The return of Beechdean AMR with some very familiar names again in this seasons British GT Championship
Also confirming their return to the championship’s Pro-Am category after both Howard and Tom Wood secured the Silver-Am Championship win last season, sees this familiar duo reunite for the first time in several years since their last full season effort together (although both did race together at last year’s Spa 24hr) as well as their more familiar blue and white Beechdean livery.
Since winning the British GT Championship GT4 Championship back in 2015 with Jamie Chadwick, Gunn has of course grown in status from his humble silver grade GT beginnings to now claim a platinum grade seat within one of the Heart of Racing’s Aston Martin Valkyrie cars competing in both the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship at the 24Hours of Le Mans to very much earn his AMR factory driver status.
“I’m so excited to be back in the British GT Championship for 2026 and to have the opportunity, as part of the Aston Martin Racing family, to race again with Beechdean AMR and with Andrew,” said Gunn. “From watching my dad race Beechdean Minis when I was little, to the support Andrew’s given me through my career, there’s always been a strong link between myself and the team and it’s brilliant to be back.
“Andrew’s coming into the season as the reigning Silver-Am champion and finished 2025 on such strong form, so my target is to pick up where we left off and be fighting to finish at the sharp end.”
“Having Ross back is brilliant. He’s been a regular in the garage since he was a child, and it’s been awesome to watch his career go from strength to strength since he first raced with Beechdean AMR in 2015. I’m looking forward to the coming season more than I have done for a long time” added Howard.
This news is now the fifth Aston Martin Racing powered team to commit to the new British GT Championship season after both GBR Stratton Motorsport and Full Send Racing each confirmed a dual AMR Vantage GT4 car entry for the new season.
Official track action will begin for all entries at the Media Day test at Silverstone at the end of March before revisiting the Northamptonshire circuit for the first round of the new season and its Silverstone 500 blue ribband event just a month later.
2026 is looking rather healthy already!
Photo credits - Team / Social media / Jacob Ebrey
Wednesday, January 14, 2026 |
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Bitter-sweat results for the two full season AMR crews after the British GT #DoningtonDecider
Going into another classic #DoningtonDecider seasonal finale, the #7 Blackthorn AMR crew of Giacomo Petrobelli and Jonny Adam had most to do but the points available by the end of Sunday’s two hour race still gave them both a mathematical chance of lifting the overall and Pro-Am class drivers titles whilst the #97 Beechdean AMR crew of Andrew Howard and Tom Wood only needed to finish and be classified within the results to do the same within their Silver-Am class.
An approaching Storm Amy (something that would keep ourselves away from the event) would go into to add further dynamite into an already expected explosive seasonal end as changeable weather conditions throughout Sunday would impact heavily into the end results.
Two further AMR entries from both the Blackthorn team for Darren Leung and Nick Yellowly aboard their #22 Vantage GT3 with championship debuting drivers Michael Orant and Owen Hizzey aboard the MKH Racing Vantage GT4 would add to the spectacle but both would be classified as guesting entries.
Regrettably only catching upon race highlights, that end task proved itself to be too big a mountain to climb for the #7 crew after they became embroiled into early contact and a spin with one of the other title competitors to eventually finish a disappointing (for them) tenth in class at the end.
For the #97 crew, however, they continued to do what they had done for most of the season against their only class competitors within the #86 Bridger Motorsport Honda NSX to take a flag to lights win to finally secure their Silver-Am Class Championship.
The two guesting crews would also have a good day at the office despite some spins and contact during the race for the #22 Blackthorn crew to finish top of the AMR pile at the chequered flag – P5 overall and just ahead of the #97 Beechdean crew who finished an impressive P6 overall as well. The MKH Racing crew would end their ‘toe into the water’ British GT experience third overall in GT4.
Congratulations to them all – whilst we don’t expect to see many of these crews until next season at the earliest (if at all), Petrobelli and Adam will be in action over the winter months as they and the team take on the Asian Le Mans Series again.
Photo credits – Jacob Ebrey / Teams
Monday, October 06, 2025 |
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Two AMR crews aiming for British GT class honours at this years #DoningtonDecider
Starting with the additional entries, we welcome back the #31 MKH Racing AMR Vantage GT4 that Peter Montague and Stuart Hall used for most of their GT4 Endurance Cup rounds this season. For this season finale however, the black and purple liveried car will be driven by their two Ginetta and GT Cup Championship graduates Michael Orant and Owen Hizzy.
We also welcome back a second Blackthorn AMR Vantage GT3 crew (like they did for the Silverstone 500 with team boss Claude Bovet and Charles Bateman) but this time around we welcome a new face in Darren Leung pairing up with Nick Yellowly within the team’s #6 car.
Only a few weeks ago did we see social media shots of the BMW racer Leung taking a team Vantage GT3 out for a spin under the watchful eye of David Pittard.
But back to the present and its game on for both the #7 Blackthorn AMR crew of Giacomo Petrobelli and Jonny Adam as well as the #97 Beechdean AMR crew of Andrew Howard and Tom Wood as both crews chase down that still illusive Overall and Silver-Am drivers championships respectively by the end of Sunday’s race.
The #7 crew presently sit in second place within the overall GT3 Drivers Championship, twenty-eight and a half points behind the leading 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes AMG GT3 crew of Charles Dawson and Kiern Jewiss but with thirty-seven and a half points still up for grabs for Sunday’s race winner – anything can (and usually does) happen over the course of the weekend. It is a very similar story between these two crews within the GT3 Pro-Am Drivers Championship too.
Then in the Silver-Am class – the #97 Beechdean crew presently lead the way from the Bridger Motorsport Honda NSX racer of Jonny Ip but their lead of just fourteen points could be easily overridden and surpassed by the #86 crew if the #97 crew failed to be classified. Being just the two entries within the class the whole season, so far neither crew has failed to score (first or second in class points obviously) so the #97 crew would still need to be classified as a finisher within the race to secure the title.
Private testing this Thursday begins the track action for the combined grid of twenty-six cars before the start to more formally timed sessions on Saturday morning with Free Practice before Pre-Qualifying at midday. The afternoon will then be filled with the four qualifying sessions (one per driver) before everything will settle down again before race start at 13:15hrs on Sunday.
Monday, September 29, 2025 |
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Another #doningtondecider in store after another barnstorming race from Brands Hatch in British GT
Having qualified their #7 Blackthorn Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 onto the front row of the grid behind just one of their 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes AMG advisories, the Giacomo Petrobelli and Jonny Adam car didn’t get off to the best of starts as despite taking the race lead out of Paddock Hill Bend for the first time, the car was served with an unwanted drive through penalty for using external devices upon the car during the formation grid.
That transgression by the team dropped their car into the midst of the GT4 field on only about the third full racing lap having been behind the Safety Car from the second lap due to an off for a GT4 car at Druids on the opening lap.
Slightly further back meanwhile, the #97 Beechdean AMR Vantage GT3 of Andrew Howard and Tom Wood had also gotten off to a great start from their aggregated P7 position that Wood had earned the crew on Saturday by topping the Pro drivers qualifying session. After the earlier Safety Car restart, Howard had progressed up to P6 and distanced their class rivalling #86 Bridger Motorsport Honda who were then down in nineth.
Thwarting the Blackthorn’s progression through the lower order of the GT3 class was an on-track fire for one of the Ginetta GT4’s but fortunately for them, the driver was able to vacate the vehicle quickly for the trackside staff to bring things to a swift and safe conclusion although that did lose nearly eighteen minutes on the race clock.
Later after that restart, Petrobelli found himself being baulked by the #86 Honda which, whilst it was bad for them, that delay only helped their Beechdean AMR counterparts further ahead in the pack. Only just before the opening of the GT3 pit stop window did the #7 Aston pass the Honda before all bar the race leading Mercedes pitted for service at the first availability.
Pit stops done and Adam had come out in fourth thanks to the success time penalties affecting three cars out front in class whilst Wood was now P6 overall, still with a healthy lead of his own from the Honda in the silver-am class as Adam even got a warning for track limits such was his degree of determination for a decent finish this time around.
Further track drama was soon to follow as contact between a McLaren and a Porsche GT3 cars saw debris left upon track and one of those cars stranded in a gravel track – all of which necessitated a further Full Course Yellow and later Safety Car restart to sort out the mess.
With ten minutes to go, Wood put a lap onto the Honda so all he had to do was to finish to secure another class win but Adam had more problems upon his hands as he soon had other, faster cars upon him looking for track position as he became the head of a five car train with Wood immediately behind the Scot doing what he could to defend the #7 cars position.
Eventually the chequered flag came with the #7 Blackthorn car taking P4 with the #97 Beechdean car just one place behind in P5 – also taking the class win. With 37.5 points on offer at the final round from Donington Park in early October, both crews still need to perform if they want to have a chance at the class titles. The #7 car is now 28.5 points behind the championship leading #42 Mercedes whilst the #97 crew are still just 14 points ahead of the Honda powered crew.
Still all to race for at Donington then!!
Monday, August 25, 2025 |
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Tomorrows penultimate British GT race of the season all teed up to be another thriller
Despite just twenty cars taking to the track for today’s Free Practice, Pre-Qualifying and Qualifying sessions, like any discernible British GT Championship of the past, there are still several teams across both the GT3 and GT4 classes that could either win this weekend or take to another #DoningtonDecider those overall championship aspirations.
For the #7 Blackthorn AMR Vantage GT3 of Giacomo Petrobelli and Jonny Adam car – they need a better performance this weekend that the two 2 Seas Motorsport Merecedes AMG GT3 crews that they are presently chasing within their Pro-Am class and whilst they were faster than both in this morning’s Free Practice, it was not the same in Pre-Qualifying.
Then within the two-horse silver-Am class that the #97 Beechdean AMR Vantage GT3 car of Andrew Howard and Tom Wood fight themselves battling against the #86 Bridger Motorsport Honda NSX team this year, they were faster than the #86 in both preliminary sessions – despite having to endure a rough ride through the gravel in both sessions.
After lunch, it was time for Qualifying with each driver again taking their turn for an aggregated started position for tomorrows race. With the Am’s aboard first with Petrobelli not being able to beat both 2 Seas Mercedes crews this time around for a P4 finish whilst Howard was still faster than the #86 car as they had a lap deleted for track limits for a P9 finishing position.
Then came the Pro’s – and it wasn’t long before the #97 car of Wood had overtaken the #7 car of Adam at the top of the timing screen despite the Scot taking new tyres towards the end of the session for a final dash to the flag.
Finishing top, Wood would haul their overall starting position up to seventh – five cars ahead of their class rivals whilst the #7 car would claim a front row start in second with them and three other cars splitting the championship leading 2 Seas crews.
But like any series, Free Practice and Qualifying is one thing – the race is something completely different. That all starts at 13:00hrs local tomorrow.
It should be interesting based upon just how hard all the crews were pushing today!
Saturday, August 23, 2025 |
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Two Astons still in the championship hunt as British GT hits Brands Hatch for its penultimate round
That means that should the Blackthorn Aston Martin Racing want to continue this season’s GT3 battle into another classic #DoningtonDecider finale, drivers Giacomo Petrobelli and Jonny Adam need another top step podium finishing performance in Sunday’s two-hour race and favourable race results from others to do so.
With each of the 2 Seas Mercedes AMG GT3 based crews securing a convincing race win apiece in each of the two one-hour sprint races from Snetterton last time out, the #7 Blackthorn crew could do no more than fourth in the first and fifth in the second of the two races to now lie in third position in the drivers championship, still just nine points behind the leaders.
Results from last time out also mean that the #7 AMR Vantage GT3 crew are devoid of pit stop time penalties come Sunday’s race so track position will remain as an imperative factor going into Qualifying on Saturday.
Being another endurance round means that the #97 Beechdean AMR silver-am crew of Andrew Howard and Tom Wood are the remaining AMR powered runners out of a grid of just thirteen GT3 and eight GT4 based entries.
For the #97 crew, this season has been a persistent battle with their sole class rivals within the #86 Bridger Motorsport Honda NSX with the Honda powered crew taking top honours in class with the points margin between crews (Howard and Wood still leading) to just 3.5 points going into this penultimate race weekend. For these two crews, the 2025 result will be formed upon who fails to finish first!
Track action will begin again on Saturday with Free Practice, Pre-Qualifying and Qualifying on Saturday ahead of a 13:00hrs local start for Sundays two hour race.
Wednesday, August 20, 2025 |
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A 'difficult' weekend for both Aston Martins in the heat of Snetterton
Having seen both the Blackthorn AMR and Beechdean AMR teams almost run riot last time out at the three-hour round from Spa Francorchamps last time out, this weekend certainly saw some of that performance hauled back in as the Mercedes AMR and Lamborghini powered entries were certainly controlling the pace in the heat of Snetterton this weekend.
Despite that, Giacomo Petrobelli and his #7 Blackthorn still had a clear view into turn one of race one with his P2 Qualifying position whilst Andrew Howard had to crane his neck to see their silver-Am class rivalling #86 Bridger Motorsport Honda NSX who had qualified two rows ahead of his #97 Beechdean car.
A clean opening lap for all cars saw the #7 car maintain position, as did the #97 until we soon saw them last in class and nearly three seconds behind the car in front for reasons that are unclear but despite that, Howard was soon able to close the gap. Up front meanwhile, the #42 Mercedes and #7 Blackthorn cars were gapping the chasing pack behind as both had success time penalties to serve from their successes in Belgium and for the Blackthorn car – that would be the full ten seconds.
Despite the Bridger Honda looking very fast at times, a spin for Jonny Ip saw their car relegated to last within the GT3 on track with also two or three cars between them and the Beechdean Aston Martin but by the time the pit window had opened, both cars were very close to one another again.
Despite pitting from a comfortable P2 overall, that ten second penalty saw Jonny Adam emerge down in P4 overall as the #7 Blackthorn car emerged from pit lane but there would be worse for Tom Wood in the #97 car as he would spin off at Riches and nudge (fortunately softly) into the tyre wall. Re-runs pf the incident showed that although marginally wide, there appeared to be no obvious reason for him to spin off like he did.
This time lacking the obvious power advantage, neither Aston Martin could recover or improve upon their track position as the race entered its final stages for the #7 Blackthorn car to eventually finish P4 overall and the #97 P13 overall – but more importantly second best in silver-am to the #86 Honda.
Race two had seen the circuit cloud over slightly but ambient and track temperatures remained constant as this time Adam had a third row start in his #7 Pro-Am entry whilst Wood would be starting in front of the #86 car of Jay Bridger.
In theory, that should have helped the #7 car as both Mercedes AMG had pit stop success penalties to serve this time around and Wood is certainly no slouch with the benefit of track position.
Despite some panel bashing, it was another clean opening lap with both Astons able to make up an early place before the race went static as the Pro drivers showed their worth to their paying bronze drivers. The tightness to the Snetterton 300 circuit layout and the parity of the pro driver again showed that the circuit was a difficult place to pace.
With both Adam and Wood handing over to Petrobelli and Howard respectively, the #7 Blackthorn car was maintaining its P6 position as were the #97 with their P1 position in class with little under thirty minutes of this final sprint race remaining. That stayed the case for much of the remaining time before an incident involving the Porsche allowed the #7 to step up to P5 overall whilst the #97 of Howard was also caught and passed by the #86 Honda.
A final lap incident for the #7 Amr saw the Italian enter a last lap battle with two other cars which culminated in the #77 McLaren spinning off after apparent contact from behind by the #7 car. Despite crossing the line in P4, it was a long wait before Race Control confirmed the result.
Despite all the above, the #7 Blackthorn crew remain second within both the overall and GT3 Pro-Am class battles as the Championship moves onto it penultimate round at Brands Hatch in late August – as does the #7 Beechdean crew in Silver-Am but with both teams, they are now in slightly worse position points wise than they were before.
Sunday, July 13, 2025 |
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The temperatures keep rising at Snetterton this weekend
Two exciting races will be in store tomorrow as the British GT Championship hosts only its second sprint weekend of the season, this time from Snetterton in Norfolk for its somewhat lowly GT3 and GT4 entry.
Having already conducted a three-session private test at the circuit yesterday, the crews were welcomed back today to another sun-baked day starting with Free Practice before culminating in individual qualifying sessions to determine the grid for each of Sunday’s two, one-hour races.
This weekend sees just the two full season Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 crews from the Blackthorn AMR and Beechdean AMR teams with Giacomo Petrobelli and Jonny Adam chasing the GT3 Pro-Am class within their #7 car and Andrew Howard and Tom Wood doing likewise within the Silver-Am class within their #97 car.
The #7 Blackthorn was slow out within Free Practice with the duo only setting thirteen laps between them within the hour-long session (although Adam did say that this for no significant reason) whilst the Beechdean crew were a little more studious getting some early laps in.
As both the ambient and track temperatures continued to rise, it was soon time for Pre-qualifying and this time both cars were keen to get out early but with the #97 crew showing some great pace to end that hour session seventh overall (and having lost a lap due to track limits) whilst the #7 car would end their preparative work down in tenth overall.
After lunch, it was time for each driver to set their own qualifying times with the amateur’ driver going first but for both Petrobelli and Howard, it would bring a disappointing conclusion as first the Italian lost out on another pole setting time by just 0.151 of a second to their championship rivals but Howard also struggled to eventually come home 0.8 of a second behind their Bridger Motorsport Honda NSX powered class rivals.
The next session saw Adam claim a third row start for tomorrow’s second race whilst Wood beat the #86 Bridger car to claim another class pole position for his efforts.
We will have to wait to see just what the two races will bring.
Saturday, July 12, 2025 |
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Two Aston Martins leading the way as British GT arrives at Snetterton for two more sprint races
With it being a sprint round, it’s no surprise to see just the two Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 crews from each of the Blackthorn AMR and Beechdean AMR teams listed with the #50 MKH Racing Vantage GT4 entry still only part of the GT4 Endurance Cup package.
The last round from Spa Francorchamps at the start of the SRO Speedweek went effectively perfectly for both crews in the end as both the #7 Blackthorn car of Jonny Adam and Giacomo Petrobelli scored their first overall race win togther this year whilst the #97 Beechdean entry of Andre Howard and Tom Wood did what they simply needed to do and take another win within their own two horse silver-am entry.
Those results see the #7 Blackthorn boost their overall and Pro-Am Championship aspirations by climbing up to second place, just two points behind the 2 Seas Mercedes Benz crew in the overall table and 2.5 points behind the same pairing within the Pro-Am table going into the Snetterton round.
Within the silver-am table, the #97 Beechdean crew extend their championship lead over the Bridger Motorsport Honda NSX powered crew to lead Jonny Ip (the only one of the three drivers used within that team on 131 points) by now seventeen and a half points going into this round.
This weekend’s provisional entry list sadly still sees just fourteen GT3 entries and a smaller GT4 entry of just nine cars this time around. Track action will begin on Friday with three private test sessions before Free Practice, Pre-Qualifying and individual Qualifying sessions on Saturday before both races either side of lunch on Sunday.
After the last British GT round at Spa, the Beechdean AMR did stay on at the circuit and did rather well in class at the latter Spa 24 hour too!!
Photo Credits – Teams / Jacob Ebrey
Tuesday, July 08, 2025 |
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Not the overall win, but two class wins plus some none the less after the Spa 24
Aston Martin recorded two class victories in the 77th running of the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa on Sunday, in front of 128,000 spectators, as Vantage achieved an unprecedented level of success in the famous Belgian endurance classic. The British ultra-luxury high performance brand, which won the race outright in 2024 with its Vantage GT3, added to its legacy of glory at the venue with victories in the Gold and Silver Cup classes and runner-up in the Pro-Am division; the best collective result for the Wings in the GT3-era of the event.
Partner team Verstappen Racing, and its drivers Thierry Vermeulen, Harry King and Chris Lulham delivered a brilliant debut 24-hour race performance with their Aston Martin Vantage GT3 finishing ninth overall, ahead of several Pro Class contenders, and overcoming a fierce challenge from a rival McLaren in the second half of the race to win the Gold Cup Class.
The victory, taken from the class pole position, was emphatic and marked the team’s first with Aston Martin in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” said Vermeulen, who took the lead of the class in the final 10 minutes as the McLaren he was racing suffered a puncture. “For sure a lot of preparation went into it, learning the car, and plenty of testing, and I think the car has been in a very good window, with good support from Aston Martin, so a very big thanks to them. Then of course my teammates, the team… it’s a long race and very demanding. I think we have learned so much and I hope we can come back next year, because with some fine-tuning on some minor things for sure we can do even better. We’re very proud of everyone and I’m super happy that I had the privilege to be here and to achieve this.”
“It’s an amazing feeling,” said Vermeulen, who took the lead of the class in the final 10 minutes as the McLaren he was racing suffered a puncture. “For sure a lot of preparation went into it, learning the car, and plenty of testing, and I think the car has been in a very good window, with good support from Aston Martin, so a very big thanks to them. Then of course my teammates, the team… it’s a long race and very demanding. I think we have learned so much and I hope we can come back next year, because with some fine-tuning on some minor things for sure we can do even better. We’re very proud of everyone and I’m super happy that I had the privilege to be here and to achieve this.”
Having led comfortably through the first half of the race and climbed as high as second overall in the early hours of the morning, Verstappen.com Racing came under pressure from the McLaren after a Full Course Yellow at an inopportune moment compromised the team’s track position on Sunday morning. But Vermeulen and Lulham produced robust stints to keep the Vantage just ahead of the curve, while their teammate King unleashed one of the overtakes of the race to secure the class lead in the 22ndhour. The McLaren came back at them in the final pit stops however, regaining track position and so Vermeulen pressed hard, never more than two seconds away and was in the prime position to take advantage when his rival hit trouble in the final stages.
Walkenhorst Motorsport dominated the second half of the Silver Class, with its #35 Vantage GT3 finishing 14th overall. It was a just reward for the German team which had absorbed its fair share of adversity over the past week, with several accidents putting its engineers under pressure in the run-up to the event and the preceding ADAC Ravenol 24h Nürburgring. One of those accidents eliminated the #34 Pro Class car, driven by works drivers Henrique Chaves, David Pittard and Christian Krognes, after a crash in Super Pole on Friday.
For the victorious Silver Cup driver and former Aston Martin Racing Driver Academy graduate Romain Leroux, who shared the car with 2025 Academy candidates Oliver Söderström and Mateo Villagomez, the victory was even sweeter having been shunted into retirement from a podium position in last year’s race.
“I think it is the perfect gift back to the team, it’s definitely not been the easiest week,” said Leroux. “We had a lot of pace in the Pro car so to lose it even before the race began was very tough. The team bounced back very well, we didn’t lose focus, and we showed the pace the car had and us as drivers gave the team back the result they deserved.”
In a hotly-contested Pro-Am class, Beechdean Motorsport followed up its British GT Silver-Am Class victory at the same venue last week with an outstanding second place for Andrew Howard, Ross Gunn, Valentin Hasse-Clot and Anthony McIntosh – making his Spa 24 Hours debut in this year’s event.
The #100 Beechdean Motorsport car led the class comfortably for several periods of the race but lost track position into the morning, whereby its two works drivers aided by Howard and McIntosh staged a phenomenal charge, in searing heat, in the late stages to finish less than 25 seconds behind the winner.
Comtoyou Racing, which recorded Aston Martin’s magnificent win in 2024 returned with the same works driver line-up of former FIA WEC GT champions Marco Sørensen, Nicki Thiim and 2023 GT World Challenge Sprint Cup title-winner Mattia Drudi. The trio, and their #007 Vantage GT3, qualified eighth overall and were a key factor in the first third of the race. Moving into third position after midnight in a race where the top ten was rarely separated by more than 10 seconds through the night, Drudi had begun to exert significant pressure on the leading Mercedes duo when he encountered a technical issue that sidelined the car. It was a sad end to the Italian’s 24-hour triple header (24 Hours of Le Mans, Nürburgring and Spa-Francorchamps) with Aston Martin.
Adam Carter, Head of Endurance Motorsport, said: “To win multiple classes of the 24 Hours of Spa, with different partner teams, and come close to recording a triple, is a huge testament to the quality of the teams we choose to work with. Moreover, it is the perfect demonstration of the pace, adaptability and compliance of the Vantage GT3 to triumph in one of the world’s most demanding endurance races on earth. Congratulations to Verstappen.com Racing and to Walkenhorst Motorsport on outstanding performances and to Beechdean Motorsport for its hard fought second place in Pro-Am.”
Source material - AMR
Photo credits - AMR / Series
Monday, June 30, 2025 |
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