New Aston Martin Racing powered faces appear in WRLs visit to Sebring
With Friday testing already underway and our eyes and ears of CSJ Motorsport still pounding the beat within the paddock, we see that we have four Aston Martin Racing powered teams due to compete within the GTO class – three we already know but one is racing their AMR for the very first time.
David Tuaty’s TLM Racing team is back with two of their customer driven Aston Martins as Jim Hamman, JP Southern and Tom Herb power the red #172 car whilst Pippa Mann, Zang O’Shaunessy and Troy Ermish driver the newly sponsored #888 together for the first time.
Whilst we believe the older, normally aspirated #909 Automatic Racing AMR Vantage GT4 is there with presumably familiar Stoner Car Care driven faces, the main attention does swing over to the #89 entry from the Team 89X Motorsport team who have taken delivery of two familiar cars.
Whilst one is the familiar AMR yellow and the other plain black, we understand that both have been purchased from New Zealand where both were driven within the New Zealand GT Series up until the end of last season with the yellow one being the Vantage GT8R car of Stephen Harrison. The other is a Vantage GT4 variant that is believed to be that of Shane Helms where both drivers drove with the RaceLab team within the NZ GT Series back in 2022/23 seasons.
We don’t presently know of all their names – other than Mike Fitzpatrick runs alongside both Sebastian and Jeff within whichever one they elect to run.
As usual for the WRL Series, it’s a long a hard eight-hour race on Saturday before they do it all again on Sunday before shipping out to the Circuit of the Americas for the final round of the season in early December.
Photo credits - Tom Beers Photo / CSJ / Racelab
Friday, November 10, 2023 |
Read more...
Success for some whilst championship dreams evaporate in New Zealand
In Europe, we had three AMR Vantage crews set out on the third round of the Nurburgring Langstrecken Serie whilst down in New Zealand, we had another chasing championship ambition within their domestic GT New Zealand Series.
Closer to home, the locally based Prosport Racing team fielded two crews, one within the SP9 Pro-Am Class with drivers Christoph Breuer, Maxime Dumarey and Mike David-Ortmann and the being their #175 SP10 entry for Guido Dumarey and Hugo Sasse. The third was the #150 Doer Motorsport SP8T entry with a revised driver line up of Ben Dorr, Stefan Kenntemich and Rudi Adams.
At the end of another gruelling four-hour race, the #17 came home second in class out of an entry of five cars, the #175 finishing eighth in class one lap down alongside others in their eleven strong class and a successful solo SP8T run for the #150 car.
Whilst these were three good results for three crews preparing for the twenty-four-hour race later this year, the same could not be said for the #78 RaceLab AMR Vantage GT8R entry of Stephen Harrison competing in the final round of the GT New Zealand Series.
Positioned third in class going into this final triple header this weekend, Harrison needed a faultless display and rely upon misfortune for his two Championship rivals ahead of him if he were to stand any chance by the end of Sundays final race.
Unfortunately for him, a DNF in race 1 for himself and another race win for the championship leader finally removed any chance of him being in further contention.
Photo credits – Teams / GT NZ
Saturday, April 15, 2023 |
Read more...
Harrison retains outside chance in his Vantage GT8R as GT New Zealand concludes at Manfeild
With the Aston Martin Racing contingent fluctuating between the sole full season AMR Vantage GT8R car of Stephen Harrison and what has been until now, a one -off entry in a similar chassis for Joel Giddy, it is the #78 RaceLab prepared car of Harrison who remains the outside contender within the GT4 class going into this final round.
Having scored only a P2 finish during race 2 at Hampton Downs before a class win in race 1 at Taupo, Harrison finds himself 101 points off the leading car of #22 Jono McFarland and just 51 points behind last season’s class winner #24 Nigel Cromie.
Statistically, Harrison can still win but he will need good consistent results from himself whilst also hoping for track misfortune with his closest rivals as seventeen GT4 entries are expect for this event.
Photo credits – GT New Zealand.
Wednesday, April 12, 2023 |
Read more...
Improvements earn a class podium for one of the two Aston Martin GT8R's in the GT New Zealand Series
With accomplished dirt track racer Joel Giddy racing what would be his first GT4 based race programme this weekend having only tested his former Shane Helms machine at the turn of the year, it was the veteran ex. pat racer Stephen Harrison who showed the early pace in Qualifying to come home on class pole ahead of Saturday’s opening thirty-minute race.
However, a breach of safety apparel protocol saw the #78 driver loose that top slot after his qualifying time was disqualified and he found himself starting from the rear of the grid. In an unprecedented audition, Giddy would come home fourth in class and just three seconds off the podium whilst Harrison would charge through the class to finish in seventh from his fourteenth (in class) starting position.
Better news would eventually come Harrison’s way as during the Sunday morning hour long feature race, he and his Race Lab team would earn themselves a P2 finish in class having pushed eventual class winner Jason Leifting all the way with just a 2.7 second gap between them. Giddy would finish ninth in class.
Sundays curtain calling climax to this second round out of four from the GT New Zealand Series saw the series race by race balance of performance take effect upon the #78 car where another mid class finishes were the best from the two Aston Martin runners to finish the day in P6 and P6 as the series now gets a six week break before their penultimate round of the season from Taupo in mid-March.
Photo credits – Teams / Series
Sunday, February 05, 2023 |
Read more...
No repeat of last seasons early success for Harrison and his GT8R at New Zealand GT opener
Thanks to an increased grid of over twenty Cup and GT4 cars, last year’s GT4 runner up was left smarting from avoidable contact during the weekend’ opening one long hour race after rear quarter contact from the #22 Mercedes AMG GT4 left the Race Lab prepared Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT8R with a popped drive shaft joint which cost him time in pit lane for repairs to eventually finish P17 overall.
The first thirty-minute sprint race could have been the same as a spinning Ferrari Cup car narrowly avoided the rear of the yellow #78 car as the race would enter a lengthy Safety Car period for its recovery. Running P14 ahead of the stop, Harrisons shorter BoP mandated minimum pit stop time did allow him to make up for lost ground to come out as high as seventh overall to eventually finish eighth overall (P4 in class at the end).
Sundays final thirty-minute race was again effectively shortened in race distance with an immediate Safety Car after two Porsche’s contacted, shooting one into a nearby gravel trap at a vast rate of knots. Again, early places taken after the restart allowed Harrison to move up to eighth from his P13 starting position to come out of the pit window in fifth with little over ten minutes remaining.
Sadly for the Englishman abroad, the gap back to the charging Porsche Cup cars wasn’t enough to avoid them swallowing him up in the closing laps for him to round off the opening weekend in eight overall.
The next round of the four round championship will see them run at Hampton Downs at the start of February.
Photo credits – GT NZ
Monday, January 16, 2023 |
Read more...
GT New Zealand opens their 2023 account this weekend at Highlands Park
The opening round of the GT New Zealand Series from Highlands Park opens their 2023 season account this weekend with three races featuring last season’s runner up, Stephen Harrison and his Race Lab prepared Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT8R.
Another healthy inter class grid helps to kick off the four round domestic series with Harrison’s car amongst the fifteen GT4 and eight Open class cars that will make up this weekend’s grid.
Like last season, the race format will be two thirty-minute sprint races followed by one hour long, pit stop punctuated race to end with a ready reckoner balance of performance process being in place per race with their minimum pit stop time during race three being dependent upon how well they have done so far.
Last season, Harrison narrowly missed out on the GT4 title to Nigel Cromie and his McLaren 570s after a post-race time penalty eventually dropped him behind the McLaren driver at the end.
This year maybe different!
Photo credits – Team / Series
Thursday, January 12, 2023 |
Read more...
Time penalty denies Harrison of an overall GT4 Class win at Super GT NZ finale (UPDATED)
*****UPDATE
Two days later and an unfortunate update to an earlier post of ours relating to the final round of the Super GT New Zealand from the Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park at the weekend.
Having posted on Sunday that Stephen Harrison had secured the GT4 Class title win aboard his Race Lab prepared Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT8R by virtue of finishing two places ahead of title contender Nigel Cromie and taking a GT4 class win in the final race, a five second post-race time penalty for the #78 driver effectively reversed those finishing positions making the McLaren 570s GT4 driver Cromie the declared GT4 Champion instead.
With the result on Sunday always being provisional and something of a surprise for Harrison when interviewed on the podium, the Series do not however clarify as to the reasons why this post race time penalty was served. Harrison now finishes second in the overall GT4 table as a result.
*****ORIGINAL POST
Going into the final round just twelve points behind the class leader, Stephen Harrison and his Race Lab prepared Aston Martin Vantage GT8R was the one most likely to challenge Nigel Cromie and his McLaren 570s although teammate although Shane Helms also has a slight chance with his Vantage GT8R.
A class win for Cromie in the weekends opening sprint race on Saturday was then countered by Harrison with a class win of his own in Sunday’s second sprint race leaving a ‘winner takes all’ prospect for Sunday’s one hour endurance race with now just eight points separating the drivers.
“Game on – there was a fair bit of pressure out there, looks like with the points it’s back to where we started at the start of the weekend, so it’s all on for the final race,” said Harrison.
After another thrilling multi-class race, it came to Harrison needing the racing assistance of his Race Lab teammate Allan Sergeant aboard his Ginetta to finish in between himself and Cromie for the #78 AMR driver to take P2 in class in the final race and take the GT4 Class Championship win by the slightest of margins (still yet to be confirmed by the Series).
If this Championship win is ratified by the Super GT NZ Series, it will be the second for Harrison aboard his bright yellow AMR Vantage GT8R after his class win in the New Zealand South Island Endurance Series last year.
Congratulations
Photo credits – Super GT NZ
Sunday, March 27, 2022 |
Read more...
Even the wind and rain of Hampton Downs fall to stop the success of RaceLabs AMR Vantage GT8R's
Points already gained at both Highlands Park and Mike Pero Motorsport Park had the RaceLab prepared GT8R of Stephen Harrison hold a slim lead of the GT4 Class going into this round and that was soon to be added to after Saturday’s first half hour race where the yellow #78 AMR took a P4 overall finish and importantly, a class win to add to his haul.
Then for Sunday - the weather changed.
Increasingly long bouts of torrential rain and a stiffening wind made for the grid to take to the track for their formation lap had all on slicks only for the Hampton Downs racetrack to become almost flooded within minutes meaning for a late call from Race Control to allow all to pit for wets.
Unfortunately for Harrison, a reoccurring brake issue with his car forced him to retire into the pit lane without crossing the line to take the start of Sundays second half hour race. For Shaun Helms and his #77 Aston Martin, that delayed start allowed him to reach pit lane in time for the restart having been delayed on the public roads into the circuit due to the weather closing a nearby bridge.
That piece of luck was later transformed into a P3 overall finish – P2 in GT4 after being passed for position just meters ahead of the chequered flag by the #24 McLaren.
That left Sundays afternoon’s closing one hour race to see things out at the North Island racetrack as Harrison had qualified sixth overall with Helms down in twelfth. Fortunately, the rains had passed and the track had almost dried although the wind remained extremely strong.
An early and unfortunate contact with his RaceLab team Ginetta entry had Helms on the back foot as the grid cycled through the laps and into the pitstop window. With the GT3 cars electing to pit early for longer had the GT4 cars rise to the top of the timing screen again as the race approached half distance.
The previous races double race winning Porsche came to an untimely halt on track but that allowed for the pack to rebunch for a five-minute dash to the flag allowing for a charging Harrison to scythe past four cars to have a four-car battle for position going into the final lap.
Eventually finishing eighth overall and fourth in class, the nature of the entries allowed Harrison to claim another podium finish to that of Saturday with a P2 finish in class in Race 3.
The Series now has a two week break before its final round at Taupo at the end of February.
Photo credits – Teams / Series.
Sunday, February 13, 2022 |
Read more...
New Zealands new Super GT Series kicks off this weekend with two Vantage GT8R's aboard
Twenty-seven cars have been finally confirmed for the opening round of New Zealand’s new for 2022, the Rodin Cars Super GT Series that kicks off at Highlands Park this weekend.
Created in addition to the GT series that already compete individually on both their North and South Island, the Super GT Series has been designed not to interfere with either of the more established race programmes as like the Asian Le Mans Series, it will conclude at its fourth and final round at the end of February.
Featuring amongst the declared Porsche Cup Class and GT4 cars only grid will be two Aston Martin GT8R cars ran by the Race Lab team for drivers Shane Helms in his gold and black liveried #77 car and Steve Harrison in his familiar bright yellow #78 car each photographed an an early GT race this month.
Without further confirmation, these rounds are proposed to run two half hour races over the weekend plus one one-hour race later on the Sunday.
With the Dubai 24hr now not running a Vantage GT8R class at their event this weekend, New Zealand remains the only place where you can watch these enhanced GT4 race cars actively compete.
Photo credits - SGTNZ
Wednesday, January 12, 2022 |
Read more...
Heart of Racing claim North Island Endurance Series win at a rain soaked Pokekohe
Arriving at Pukekohe Park for the weekend’s final three-hour race, Alex Riberas and Darren Kelly were in points arrears to the #22 Audi R8 of Neil Foster and Jonny Reid but with the #22 car not competing at the final round, a race win was still essential for the team on count back if they didn’t!
Throughout a rain sodden race meeting, it was only fitting that former National Drift Champion Kelly secured his first pole position in the GT3 in such trying conditions having come so close last time out.
What followed next was almost a ‘demonstration run’ of prowess as the #52 car posted purple sector after sector as the laps passed by yet the rain continued to fall.
For the #111 GT-B class AMR Vantage GT8R of Steve Harrison and Shane Merlin however, their race would end before the end of the first hour as a long brake pedal forced them into the garage for lengthy repairs. They did finally make it back out on track towards the end but that was by then just a formality.
With their own points situation, that should have been enough for them to claim the GT-B Class title after three previous podiums (but that's yet TBC).
As the rain appeared to lessen, the #52 car eventually took the chequered flag with a three lap margin to secure not just another rave win in the Series but also to claim the overall and GT-A class wins as well. That goes nicely with their South Island Endurance Series win of 2020 – something that the team will be defending as that series kicks off in September.
As the rain appeared to lessen, the #52 car eventually took the chequered flag with a three lap margin to secure not just another rave win in the Series but also to claim the overall and GT-A class wins as well. That goes nicely with their South Island Endurance Series win of 2020 – something that the team will be defending as that series kicks off in September.
Great job guys!
Photo credits – HoRT / NIES
Tuesday, June 29, 2021 |
Read more...
Two AMR's looking to claim their prizes at North Island Endurance Series finale
An ‘all or nothing’ final round of the North Island Endurance Series faces the #52 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Racing crew of Darren Kelly and Alex Riberas next weekend if they are to lift the overall or Class crown in 2021.
Having missed out on that last year in the NIES at their first time of asking, the #52 have been determined not to let that happen again this year with a race win in round one at Pukekohe back in May, a P2 next out at Hampton Downs at the end of May before a further P2 position lats time out at the Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park in Taupo just over a week ago.
Despite those three podiums out of three for the AMR crew, they are now just being pipped by the Championship leading #22 Audi R8 of Neil Foster and Jonny Reid who have scored just that little bit better with two wins and a second to lead the #52 by just 5 points going into the final round.
With the Series also running a points system where you drop your lowest score (both cars having dropped 90 points each so far), the 2021 winner will obviously be determined by the results of next weekend and looking back to last time, the HoRT won with the #22 crew in second place. A similar result would tie them again at the top of both the Championship and GT-A Classes.
Also looking to confirm their 2021 Championship status will be the #111 AMR Australasia Vantage GT8R car of Steve Harrison and Shane Merlin who lead their GT-B class by fourteen points after a second and two class wins over the three rounds so far. They, however, have had to drop 90 points whereas the second placed car is just 14pts behind having only dropped 20pts with a DNF amongst their results!!
Despite being raced on the other side of the world, this year’s Championship has been streamed live via the Motorsport TV webpage.
Now there’s just three more hours of racing to decide who comes out on top.
Photo credits – HoRT / NIES
Tuesday, June 22, 2021 |
Read more...
Misfortune of others cost Heart of Racing a win in North Island Endurance Series
After having to settle for second place behind the #22 Audi last time out at Hampton Downs, hopes were again high for today’s race as the #52 car claimed pole position, five places ahead of the #22 car going into today’s three-hour race with both cars tied for the Championship lead on 185 points each.
Also in the race again was the AMR Australasia Vantage GT8R of Steve Harrison and Shane Murland after their unopposed class B win at Hampton Downs two weeks ago.
Despite this event being Kelly’s and Riberas’ first competitive visit to the circuit, Riberas was soon off into the sunset as others held themselves up around a twisty, tyre punishing circuit but soon throttled back to conserve those tyres for the full expected hour duration of his stint. In the meantime, the Reid/Foster Audi R8 had moved up from P5 to P3.
Pitting from the lead at the seventy-minute mark, Riberas handed over to Kelly for what would be his only stint of the race again, but the #22 Audi stayed out in an attempt to gain track position.
Just before the halfway mark, a sickening looking accident for a young driver within a brand-new McLaren 570s GT4 with apparent brake issues brought out an immediate Safety Car. Losing the best part of an hour whilst the safety barrier and debris was repaired, another two-car spin on the green lap race left a two-horse race to the flag for the #52 and #22 cars but with each owing a final stop.
With forty-two minutes remaining the #22 assumed the race lead whilst the #111 car continued at the head of the non GT3 classes and would go on to take another class win.
For the #52 crew and Riberas short on minimum drive time by just one minute, their final stop came with less than three minutes remaining but unfortunately the damage had already been done with the #22 Audi having looked after its tyres more than the Aston to create a big enough gap to retain the lead and ultimately, the race win.
This result has Reid and Foster take the overall lead outright with just one round remaining!
Photo credits – HoRT / NIES
Saturday, June 12, 2021 |
Read more...
All to race for still at Rd 3 of North Island Endurance Championship
Next weekend sees the third round of four North Island Endurance Championship for the Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park in Taupo.
Back to the tradition of never seemingly able to track down an accurate entry list from the race organisers, we would believe that the #52 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage of Darren Kelly and Alex Riberas will of course be there but we are not so sure about the AMR Australasia Vantage GT8R of Steve Harrison and Shane Murland.
Both cars being podium winners after another eventful race last time out at Hampton Park, where the GT3 crew had to settle for a P2 slot and the GT8R crew took an unopposed class win again to lead their GT-B class.
Kelly and Riberas meanwhile are tied for the GT-A and overall Championship lead with the Audi crew of Neil Foster and Jonny Reid who beat them to the top step two weeks ago.
Photo credits – NIEC / HoRT / AMR Aus
Sunday, June 06, 2021 |
Read more...
Double podium for AMR runners at Rd 2 North Island Endurance Series
A highly entertaining second round of New Zealand’s North Island Endurance Series left the #52 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Racing team having to be satisfied with a second-place finish at the end of today’s three hour race from the Hampton Downs circuit.
Having qualified second behind the #1 McLaren 650S and with light rain beginning to fall as the cars assembled on the grid, it didn’t take Darren Kelly more than the length of the pit straight before taking the lead before gapping the chasing pack by some considerable margin and lapping the #111 AMR Australasia Vantage GT8R car by as early as the tenth minute.
Running as deep as the seventy eighth minute, Kelly pitted to swap over to Alex Ribera before a Safety Car period for a stranded car all but destroyed their race lead soon after their first stop. The restart lap then allowed the new generation #33 Audi R8 to come through into P2 to begin what would become a challenging time for Riberas with just an hour remaining.
Pass and counter passes were made between the #52 and #22 cars as each battled for the lead before ultimately the #22 car broke the tow and made it’s get-away and through their final stop of the race to claim the race win over the #52 car.
Without any real class competition, the #111 Vantage GT8R of Steve Harrison and Shane Murland finished the race P6 overall as fastest finisher behind the other GT3 class cars – so it wasn’t all bad!!
Both Aston’s now lead their respective classes at the halfway stage of the season.
Photo credits – NIES / Team
Saturday, May 29, 2021 |
Read more...
