So near yet so far from both a race win and championship hopes for two Aston Martin crews at Le Mans Cup yesterday
Friday saw two Free Practice and one bronze driver test ran within remarkably warm and dry track conditions (once the residual of Thursday’s overnight rain had burned away) leaving for some very pleasant conditions both on and off track for the combined LMP3 and GT3 grid entry of forty-four cars.
The #91 Blackthorn AMR car of Claude Bovet and Tom Canning was also back and in one piece after their technical issues in Belgian alongside the then GT3 Championship leading #10 Racing Spirit of Leman car of Philipp Sager and Valentin Hasse-Clot. After a points blip in Belgium, with a decent points haul at Silverstone having the possibility of securing them the title one race early – other finishes dependent.
With the Am drivers taking the start, the opening hour was at least warm and dry as (as usual) the dominant LMP3 based entry went about tripping over each other and restricting the early laps of racing with multiple yellow flag/Full Course Yellow incidents. Whilst Lemeret looked comfortable out front, Bovet was having an entertaining battle with those behind to maintain his third spot, but Sager’s race was already going badly as, having dropped to eighth on track – he got an early ten second time penalty at their stop for not following Race Control instructions at the start.
With a very restrictive ruleset on drivers minimum and maximum drive times, the natural slot for the compulsory stop was just before the hour where most (not all) had stopped for both new driver and (then) new slicks at the first availability. The #11 car held out for as long as they could before eventually pitting from P8 overall with King going out again on slicks. Then came the rain!!
Pushing hard too quickly on those slicks saw another LMP3 go off into the gravel – something that elongated second Safety Car period leaving just a twenty-five-minute dash to the flag. For the #11 crew, their race winning hopes had been washed away in that rain as King could do no more than maintain their then P4 position to the end whilst Tom Canning was suffering similarly within his #91 Blackthorn car for a P7 finish in class.
Sunday, September 13, 2026 |
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Four Aston Martins amongst nearly one hundred cars as the ELMS and LMC rolls into Silverstone next weekend
The European Le Mans Series and Michelin Le Mans Cup Series are just part of next weekend’s racing line up as the two European series battle out their penultimate rounds of the season with forty-seven LMP2, LMP3 and LMGT3’s featuring within the ELMS event and further LMP3 and GT3 based cars within the LMC event.
Within the ELMS, the #59 Racing Spirit of Lemans AMR Vantage LMGT3 had seen both Clement Mateu step away from the remainder of his envisaged 2026 racing programme with co-driver, Valentin Hasse-Clot also suffering from a diary clash with his ever-increasing IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship commitments leaving just Marius Fossard holding the fort.
This time around for Silverstone, both Hasse-Clot and Fossard are back in the saddle and will be partnered by fellow Frenchman Francois Herieu – another bronze graded driver already well versed with the pressures of ACO rules racing within the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Again, Hasse-Clot was absent from this race in Spa as his place was taken by Fossard who, alongside Sager protected their championship lead by coming home fourth in class whilst the two debuting drivers within the #11 Code Racing developments entry claimed a much-deserved P3 podium finish at the first time of asking. The #91 crews run of bad luck within the series sadly continued as an apparent brake issue/fire forced Canning to stop on track whilst then running in a podium contending position for yet another DNF upon the timing and scoring screen.
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
Friday, September 04, 2026 |
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Code Racing Development secure their first Le Mans Cup podium finish after a totally chaotic visit to Spa Francorchamps
With torrential rain having blighted the circuit in the build-up to todays race, early rainfall again affected this morning’s qualifying process for the ten GT3 runners that again included the three from the Aston Martin Racing stable.
Qualifying was extremely wet for the GT3 field as they went out on track for the first time and their tentative nature to the situation went without surprise as it was again the gentleman drivers behind the wheel. A last lap lunge from Sager saw him lift himself up to P5 at the end with Huteau just being outdone by Bovet at the end as they picked up a P7 and P8 start for this afternoons race respectively.
A 10–12-minute clean operation quietened the race before finally a wrath of LMP3 incidents for (usually) cars off track brought the Porsche Safety Car out again or a Full Course Yellow for a further three occasions before the end of the first hour with the #11 car running highest of the three Aston’s in 3rd, the #10 in 5th and the #91 in 8th in class.
Further heartache would, however, come back to haunt the #91 Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn entry with Canning at the wheel as (only a few minutes later) the #91 was seen to have stopped at the top of the circuit with black smoke pouring from the front quarter of the car with a suspected brake fire. Another Safety Car required for both that and the LMP3 car involved with the #10 RSLM incident.
To put this race into perspective – it was two hours long but only thirty-six laps were completed by the GT3 leaders with all results still subject to ratification by the series and Race Control.
Saturday, August 22, 2026 |
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Three Aston Martins back to the Le Mans Cup next weekend but with some changes afoot
As surmised with our previous European Le Mans Series preview also at the circuit next weekend, the only change affecting these three AMR Vantage GT3 entries will be within the #10 Racing Spirit of Leman team as Valentin Hasse-Clot will be stateside and racing within the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship.
We also welcome back the #91 Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn AMR Vantage GT3 of Claude Bovet and Tom Canning after Bovet found himself unable through apparent injury to participate at Le Mans which in turn saw both Giacomo Petrobelli and Romain Leroux take their places in the event. History shows that this year’s Road to Le Mans race was not a happy event for the team with both cars retiring after just a handful of laps for the opening driver.
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
Thursday, August 13, 2026 |
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Racing Spirit of Leman celebrate another late night Le Mans Cup podium celebration
With the #11 Code Racing Development of Sebastian Moreno taking his second pole start within the GT3 class of the season, the race was quickly back under the control of the Safety Car after an LMP3 car spin off on the opening lap at the Mistral Straight chicane to claim another competitor in the carnage.
Losing close to twenty minutes with the clean-up operation, it was back to green with all three bronze classed drivers within the #11, the #10 Racing Spirit of Leman (Philipp Sager) and #91 Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn (Claude Bovet) Aston Martins.
A late charge in his hour’s stint saw Bovet elevate his #91 up to seventh before the mandatory pit stops loomed with his fastest lap of his race so far as Moreno became the first of the GT3 class to pit from the lead of the class at the halfway point of the race with a near faultless display.
That left his co-driver Ethan Ischer to put in his first racing laps within the series as temperatures slowly started to cool outside, but he would maintain the teams class lead with the #10 RSL of now Hasse-Clot still in fifth but with Tom Canning getting his first racing laps in this season within the #91 car in eighth.
Just after his pit change, however, Ischer would suffer a rear wheel suspension issue half-way around the lap and that would effectively destroy their race. Making it back to pit lane, the rear right tyre was still very much inflated making a quick fix impossible and that was them done for the day again.
As the light finally began to fade, the #10 Racing Spirit of Leman car of both Sager and Hasse-Clot claimed third in class whilst the #91 Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn crew of Bovet and Canning sealed their first finish of the season so far with their P6 finish.
Next stop for the series will be during the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June with their new single race format.
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
Saturday, May 02, 2026 |
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Code Racing Development take pole again in Le Mans Cup qualifying
This time competing at the Paul Ricard circuit in the south of France, the Columbian bronze driver did what he did at the opening round from Barcelona just few weeks ago to go nearly three quarters of a second quicker than anyone else within their ten strong GT3 class to claim his second pole position of the season. His teammate, Ischer also secured a fastest class lap of the event during an earlier Free Practice session
They sadly had a heavy off in Spain that prevented them from racing in Spain, as did the #11 Code of Racing Development AMR during the opening laps of that race which eventually allowed the #10 RSLM car to come through to claim a season opening race win. It’s just now time for the teams to join together all those dots for the race.
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
Saturday, May 02, 2026 |
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Four AMR Vantage GT3 crews power their way to Le Castellet for Rounds 2 of the ELMS and LMC Series
Nearly three weeks since the start to both campaigns saw three Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 powered team look to take the start within the Le Mans Cup Series (although not all quite made that unfortunately) with one Aston Martin Racing Vantage LMGT3 powered crew within the headlining ELMS Series.
Whilst the #10 RSLM crew will be the ones to watch again from the start, the #10 Code Racing Development AMR crew should many flashes of speed and determination before their run in Spain was thwarted through no fault of their own.
Starting from the second row of that grid, contact with another car saw them penalised before a driving error of their own saw the silver #59 car spin off into a gravel trap – losing both time and laps in the process of both which resulted in a disappointing P10 in class finish at the end.
The Le Mans Cup Series will run their two-hour race later on Saturday whilst the European Le Mans Series will run their second four-hour race from midday on Sunday.
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
Tuesday, April 28, 2026 |
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The extremities of motor sport as the Aston Martin win and lose out in Le Mans Cup Series opener
The opening round to the 2026 Michelin Le Mans Cup Series turned out to be one of extremes for the three Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 powered crews earlier today as another combined grid of forty-four LMP3 and GT3 cars took to the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain.
Just days after the official prologue test at the circuit, the weekend’s work from the British based Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn car of Claude Bovet and Tom Canning would come to a crashing halt after the team owner suffered a heavy impact with the barriers during his earlier bronze driver test.
That left both the #11 Code Racing Development AMR of Sebastian Moreno and Nico Hantke as well as the now #10 Racing Spirit of Leman powered duo of last year’s Code Racing Development pairing of Philipp Sager and Valentin Hasse-Clot.
The race itself would start under somewhat chaotic conditions as a Safety Car was called before the end of lap one after three or four LMP3’s came together in the opening sequence of corners and once that was cleared, the restart quickly lead into another situation that would take out the #10 car through no fault of its own.
After all of that, AMR were left with just the #10 car of Sager and Hasse-Clot where the bronze driver ran a calculated stint to enter pit lane at the end of his minimum drive time second in class leaving the second hour to the factory driver.
Doubt would be thrown into the mix as whilst the #17 crew would have an additional ten seconds added to their race time for a FCY procedure fault, the same would soon be applied to the #10 car for the same reason (speeding under FCY by Sager) meaning that Hasse-Clot needed to gap whoever would be P2 in class by more than that at the end to win.
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
Saturday, April 11, 2026 |
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Next week sees three Prologue tests underway ahead of the following weekend season starts
We are now just one week away from the 2026 racing season going absolutely bonkers which will see our own Aston Martin Racing powered race coverage step up from just the one European based series this weekend to up to eight series operating around the globe specifically around the Vantage GT3 and GT4 platforms next weekend.
In between then and now, we will also have three of those eight series run their respective Prologue tests as the ACO based European Le Mans Series and Le Mans Cup Series prepare for their opening round to the year from Barcelona and the SRO ran GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup kicks off at the Le Castellet circuit in southern France.
Starting with that one, today saw the Belgian based Comtoyou Racing further expand their already chaotic race schedule within the GT World Challenge Series with another AMR Vantage GT3 entry for Aston Martin F1 driver Lance Stroll and former F1 racer Roberto Merhi (alongside third man Mari Boya).
We understood from this week’s British GT Championship Media Day that the team has recently collected their sixth Vantage GT3 platform from the Prodrive factory with this specific car being something of a last-minute rush to build in participation with the Comtoyou team.
That obviously expands the total AMR powered entry to seven cars with two entries from the German based Walkenhorst Motorsport team in both Pro and silver classes plus the single car from the Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn AMR which will race in the bronze class.
Then just along the south coast of Europe, both the ACO rules European Le Mans Series and Le Mans Cup Series will also be running their pre-season Prologue test ahead of their opening rounds to the year from the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona.
The remaining driver variations/additions and omissions have come from the ten strong GT3 class of the series within the three AMR powered entries.
Tom Canning’s progression back into ACO rules racing alongside Claude Bovet remains the same within the latter’s own Blackthorn AMR team and their #91 entry but we have unfortunately lost that of Tom Wood and his original Racing Spirit of Leman drive lost.
Huteau will also be racing within the Fanta Racing R-Motorsport V12 Vantage GT3 in the GT3 Revival Series that debuts at Paul Ricard next weekend.
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
Thursday, April 02, 2026 |
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Four Astons for the Le Mans Cup Road to Le Mans in 2026
Whilst this list ran through the expected capacity grid from with the LMP3, LMP3 Pro-Am and GT3 classes, today’s news did highlight a fourth Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 entry over and above the three that have already been confirmed for the full season.
The RTLM only entry will be for both Charles Bateman and the present AMR Drivers Academy winner Kobe Pauwels who has already ran a full Asian Le Mans Series season with the team this year whilst Bateman prepares for a full season within the GT Open Series with the team.
2026 will see the usual two sixty-minute races replaced with a single three-hour race to help wet the appetite of the circuit crowd and viewers ahead of the main Le Mans 24 Hour event.
Before then, the Le Mans Cup Prologue test from Barcelona is now just two weeks away.
Photo credits – Team / Series / social media
Tuesday, March 24, 2026 |
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Blackthorn AMR declare their Le Mans Cup Series driver line up
Blackthorn filled in their missing blanks today ahead of their return to the Michelin Le Mans Cup Series this year with their #91 Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3.
Team owner and lead driver, Claude Bovet was confirmed by the team and the series when the provisional entry list to this season’s campaign was confirmed back in January.
Fellow AMR Vantage GT3 runners, Racing Spirit of Leman are apparently (according to Endurance Info) concluding their final test and appreciation sessions with various drivers to see who will be partnering Tom Wood within their #10 car entry. We also await confirmation of who will be joining Antoine Leclerc within the declared #11 Code Racing Development AMR Vantage GT3.
Photo credits – Team / AMR
Tuesday, March 10, 2026 |
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