Podium fest for the Aston Martin Racing runners after two rounds of GT America at CoTA
With overnight rain presenting the teams with tyre selection issues going into Qualifying on Saturday, it would again be the #50 car of Ross Chouest who would claim GT4 class honours going into their first forty-minute race, narrowly beating class rival Jason Bell and his #2 Flying Lizard prepared car.
Decent performances also came from the #77 TR3 car of Paul Kiebler who would start from third whilst the #8 Flying Lizard and #25 Heart of Racing car of Elias Sabo and Gray Newell would start further back after (Newell) elected to run on slicks whilst the track did not quite support that choice of tyre.
Early gains from Sabo saw him take third in class as both he and Newell looked the racier of the class, pushing Chouest hard for position after he had lost the class lead to Bell going into turn 1 for the first time. Such was Bells pace in this opening stage of the race that he led the class by (at that point) four seconds.
An error from Sabo saw him spin out from behind the tail pipes of Chouest but not out of position as the race entered its final minutes. Looking good for a race win, an error from Bell on the penultimate lap saw him lose control going into turn 1 and then lose a nine second lead as Chouest whooshed passed to reassume the class lead.
At the end, race 1 would see Chouest take another class win, Bell in second and with Newell elevated to third after Rob Holland and his Porsche were penalised for tapping Sabo into a further spin that cost him a run at the podium. He would finish P5 with Kiebler coming home P6.
Race 2 grid was again set by the fastest laps form race 1 and so it would be Sabo heading the honours this time on GT4 pole position, alongside Bell in second and Chouest in third.
Overnight night rain had again returned leaving Sundays early morning race still under grey skies, wet track and repressive humidity as teams were left wondering about tyre selection again – was it going to rain again within the life span of race 2 or not was the question.
After two formation laps due to track conditions, this time it was Chouest who stole the march upon others, moving up to P2 out of turn 1 for the first time with Sabo maintaining his class lead but tyre selection would soon become evident as Chouest quickly dropped away leaving a Sabo/Bell/Newell battle for the lead in class.
Seventeen minutes to go and with rain intermittently falling around the track again, contact and heavy damage for two GT3 cars brought out the Safety Car for the first time before going back to green with just eight minutes remaining.
A chaotic restart from the GT3 leaders saw further cars struggling in the damp and wettening conditions that allowed Chouest to again catch up as the GT4 class leaders battled with lapping GT3 cars and GT4 back markers to boot.
Spinning the tyres out of a corner saw the #77 car of Kiebler spin off and hit heavily into the barriers bringing out the Safety Car for the second and final time as the race ran down the clock under caution meaning that Sabo had claimed another win with Bell and Newell joining him on the podium. Chouest would eventually finish a distant P7!!
The series now heads to VIR in three weeks’ time.
Photo credits – Teams / Series
Six Aston Martins return hungry for more at the next round of GT America from CoTA this weekend
Six Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4’s again make the trip after the weather affected round at Nola Motorsport Park three weeks ago which saw all bar one of the six take a podium finish within the GT4 class after at least one of that weekends races.
Ross Chouest was again the most consistent of the bunch having claimed both a class win and a third place over that weekend in his #50 Chouest Povoledo prepared car with a further class for Elias Sabo in his #8 Flying Lizard car with further second place finishes for both Jason Bell and Todd Coleman aboard their #2 Flying Lizard and #69 Archangel prepared Aston Martins accordingly and a solo P3 for Gray Newell and his #25 Heart of Racing AMR. Paul Kiebler makes up the sixth Aston Martin with his TR3 prepared #77 car.
CoTA will of course be a wholly different character of race circuit where the wide, sweeping bends of the circuit will favour the more powerful and aerodynamically efficient cars as twenty-four GT3 and GT4 cars again make up the GT America grid of bronze rated drivers for their two, forty-minute racing schedule over the weekend.
With still twelve races to go this season, they is still much to race for!
Photo credits – Teams / Series
SEVEN Aston martin racing Vantage GT4s (so far) enter official test before opening round of the Michelin Pilot Challenge
Presumably building upon the successes of last years Championship winning Volt Racing crew of Alan Brynjolfsson and Trent Hindman sees the return of some familiar faces for this season as well as a number of new teams make the transmission to the Vantage chassis for what might be for them, a dual IMSA and SRO undertaking in 2023.
In numerical order, the #09 Automatic Racing entry is now taken up by the racing crew of Tom Long (returning AMR driver) with Jim Jonsin and Brett Sandberg as they will share that car as the more established line up of Rob Ecklin and Ramin Abdolvahabi move across to the #99 throughout the year but excluding the Roar test.
Next comes the new #19 Van Der Steur Racing AMR of Rory Van der Steur, Austin McCusker and Wyatt Brichacek as has been previously announced, a trio that has only recently taken delivery of their new car for testing ahead of next weekend’s Roar before the 24-official test at the circuit.
The #29 TR3 Racing supported car sees Paul Kiebler and Jon Branam return to the platform and series after they completed the opening rounds of the series last year with an Aston Martin before electing to swap across to the Mercedes AMG GT4 platform and then other series as the year progressed. This duo has been out testing several times already over the winter in preparation for this new season.
Moisey Uretsky and Justin Piscitell (with Michael Cooper) for this four-hour opening round complete the #44 Baby Bull Racing AMR entry after they sampled the IMSA series at the tail end of last year and will again run another IMSA/SRO split season this year.
Next comes the two Team TGM Aston Martins of bothers Hugh and Matt Plumb within the #46 machine with team boss Ted Giovanis and Owen Trinkler aboard the #64 machine as they campaign a very busy schedule at Daytona with a GTD entry within the Rolex 24 race itself over the same weekend before resorting back to the Michelin Pilot Challenge Series for the remainder of the year.
Finally but by no means least, the #88 Archangel supported Todd Coleman and Conrad Grunewald swap over to the Aston Martin for the first time having ran (Coleman) a Toyota Supra GT4 within the GT4 America series last year as they too run a split season again this year as again has been previously announced.
These seven cars help to make up a healthy forty-three car entry with GS again being the larger field with thirty-one entries and with the balance being made up with the twelve TCR class entries.
Photo credits - Teams
Three AMRs again of the fourth round of the Michelin Pilot Challenge from Mid-Ohio
Featuring another thirty-nine-car combined grid of GT4 and TCR based race cars, three Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4’s will again compete amongst their grid of twenty-four cars at Saturday’s two-hour race.
Last time out at Laguna Seca, the #7 Volt Racing AMR of Alan Brynjolfsson and Trent Hindman lucked in with the periods of caution to come out in front by the end of the pit stop cycle to come home triumphant overall winners for the first time this season to now lead the GS class.
The #12 Corsa Horizon AMR of Manny Franco and Josh Hurley also had their best Qualifying of the season to date last time out to start from the third row of the grid, although did miss out on the fortunes that Volt Racing enjoyed by pitting early for fuel. That move followed the action of others meaning that the best that they could do by the end was a P12 finish.
The #09 Stoner Car Care AMR rounds off the trio as drivers Rob Ecklin and Ramin Abdolvahabi continue within their Bronze Cup GS sub-class that runs for the first time this season. They too got caught up again in the mistakes of others that compromised their race at Laguna Seca as early as the first corner when their Vantage GT4 got turned around by a competitor.
Still no sign of a return for the Automatic Racing prepared AMR of Paul Kiebler after his initial two opening rounds at both Daytona and Sebring, before declaring a full season intention to then not race at either Laguna Seca or Mid-Ohio.
Whatever happens, we know that this will be another great race.
Photo credits – Teams
Just three AMR Vantage GT4s this time around as Michelin Pilot Challenge visits Laguna Seca
Having raced out at both Daytona and Sebring in Florida, this is their first ‘fly away’ event on the west coast of the USA for what will be a ten-round season for them.
Last time out at Sebring back in mid-March, it was the #7 Volt Racing Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 of Alan Brynjolfsson and Trent Hindman who again shone after having qualified in fifth to see out their two-hour race in second place overall.
That was matched by the #09 Stoner Car Care AMR Vantage GT4 entry of Rob Ecklin and Ramin Abdolvahabi who secured their first podium of the year in second within the new for 2022 Bronze Cup class.
After their untimely retirement during the opening round of the season at Daytona, Sebring saw a much stronger performance from the series debutants from the NTE Racing team for drivers Manny Franko and Josh Hurley although the Automatic Racing Bronze Cup GT4 entry for Paul Kiebler and Jon Branam did end their day early again after unnecessary contact in the opening laps.
This weekend’s events in California again sees a combined grid size of forty-one cars being listed – twenty-eight in GS and thirteen TCR based cars with just three Aston Martins taking part this time around.
Volt Racing, Stoner Car Care and NTE Sport prepared Corsa Horizon cars are again all listed with their existing drivers but there is no #27 Automatic Racing entry for Kiebler/Branam despite previous reports of them also confirming a full season commitment prior to Sebring.
For this series, track action again begins this Friday with two Free Practice sessions before Qualifying and their customary two-hour race on Saturday, with the race starting at 19:00hrs local.
Photo credits – Teams / MPC
New Bronze Cup targeted by Automatic Racing's Stoner Car Care AMR crew
The Stoner Car Care Racing fielded by Automatic Racing team makes the short drive north on I-4 to Daytona International Speedway this week, as the Roar Before the Rolex 24 begins the 2022 season for the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge series.
Team veterans Rob Ecklin, Jr. and Ramin Abdolvahabi return behind the wheel of the No. 09 Stoner Car Care Aston Martin Vantage GT4, committed to battle for the Bronze Cup title in the series’ Grand Sport (GS) Class.
The Bronze Cup award is new for IMSA this year, with podium and season-end recognition to the top Bronze-rated finishers. Every driver in each car’s lineup must be Bronze rated and while both Ecklin and Abdolvahabi know the competition will be tough, they’re excited for the prospect as preparations continue for next weekend’s season opener, the BMW M Endurance Challenge.
While the three-day Roar event offers teams the chance to blow off the off-season rust, business obligations will preclude Ecklin’s attendance at the Roar.
“I’m very disappointed that business will keep me away this weekend,” said Ecklin, president of Lancaster, Pa.-based Stoner, Inc. “It’s a holiday tradition, to head immediately to Daytona! It’s such an iconic track – we’ve been there so often but every time you go feels so special. It’s going to be stiff competition in the Bronze Cup this season, with some very fast drivers in that category, so it’s going to be fun. It’s one more challenge to go after.”
With Ecklin not on hand this weekend, the team’s former endurance driver, Brandon Kidd, will step in to test the Aston Martin on Friday and get the setup ready for Abdolvahabi.
Kidd was recently upgraded to a Silver ranked driver, taking him out of eligibility for the Bronze Cup and curtailing his race plans for the year.
Abdolvahabi will use the remainder of the sessions on Saturday and Sunday to continue setup work and to bring himself back up to speed on the high banks and tight corners at Daytona.
“2022 presents an entirely new challenge with the new Bronze Cup,” said Abdolvahabi, a neurosurgeon in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. “It’s great that our efforts to get this Bronze Cup in the series have paid off. It’s a motivation – we know that at this stage in the game, it’s unlikely that two Bronze drivers, or even a Silver and a Bronze, can go up against two Gold drivers. This gives us a level playing field and a way to get recognized for that. But for the Roar, the goal is to get back into the groove. We haven’t been in this car since Road Atlanta, so we’ll do some data gathering at Daytona and get some strategy going on. It’s a great warm up for next weekend.”
It will be quite busy in the Automatic Racing garage this weekend, as team manager David Russell will also field an Aston Martin Vantage GT4 for Paul Kiebler and Jon Branam.
“We’re looking forward to the Bronze Cup,” said Russell. “Rob and Ramin will run the full season, gunning for that title, and I think they have a good shot. The Bronze Cup concept is very popular around the world. The Bronze drivers are really the backbone of the series so I think IMSA will be surprised at how positive the outcome will be. There are so many guys who are not full-time race car drivers who are super competent on the racetrack so it’s good to recognize them.
“For the team, it’s great to start off with a home race, just 45 minutes up the highway,” Russell continued. “It’s so much more efficient, especially with the Roar and the race being back-to-back – that was a good move by IMSA. The field is super strong this year, and it’s clear that the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will continue to break records so there are so many positives right now with the extent of manufacturer involvement and the calibre of teams.”
Source material – Stoner Car Care
GT America's non-championship visit to Sebring proves fruitful for the AMR runners
There almost ‘just for fun’ after the series raced their additional round in support of the IndyCar Series at Nashville several weeks ago, it was a near full contingent of racers who travelled to Florida this these two forty-minute races.
Still riding high from his pair of race wins last time out at Watkins Glen, Jason Bell was again the highest placed AMR driver in second place for Saturday’s race with his #2 GMG Racing prepared car. Ross Chouest was continuing to impress with his early pace aboard his #50 3R Povoledo Racing AMR and so was Gray Newell in his #25 Heart of Racing car after his first racing podiums ever at the previous Watkins Glen round. Paul Kiebler would be continuing along his still steep learning curve aboard his #09 Automatic Racing prepared Aston as he continued to work out the car, the tracks and the race craft that joins all of that together.
Right from the start however, it was clear that a recent BoP change to the BMW M4 GT4 was going to make it very hard for any other platform to pass and that is precisely what happened for Bell as for lap after lap, he just couldn’t find a way past.
As Bell struggled against Quinlan, Chouest was defending hard against the attention of the #49 Nolasport Porsche for P3 in class but for Newell, his race would come to premature end after contact with a Mercedes further back led to frontal damage to his car that would leave both debris on track and him in the pit lane with a DNF.
For their efforts, Bell would take yet another P2 finish in class whilst Chouest claimed his third straight podium in the series in as many races!!
Sunday mornings second race was a bright an early affair as Bell again found himself behind the Quinlan BMW on the grid (set from yesterday’s fastest laps) with his stablemates all slightly further back and with Newell also being given a five-place grid drop after yesterday’s accident.
Right from the off, Bell was after only one thing and the false start first time around at least let him try that move on Quinlan for a second time – this time it worked as the #2 car lead the GT4 class out of turn 1 with the other three Aston’s also making up early place gains.
Approaching the halfway point of the race, Bell’s seven second lead was cut to nothing as the #49 Porsche tried a move on Quinlan’s BMW into the final corner. Coming under the bridge, the Porsche was seen to bump into the BMW, tapping that into a spin with the #50 Chouest AMR coming around unsighted to clip the rear of the BMW to spear himself into the outside tyre wall backwards at high speed.
Fortunately, Chouest was OK but his car sadly wasn’t with significant rear damage that would take them out of the later GT4 America Series as well.
At the restart, whilst Bell retained the GT4 lead, a stealthy move from Newell leapfrogged him with the then P4 #39 Mercedes before another move a lap later had him up to P3 in class with just minutes remaining. Then dropping back down to P4 into Turn 1 for the final time, a last gasp overtake going into turn 17 put him back into a podium position for another podium (one that MAY get elevated to P2 if the P2 finishing Porsche gets penalised post-race for the incident with the #119 Quinlan car.
All great stuff, although it was all ‘just for fun’!!
The next and final round for the GT America Series will be from Indianapolis in two weeks’ time.
Photo credits – GT America / Teams / CSJ Motorsport / F Lagunas
Double podium for Jason Bell in GT America's visit to Road America
It was something of a productive weekend for Jason Bell and his GMG Racing prepared Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 as the American racer secured a pair of podium finishes in the amateur only GT America races from Road America at the weekend.
Having elected to run in the preceding Music City Grand Prix event of the series at Nashville at the beginning of the month with fellow series AMR runner Gray Newell, this weekend saw the series return to a more traditional racetrack at the four-mile Wisconsin racetrack.
Now on the ‘homeward’ stretch to the season, this fifth round of the revamped GT America Series would see twenty-four cars entered for the two forty-minute races with cars near evenly split between the GT3 and GT4 platforms. This weekend would also see the #09 Automatic Racing entry of Paul Kiebler take to the stage in his former Kohr Motorsport AMT Vantage GT4 alongside Bell and Newell in his Heart of Racing AMR.
Qualifying second in the GT4 field, Bell was right behind GT4 Championship leader Sean Quinlan and his Cameron BMW and an early march down the front straight at the start saw the white #2 AMR take the class lead going into turn one but despite gapping the #119 car for the first ten minutes, Quinlan soon retook the class lead from which he would not look back.
Newell meanwhile had made a clean start to hold his Qualifying position during the first half of the race and was lucky not to have become involved in an incident directly ahead of him as a Porsche and as Mercedes argued over apex rights for that corner. Kiebler meanwhile, was doing what he needed to do – staying out of trouble and getting those all-important race miles in to broaden his short racing experience thus far.
Losing the class lead as well as losing contact with the class leader, the race soon become something of survival for Bell as the third placed Mercedes latched upon his tail. Thinking that he may have done enough, a missed braking point around the final lap was enough for the #39 Mercedes to snatch the middle step of the class podium at the death. Newell would retain his acquired P7 in class whilst Kiebler would not be classified as a finisher.
Sundays second race of the weekend would virtually be over before it had really started as a multiple car accident effectively ended the race on only its second lap as the debris field was cleared.
What appeared to have occurred was Newell’s AMR was struck by a Porsche going into the first corner of the opening lap, and that ruptured an oil cooler on his Aston Martin for him to then inadvertently and unknowingly drop oil around the next half dozen corners. All was good until the start of lap two when a large number of GT3 and GT4 cars spun off on the oil – some spinning off track before recovering, whilst others impacted heavily into the concrete wall bringing out an immediate caution.
Thanks to Bell having made a move to secure P2 in class going into turn one on the preceding lap, the resulting FCY meant that that was where the #2 car would finish as the race was eventually ‘called’ with still seven minutes on the clock with some eight cars not be classified.
These results remain very much provisional as the series looks to its next round from Watkins Glen in two weeks time.
Photo credits – GT America / CSJ Motorsport
