The GT4 European Series joins the headlining GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup Series at the Dutch coastal circuit of Zandvoort as this fellow SRO sanctioned series also sees out their penultimate round of the season there.

This weekend’s entry of thirty-six cars again sees both full season Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4’s that will compete within the silver class for drivers Pedro Garcia and Clement Seyler aboard their #74 car as well as Florent Grizaud and David Kullmann who will be racing their #72 car within the Pro-Am class.

 

Despite previous championship winning credentials between both AMR powered crews, 2026 hasn’t necessarily been kind to either crew as a good start to the season for the #74 crew went completely the opposite was next time out with both a race ending crash and a DNS for race two at Monza whilst the team had to go looking for another driver to join Grizaud within the #72 car from round two after the original placement went walkabout.

Championship wise, the #74 silver crew are already out of contention being fifty-nine points shy of the present leaders but with a maximum of fifty-two points being available across the final four races of the season. For the Pro-Am #72 crew, their championship position is far worse, but they did enjoy a P2 finish in class in the second race of the weekend last time out at Misano.

 

Official track action begins as usual on Friday with Free Practice one and two before Qualifying one and two plus race one of the weekend on Saturday with the final hour-long race on Sunday morning.

Photo credits – Team / Series

The GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup is again top of the bill this weekend at Magny-Cours, France as the sprint series takes on its third round of its season and it’s second race weekend in quick succession after it previous round from Misano just two weeks ago.

In Italy, it was the Walkenhorst Motorsport team and particularly the #34 crew of Jamie Day and Mateo Villagomez who shone the brightest out of the five Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 powered runners after the silver class pairing took a P2 finish in class at the end of both one-hour races.

Their sister #35 car of Maxime Robin and Gaspard Simon were also on par with their #21 Comtoyou Racing silver class competitors over those two races as each crew secured a P5 and P7 in class finish (obviously reversed for the other crew in each race) for their efforts.

Whilst the #11 Comtoyou Racing bronze class entry of Felice Jelmini and Marcelo Tomasoni, Misano was their first sprint race of the season having skipped the Brands Hatch opening before ploughing straight into the Crowdstrike Spa 24 in June. So their two P10 finishes in class at the rear of the pack at Misano did really come as no real surprise.

 

The real surprise was the uncharacteristic performance of the #7 Comtoyou Racing Pro class entry of Nicki Thiim and Kobe Pauwels which saw the pairing qualifying way down into the midfield in P34 overall before launching something of a recovery drive to finish in P16. Race two looked better as Pauwels collected a second row start to the race only to suffer from brake issues that took them out in the early stages to that hour long race.

These five Aston Martins go again this weekend with another pair of hour-long, pit stop punctuated races over the weekend with another combined grid of forty-five entries.

Photo credits – Team / Series / social media

 

 

The Walkenhorst Motorsport team last weekend bucked the trend of their Aston Martin Racing stablemates at Comtoyou Racing having all of the fun within racing competition of late as they came away from the Misano with two podium finishes in class to their name.

Racing at just the second round of the Sprint Cup Series, the German based Walkenhorst team entered two silver classed AMR Vantage GT3’s alongside the three AMR entries from the Belgium based Comtoyou team for the weekend’s two one-hour races.

 

Race one on Saturday would be an into the night race with the forty-four strong grid lining up just before dusk but with just the #34 Walkenhorst AMR of Jamie Day and Mateo Villagomez breaking into the top half during the earlier qualifying getting a P12 overall starting slot over the next best of the #7 Comtoyou Racing Pro class entry of Nicki Thiim and Kobe Pauwels.

Race one unfortunately got off to a troubled start with many of the front running cars making contact with one another with two cars sustaining damage with a wide debris field that necessitated the Safety Car before the end of the opening lap.

 

Fortunately none of these were AMR powered runners but that did lose ten minutes of the race clock during the clean-up operation before things got going again as Day still featured as the only Aston Martin runner within the top half of the entry coming up to the mandatory pit stop window.

By the time that had finished it was practically dark around the mainly unlit circuit as now Villagomez took up the charge within the #34 car but with something of a comeback drive from Pauwels aboard the #7 Comtoyou car as he was climbing his way up towards the overall top fifteen.

 

Despite a late FCY for a car stranded in the gravel that would eventually see the race finish under waved yellows, the #34 completed the opening race of the weekend with an overall P14 finish – P2 in silver whilst the #7 car still missed out upon a class top ten finish despite their best of efforts. The #21 Comtoyou silver entry of Oliver Soderstrom and Arthur Dorison ended their day with a credible P3 in class – two places in front of the #35 Walkenhorst entry of Maxime Robin and Gaspard Simon. The #11 Comtoyou Racing bronze class entry of Felice Jelmini and Marcelo Tomasoni would feature at the tail end of the pack at the end of both races in their opening weekend of the series.

Race two on Sunday would be run under the full heat of the summer sun but with Pauwels starting from the second row of the grid in third and with the #34 Walkenhorst this time the next based AMR in P21.

 

A cleaner start this time saw Pauwels drop a place before holding position for what then appeared to be a resumption of the abilities, but brake issues would quickly see the car back in the garage for what be an immediate retirement. That left Villagomez still down in P21 as the lead Aston again.

As the race progressed, the #35 teammate of Robin was next seen climbing both the class and overall race ladder immediately prior to their stop but once that had been completed, their sister #34 again took over the leading reins for Aston Martin. Whilst the two remaining Comtoyou Racing cars got a variety of time penalties for (usually) track limits which put paid to their races, it was to be another great display from the two Walkenhorst entries again on Sunday.

 

Day and Villagomez came home to secure their second P2 in class podium having come home P16 overall whilst both Robin and Simon had their best result to date with their P5 finish in class.

The next round of the season will be from Magny-Cours in France in just ten days’ time.

Photo credits – Team / Series

 

 

 

 

Misano finally gave the two Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 powered crews something to cheer this weekend as both silver and Pro-Am classed crews took home silverware for their efforts in the GT4 European Series.

Hitting the back stretch to the 2026 season, recent races have been difficult for team especially for the #74 Pro-Am entry which needed a new driver after the opening round to partner Florent Grizaud with Kevin Kullmann eventually stepping forward at the eleventh hour. The #72 silver class entry of Clement Seyler and Pedro Garcia started well at Paul Ricard but since then, mistakes have been made by both drivers.

 

Starting race one into the late afternoon saw the #74 getting a decent starting slot P9 overall with the sister car not too far behind in P13 as both Seyler and Kullmann took the start with the Safety Car annulling the first starting charge thanks to a stranded car in track. Both cars held their relative places on track through the two starts and up until the start of the pit stop window.

Whilst Garcia did hold station when he got behind the wheel to the #74, Grizaud did drop back in the overall stakes but did still hold onto P6 in class at the time. As the shadows got longer towards the end, Garcia found himself defending heavily from the McLaren behind for what would turn out to be a P4 overall finish for the Seyler/Garcia combination with Grizaud/Kullmann car finishing P8 in class at the end.

 

For Sunday’s race, the grid had already been determined in qualifying yesterday with Garcia claiming a P11 overall starting position over the P25 place for Grizaud.

Another clean start to the race but another early Safety Car was avoided after two slow cars on track managed to find places of safety beside the track without causing any further issues. Like race one, the #74 car ran safely within the top ten whilst the #72 car this time ran fourth in class by the time of the pit window.

 

Stops over and Seyler maintained their top ten position whilst Kullmann soon moved up to second in class with just over twenty minutes remaining before a smoky Mustang brought out a Full Course Yellow seven minutes later.

 

Getting back to green with little over five minutes to go had of course brought the pack back together bringing on three very busy final laps of the race. Originally crossing the line sixth overall, a post-race penalty for a car ahead elevated the #74 car up to fifth with the #72 car second in Pro-Am for their first podium finish of the season. Garcia would also be awarded the Rookie of the Race award to sweeten previous racing disappointments in the series.

Photo credits – Team / Series

 

 

 

It was a near perfect return to the International GT Open Series for the Polish based Good Speed Racing Aston Martin Racing powered team as their Am class driver line secured a pair of podium visits at the end of last weekend two races from Misano.

First time at the Italian circuit for the European based GT3 series also saw a return to the more usual diary format of a seventy-minute race on Saturday paired with a sixty-minute race on Sunday – each punctuated with a mid-race pit stop and driver change.

 

Racing under near perfect conditions, the #14 Good Speed Racing AMR Vantage GT3 of Piotr Wira and Tomas Magdziarz went from the qualifying position of P24 overall / P6 in class to end the first day of racing on the class podium P17 overall and P3 in class.

Swapping around the starting driver for Sunday’s slightly shorter race saw the pairing start P20 overall / P4 in class to eventually finish P14 overall and first in class, mainly thanks to a time penalty being applied to the class leading car at the time and despite their own plus five second penalty for undercutting their mandatory pit stop time by that amount earlier in the race.

 

After the five races ran so far this season, the #14 crew now sit fourth in class – ten points behind the class leaders but with plenty of races still to come - next stop, the Hungaroring in early July.

Photos credits - Series

 

 

There was another class podium to be gained for the #97 Blackthorn Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 crew at the end of today’s second round of the International GT Open Series after its mixed class grid of thirty-two cars endured a three-hour marathon around the Spa Francorchamps circuit.

Having had their individual qualifying sessions earlier in the weekend, the #97 Blackthorn crew of Charles Bateman and Jonny Adam were unsurprisingly further ahead in the order in P15 overall than the Am classed stablemates of the #14 Good Speed Racing team and their drivers Piotr Wira and Tomas Magdziarz in P22 overall.

 

Starting this afternoon’s single race on what was already a damp track, the rain showers soon returned around parts of the circuit on only the second time around. Bateman managed to survive an early hip and shoulder move against him into Bruxelles to narrowly avoid spinning.

Despite a drier line soon forming, the sky remained threatening as both Bateman and Wira went about their opening stint before the first FCY was called for a car off into the tyre wall at the fast Eau Rouge rise up onto Raidillon.

 

With the first pit window being delayed as a result of barriers repairs, it was a mad dash around the next lap for the respective Am drivers before the two Aston’s pitted for the first time. With Adam now aboard the #97, their track position soon improved from the P15 prior to the stop to P10 overall/ P3 in class.

At about the 80 minute to go mark, both starting drivers were aback aboard their #97 and #14 cars as Mother Nature continued to threaten the proceedings, but crews continued to persevere with slicks as at the start to the final hour – both Aston’s had crept up into a podium winning position.

 

A final stop at the half hour mark saw both second drivers back aboard for one final dash to the flag as the rain finally cleared and the track completely dried. At the end, Adam was not just able to protect their Pro-Am podium finishing position but to step up to second in class at the end but Magdziarz was sadly unable to do similar as they would eventually finish P5 within their Am class.

The next round to the season will be from Misano in about three weeks’ time when its back to the series two race format.

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media

 

 

 

 

The opening round of the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup kicked off this weekend with two one-hour sprint races around a sun-soaked Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit with tens of thousands looking on in enjoyment.

Similarly to the sister Endurance Cup series, the Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 field is being provided by the Belgian Comtoyou Racing and German based Walkenhorst Motorsport team – fielding between them one Pro class and three silver class efforts.

 

With thirty-four equally talented rivals competing for track space around the naturally tight Grand Prix layout of the Kent circuit, qualifying would again prove to be pivotable in decided the race order even before a racing lap had been turned – something that all four AMR powered crews failed to do in either qualifying session.

With race one kicking off earlier this morning, this came to premature interval as one car was forced off heavily into the barriers which necessitated a red flag to repair the barriers but once things got going again, the race at least flowed all the way to the chequered flag before being delayed in result declaration some time later.

 

The #007 Comtoyou Racing Pro effort of Nicki Thiim and Kobe Pauwels ended that one having made up the most real estate on track from their P31 overall starting position to claim a P10 overall/P7 in class result. The best AMR powered finishers, however, would be the #34 Walkenhorst silver classed entry for Jamie Day and Matteo Villagomez as they converted their P4 in class start into a somewhat delayed P3 podium finish after post-race penalties had been applied to others.

The remaining #35 Walkenhorst silver class car of Maxime Robin and Gaspard Simon finished their first day at the office together in an adjusted P5 whilst the #21 Comtoyou Racing car of Oliver Soderstrom and Arthur Dorison finished just behind in eighth.

 

Race two later in the day followed a similar thread for those out-front making things extremely difficult for those behind in passing but with slightly better starting positions for the four AMR runners.

This time, the race stayed surprisingly green all the way but despite the #007 car again passing double digit of competitor cars on the way through, they still hadn’t done enough to threaten the Pro class podium for a P11 finish this time around.

Within silver, the #34 Walkenhorst crew would again be the best AMR finishes in class with a confirmed P4 on track finish whilst their sister #35 crew secured a P7 finish at the end with the #21 Comtoyou car just behind to make up their pair of P8 finishes.

 

The Sprint Cup runners now get some time off before their next round from Misano, Italy in mid-July.

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media

 

 

 

 

 

Not a race series that we have covered in its entirety this season, but this weekend’s final round of the FX GT4 Italy Series concluded at Misano with a double podium finish for one Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 participant.

First seen as a support series to the FIA World Endurance Championships visit to Imola in April saw the Gino Motorsport prepared Aston Martin of the Team Spirit Racing team return with Mathias Villadsen being the wheel of his #23 car again as he completed his first full season of GT4 racing.

 

An outstanding achievement of three back-to-back class wins within the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup has suddenly thrusted the Comtoyou Racing team and their silver classed drivers into a championship winning possibility going forward into its final round of the season next month.

Starting off last time out in Misano, the #21 Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 partnership of Jamie Day and Kobe Pauwels finally got ‘all their ducks’ into order to end that weekend with their first, class win of the season to move into last weekend’s penultimate round from Magny-Cours full of momentum, buoyed as well by Day’s race winning exploits within another SRO GTWC Series down under on the weekend in-between.

 

The Belgian based Comtoyou Racing finally got something to really cheer about this afternoon after a more than difficult Spa 24 as they enjoyed podium wining success for one of their Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 powered crews within the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup.

Racing this weekend from Misano in Italy, saw the team again enter two such crews – the #21 silver cup entry for Jamie Day and Kobe Pauwels as well as the #270 bronze cup entry for their revised Brazilian driver line up of Sergio Sette Camara and Ricardo Baptista. There would also be the #35 Pro entry from the German Walkenhorst Motorsport team for Henrique Chaves and Mateo Villagomez.

 

The GT4 European Series again did not disappoint on racing spectacle with its fourth round of the season visit to Misano this weekend and its thirty-eight strong entry as the two Mirage Racing and Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4s crews battled within both the silver and Pro-Am classes.

Generally, it was a much better showing from the four AMR powered crews with just one blot upon their copy book for the #39 RSLM entry of Baudouin Detout and Clement Seyler in Saturday’s one hour race but also with a double top step visit to the podium for the #7 Mirage Racing Pro-Am entry of Stanislav Safronov and Aleksandr Vaintrub.