A brief spell of racing saw the #14 car move up the order several places before another sizeable off for another car around the top of the mountain saw the race again pulled back under the control of the Safety Car and there was still over ten hours to go but getting back to green saw Maxime Robin circulating within the top ten of runners!

As the race eventually settled down into a rhythm and the faster Intercontinental GT Challenge runners re-established their positions at the head of the pack, the #14 car again dropped back into the mid-pack as Andres Pato and Damien Hamilton took their turns behind the wheel as the race finally moved into its second half but not without further incident and accident on track.

 

 

The biggest drama for the team came just after the eight-hour mark as the #14 car was blocked on track by a spinning #79 Porsche only for the that car to be collected hard by the then race leading Mercedes that saw both cars destroyed and the track littered with debris, something which forced the race to be red flagged. Luckily, the #14 was no damaged within that incident despite being so close to the Porsche.

Losing eighty minutes to that clean-up operation, the race was back to green with 2.5 hours to go and too many laps difference between them and their class peers in front, it was a simply case for the team to keep running to earn themselves a Pro-Am podium finish at the end as their next class rival was another two laps back – which is what they did by finishing P19 overall for a job well done.

 

 

Photo credits – Team / Series / social media

 

 

 

 

Upon later inspection, the team have since confirmed that the damage is not repairable at the circuit and have since withdrawn from further proceedings as a result.

A sad ending for all concerned as that leaves just the Volante Rosso team again flying the AMR flag at the event within the GT3 Pro-Am class.

Photo credits – Team / Bathurst 12Hr / social media

 

As we already know, Graham Dowsett, Romain Leroux and Chris Van der Drift will partner aboard the #7 Team NZ AMR Vantage GT4 (competing within that class) whilst the #14 Volante Rosso AMR Vantage GT3 will compete within the Pro-Am class with drivers Bryce Fullwood, Damien Hamilton, Andres Pato and Maxime Robin.

Today (Thursday) sees the first Free Practice sessions of the event before Friday sees four more Free Practice sessions before Qualifying and Super Pole shootout on Saturday. The race will again start early doors on Sunday.

Photo credits – Teams / social media

 

Joining them will be the more locally based Volante Rosso Aston Martin Racing team and their venerable 16A variant of the platform that promised and nearly delivered so much at the event last year.

Competing within the #14 entry this time around will be Australians Bryce Fullwood and Damien Hamilton alongside Indonesian racer Andres Pato and Frenchman Maxime Martin within their Pro-Am entry.

No details with car liveries at the moment but that will all come soon enough.

Photo credits – Teams / social media / GTWCAus / TSS

 

 

Aston Martin Racing have now confirmed that the driver line up will be Dowsett and his long-term driver coach in Asia, Romain Leroux plus Chris Van Der Drift competing for the team in mid-February 2026.

Last time around in January this year, we saw the Volante Rosso AMR Vantage GT3 crew of Jamie Day, Matteo Villagomez and Jaylyn Robottom grab some early season headlines within their older specification Vantage GT3, eventually finishing third in class.

Photo credit – Teams / Series / social media

Not the first time at the circuit of course as that is where their season started before they then ventured off around both Thailand and Malaysia over the course of the year.

Two more-hour long races to come with alternate starts for each driver as usual – just hoping that they can end their year upon something of a high!

Photo credits – Team / Series / social media

Unfortunately, that was as good as it got for the two Prosport Racing crews as whilst the #17 crew did qualify for race one upon the front row of the grid, later incident and accident on track saw them forced to retire just before the chequered flag.

The #19 crew would have to make do with a lowly P13 qualifying position with a P13 race result at the end of that hour before moving into a P17 start for Sundays finale but this time both cars failed to finish to end what was a miserable weekend for the team.

The only other light of encouragement was from the sole Aston Martin from the Earl Bamber Motorsport prepared Team NZ crew competing within the Thailand Super Series with drivers Grahame Dowsett and Romain Leroux again behind the wheel.

This time competing at the impromptu street circuit that made up the Bangsaen Grand Prix saw the #7 crew secure another P3 podium at the end of their first GT4/GTC race before backing that up on Sunday with a P4 finish.

Photo credits – ADAC GT4 Germany / TSS / Teams / social media

No stranger to an Aston Martin, sees Liam Talbot join forces with young gun Declan Fraser aboard the teams older 16A variant for this six-round season. This re-alignment in driver personnel comes after Mateo Villagomez, Jamie Day and Jaylyn Robottom did so well within the car at the opening round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge from Bathurst earlier in the year.

From the head image, we can see in the background that the 17A car has change livery design again!

Only the #7 Team New Zealand AMR Vantage GT4 of Graeme Dowsett and Ananthorn Tangniannatchai competed this make up race as far as these two AMR crews were concerned as the #11 Earl Bamber Motorsport entered Vantage GT3 of Earl Bamber and Anderson Tanoto were not at that event. For their troubles, the #7 crew earned themselves a P19 overall (but more importantly) a P9 in GT4 Pro-Am finish to start their weekend on something of a high.

Within the next race on Saturday evening, any highs from the #11 crew from Tanoto’s P6 Qualifying position were quickly snubbed out as a spin on the opening lap saw the new Vantage GT3 Evo narrowly missed by the chasing spun after the Indonesian overcooked things on cold tyres.

Despite eventually getting going again (and being many laps down) the #11 car retired from the night race at the midway point of the hour long plus one lap race format. The #7 crew would again see things out until the end with a P19 overall/P5 in class finish.

Then in Sunday’s concluding race it was better news for the #11 EBM Vantage GT3 after a P3 qualifying position was this time guarded and protected by the more experienced race in Bamber for Tanoto to bring the car home second overall for their first TSS podium finish. For the #7 crew, they would repeat their P19/P5 finish, so they are consistent if nothing else!

Now let’s see just where this takes Tanoto in terms of future events this year?



Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media

Over the last two season’s in the TSS Series, we have had the Viper Niza team represent the brand with their 16A version of the Vantage GT3 but they have competed their last two series events within either the LMP3 car or most recently within a Mercedes AMG GT3 at the Sepang 12Hr.

Team NZ announces its programme for TSS 2024 just as the series expands its calendar from four to five rounds (and ten races) for 2024, thanks to the addition of an extra round at Sepang Circuit. The Malaysian F1 circuit has been a happy hunting round for Team NZ over the years and it has enjoyed much winning success there.

TSS 2024 will kick off next month at Buriram’s FIA Grade 1 Chang International Circuit before taking in the iconic Bangsaen Grand Prix street race. That’s followed by back-to-back trips to Sepang International Circuit before the year closes with a return trip to Buriram in December.

With the help of Aston Martin Racing Asia and Earl Bamber Motorsport, Team NZ has just wrapped up a pre-season and acclimatisation programme at Sepang Circuit as it gets up to speed with the Vantage GT4 and beds in Tangniannatchai.

Source material - Team