This weekend’s sees the start of Speed Week from Spa Francorchamps in Belgium where the SRO bring together their family of GT3 and GT4 classed racing for two weekends of their finest racing which culminates with the running of the TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa next weekend.

Before we get to that point of the calendar however, we have the finest entrée of events to look forward to this weekend as we see the running of the fifth round of the British GT Championship as well as the fourth round of the French FFSA GT4 Series.

Garage 59 complete the final gaps in the 2019 Blancpain GT Series campaign puzzle this morning with confirmation of their driver line up for their Pro and Pro-Am entered Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GT3's.

Within the Pro class entered #59 will be the teams former McLaren men of Come Ledogar and Andrew Watson who will now be joined with AMR Factory driver Jonny Adam whilst the Pro-Am #188 entry is again the trio of Alexander West, Aston Martin High Performance Test Driver Chris Goodwin and TV Personality and racer Chris Harris.


“We were pleased to earn the runner up spot last year but we’re all very competitive people so of course we want the title,” said West. “The new Garage 59 is just as focused on winning titles as the old one and we believe we have the right partner in Aston Martin to do so. It’s going to take a lot of hard work from Garage 59 and Aston Martin Racing but testing has gone well so far and we are all fired up for the challenge and looking forward to getting stuck in at the first race at Monza.”

“I’m pleased with the driver line-ups we have secured,” said Team Principal Andrew Kirkaldy. “We worked with Andrew and Côme for many years on the McLaren GT programme. I’ve always been impressed with them and it is great to welcome Jonny to the team as an Aston Martin works driver who has been involved in the development of the new car. The AM squad was a case of getting the band back together so they can go after the title again.”

Todays news also shows off the teams new blue and while livery having only previously tested with their two Vantage GT3's in their base white finish.

The Garage 59 team will complete pre-season testing at the end of running tomorrow at Silverstone. The next stop for the team will be Monza in Italy for Round 1 of the Blancpain GT Series on 14 April.


Source material and photo credits - Garage 59

Having already secured the Pro-Am Endurance Cup Drivers and Team Championships within the Blancpain GT Series at the Spa 24Hr, the final race of the series in Barcelona was suppose to end TF Sport's victorious season on a high but like a lot of things motor sport - things don't necessarily always go to plan.

With full season and Championship winning drivers Ahmad Al Harthy and Jonny Adam being again joined by TF Sport stablemate Salih Yoluc all were subject to a complete range of weather conditions at the Circuit de Catalunya, ranging from bright sunshine on Saturday morning to a fully wet track in the afternoon.


Like with any Pro-Am team, that changeable weather presented some setup issues that would cater for the driving style of all three drivers but at least (and unlike the Pro titles that were still up for grabs), it was a risk free situation for the team considering he championship position. Despite the varying track conditions Adam was able to place their #97 car P2 in class and P9 overall in the Sunday morning Qualifying ahead the start of three hour finale later that afternoon.

Yoluc would again take the opening stint as the race starting on a very damp track surface and with 48 other GT3's pounding round it wasn't surprising that the opening stages were peppered with both local and full course yellow flags. The price Yoluc unfortunately paid for avoiding the near carnage ahead was by being rightly cautious in the opening laps ultimately being dropped back to P9 in class by the time of his handover to Al Harthy.


In the midst of his stint and whilst Al Harthy was pushing for P8 in class, for reasons not quite clear (maybe previous contact damage) the drivers right hand side front wing of the #97 car was lifted and ripped from the car as he accelerated along the pit straight. That itself caused another brief FCY but more importantly impeded the car from any further progress due to the loss of downforce.

Adam would see out the final hour of the season and after a brilliant display of defensive driving he  finally brought home a rather battle scared car to finish P6 in class - not the result that they had hoped for but still a fine display of determination when things were stacked against them.


With the British GT and now Blancpain GT seasons now concluded TF Sport now concentrate on the 'winner takes all' European Le Mans finale at Portimao in two weeks time with the teams #90 car holding a slender one point lead over its nearest rival in the GTE class.

Photo credits - Andrew Lofthouse

By virtue of securing a steady and consistent stream of the championship points that were made available during the Total 24 Hours of Spa up to their P2 finish this afternoon, Oman Racing have this evening been confirmed as both Pro-Am Endurance Cup Team and Driver Champions for the 2017 Blancpain GT Series.

Securing 40 Championship points towards the Endurance Cup at Spa Francorchamps alone it is no longer possible for the current second placed car, the Barwell entered Lamborghini to catch the TF Sport prepared car's present 108 point total.


In terms of the overall Pro-Am Chmpionship's, both Al Harthy and Adam now lead the Drivers Championship by seven points but trail in the Team Championship to Kessel Racing by seven points with just one more round to go.

Ahmad Al Harthy commented “Honestly, the team only told me when I crossed the line. This title is something that I have been dreaming about for a couple of years. I think this my fifth attempt at the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup. I am really proud of this title, sharing it with Jonny, and Euan and Salih played an important part in it as well.”
Photo credits - Blancpain

Hot off the heels of victory in the opening round of the European Le Mans Series at Silverstone and a double podium in the British GT championship at Oulton Park, TF Sport added further silverware to its collection on Sunday afternoon (23 April, 2017) at Monza with victory in the Pro-Am Blancpain Endurance Cup.

"For Oman Racing with TF Sport to win on its debut in Blancpain is mind blowing,” said TF Sport Director Tom Ferrier. “The level of the championship is so strong. Going into the weekend I just wanted strong points, so to achieve this surpassed expectations. We are on the crest of a wave as a team at present. We have improvements to make in all areas so I know we can be stronger."

Competing as Oman Racing with TF Sport, Jonny Adam and Ahmad Al Harthy teamed up for their first race of the season together in the #97 Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3. Practice saw both drivers working race setup initially before switching to qualifying setup and they carried that momentum in qualifying where Ahmad Al Harthy and Adam were seventh and quickest overall in the class.

The three-hour race saw Ahmad Al Harthy compete a double stint, surviving a dramatic first lap incident whilst fending off the attentions of the #911 Porsche. The team battled a small fuel rig issue which allowed the #11 Kessel Racing entry to pass in the second stop, before Adam took over for the final stint and with over a ten second deficit to the leading Pro-Am #11. With a flurry of fastest laps, Adam closed the deficit and in a late race shoot out, gained the position and with it the Pro-Am race win and eighth position overall.

Having decided to return to only the SRO's Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup over and above a joint full season entry again with the series sister British GT championship in 2016, Oman Racing arrived at Monza for the series opener last weekend with the potential to surprise.

Still driving a Motorbase prepared Aston Martin Racing V12 Vantage GT3 (presumably now elevated to 2016 specification) the new for 2016 driver line up of Ahmad Al Harthy, Jonny Adam and Devon Modell would also be competing within the Pro-Am Cup, a drop down from the Pro Cup category of the previous two years.

The #44 car would unfortunately also be the sole AMR full season entry for the marque in 2016.


Qualifying P13 overall out of a colossal grid of 57 cars the #44 Oman Racing car would be started by Al Harthy for the opening stint of around an hour, followed by Modell and then Adam to the flag. With the customary rolling start the extent of the grid was such as some cars were not even on the start straight by the time the lights turned to green but as the majority thundered down to the tight Variante Del Rettifilo the prospect of race ending damage was still ever present.

Fortunately, Al Harthy and indeed most of the other cars managed to jockey themselves relatively unscathed around the right then left hander to start the three hour race in earnest. Al Harthy very quickly settled down to his own driving pattern and race strategy and within only 20minutes had climbed the leader board to P9 overall (P3 in class) but genuinely holding track position through pace and line over Pro drivers in much newer machinery. A superb drive.


At the top of the first hour he handed the car over to Modell from a very impressive fifth on track and leading the Pro-Am class as the then leading Black Pearl Racing Ferrari having already pitted. Despite the young Brit having competed in Blancpain last year in a BMW Z4 this would be his first racing experience of the AMR Vantage and only his second completive race of 2016 (Dubai 24H in a GT4 Vantage) so would ave been out to impress!

And that he would, battling with the ebb and flow of the race together with numerous yellow flag incidents Modell would complete his hour stint fourteenth overall but more importantly holding P3 in class - the chase to the flag would be then down to AMR factory driver Jonny Adam.

With only about half the remaining field being in a competitive position on track (remainder being multiple laps down relatively speaking) Adam just had to chase down the #66 Ferrari for position in class but he lost a number of laps (and time) by being held up by two ever so slightly fastest Audi R8's squabbling over P12/13 in Pro class. The similarities in performance between the two chassis meant that only a banzai (possibly race ending) manoeuvre would have allowed him to pass these two cars sooner than he did.


Entering the final eighteen minutes of the race 'things were looking good' for a podium finish for the #44 car - well it was before pseudo Ferrari factory driver Giancarlo Fisichella came along out of nowhere in his brand new #53 488 GT3 quickly taking Adam for position. Despite all valiant efforts the #44 car was unable to make up the time difference between it and the #66 Black Pearl Racing Ferrari just ahead of it and would finish thirteenth overall and P4 in class - the #53 car was fast enough to catch and pass the #66 car in the final quarter to claim second in Pro-Am!!

The series opener was a great display for the series - gone were many of the idiotic manoeuvres that previously eliminated cars at almost every corner. Al Harthy clearly drove the race of his life yesterday and it was a shame that his efforts could not have been reward with a podium.

The series now moves onto to Silverstone at the beginning of May where the power characteristics of the V12 Vantage may again prove competitive against it newer iteration adversaries.

Photo credits - Blancpain / Oman Racing