racing entry of brothers Alex and Michael Garcia each had to make do with a pair of P7 and P4 finishes within their respective silver and Am classes.

For each series, official track action begins on Friday with Free Practice before rolling into Saturday with Qualifying and the first race of the weekend before rounding off their respective weekends with race two on Sunday.

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Within the GT World Challenge America Series, it was just the #2 Racers Edge Motorsport and #24 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 Evo’s of Jason Bell/ Micheal Cooper and Gray Newell/ Darren Turner respectively competing within a now changed grid of just fifteen cars this time around.

Racing their usual two ninety minutes races over the course of the weekend, both AMR crews had hoped that earlier inroads into their Pro-Am class at CoTA would see one or both the crews move up the timing screens of Sebring come the races. Unfortunately, that was not the case for either car as the #24 car again pushed its stablemate to finish P7 in class after race one (as opposed to the #2 car finishing a lap down to the rest) whilst the Racers Edge crew got them back by finishing just ahead of them in Race 2 for a P6 in class finish.

These results still see these recent GT3 convertees struggling for consistency in performance at the tail end of the Pro-Am, in and amongst their peers who followed the same pathway as them from GT4 based racing a year or so ago.

There were, however, happier overtones at the end of the GT4 America Series programme as one team and crew in particular hit most of the series headlines for all the right reasons.

Stepping up from the solo driven GT America Series to the GT4 America Series for the first time saw the #39 Van Der Steur Racing AMR Vantage GT4 of Max Hewitt join forces with the talented Luca Mars to produce something of a ‘dynamite’ crew that secure the silver class pole position (P2 in the race) ahead of the start of race as well as overall pole position ahead of race two.

Jumping with both feet into the already steaming cauldron that is GT4 America, it wouldn’t have been critical if the crew had later faltered during the race but the #39 crew held their nerve to secure a P3 overall/ P2 in class result at the end of race one. They nearly did the double in race two but had to settle for an overall P7/P5 in class for their efforts.

Despite there being six other AMR Vantage GT4 crews within the grid of thirty cars, the #39 car was the only one to secure a podium finish at the end although the #07 Skip Barber Racing AMR of brothers Michael and Alex Garcia came home a consistent P4 within their Am class whilst the JMF Motorsport’s two crews endured something of a challenging weekend as one car or the other failed to finish one or other of the races this time around.

Despite this, the #4 JMF crew of Braydon Arthur and Mike David Ortmann still secure a P2 slot within the silver drivers championship table (albeit a distant one to the early leaders) with the Garcia brothers fourth in Am and likewise with Adrian Comstock and Thomas Merrill within Pro-Am.

These series now move onto their next rounds of the season from Virginia International Raceway in mid-July.

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It’s been something of a busy few weeks for the AMR factory driver as Turner went from the previous round of this season from the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas to help out the team within their IMSA and FIA WEC diary clashes to race last weekend at the latest round of the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship from Laguna Seca in California to fly back across the country again for this weekend’s business in Florida.

Last time out at CoTA, race one proved itself to be the best one so far for both crews as the #24 crew got the edge with a P4 in class finish with the #2 car just behind before dropping back to P7 and P9 finishes in class respectively to round off that meeting.

With three cars fewer than last time out, there should at least be more real estate available to the runners around the circuit, and we are sure that both crews will be looking for at least one visit to the podium between them this weekend.

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Trailing the pathways already set by the GT4 based series running within Germany earlier in the days saw three crews return class podium finishes at the end of their one three-hour round on Saturday. The new to AMR JMF Motorsport team continued their fine start to the relationship (as initiated at the opening round from Sonoma earlier in the month) with a P2 finish for the #4 car of Mike David Ortmann and Braydon Arthur.

Their silver class finish was closely followed by the #26 Heart of Racing AMR of Hannah Grisham and Hannah Greenemeir who secured their first silverware of the new year as did the #15 Archangel pairing of Adrian Comstock and Thomas Merrill who converted a lowly P25 qualifying position into a P3 overall / P2 in Pro-Am finish for their efforts.

Those performances were mirrored within the GT America Series as the sole AMR running #39 Van Der Steur car of Max Hewitt continued from where he left off at Sonoma with a pair of visits to the podium for his P2 finish in race 1 and up one step to claim a class win by the end of the second forty-minute race of the weekend.

Finishing off with the Heart of Racing and Racers Edge AMR Vantage GT3’s competing within the GT World Challenge America Series saw distinct progress made from the two crews since their opening round in California. 

Inter team honours again went to the #24 HoRT entry of Gray Newell and Darren Turner over the #2 Racers Edge entry of Jason Bell and Michael Cooper (only just each time though) as Saturdays opener saw the pair move up the ladder to achieve P4 and P5 finishes in class respectively before ending the weekend with a P7 and P9 finish in class on Sunday.

All three series will be out again over the bumps of Sebring in little under three weeks’ time.

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