All being well next weekend, it should be back to a full three Aston Martin Racing powered contingent for the fourth round of the Michelin Le Mans Cup Series from the Spa Francorchamps circuit in Belgium.

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.

 

That means that his fellow ELMS co-driver, Marius Fossard will indeed be taking his countryman’s place within the #10 car which he will now share alongside GT3 Championship leading Am driver Philipp Sager. After winning the class this years extended Road to Le Mans race back in June, the Sager/Hasse-Clot combination now lead the ten strong by twenty-seven points going into this round, but any points scored in Belgium by the #10 car will obviously now be at the detriment of Hasse-Clot.

 

They in turn will again be joined by the #11 Code Racing Development AMR of Sebastian Moreno but with a co-driver yet to be confirmed after two have already completed racing duties with the French outfit so far – an outfit that has shown real pace in qualifying but have so far been unable to secure the points finish at the end. Their P5 finish at Le Mans in June has been their best result to date despite taking two pole positions at both Barcelona and Paul Ricard earlier in the year.

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.

 

The team and usual crew have, however, been testing at Spa Francorchamps over recent days in preparation to this race next weekend but it appears we may also be enjoying yet another livery design for that car too!!

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media

 

 

 

 

 

 

Running their longest race within the history of the Series at the Circuit de La Sarthe earlier today, proved itself to be another eventful one albeit not always in a positive way as far as the four Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3’s were concerned.

Qualifying was all sorted yesterday as the #10 Racing Spirit of Leman entry of Philipp Sager and Valentin Hasse-Clot this time bucked the trend in beating the #10 Code Racing Development AMR Vantage of Sebastian Moreno and Ethan Ischer to be the highest placed Aston Martin on the Road to Le Mans grid fourth in class to the #10 cars P7.

 

The two Blackthorn AMR cars of #90 Charles Bateman and Kobe Pauwels as well the late crew replacements of Giacomo Petrobelli and Romain Leroux within the #91 car (who would replace both Claude Bovet and Tom Canning due to an apparent injury to Bovet) would figure towards the rear of the fifty-eight strong grid.

An early start to the three-hour race on Friday morning saw of the crews struggling to get warmth into their tyres and brakes with the inevitable contact between cars on the opening lap saw race hobbling damage for many. One of those was the #90 car of Bateman who would return to pit lane with what appeared to just be a rear puncture but was something obviously a bit more sinister as the car only lasted another seven laps before being retired.

 

Their #91 of Petrobelli was also seen with front quarter damage which appeared to be ‘raceable’ from what little viewpoint we had of the car but that also was retired from the race on only the next lap to their sister to make for a forgettable race weekend in France for the team.

Leaving just the #10 and #11 cars to the AMR name, the race never settled until about half an hour had passed after a quick sequence of slow zones during the opening laps had again spoiled the start but only at the hour mark did we see the Safety Car for the first time after a heavy off into the safer barrier at the Porsche Curves.

 

Sager and Moreno meanwhile were keeping out of trouble circulating P6 and P10 in class respectively as their stint length was coming to an end before their Pro or silver classed drivers took over to the end. Both Hasse-Clot and Ischer quickly made their mark as the elevated their cars up to P4 and P8 with little under an hour still to go and they were both forced to pit for their final time.

Losing time to the repositioning of the car relative to their refuelling rig, the #10 car re-emerged in third as the two leading McLarens were circulating faster than what the Frenchman could cut down so a lower step of the podium was looking probable. Last lap contact between the two class leaders, however, saw the long-time leader sidelined with terminal damage allowing the #10 car to easily pass for position.

 

At the flag, the #10 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin took second in class whilst the #10 Code Racing Development go their first finish of the season with a post-race time penalty adjusted seventh in class – all subject to official confirmation.

 

 

 

An expanded fifty-eight car entry will be preparing themselves for next week’s inaugural three-hour round of the Road to Le Mans race from the Circuit de La Sarthe with now four Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 powered runners within its midst.

Not really any surprise their when the full entry list was confirmed by the Michelin Le Mans Cup Series earlier this week as the full season Racing Spirit of Leman, Code Racing Development and Blackthorn AMR runners are this time joined by a second car from the British based team.

Two rounds already in the bag for the usually European Le Mans Series support package after races in both Barcelona and at Paul Ricard, but instead of previous years two one-hour long races, the race organisers have this time elected to take the event more into the endurance arena at the home of endurance racing after all and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

 

The four Aston Martins will be part of an eighteen strong GT3 class with the balance of entries split between the two available LMP3 classes as the first track action for this event will start early on Wednesday morning ahead of a 10am (local) start to the race on Friday.

 

No driver changes are forecasted for the three full season entries as Valentin Hasse-Clot again pairs up with Philipp Sager in their #10 RSLM entry with qualifying hotshot Sebastian Moreno again with Ethan Ischer aboard their #11 CRD car whilst Tom Canning and Claude Bovet pair up within the #91 Blackthorn. They will be joined by their sister #90 Blackthorn entry for drivers Kobe Pauwels and Charles Bateman.

After two podium finishes to date, including a race win in Spain, the #10 Racing Spirit of Leman crew continue to lead the GT3 Drivers Championship by twelve points.

Photo credits – Teams / series / social media

 

 

The second round to the Michelin Le Mans Cup Series has just come to an end from the south of France with one of the three Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 crews getting favour through another chaotic two-hour race to secure a podium finish for their efforts.

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.

 

 

With the #11 car holding the class lead on the restart, there were early gains for Sager as he moved up to sixth from his P8 starting position whilst Bovet was being held in ninth but Sager would suffer defuser damage after contact from the #88 Ferrari just a few laps later.

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 for the other two Astons, it was still a chase to the final podium places as Hasse-Clot was still P4, but Canning was now not too far behind in P6 with just over thirty minutes still to go. That incentive took the Frenchman just half that time to pick up third in class but anymore was simply too much to ask – even for the AMR factory driver.

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Michelin Le Mans Cup Series today confirmed their provisional entry list ahead of this year’s visit to the Circuit de La Sarthe and its now annual, Road to Le Mans race format.

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.

 

That new entry comes from the Blackthorn AMR team who already have one car running the full season for team owner Claude Bovet alongside former AMR Drivers Academy winner Tom Canning within their #91 entry.

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.

 

 

They will compete alongside the Racing Spirit of Leman and Code Racing Development AMR’s that still only have both Tom Wood and Antoine Leclerc being listed as lead drivers within each respectively.

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

 

 

 

It’s a very busy time for many of the Aston Martin (Racing) drivers who competed at Le Mans this week as back-to-back-to-back twenty-four-hour races see their racing services demanded both at the Nurburgring and Spa 24 Hour events but also with the latest round of the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship in between.

This weekend coming sees the sixth round of the North American series take place with another six-hour running from Watkins Glen for the whole IMSA class structure which for Aston Martin fans will mean the return of the both the IMSA Valkyrie GTP car as well as three AMR Vantage GTD’s this time around.

 

It was unfortunately that ‘bad day at the office’ for the two Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 entries from both the Code Racing Development and the Racing Spirit of Leman teams after todays second round of the Road to Le Mans Le Mans Cup Series after a decent start Thursday.

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.

 

In amongst the various preparatory sessions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans around the Circuit de La Sarthe this coming week will also see the now institutional two races from the Le Mans Cup Series.

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.

 

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.

Just catching up with other Aston Martin Racing powered news from everywhere this week, we start with today’s reveal of the Racing Spirit of Lemans AMR Vantage LMGT3 that will compete within the World Endurance Championship this season.

Now just one week away from the official Prologue test before the opening race of the season in Qatar has seen the Swiss team reveal a striking new livery design that drivers Derek DeBoer, Valentin Hasse-Clot and Eduardo Barrichello will run within their #10 car.

 

An earlier than expected second race of the Michelin Le Mans Cup Road to Le Mans package proved itself to be a case of second time lucky for one of the three Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3’s entered although the calamities on track again marred the experience.

Starting thirty minutes earlier than expected thanks to the cancellation of the preceding Lamborghini race (tyre safety), the fifty-six remaining LMP3 and GT3 cars again took to the Circuit de La Sarthe for their second fifty-minute encounter.

 

Another race within the Michelin Le Mans Cup Road to Le Mans supporting programme sadly descended into something the event certainly was not intended to be last night, with the issues on track starting even before the first racing lap had been completed.

With the fifty-five-minute (or thirteen lap) race tripping the race clock at the start of the fifty-eight strong grid’s warm up/formation lap, the LMP3 pack were only halfway around their opening race lap when the first yellow flag was thrown for two of them who found themselves now stranded within the gravel at differing parts of the circuit. Original covered by a Slow Zone, the Safety Car was quickly called to action as the debris was removed.