Not quite an Aston Martin fortunately, but this was the fiery end to the CWS Ginetta that Academy Motorsport boss Matt Nichol-Jones was due to co race at the 24H Series event at Barcelona today. The virtues of starting from class pole didn't help the car at all as Finlay Hutchison had to abandon ship in the very early stages of the race - although he was OK the car was extensively damaged.

Over in China, Jack Mitchell and Ryan Liu endured some self inflicted pain as early contact with the GT4 Championship leading McLaren led to a drive through and then some over heating issues in the latter stages of race 1. Fortunately for the China Equity AMR duo is that the #570 McLaren also retired so that almost stagnates the championship tables.


The #620 R-Motorsport AMR also in the 24H Series race at Barcelona made their first start in the Creventic series difficult by loosing over half an hour having to change the cars front splitter after early race contact with their Pro driver behind the wheel!!

The best news of the day comes from Donington Park and the first two races of the penultimate meeting of the GT Cup Championship. Two wins in the GTH class for overall championship contenders Adam Hatfield and Chris Murphy has done their title ambitions no harm at all whilst returning former overall championship contender, Nigel Hudson wins the second race of the day.


Its also been great to see Beechdean AMR back in another series and in the thick of things - Andrew Howard fastest in morning Practice and then a P2 Qualifying and race finish aboard his GT3 whilst Paul Hollywood got some more master classes from former Beechdean boy Ross Gunn in the #407 GT4 car.


Today has been a busy day - and it all gets repeated tomorrow!

Photo credits - China Equity AMR / Steve Jackman / FFSA GT4 / 24H Series

Despite the weather again not staying dry for the whole of this mornings Qualifying , the #618 China Equity AMR V8 Vantage GT4 of Jack Mitchell and Ryan Liu did enough to claim a front row start in tomorrows first race of the China GT Championship round from Shanghai.

Technical issues with their GT4 Championship contenders McLaren 570S saw them not enter a time in Qualifying and therefore will be starting from the rear of the grid. Additionally, early housekeeping issues for the sister #619 China Equity AMR car initially saw them denoted as failing scruntineering (which was promptly resolved by the race organisers) before technical issues of their own also saw Pun and O'Brian failing to post a time.


Shots from the circuit also showed that a nice pair of Aston Martin's had been selected as both the Safety and Medical cars for the event!


Today also saw Free Practice and Qualifying for the start of tomorrows 24H Series enduro from Barcelona. R-Motorsport have one of their V12 vantage GT3's entered into the A6 Am class where drivers Baenziger/Dennis/lungstrass/Leemhuis finished a very credible P2 in class and P3 overall - o- just 0.3 of a second behind the pole setting Mercedes AMG.

Having missed him on the entry list, we see that Academy Motorsport boss Matt Nichol-Jones also features in the race aboard the #278 CWS Ginetta.


As for the remainder of this weekend's racing combatants, the series business starts tomorrow after a early night tonight!

And don't forget the live stream from the Goodwood Revival either ................!!



Photo credits - China GT Championship/24H Series/Social media

It was great to read the following news release from the GT Cup organisers today about the increased Aston Martin Racing customer team attendance at their penultimate meeting of the season at Donington Park in a couple of weeks time.

With just three more round of the 2018 GT Cup calendar remaining, Whitebridge AMR duo of Chris Murphy and Adam Hatfield are pushing for the overall crown after another top step class finish from Oulton Park at the weekend.

First up on Saturday was Hatfield who claimed class pole by just 0.5 of a second ahead of the #15 Ginetta before race 1 proved to be something of a quiet affair with an important lights to flag race winning performance and class fastest lap from the Norfolk based driver.

“It was a good race and a nice, quiet, uneventful race for a change,” said Hatfield. “It feels good to be able to just go and build a gap and maintain it until the end.

It appears that the Hud Motorsport Aston Martin Racing V12 Vantage GT3's participation in the GT Cup Series has unfortunately come to a premature end with the car already being pulled from the provisional entry for the next round at Oulton Park and perhaps for the remainder of the season.

Whilst there has been no official confirmation of this, we believe that a continuing disagreement with the Series regarding the scoring system for single cars in a class has lead to Nigel Hudson withdrawing the #12 car that he has raced so successfully this year with Adam Wilcox to lie second overall and first in their GTO class.

Snetterton was again a very productive race meeting for the two Aston Martin Racing teams competing for  both the overall championship win and their respective classes in the fourth round of the GT Cup championship.

Hudmotorsport's Nigel Hudson and Adam Wilcox looked particularly racey after a successful round last time out at Spa Francorchamps where Hudson secured his first race win of the season. Meanwhile, Whitebridge AMR would turn up with their latest V8 Vantage GT4 acquisition for team boss Chris Murphy and No2 Adam Hatfield to help strengthen their own class position after two previous rounds aboard a Ginetta.

Two of Aston Martin Racing's finest finally return to what is a very hot and sunny Snetterton race track for the fourth round of the GT Cup championship this weekend.

We say finally, as Whitebridge AMR had the misfortune of 'loosing' one of their available V8 Vantage GT4's in a crash whilst testing for another series and have since then been competing in a Team Hard Ginetta for the last two rounds, which at least had kept their class championship title hopes alive.

Whitebridge AMR drivers Chris Murphy and local lad Adam Hatfield return with the teams latest AMR acquisition that the they ran at the Aston Martin Racing Festival at Le Mans earlier this month as well as the last round of the Britcar Championship last weekend. The more observant of you will see that their #72 car is indeed a former Generation AMR SuperRacing car that Murphy purchased from James Holder after the earlier accident, a purchase that allowed the car to win its class at the Le Mans Festival!

In the weekend of apparent Aston Martin misfortunate and incident, one shining exception to that was the JMH prepared Hud Motorsport Aston Martin Racing V12 Vantage GT3 of Nigel Hudson and Adam Wilcox after they battled and won at Spa Francorchamps in the third round of the Bute GT Cup Championship.

Normally a three race meeting, the twenty four cars that made the journey over to Spa, Belgium would compete in two - fifty minute races, both with pit stops so that both Pro and Am drivers would get the full racing experience that the iconic circuit deserves.


Infamous for having more seasons in one day than there are actual seasons, Spa didn't disappoint with a mixture of sun and torrential rain over Friday as the teams tested for the weekend's work ahead of them but fortunately that all settled down in time the two races held over Saturday and Sunday.

Race 1 started like it would all be going wrong for the #12 car as Hudson was quickly pinged for an alleged jump start as the car ahead dropped away from the lead car just at at the green light but that drive through penalty just served to bring down the 'red mist' for him as he then went hammer and tongues before he handed over to Wilcox.

“I thought it had a problem, so I went for it, but we got a penalty for jumping the start. Adam then did a great job, we overcame it, and won! I really enjoyed it” said Hudson after the race having taken the chequered flag by nearly twenty seconds.

The headline racing event of this weekend of course must be the return of the Blancpain GT Endurance Series with the 1000kms of Paul Ricard - a classic day into night, multi driver category GT race featuring an entry of over fifty cars.

With the last rounds results still only provisional after eventual race winners R-Motorsport logged an appeal against their Qualifying exclusion for a technical offence before the start of the Silverstone 3 hour event, we still await for the series to declare a result on that one.

Whatever happens with that, the race day displays from both the #62 and #76 Arden prepared R-Motorsport V12 Vantage GT3's was exemplary and another example of just what the venerable Aston could achieve against its more 'modern' equivalents with Nicki Thiim, Jake Dennis and Mathieu Vaxiviere taking a very comfortable 'win'!


In the Silver Cup, the #97 Oman Racing by TF Sport crew of Ahmad Al Harthy, Euan McKay and Charlie Eastwood will be hoping that Lady Luck will be with them this time after having avoidable issues strike them down during the first two rounds of the Series with a podium looking almost certain at Silverstone before contact from another runner forced otherwise.

Packing everything into a Friday/Saturday format this time, Qualifying will take place in the morning ahead of a 17:45Hrs (local) start for the race that will take the end well into the Southern France evening.


After their frustrations with a dominate interloper at Brands Hatch, Nigel Hudson and Adam Wilcox this weekend embark on their annual pilgrimage to Spa Francorchamps for the third round of the GT Cup Championship aboard their Hudmotorsport V12 Vantage GT3.

Having already enjoyed two race meetings where the #12 crew have stood upon the podium they will be hoping that in the absence of that Optimum Audi R8 LMS that they will be having a clear shot at that illusive top step over the course of the weekend.


GT4 runners Chris Murphy and Adam Hatfield are again listed as running in a Team Hard Ginetta as (presumably) repairs are still be made to their usual V8 Vantage in readiness for they appearance at the Aston Martin Racing Festival at Le Mans in just three weeks time


Over on Phillip Island, the second endurance round off the Australian GT Championship takes place this weekend with Andrew Miedecke again joining Jeremy Gray in his JMG/Bilstein V8 Vantage GT4.

Having had something of a 'mare' in the last endurance round at The Bend when the weather played havoc with the proceedings, a dominant performance from Gray at Sandown saw him extend his championship lead with maximum points after his closest rival skipped the event.

Thirty five multi classed cars will compete in the Phillip Island 101 race with four other GT4's competing against the #67 car.


And after all of that - there's always the 24 Hours of Le Mans Test Day at Le Sarthe!!!!!

Photo credits - Australian GT / Steve Jackman / BES

If it wasn't for the presence of that pesky Optimum Motorsport Audi R8 LMS, then Nigel Hudson's Aston Martin Racing's V12 Vantage GT3 would have had a clean sweep of round two of the GT Cup Championship from Brands Hatch - or so they say!

Having enjoyed a cracking start to the 2018 Championship at Donington Park last month, the Hudson/Adam Wilcox combo enjoyed a win and two second places with their JMH prepared car and were obviously hoping that Brands Hatch would permit them to improve upon that performance but that plan hadn't figured on Optimum Motorsport entering their GT Open car as a one off to help the development of their two drivers in that championship.


Such was the dominance of the #96 Audi that they scored the best time in all track sessions except for not being on pole for the start of Race 2 on Saturday.

With the rules requiring Hudson (Am) to race alone in the first two races of the event on Saturday, he transposed a P4 start to the race to a P2 finish in a shortened first race due to a nasty looking incident with a back marker getting nailed from behind by a faster McLaren which necessitated a red flag.

For race 2, Hudson started from P3 on the grid before earning himself another P2 finish (behind the Audi) at the end of that 25 minute race but some 23 seconds back.


Sunday's race of course allowed the inclusion of the teams' professional drivers and Wilcox was sure that he could match the pace of the #96 Audi if the team could resolve their apparent (soft) brake issue. They would finishing morning warm up and Qualifying in P2.

With the #96 car again soon making its escape up the track from the off, the #12 Hud Motorsport car found itself having to fend off the attentions of the yellow FF Corse 488 Challenge car with both cars pitting together at the half way point. By this point the gap from 1st to second was already 22 seconds so it was again just a question of the next two steps of the podium.


After that point, the power differences between the GTO class Aston and the GTC class Ferrari, despite the Pro drivers now aboard, allowed Wilcox to move comfortably away from the Ferrari to end the race nearly a lap ahead.

Overall, that result would be the team's third - second place of the meeting which, in the absence of any official confirmation, should place the #12 car at the head of the GTO Class as the championship's annual pilgrimage to Spa Francorchamps in early June.


For the Chris Murphy/Adam Hatfield pairing - their Brands Hatch event was aboard a Team Hard Ginetta GT55 GT4 as their normal Aston Martin Racing GT4 was extensively damaged during a test for the Britcar Endurance Championship last week.

The other Aston runner at Brands was the Ultimate Speed prepared V12 Vantage GT3 for Mike Brown and Paul Cripps as they used the event to prepare themselves for the forthcoming Aston Martin Racing Festival at Le Mans next month.

Photo credits - Steve Jackman / GT Cup

The second event of the 2018 Bute GT Cup Championship starts tomorrow from Brands Hatch with another three races around the iconic Grand Prix loop for the twenty four car entry.

Having had a near perfect start to the season, the #12 Hud Motorsport duo of Nigel Hudson and Adam Wilcox return looking to still improve upon the 1st/2nd/2nd results last time out at Donington in their Aston Martin Racing V12 Vantage GT3.

Usual full season GT4 competitors, Whitebridge AMR will not however be at the event having suffered one of their cars being (?) written off in a testing accident before the Britcar event at Silverstone this time last week and with that car being (?) repaired/replaced and their second car being prepared for the Aston Martin Racing Festival at Le Mans next month, drivers Chris Murphy and Adam Hatfield have swapped over to a Ginetta G55 GT4 from the Team Hard stable.


Mentioning the AMR Festival, the Ultimate Racing team of Mike Brown returns to the track at GT Cup meeting for what is expected to be another one-off event (seen above testing at Brands Hatch earlier this week) as he and co driver Paul Cripps prepare themselves for the big event at Le Sarthe. Don't expect those horrible looking extended exhaust silencers to feature in the race weekend though!!

As usual, the meeting will feature three races - two for the Am driver racing solo on Saturday with a third race on Sunday featuring a pit stop and driver change.

Photo credit - Steve Jackman

It was something of a triumphant return to the Bute GT Cup Championship for both Hud Motorsport and Whitebridge AMR at season opener from Donington Park last weekend.

Nigel Hudson returned with his JMH prepared V12 Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 running in the top flight GTO class with professional co-driver Adam Wilcox again by his side. Despite having won a whole plethora of silverware last season the duo will be looking to do something better this year to win the championship outright.


Also returning to the Championship was Chris Murphy's Whitebridge AMR outfit, again running a 2016 spec V8 Vantage GT4 in the newly established GTH class along with team newcomer Adam Hatfield.

After most teams enjoyed a test day at the circuit on Thursday, the #12 JMH Aston was fastest at the end of Free Practice enjoying a half second lead over Paul Bailey in his Ferrari. For Whitebridge AMR, it was still a case of track time having had limited running since the driving pair came together for the first time at the AMR Collecive Test in Portimao earlier last month.


For the Hudson and Wilcox team, that quick start to events transpired into dream start for Race 1, with Hudson having firstly claimed overall pole before he then went on to claim an emphatic lights to flag win with a winning gap of over ten seconds to the second place Mosler. For Hatfield, he was also able to replicate the marque's GTO success by turning around his own perhaps 'slower' start to the weekend to claim P2 in his own class


For Race 2 is was this time  a P2 start for Hudson in the #12 car with an improved P11 start for Murphy in the #72 car. For most of the race the outcome appeared to have hinged upon the outcome of a failed move from the Aston on the pole sitting Mosler at the first corner that allowed the Gibson McLaren to out manoeuvre the #12 for position. Fortunately for Hudson, the delicate Mosler faulted mid race allowing them to reclaim their second place on track and a second place for the race.


The Murphy/Hatfield crew continued their own continuity by claiming their second - second in class finish of the weekend having started P2 in class which was all a pretty successful start to a Saturday's motorsport!


The final race of the opening round came on Sunday with the pitstop round where both drivers would compete. Hudson and Wilcox again took the honours in morning warm up before the duo later qualified P3 overall for the final race behind their main protagonists in the 650S McLaren and Mosler. Murphy and Hatfield meanwhile qualified their GT4 again second in class, P11 overall.


The final fifty minute race took a familiar tone, the #12 JMH Hud Motorsport car was this time able to overcome the Gibson 650S McLaren but unable to catch the more powerful (but sometimes delicate) Mosler to finish the day P2 overall 23 seconds down to the winner.

For Hatfield and Murphy, it was a simple case of being second, second, second as the #72 car clocked up its third second place of the weekend, again behind the more nimbler #23 Maserati GT4.


Overall, that was a very successful start for both teams as they now look forward to the slower but more technical GP circuit at brands Hatch next time out in May.

Photo credits - Steve Jackman (Eat My Pixels) / Adam Hatfield
Source material - Steve Jackman