Good to be back at Silverstone with ELMS and the LMC newcomers
The debut of the Michelin Le Mans Cup Series was, however, first out on track the French Code Racing Development team again represented the Aston Martin Racing marque with their #11 with Philipp Sager being joined this time around by Valentin Hasse-Clot as the absence of regular co-driver Rory Van Der Steur was explained to us (a private matter unfortunately).
Despite that early upset in their equilibrium, the #11 car proved to be fastest in this morning’s Free Practice 1 session despite losing the first twenty minutes or so of the session due to technical gremlins, the session did eventually ended earlier than expected due to a red flag and barrier damage on track.
The cars of the European Le Mans Series were out next with another solo runner again from the Aston Martin Racing stable – this time from the Racing Spirit of Leman team and their #59 car Vantage LMGT3 of Clement Mateu, Erwan Bastard and Valentin Hasse-Clot.
The cars of the European Le Mans Series were out next with another solo runner again from the Aston Martin Racing stable – this time from the Racing Spirit of Leman team and their #59 car Vantage LMGT3 of Clement Mateu, Erwan Bastard and Valentin Hasse-Clot.
Despite the ever-present threat of rain, the wet stuff did at least keep away from the circuit until the very least minutes of the ELMS FP1 session, before hammering down for another fifteen or twenty minutes or so before clearing out again for a lovely (although blustery) afternoon. The #59 car would finish that session sixth fastest in class.
The two bronze driver only tests next and Sager had to go out on wets first to start that session but quickly went onto slicks before the halfway stage. A few more FCY’s for cars stranded here and there left a one or two lap dash to the flag where all bar four cars set their fastest laps of the session as the track continued to dry.
To conclude another glorious return to the circuit was the second and final Free Practice session of the Le Mans Cup Series where Sager (again) went out solo as he and his team privately hoped for rain in tomorrow’s race to help the Austrian driver along.
Tomorrows timetable sees the ELMS cars run their second Free Practice session of the weekend ahead of Le Mans Cup Qualifying and then ELMS Qualifying before the Le Mans Cup crews finally get down to racing their penultimate race of the season at 16:45hrs local.
The question about tomorrow is again about the weather whilst in Sunday, it’s hardly a questions at all!!
Friday, September 12, 2025 |
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One Aston a piece for ELMS return and Le Mans Cup debut from Silverstone this weekend (UPDATED)
Back in 2019 when the event was last run at the Silverstone circuit, the GTE platform was still in operation as opposed to the LMGT3 platform ruleset that is used today but unlike that August date in 2019 – there were no Aston Martin Racing powered entries.
This year we have of course been blessed by the presence of the #59 Racing Spirit of leman AMR Vantage GT3 of Clement Mateu, Erwan Bastard and Valentin Hasse-Clot – a crew who finally delivered upon their possibilities last time out when the-all French driver line won the LMGT3 class outright at Spa Francorchamps two weeks ago.
As a result of that finish in Belgium, the #59 crew now find themselves lifted to lead the LMGT3 Drivers Championship table by one solitary point with just the races from Silverstone and then Portimao still to go.
They join forty-three other LMP2, LMP3 and LMGT3 entries for this four-hour race on Sunday around the full 5.6-mile Grand Prix circuit where track action will begin with Free Practice 1 on Friday before Free Practice 2 and qualifying across Saturday before the four-hour race starting at 13:00hrs local on Sunday.
Joining them at Silverstone for what will be their first time in their history will be the LMP3 and GT3 teams and crew that make up the Michelin Le Mans Cup Series who will bring along a near capacity grid of forty-three entries of their own.
Within this series we also have the early GT3 class pace setters from the French based Code Racing Development AMR Vantage GT3 with drivers Philipp Sager and Rory Van Der Steur usually behind the wheel of the #11 entry together.
However, for Silverstone, the young American is this time absent (not sure why just yet) and his place is now being taken by the increasingly busy Valentin Hasse-Clot as the Frenchman double stints in both the ELMS and Le Mans Cup Series this time around
Having started the season so well at Catalunya and Paul Ricard, high end performances started to wear off over the two Road to Le Mans races at Le Mans before most recently at Spa Francorchamps where the crew qualified in fourth, but countless track and pit lane penalties put them back to a disappointing P8 in class finish.
Having started the season so well at Catalunya and Paul Ricard, high end performances started to wear off over the two Road to Le Mans races at Le Mans before most recently at Spa Francorchamps where the crew qualified in fourth, but countless track and pit lane penalties put them back to a disappointing P8 in class finish.
From leading the class after round two, the #11 crew now find themselves fourth in the table and sixteen points behind the new leaders going into this Silverstone and Portimao final run in for the season.
Also starting their track activities on Friday with Free Practice 1 and 2 before Qualifying and race on Saturday.
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
Sunday, September 07, 2025 |
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Misery in Spa for the Code Racing Development Aston Martin in Le Mans Cup
Having qualified fourth in class in some very wet conditions earlier in the day the #11 car of Philipp Sager and Rory Van der Steur eventually got underway within the two-hour race under much drier circuit conditions although bizarre scenes within the GT3 class lead to the opening laps taking place from behind the Safety Car.
Losing nearly fifteen minutes to that clean up, Sager had already increased his track position to second in class behind the already distant Iron Dames Porsche as the race again went behind the Safety Car after the dramatic expiry of an LMP3 engine up ahead.
That was a lengthier clean-up operation with the grid finally being released with 45 minutes of the race clock having already elapsed. Sager had meanwhile already pitted for the changeover to Van Der Steur as #33 Ferrari pass the American for position along the Kemmell Straight at the hour mark.
What happened later to the crew defined their Spa racing experience from what was a potential podium winning position on track at the time as the #11 car would get pinged for multiple track limit abuses on more than one occasion, too short a mandatory pit stop time requirement and other breaches of other pit stop regulatory requirements which all resulted in a drive through and/or other time penalties for their efforts.
At the end of the second miserable hour of Le Mans Cup racing at Spa, the #11 Code Racing Development crew would eventually finish last in class and one lap off the lead GT3 pace as the series now heads to Silverstone in September.
Photo credits – Team / Series / social media
Sunday, August 24, 2025 |
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ELMS and Le Mans Cup head for Spa Francorchamps and their 4th rounds to their seasons
Having started in Spain before travelling to France (with a brief interlude thereafter for those competing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans) before returning at Imola in early July, this second half to the ELMS will see next weekend’s round in Belgium before a return to Silverstone in a months’ time before the usual season finale from Portimao in mid-October.
The entry list for Spa again just features the sole Aston Martin Racing LMGT3 from the Racing Spirit of Leman team and their all-French driver line up of Clement Mateu, Erwan Bastard and Valentin Hase-Clot within their #59 car.
Early rounds have seen Mateu step up to the mark in qualifying with an ‘at worst’ performance of P3 on the grid ahead of each of the three four-hour races ran so far and including a pole position at Le Castellet, but the longevity of their overall performance has seen them finish in either P6 or P7 at the end of each race to rest in seventh within the LMGT3 Drivers Championship table.
Since the start of the season in Barcelona, all six available LMGT3 platforms have had a change in Balance of Performance at each of the subsequent rounds so far (excluding success ballast) but the data for Spa has yet been made available but all three drivers will arrive at the circuit with a good racing knowledge of the circuit in an Aston Martin.
The forty-four strong LMP2/LMP3 and LMGT3 grid will hit the track for the first time on Friday before Qualifying on Saturday and the start to this four-hour race at 13:00hrs local on Sunday.
Then within the similarly sized Le Mand Cup Series we will see forty-three LMP3 and GT3 powered crews compete in what will also be their fourth round of the season after visits to Barcelona, Paul Ricard and Le Mans with the #11 Code Racing Development Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 of Philipp Sager and Rory Van Der Steur amongst the eight strong GT3 class.
A P2 start and P2 debut finish together in Barcelona before a race win at Paul Ricard were not sadly backed up with the series annual visit to the Circuit de La Sarthe and its two Road to Le Mans races where a lowly P9 finish in class was the best that they could offer over the course of that weekend.
The teams results from June sees the driver duo slip to second within the GT3 Drivers Championship, but just two points behind the new leading pair with three races still to go.
Running a short programme again to the ELMS, the Le Mans Cup grid will also hot the track for the first time on Friday before both Qualifying and the race on Saturday.
Photo credits – Teams / Series /social media
Sunday, August 17, 2025 |
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ELMS back in action from Imola this weekend for the Racing Spirit of Leman AMR crew
With many teams and drivers having figured within the Le Mans racing programme, we get to see the return of the #59 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin Racing Vantage LMGT3 of Clement Mateu, Erwan Bastard and Valentin Hasse-Clot for the first time together since the previous ELMS round togther at Le Castellet (France) at the beginning of May where their first pole position within class sadly dropped to a P6 finish in class by the end of that four hour race.
That results lifted the crew up to eleventh within the LMGT3 Drivers Championship table and with both Mateu and Hasse-Clot getting valuable seat time within other series, the crew will certainly be looking for an improvement upon their race pace to date.
No Le Mans Cup Series support this time around (as they will return at the Spa Francorchamps round later in August) but track action will begin with Free Practice 1 on Friday before Free Practice 2 and Qualifying on Saturday before the start to this four-hour race later on Sunday at 12:00hrs local.
Photo credits – Team / Series / social media
Sunday, June 29, 2025 |
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A tough day at the Le Mans Cup office for the two Aston Martin GT3s today from La Sartre
Again, featuring another large fifty-eight strong LMP3 and GT3 grid over the more modest forty-two strong mixed classed grid for the usual seasonal rounds, that number of cars and the varying degrees of racing abilities spread amongst the two driver crews again saw the track sessions descend into some form of anarchy even before we got to the two, hour long races on Thursday and Saturday.
Indeed, Qualifying was one of the sessions badly affected with both incidences and accidents on track to such a degree that the grid sessions for both races were set from their times posted during Free Practice 1.
The full season #11 Code Racing Development AMR of Philipp Sager and Rory Van Der Steur would be down at the tail of the grid as a result with Sager starting from P56 overall whilst the Le Mans only entered #59 Racing Spirit of Leman AMR of Anthony McIntosh and Parker Thompson would fair little better with a P55 overall starting slot.
Despite a good start from both Astons where they each picked off a few early places, the inevitable Safety Car was called upon even before the first lap had been completed but at least was a just a brief affair before the race went back to green. As the laps ticked by, both Aston Martins had worked their way into the top ten with the #59 car still leading the #11.
Pitting at the available midway point, the faster drivers of Thompson and Van Der Steur were now aboard as the #59 looked to better it then P5 position whilst the younger American looked to replicate the podium winning feats of his from the opening two rounds of the season. Whilst the guesting #59 car would come home P3 in class to win those two drivers a debut Le Mans winning trophy for their efforts, the #11 car had to make do with a P9 in class finish – but they were at least, still in the points.
Race two on Saturday, however, couldn’t have got any worse for both crews if it tried as the #59 RSLM AMR failed to take the start and the #11 crashed out just after the pits stop.
Again, another Safety Car punctuated start saw Sager survive his lowly starting position again but was unable to elevate himself up the order in the remaining laps that he had. Eventually handing over to Van Der Stuer, their race would come to a premature end as the #11 lost adhesion going into the very fast Indianapolis complex – spinning through the deep gravel trap before impacting into the adjacent tyre wall. Fortunately, uninjured but that, Van Der Stuer Le Mans debut came to an abrupt end.
The series will regroup at Spa Francorchamps with its usual full season line up at the end of August.
Photo credits – Kelvin Pope (Red Firecracker) / Team / social media
Saturday, June 14, 2025 |
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Two Aston Martin Racing powered entries confirmed in this weeks Le Mans Cup - Road to Le Mans races
Having seen the usual six round race calendar extended in race duration this year, their Road to Le Mans event sees the expected fifty-eight strong LMP3 and GT3 entry revert to their usual two race – one on Thursday and the other on Saturday morning format.
Amongst the expected fifteen strong GT3 field will be the full season Le Mans Cup entry from the Code Racing Development team and their rather successful (so far) #11 Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 car of Rory Van Der Stuer and Philipp Sager.
With two rounds having passed so far (Barcelona and Paul Ricard), the #11 crew lead the GT3 Drivers Championship table by eight points after their P2 class finish in Spain and their class win in France.
The second car is an ad-hoc Road to Le Mans only entry from the Racing Spirit of Leman team who (despite preparing their #10 AMR Vantage LMGT3 within the 24 Hours) will field a GT3 version of that car for drivers Anthony McIntosh and Parker Thompson.
Whilst we have seen McIntosh out within the Van Der Steur AMR Vantage GTD within the longer IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship rounds earlier this year, Thompson is a more familiar face behind one of the Vasser Sullivan Lexus IMSA entries this year. We were originally told that at least one half of the RTLM driver combo’ would have been former FFSA GT4 Am Champion and GT4 European Series racer Florent Grizaud but he hopes to be involved again at next year’s event.
Whilst we have seen McIntosh out within the Van Der Steur AMR Vantage GTD within the longer IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship rounds earlier this year, Thompson is a more familiar face behind one of the Vasser Sullivan Lexus IMSA entries this year. We were originally told that at least one half of the RTLM driver combo’ would have been former FFSA GT4 Am Champion and GT4 European Series racer Florent Grizaud but he hopes to be involved again at next year’s event.
We have yet to see this RSLM entry in the flesh - we wouldn't be surprised if it is just their European Le Mans Series LMGT3 entry reconfigured into GT3 format with a few decal adjustments?
Photo credit – Team / ACO
Saturday, June 07, 2025 |
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Race win for Code Racing Development in Le Mans Cup to lead the Championship
The Code Racing Development team made another monumental step up their Le Man Cup Series aspirations at the weekend after taking their Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 from the third row of the grid to secure a class win yesterday.
Racing at the Circuit Paul Ricard in the south of France for the second round of the ACO rules series saw the #11 car of Philipp Sager and Rory Van Der Steur augment their P2 finish at the opening round of the season from Barcelona top now lead the GT3 class as the series now prepares for its double header race weekend at the 24 Hours of Le Mans later in June.
Private testing at the circuit had seen the crew start from the very bottom of the timing screen earlier in the week to see them comfortably placed midtable by the end of the Free Practice sessions going into Qualifying before dropping back down to P6 by the end of that process.
With earlier rain showers having passed the circuit by, the two-hour race got underway under clearing blue skies and rapidly warming temperatures with the usually expected degree of contact between the rear of the LMP3 cars and the head of the GT3 entries with the Safety Car being called on the opening lap.
Dropping back to last overall by the time of the restart, that left a lot of work for Sager and Van Der Steur to do over the next one hour and fifty minutes. Further periods of caution saw the race again stagnated as further cars and debris were removed from the circuit with the #11 car making its way up to fourth by the time the GT’s then started to pit for fuel service and driver change.
A further Safety Car intervention for a small fire aboard another LMP3 car took further racing minutes off the clock with Van Der Steur loitering menacingly third in class with just over thirty minutes remaining. Having passed the #65 Mercedes, it was a straight chase after the #17 Kessell Ferrari for ultimate class honours and with less than twenty to go.
The job was eventually done with ten minutes remaining where just the top two in class were racing without any post-race time penalties looming at the chequered flag as the #11 Aston Martin eventually finished P26 overall and first in class for their efforts for the Code of Racing Development team to now lead the Teams and Drivers Championship by eight points as now Le Mans comes into mind.
Photo credits – Team / Series / social media
Sunday, May 04, 2025 |
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Next stop Paul Ricard for the seconds rounds of the ELMS and LMC Series
Not that the teams have been encamped somewhere in Spain since those opening rounds of course, we again welcome a combined grid of over eighty mixed class cars for this next four-hour race of the ELMS season on Sunday as well as another extended two- hour race for the LMC grid earlier on Saturday.
Like Barcelona, we unfortunately only have one Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 within each of the two ACO rules series as the #59 Racing Spirit of Leman return with their all-French driver line up of birthday boy Clement Mateu, Erwan Bastard and Valentin Hasse-Clot whilst the LMC should see the #11 Code Racing Development Vantage GT3 of Rory Van Der Steur and Phillipp Sager.
Indeed, it was the last minute.com arrangements within the #11 Code Racing Development LMC entry that impressed so much last time out with it being the first time in Europe for the young American and the first time within an Aston Martin for Sager for them to deliver both a front row in class qualifying start to end in that position with a P2 finish first time out.
They will be competing this weekend amongst another grid of forty-two cars which will be made up of just eight GT class cars and thirty-four mixed class LMP3 entries.
We then have the #59 AMR Vantage LMGT3 entry from the Swiss based Racing Spirit of Leman team who also qualified well at the opening with Mateu bagging a second row P3 start in class, but they were unable to capitalise upon that the eventually finish P7 for at least some championship points.
They will be racing within a slightly larger grid size of thirteen GT runners alongside the same number in LMP2 cars and eighteen LMP3 entries.
Track action will begin on Thursday with collective test sessions for each series before the start of more formally timed sessions on Friday before both series move into Qualifying on Saturday with the start to the LMC race at 16:45hrs local. The ELMS race will start at midday (local) on Sunday.
Photo credit – Teams / Series / social media
Wednesday, April 30, 2025 |
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A spin costs the Racing Spirit of Leman AMR at the ELMS opener in Barcelona
Like the supporting Le Mans Cup Series before it, this year sees just one Aston Martin Racing Vantage LMGT3 within its midst, this time from the Swiss based Racing Spirit of Leman team who step up to the main ELMS series for the first time having impressed so well within the Le Mans Cup Series last year.
For this year, the #59 entry is also an all-French affair as AMR factory driver Valentin Hasse-Clot remains and he has brought last season’s D’Station Racing World Endurance Championship drivers Clement Mateu and Erwan Bastard with him for their assault within the ultra-competitive LMGT3 class.
Lasts week’s Prologue Test appeared to be productive for the team as whilst Hasse-Clot has already had racing duties this season, we don’t believe that either Mateu or Bastard had turned a racing lap on track up to this point so going into Saturday’s Qualifying for the opening round – all appeared well.
That confidence transpired through Qualifying as Mateu delivered the goods to slot his #59 car onto the second row of the grid for Sunday’s four-hour opener within their thirteen-car strong class.
Under blue skies with a cooling breeze, forty-four multi-classed cars took the start with the #59 Aston looking to replicate the feat of the Code Racing Development AMR within Saturday’s opening round of the Le Mans Cup where they finished a magnificent second in class for their debuting efforts.
With the speed differential between the LMP2 protypes and the slower LMGT3’s as such, it wasn’t long before the leading prototypes started passing through the LMGT3 field for the first time of many as Mateu had by then slipped to P5 in class as the teams bronze rated driver held onto that position throughout his first hour of driving.
Back out again for his second hour long stint, Mateu quickly looked to regain ground lost to his earlier stop as the first Safety Car was called for a Ferrari LMGT3 car backed into the gravel trap at the ninety-minute mark. Losing twenty minutes to that, the race soon got back to business with the #59 car hanging onto P4 in class.
With sixty-four laps now under his belt, Mateu day was done as he handed the car over to silver ranked driver Bastard as it was clear now that the car to chase was the #85 Iron Dames Porsche who were by now maintaining a healthy lead from their present fifth position. A spin and an excursion through the gravel at turn ten compounded their own issues as the car lost ground during both the spin and the time it took to clean the Goodyear tyres up again.
Eighty minutes to go and another Safety Car for the extraction of a stranded LMP3 car in the gravel at least brought the gaps back down again but the race only got going again just before the final stop to allow Hasse-Clot into the car in the chase to the flag from what was now P9.
Two late yellows for stranded prototypes raised the pressures on the class leaders as the opening race entered its final half hour before another Safety Car in the final fifteen minutes as Hasse-Clot pushed – first for P8 before the final Safety Car before grabbing P7 by the chequered flag for six valuable championship points.
The next round of the series will be from Le Castellet in France at the beginning of May.
Photo credits – Team / series / social media
Monday, April 07, 2025 |
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Code Racing Development now prepare for opening race on Saturday after yesterdays Prologue Test
This time restricted to just seven hours of track time over a single day, the forty-two-car full season entry is this time made up of cars from both the LMP3 and GT3 classes with just another solo effort from the Aston Martin Racing stable.
Confirmed by the Code Racing Development team just hours before the cars were due to hit the track for the first time saw drivers Rory Van Der Steur and Philipp Sager announcement to world as competing within the French based team’s #11 car entry.
Whilst Van Der Steur name has been associated within the AMR family thanks to their IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge and more latterly, the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship, the same cannot be said for the elder Austrian driver who comes with a differing racing pedigree of his own.
Hitting the track for the first time yesterday, the #11 crew clocked up seventy-seven laps after the morning session with a further thirty-one in the afternoon giving a representative best lap time of 1:43:457 to end their day.
Free Practice for round one of the season kicks off tomorrow followed by the bronze driver test and the second Free Practice session before moving into Qualifying and wave off on the opening race later on Saturday afternoon.
Photo credits – Team / series / social media
Thursday, April 03, 2025 |
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Code Racing Development finally confirm their Le Mans Cup driver line up
As they look forward to their Prologue test this week from the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona, the team have confirmed their driver line up of Rory Van Der Steur and Philipp Sager within their #11 entry.
Whilst we are very familiar with the racing development of young American racer Van der Steur, Sager is a new name to the realms of Aston Martin Racing but the bronze ranked Austrian comes fully equipped with a diverse range of racing experiences – mainly within the GT World Challenge Europe Series but also within the Asian Le Mans Series and national Porsche championships.
We’ll surely find out a little more about this as they build up to their opening race of the year in Spain at the weekend.
Photo credits – Team / social media
Monday, March 31, 2025 |
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Two more ACO rules series gear up for their 2025 start next week in Spain
Whilst both AC rules series celebrate large to capacity grids within both multi-platform, multi-class series, we Aston Martin Racing fans will sadly have to make do with one just AMR Vantage LMGT3/GT3 within each series this time around.
The #59 Racing Spirit of Leman LMGT3 entry within the ELMS needs no real introduction as last season’s D’Station Racing World Endurance Championship racing partnership in Clement Mateu and Erwan Bastard join forces behind the wheel this time with their driver coach and AMR factory driver Valentin Hasse-Clot.
The entry list for the Prologue test shows a healthy forty-four car entry with thirteen of those being within the LMGT3 class.
Then within the support Le Mans Cup Series, we have the #11 Code Racing Development AMR Vantage GT3 for which still only has driver Bailey Voisin hinted at from when the entry was first confirmed although the official entry list shows both driver names as still TBC.
Whoever will be aboard this car will also be amongst another healthy forty-four car entry with just eight of those competing within the GT3 class with the remainder within the two available LMP3 classes.
Balance of Performance wise, the Vantage GT3 will run with the same boost as it did at the last round of the last season in Portimao but 10kg lighter to that event whilst within the ELMS, the Vantage LMGT3 will run with a new minimum base weight and power characteristics and wing angle available to them. Like always, these parameters are subject to change at the behest of the series technical committee.
The ELMS Prologue test will run across Monday and Tuesday of next week before the LMC Series have theirs on Wednesday before the first official sessions of the collective new season starting on Friday 4th April.
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
Friday, March 28, 2025 |
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Code Racing Development AMR livery reveal
Officially confirmed by the series at the start of the month as the sole Aston Martin within a GT class of just eight cars this time around but within combined grid of a forty-four cars including the two LMP3 classes.
We had hoped that today’s reveal may have also included the confirmation of the #11 cars second driver alongside that of Bailey Voisin, but we will have to wait just a little but longer for that. Not so sure why it was revealed with the number 25 on it either!!
Not too long however, as the season gets away to an official start with its Prologue test day at Barcelona at the start of April for its first hour fifty-minute race just a few days later.
Photo credits – Team / social media
Not too long however, as the season gets away to an official start with its Prologue test day at Barcelona at the start of April for its first hour fifty-minute race just a few days later.
Photo credits – Team / social media
Tuesday, February 11, 2025 |
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