Vantage GTE bows out with a double podium in Bahrain
In a race free of Safety Car periods, pure performance mattered more in Bahrain than at any other race in the 2023 WEC, and this enabled Aston Martin Racing partner teams D’station Racing, Heart of Racing and ORT by TF to show the true endurance pace of the Vantage GTE and score a milestone 75th LMGTE Am podium in the category’s final race.
Japanese entrant D’station Racing, with a Vantage GTE operated by 2022 World Champions TF Sport, scored its best ever result in the WEC as series debutant Liam Talbot (AUS) qualified second in GTE Am and set a strong pace; the intensity of which was matched by team-mates Casper Stevenson (GBR) and Tomonobu Fujii (JPN) as the trio finished second, just five seconds from victory after eight hours of hard racing.
The Heart of Racing team made it a double-podium finish. Its trio of drivers, led by Team Principal Ian James (GBR), Daniel Mancinelli (ITA) and Alex Riberas (ESP) took third, with the team in contention for victory until contact delayed the #98 car with two hours to go.
Heart of Racing’s result is the latest in a long line of achievements for the team with Vantage in the past 13 months. The US-based operation won the 2022 GTD division in the North American IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship and was the first GT car home in this year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona – a first for Aston Martin.
The race result means that the Vantage GTE, the prototype version of the British-built race car derived from Aston Martin’s critically-acclaimed ultra-luxury sportscar, which shares the same aluminium body-frame and a specially-tuned version of the four-litre V8 turbo-charged production engine, completes the GTE Am era as its most successful car with a record 33 wins and a total of 75 podiums.
In what was the best event of the year for Vantage, ORT by TF ran strongly inside the top four after a quick and consistent performance by Omani driver Ahmad Al Harthy, Michael Dinan (USA) and Aston Martin works racer Charlie Eastwood (IRL) but retired with 20 minutes to go.
Combining both the GTE Am and GTE Pro classes – the latter of which was discontinued after 2022 – Vantage has amassed 52 victories in the WEC’s 85 races and has finished on the podium 119 times, at least one of which came in every single season since the FIA revived the World Championship in 2012.
Eleven world titles have been achieved in that time as well as five victories in the world’s biggest motor race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, including a GTE Pro and Am double in 2020.
“The Aston Martin Vantage GTE has completed every single one of its objectives and covered itself in glory in the process,” said Aston Martin’s Head of Endurance Racing Adam Carter. “A multiple championship-winning race car, Vantage won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in both classes and was a force throughout its six-year run in the world championship. It will be rightly remembered as one of the great sportscars in the modern era of the sport. We’re incredibly excited about what’s coming next for Aston Martin in world endurance racing, but we must also be proud of what has been achieved with Vantage GTE.”
Source material - AMR
Photo credits - Andrew Lofthouse / Drew Gibson
Sunday, November 05, 2023 |
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The crown may have been lost already but there's still a WEC race to be won in Japan
The last round of the WEC at Monza in early July of course saw the #33 Corvette Racing team secure the final ever GTE Am Class crown with still two races to go as the ever-dominant Ben Keating retained his 2022 crown won with TF Sport and his then Aston Martin Racing powered crew.
Whilst the top slot has already been determined, there remains the principal of pride for the remaining full season entries over the final two rounds at both Fuji and in Bahrain as well as putting themselves into a position where they could be considered as part of each selected OEM’s two GT3 powered entry into next season’s full season WEC entry!
That means that three into two simply cannot go moving forward as the #25 ORT with TF Sport team contest for that accolade alongside that of the #98 Northwest AMR (Heart of Racing) crew and the #777 D’Station Racing team (amongst possibly other contenders) for that honour and that’s even IF Aston Martin Racing is given two of just twelve GT3 class entries next season.
Going into what is in effect D’Station Racing’s home event (being based just outside the circuit), the runners up position within the twelve strong GTE Am Class entry is wide open as just sixteen points cover the next five crews including that of the #25 ORT car of Ahmad Al Harthy, Michael Dinan and Charlie Eastwood.
Fortunate to have scored valuable championship points within each round so far, that achievement stands clear to the fortunes of the #777 D’Station Racing crew of Satoshi Hoshino, Tomonobu Fujii and Casper Stevenson who retain just three points going into this round having blanked upon three occasions - mainly because of misfortunate and from being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The #98 crew of Ian James, Alex Riberas and Daniel Mancinelli stand above #777 crew on twenty points from their two starts so far this season having taken over from Paul Dalla Lana just ahead of the Spa round in late April.
The #98 crew are also due to participate this time around having elected to skip the last round at Monza in favour of their IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship commitments when only Riberas was double booked as driving. Only time will tell if that becomes a costly decision for them.
As usual going into a WEC round at Fuji, two parameters come immediately into play – those being Balance of Performance and the weather. Whilst the latest BoP requirements in class published by the WEC only last week show no planned adaptation to any control mechanisms within any OEM platform, success ballast still applies with the #25 car still running with an additional 15kg after their P3 podium at Spa whilst the #33 Corvette will only run with plus 30kg despite enjoying more podium success.
As for the weather – that will have a mind of its own as it usually does!!
The earlier published provisional entry list shows no changes to the three Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTE line ups with the class ramping back up to thirteen cars with the return of the #98 car to the paddock.
Track action begins on Friday with the first two Free Practice sessions before the third on Saturday morning ahead of Qualifying in the afternoon. The race will be waved off on Sunday.
Photo credits – Teams / WEC / A Lofthouse
Sunday, September 03, 2023 |
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A great day for the Aston Martin Racing crews in WEC
This result marked an incredible 10th successive year in which Vantage has finished on the LM GTE Am podium in the WEC at Spa, and it was also a sixth rostrum appearance in as many world championship starts at the Belgian circuit for Aston Martin Racing partner team TF Sport – the reigning class champion team.
Ahmad Al Harthy became the first Omani driver to take pole position in the WEC with a stunning effort in Friday’s LM GTE Am qualifying session. Al Harthy, along with American co-driver Michael Dinan, and Aston Martin works driver Charlie Eastwood (IRL), then put on an impressive performance in a race that started in ultra-tricky weather conditions, to finish third – just 0.2 seconds from the runner-up spot.
Rainfall minutes before the cars pulled away from the grid prompted many drivers to select wet-weather tyres for the start, but Dinan – who was chosen to begin the race –
opted for slicks in the hope that the track would soon dry out. With grip almost non-existent in the early stages, he dropped to eighth place, but quickly gained ground and was back among the leaders within 45 minutes.
The ORT by TF Vantage remained in the lead pack for the rest of the race; third place coming its way after an intense wheel-to-wheel fight for second spot during the final 10 minutes between Eastwood and the Corvette.
North American Aston Martin partner team Heart of Racing made its WEC debut at Spa, having taken over NorthWest AMR’s entry – and its #98 plate – in the wake of the retirement earlier this week of 2017 GTE Am World Champion Paul Dalla Lana. Anglo-American driver and Team Principal Ian James qualified a strong sixth on his Vantage GTE debut and dealt with the early conditions superbly before handing driving duties onto co-drivers Daniel Mancinelli (ITA) and IMSA GTD Pro class race-winner Alex Riberas (ESP). Despite it being the team’s first time racing the Vantage GTE, its trio remained in the top-six hunt throughout, eventually finishing seventh.
Japanese team D’station Racing played a starring role during the early stages of the race. Tomonobu Fujii (JPN) mastered the damp, but drying, conditions on slick tyres to climb from eighth on the grid to lead within the first 25 minutes and pull five seconds clear at the head of the field. With multiple safety-car periods bunching the field and Satoshi Hoshino (JPN) later being forced into a gravel trap by another car, the duo and British rookie Casper Stevenson finished ninth.
Huw Tasker, AMR Head of Partner Racing, said: “It’s great to see TF Sport get a reward for the effort so far this year, and to see Vantage back on the podium in the third round of the WEC season is very welcome. I’m particularly happy for Ahmad, who became the first Omani to record a podium and take a pole position in WEC. For Heart of Racing, it was a strong debut and great preparation for Le Mans. It was a tough ask for the drivers to come in cold and perform at such a high level against world class competition, so their performance was very impressive and shows great promise. D'station Racing also showed very well and it was unfortunate that the team was unable to capitalise on its strong start.”
The FIA WEC continues with not only its showpiece event, but the biggest sportscar race in the world - the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which celebrates its centenary this year – on June 10-11.Vantage was a winner in GTE Am last year as TF Sport’s Marco Sørensen (DEN), Ben Keating (USA) and Henrique Chaves (POR) celebrated a famous victory.
Source material - AMR
Sunday, April 30, 2023 |
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Al Harthy strikes pole for ORT with TF Sport in thrilling Spa WEC Qualifier
Waking up to the predicted wet track conditions around the circuit, the productivity to be achieved by the ORT with TF Sport, D’Station Racing and Heart of Racing teams was debatable, but seat time remained precious as each crew were still running at least one driver new to the Championship this season.
The #777 D’Station Racing MAR Vantage GTE of Satoshi Hoshino, Tomonobu Fujii and (in this session especially) the young Casper Stevenson elevated car up to P2 in class by the end of that final hour of practice earlier today but whilst the #25 ORT AMR of Ahmad Al Harthy, Michael Dinan and Charlie Eastwood finished out mid table with the #98 Northwest Heart of Racing crew of Ian James, Alex Riberas and Daniel Mancinelli still finding their feet in tenth out of the thirteen runners.
Today’s pit walk was absolutely packed with crowds three, four, five deep outside the garages, jockeying for any vantage point for a photograph and signed hero card from their preferred team.
The day was rounded off with the Qualifying session for each of the three classes starting again with the GTE Am class with still only thirteen of the listed fourteen cars running thanks to the earlier incident involving the two Ferrari’s taking out the #21 AF Corse until tomorrow when a new chassis can be built up for them.
Now under clearing skies and warming sunshine, all the cars were again driven by their designated bronze driver meaning that Hoshino, Al Harthy and James completing the honours again.
A stunningly quick opening lap for Al Harthy placed him at the head of the timing board just as the #56 Project 1 Porsche hit the tyre wall at the top of Raidillon, bringing out an immediate red flag. Thankfully otherwise uninjured, the session soon got back under way leaving time for only two more flying laps.
Both times the Omani improved providing the purists with a trio of lap times all capable to taking the pole position, which he did to great applause with the team garage as the first Omani driver to do so within the WEC. The next battle would be for who would be starting tomorrow alongside and that eventually went to the #85 Iron Dames Porsche, making for an interesting opening lap tomorrow.
A great performance was also posted by James in his first WEC Qualifier since that phone call beckoning them to join the Championship just a week ago. He finished in sixth whilst Hoshino also improved upon recent performances to start from P10. Like always, Free Practice and Qualifying is one thing – a six-hour race something completely different.
Good luck to them all.
Friday, April 28, 2023 |
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Five Aston Martin GTEs confirmed for Le Mans with still two in reserve (UPDATED)
Three Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTE powered teams were already taken as a given considering their full season entry within season 11 of the World Endurance Championship with the fourth automatic entry coming from the Danish GMB Motorsport team for their class win last year within the Le Mans Cup Series.
Defending WEC GTE Am Class winner TF Sport get another automatic entry which has gone to their all French European Le Mans AMR Vantage GTE entry of Valentin Hasse-Clot and brothers Arnold and Maxime Robin for the fifth confirmed entry.
That has meant that TF Sport’s gentleman driver John Hartshorne has again missed out despite his continued participation within both the Asian Le Mans Series and European Le Mans Series, but they do claim a place within the ten strong, multi-class reserve list in eight, two places above another speculative entry request from the American Heart of Racing team in tenth.
Just a couple of queries arising from today’s announcement in that the #25 ORT by TF Sport has just Ahmad Al Harthy listed aboard that car when their WEC entry line up has already been announced with Charlie Eastwood and Michael Dinan as well as the #777 D’Station Racing car lists Charlie Fagg with both Satoshi Hoshino and Tomonobu Fujii instead of the WEC third driver of Casper Stevenson. All other driver line ups (as far as we know) remain constant across both the WEC and LM24 entries.
UPDATE
TF Sport have since confirmed an error on the part of the ACO at yesterdays issuing of their 2023 LM24 entry list that contained the name of Charlie Fagg alongside the #777 D'Station Racing AMR entry.
Fagg has recently been reclassified as being a Gold ranked driver making him so cannot race for the team this year anyway and that Casper Stevenson will indeed be racing with the team/crew in both the WEC and LM24 as previously confirmed.
Photo credits – Teams
Photo credits – Teams
Monday, February 27, 2023 |
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D'Station Racing confirm their return to by the WEC and TF Sport ahead of Season 11
2022 saw the Japanese entrant finish in the top-10 in the GTE AM class, where their season highlight was claiming a home race podium at the 6 Hours of Fuji.
D’station Racing and TF Sport will kick off their 2023 campaigns in the Asian Le Mans Series next month, where Hoshino and Fujii will be reunited with their 2022 WEC teammate Charlie Fagg.
The first round of the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship will take place at Sebring International Speedway, USA, on March 18.
Tom Ferrier, TF Sport Director - “It was superb to see D’station Racing on the podium at their home race last season and I’m glad we are continuing the partnership with them in the WEC. I have no doubt that it will be another fruitful year for them and this time we will be aiming for a strong finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and an even stronger championship result!”
Tomonobu Fujii, Managing Director of D'station Racing - “I am very excited to announce our entry to the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship. We are honoured to be a part of this series and the 100th anniversary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. With the trusted support of TF Sport, D’station Racing will compete for even better results in its third season. I want to thank everyone for their continued support and look forward to an excellent year.”
Source material - TF Sport
Wednesday, January 11, 2023 |
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TF Sport claim WEC GTE Am Championship with Aston Martin Racing
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Ben Keating (USA) and Marco Sørensen (DEN) were crowned Drivers’ champions with Aston Martin Racing Partner Team TF Sport the Teams’ title winner, having finished fourth in a tense finale. After a season-long rivalry with fellow Partner Team NorthWest AMR, Keating and Sørensen, who were partnered by Henrique Chaves (POR) in Bahrain, eventually triumphed by 23 points.
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This latest brace of world titles caps a spectacular year for the British ultra-luxury brand in sportscar racing as Vantage, powered by a race-developed version of the four-litre, twin turbo-charged V8 engine found in the road car from which it is derived, also clinched its first overall IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in North America.
The Heart of Racing won the GTD class of the premium US endurance series last month, with Roman De Angelis in the Vantage GT3 – which also starred at the Nürburgring 24 Hours – while the Vantage GT4 won multiple titles around Europe and the USA.
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Keating and Aston Martin works driver Sørensen began the 8 Hours of Bahrain with a 20-point advantage over NorthWest AMR and its #98 trio of Paul Dalla Lana (CDN), two-time WEC champion Nicki Thiim (DEN) and David Pittard (GBR), with 39 points available.
Keating qualified second in class and ran a punishing triple-stint at the start of the race, meaning he achieved his minimum drive time at the earliest opportunity and provided the team with the most flexible strategy for the remainder of the race, which finished in darkness.
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This proved the correct decision as the #33 trio – who lost ground thanks to a pair of unfortunately-timed Full-Course Yellow periods immediately after their first two green-flag pitstops – bounced back to finish fourth; enough to clinch the title by 23 points over the NorthWest AMR crew, who came home fifth.
It is a first FIA world title for Keating and a third for Sørensen, who has claimed all his WEC crowns with Vantage. Chaves finished third in the points - behind the #98 crew of Dalla Lana, Pittard and Thiim – as he was not part of the TF line-up at the Sebring season-opener.
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After a gruelling and hard-fought season, Vantage has been the class of the field in GTE Am with three victories and eight podiums in the six rounds contested, including the Sebring 1000 miles, 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 6 Hours of Fuji.
It is the second time that Vantage crews have finished first and second in the GTE Am Drivers’ and Teams’ points and rewards TF Sport’s long pursuit of the title; the British team having finished second overall in GTE Am in each of the previous two seasons.
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The result concludes a season of domination by the Vantage GTE, which is based on the four-litre, twin-turbo, front-engined road vehicle, produced at Gaydon, UK.
Fellow Aston Martin’s Partner Team, D’station Racing, finished 10th in Bahrain thanks to a consistent performance by Japanese drivers Satoshi Hoshino and Tomonobu Fujii, and British WEC rookie Charlie Fagg. The trio, who were another crew to be badly affected by the timing of the first two Full-Course Yellows, gave D’station 10th place in the end-of-season Teams’ standings.
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Marco Sørensen said: “This is a fantastic achievement for all of us. There have been a lot of crucial moments across the year; Le Mans – which I’d never won before – being the biggest; one that’s very special to be able to put on your CV. When it comes to winning a world championship, you must have a group of drivers who can show pace over a whole season and a car that can help them deliver it. We’ve been consistent at most of the races and not made any bad mistakes. That’s how you win in the WEC and we’ve had an outstanding team performance all year to achieve this.”
Huw Tasker, Head of AMR Partner Racing, said: “Today is an incredible day for Aston Martin and Vantage that wraps up an extraordinary season on the racetrack. Huge congratulations to TF Sport, to Ben Keating and to Marco Sørensen on their World Endurance Championship titles and to NorthWest AMR for their success in the magnificent one-two finish in the GTE Am standings.
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These latest successes – which take the Vantage GTE to 11 FIA World Endurance titles since the formation of the championship in 2012 – are a testament to not only the production model from which it is derived, but also to the hard work and dedication of our Partner Teams that have worked so hard to achieve the greatest prize in endurance racing. In a year in which the Vantage GT3 has clinched the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the Vantage GT4 has recorded multiple titles around the world, success in WEC GTE Am is the crowning glory and a worthy testament to the performance and durability of a truly great endurance racing car.”
Source material - AMR
Saturday, November 12, 2022 |
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Six drivers join both TF Sport and Northwest AMR for the WEC Rookie Test
Another interesting selection of candidates from both teams with TF Sport running their #33 AMR Vantage GTE for Asian Le Mans Series and European Le Mans teenage racer Finn Gehrsitz sharing the Four Horseman’s sponsored car with IMSA GTD racer Ryan Hardwick.
The #98 Northwest AMR car meanwhile will be split between four drivers with former FIA F3 racer and last time Aston Martin Autosport Driver of the Year winner Jonathon Hoggard sharing track time along side ADAC GT4 Germany racer Indy Dontjie and former GT4 America/Michelin Pilot Challenge AMR racer Patrick Gallagher as well as Porsche Supercup and Carrera Cup racer Lorcan Hanafin joining the fray.
Photo credits – A Lofthouse / D Gibson / N Dungan
Saturday, November 12, 2022 |
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TF Sport take a front row start ahead of WEC decider in the desert of Bahrain
Having started the proceedings yesterday in the two earlier Free Practice sessions in the familiar methodical way that has become synonymous with the teams involved, today saw the GTE Am Class Championship leading #33 TF Sport Vantage GTE of Ben Keating, Marco Sorenson and Henrique Chaves finally get to stretch their legs around the dusty Bahraini circuit after the somewhat restricted running of yesterday.
Despite their increased success ballast increase plus Balance of Performance adjustment, the #33 car elevated itself from its 2:02:934 lap time of FP1 (slowest in class on the day) through to 2:00:577 by the end of FP3 to end that part of the event fifth fastest but just 0.5 of a second off the lead pace.
The #33 car’s only title contenders from the #98 Northwest AMR team saw their drivers Paul Dalla Lana, David Pittard and Nicki Thiim strangely go in the reverse direction in terms of lap time across the Free Practice sessions starting with a best lap time of 2:01:906 but to end this morning with a bets time of 2:02:386.
The #777 D’Station Racing crew of Satoshi Hoshino, Tomonobu Fujii and Charlie Fagg had the most constant build up process running with very closely matched times during FP2 and FP3 but better than their FP1 to end with a best time of 2:01:535.
That all took us into this evening’s ten-minute Qualifying session for each of the Bronze ranked drivers of Keating, Dalla Lana and Hoshino.
That all took us into this evening’s ten-minute Qualifying session for each of the Bronze ranked drivers of Keating, Dalla Lana and Hoshino.
Like most of the season so far, American gentleman racer Keating was the fastest of the three Aston’s but again had to settle for second best after the #85 Iron Dames Ferrari of Sarah Bovey secured the final class pole position with a time half a second better than that of the #33 car. The #98 car of Dalla Lana finished just under two seconds back from the #85 car in nineth with the #777 car having to settle for P13 a further half second back.
Obviously, all of this will count for virtually nothing with an eight-hour race still in store which will take the competitors from the heat of the day through to the cool (er) of the night under the floodlit circuit with the #98 crew still needing to beat the #33 crew by more than twenty points for the Canadian businessman and his crew to snatch the GTE Am title from that of Keating and TF Sport.
The race starts at 11:00Am GMT
Photo credits – A Lofthouse / D Gibson / N Dungan / Teams
Friday, November 11, 2022 |
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AMR WEC title chargers take to the track for the first time in Bahrain GTE Am title decider
Ten years in the making sees Aston Martin Racing and two of its Partner Teams again in Championship contention this weekend as both TF Sport and Northwest AMR Vantage GTE crews battle it out between themselves to claim the ultimate top step of the GTE Am class.
Five events and fifty hours of track racing later sees the #33 TF Sport prepared AMR Vantage of Ben Keating, Marco Sorenson and Henrique Chaves lead the GTE Am Class by just twenty points from their #98 Northwest AMR stablemates of Paul Dalla Lana, Nicki Thiim and David Pittard going into this final eight-hour event with nobody else in close having a competitive chance at the overall crown.
With a disappointing finish for the #98 crew at the round at Monza together with of course the #33 car’s spectacular but very frightening race exit at the same event has blotted an otherwise impressive copybook throughout the season for both to have gapped their nearest competitor by at least twenty-six points to the car in third to create this AMR winner takes all scenario in the desert.
Going into today’s opening Free Practice session, the Vantage GTE has had another Balance of Performance adjustment made to it with a two litre loss in fuel capacity as well as a reduction in turbo boost pressure across the engine rev range – all on top of further success ballast after a double podium for TF Sport at the last round in Fuji with the #33 car winning and the #777 D’Station Racing AMR of Satoshi Hoshino, Tomonobu Fujii and Charlie Fagg coming home a magnificent third in class for the first time this season.
Those results see’s the #33 car run at its heaviest this weekend at 1275kg, an additional 30kg above its declared base weight, the #98 at 1255kg and the #777 at 1250kg.
Free Practice 1 this morning saw none of the Aston’s run above halfway up in their class as undoubtedly general ‘housekeeping’ routines were conducted by the crews in advance of Saturday’s marathon eight-hour race, some 2.3 seconds off the pace to the class leading Porsche. The days later Free Practice 2 session saw much of the same although the #33 did again only run a small number of laps compared to all within their class but then at just 1/1000th of a second behind the #98 car that ran 24 laps.
Tomorrow morning sees the third and final Free Practice session ahead of the afternoon’s Qualifying session.
What we do need to remember is that, whilst these Free Practice lap times appear off the pace, the #33 car does not need to win to be crowned Champions, but the #98 car does need to beat the #22 by at least 20 points and with the extended point format for the longer race – the variables are too extensive to list!
Good luck to everyone
Photo credit – A Lofthouse / D Gibson / N Dungan / Teams
Thursday, November 10, 2022 |
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The next line of AMR powered WEC Champions to be crowned in Bahrain
After a grueling and hard-fought GTE Am season, Vantage has been the class of the field, recording three victories in the five rounds contested, including the Sebring 1000 miles, 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 6 Hours of Fuji. Only two teams – TF Sport and NorthWest AMR – can now contend for the FIA Endurance Trophy for GTE Am Drivers and Teams.
Championship leader and 24 Hours of Le Mans winner TF Sport tops the Drivers’ and Teams’ standings with Ben Keating (USA) and double GT world champion Marco Sørensen (DEN) on 123 points. The three-time class pole-sitting #33 Vantage GTE goes into the finale having won twice and been on the podium everywhere except Monza (ITA), where it did not finish, as Keating seeks his first world title.
Twenty points behind Keating and Sørensen in the standings is NorthWest AMR, owned by 2017 GTE Am world champion Paul Dalla Lana (CDN), who is partnered in the #98 by double world champion Nicki Thiim (DEN) and David Pittard (GBR). The trio won the first round at Sebring (USA) and followed that up with podium appearances at Spa (BEL) and Le Mans (FRA). The team has finished in the points at every race this season.
Because the 3.363-mile circuit – the only Middle Eastern round on the calendar – hosts an eight-hour race, the result awards 1.5-times the points of a regular six-hour round. Thus, there are a total of 39 points up for grabs and all to play for. In order to beat TF Sport, the NorthWest #98 Vantage GTE must finish third or higher with their rivals not scoring, or win from pole position with the #33 placing fourth or lower. Adding to the tension, Thiim and Sørensen will go head-to-head for the first time in their illustrious careers. The pair took the famous #95 ‘Dane Train’ to the GTE Pro world titles in 2016 and again with the current Vantage in the 2019-’20 season (when Aston Martin Racing dominated GTE Pro, clinching the Drivers’, Teams’ and Manufacturers’ titles).
Aston Martin’s other partner team, D’station Racing, which along with Japanese drivers Satoshi Hoshino and Tomonobu Fujii, and British WEC rookie Charlie Fagg, recorded its first class podium of the season last time out in the 6 Hours of Fuji. The team, which is also contesting the Asian GT World Challenge series with its Vantage GT3, is looking to conclude the WEC phase of its season on a high note with another strong result in the desert.
Aston Martin’s other partner team, D’station Racing, which along with Japanese drivers Satoshi Hoshino and Tomonobu Fujii, and British WEC rookie Charlie Fagg, recorded its first class podium of the season last time out in the 6 Hours of Fuji. The team, which is also contesting the Asian GT World Challenge series with its Vantage GT3, is looking to conclude the WEC phase of its season on a high note with another strong result in the desert.
Whoever wins, both cars are expected to be in action the following day for the traditional ‘Rookie Test’ when Aston Martin’s first Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award winner, Johnathan Hoggard (GBR) returns to the brand for a run in the NorthWest AMR Vantage GTE. The 2019 AMABA winner will be joined by Vantage GT4 veterans Patrick Gallagher (USA) and Indy Dontje (NED), as well as Lorcan Hanafin (GBR). TF Sport will run 2022 Rolex 24 at Daytona GTD Class winner Ryan Hardwick (USA).
Concluding its fourth world championship campaign, Vantage remains as formidable a GT contender as ever, winning races and championships in all variants from GTE through GT3 and GT4. Powered by a race-developed version of the four-litre, twin turbo-charged V8 engine found in the road car from which it derives, the prototype GTE version was all-conquering in the WEC GTE Pro category during the 2019/2020 season. Vantage recorded five wins from eight races, including both Pro and Am classes at the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans. The car also took Aston Martin to the FIA GT Manufacturers’ World Championship title and carried Thiim and Sørensen to the drivers’ crown. In total it has claimed 14 class victories so far in WEC, over four seasons.
Official practice for the Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain begins on Thursday, 10th November 1215 (GMT +3 Hours) local time, with the race beginning at 1400 on Saturday. Follow details of the race via the WEC website.
Photo credits - D Gibson / A Lofthouse
Tuesday, November 08, 2022 |
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TF Sport scores dominant victory in Japan with hard fought podium for D'Station Racing
A lights-to-flag victory for the #33 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage GTE crew of Ben Keating, Henrique Chaves and Marco Sørensen was the perfect comeback from the heartbreak of Monza and has extended their championship lead to 20 points in the clear. The #777 D’station Racing trio of Satoshi Hoshino, Charlie Fagg and Tomonobu Fujii shone through, going from last on the grid, to stepping onto the GTE podium at their home race.
It was a perfect start to the weekend for TF Sport, as #33’s Bronze driver Ben Keating, notched up the team’s third pole position of the season. Satoshi Hoshino also proved his pace in qualifying, by initially placing P4, however a post-session penalty put the #777 Vantage to the back of the grid and left the crew with a challenge ahead.
A classic start by Keating saw the Texan stick to the sharp end of the order throughout his double-stint, this included a great move down the inside of championship rival, Paul Dalla Lana, in the #98 NorthWest AMR entry to regain P2.
Fujii-san of D’station Racing stormed from the last place of the WEC grid, to the lead of GTE Am in his opening stint and the TF Sport-run Vantage duo headed into the second hour of the race, as 1-2 in class.
Hoshino-san drove an incredibly impressive stint and the local Bronze driver really held his own around his Pro-graded competitors.
Thanks to a slick stop from the TF Sport crew, Chaves took the reins of the #33 Vantage and rejoined the track as the class leader. From here, the Portuguese driver got his head down and pulled an impressive 33-second lead from the rest of the pack.
It was Aston versus Ferrari from P1 to P4 in the closing stages, and whilst Marco Sørensen held a comfortable lead, it was Charlie Fagg who drove a tough, long stint to keep the #54 AF Corse Ferrari at bay and succeeded in bringing the #777 GTE across the line to score his first WEC podium result.
#33’s second victory of the season, marked the 33rd win for Aston Martin in the World Endurance Championship.
It was a tough challenge for young Charlie, but he did fantastically and I’m really happy for D’station Racing on their home turf. Ben was awesome, as always, and all three drivers raced cleanly, with no penalties. Once they got the lead back, they did what they needed to maintain it and extend our Championship lead!” said team boss Tom Ferrier.
The 2022 WEC season finale, the 8 Hours of Bahrain, takes place at Bahrain International Circuit on November 12, where TF Sport’s only goal will be to wrap up the Championship title and D’station Racing will be looking to step onto the podium once again.
The 2022 WEC season finale, the 8 Hours of Bahrain, takes place at Bahrain International Circuit on November 12, where TF Sport’s only goal will be to wrap up the Championship title and D’station Racing will be looking to step onto the podium once again.
Source material - TF Sport
Photo credit - Andrew Lofthouse
Wednesday, September 14, 2022 |
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