R-Racings AMR touch of magic brings home another GT4 Class win at Spa Francorchamps
With thirty cars scheduled to start this mid-season round of the 2022 Championship, various technical issues and personal sickness side-lined two cars overnight whilst a third car crash on its way to the grid but fortunately, the #23 R-Racing AMR of Josh Miller were still there P3 on the grid with Matt Topham’s #27 Newbridge car in P8 ready for this afternoon’s start.
Scheduled for another two-hour affair around the 4.3mile circuit, Miller held his nerve for his first GT racing start at the Spa circuit to hold onto P3 going into La Source for the first time and then to move up to P2 as the pole setting Ford Mustang dropped back.
Chasing their GT4 class pole setting Toyota, Miller would soon drop back to P3 behind the #42 Stellar Audi whilst Topham struggled with confidence if nothing else (having had a crash into the wall at the start of FP2 yesterday) to maintain his P8 starting position at the head of the three Pro-Am entered cars at the rear of the pack.
Just after twenty minutes, a Safety Car for a stricken GT3 halfway up Raidillon gave the drivers some rest bite from the high ambient temperatures during the twelve minutes that that accident took to clear and at the restart, Miller was again on the ball enough to keep the fast Mustang behind him as he quickly built up a three second margin between them going into the pit stop window.
Topham was unsurprisingly one of the first to stop to hand over the #27 car to Darren Turner from P8 but that was after he had had to serve an additional 10 seconds of success penalty time thanks to their podium finish last time out at Snetterton.
On the hour mark, the #23 car would pit from second in class but being a Silver Cup car, they also had an additional 26 seconds of stop time to count down but then, so did their immediate rivals with the race. As Jamie Day exited pit lane, he retained the cars P2 position relative to the Toyota ahead, but Turner was soon moving up the order up to sixth in class and behind their Pro-Am Championship rivals from Team Brit.
For the next three quarters of an hour, that #68 Team Brit McLaren was the widest car on the grid as ex-AMR Vantage GT4 Britcar racer Bobby Trundley raced the race of his life against the multiple Le Mans winner to stay ahead both on track and within their class.
On the hour mark, the #23 car would pit from second in class but being a Silver Cup car, they also had an additional 26 seconds of stop time to count down but then, so did their immediate rivals with the race. As Jamie Day exited pit lane, he retained the cars P2 position relative to the Toyota ahead, but Turner was soon moving up the order up to sixth in class and behind their Pro-Am Championship rivals from Team Brit.
For the next three quarters of an hour, that #68 Team Brit McLaren was the widest car on the grid as ex-AMR Vantage GT4 Britcar racer Bobby Trundley raced the race of his life against the multiple Le Mans winner to stay ahead both on track and within their class.
A break came for the #27 Newbridge crew as well as the #23 R-Racing car have just passed Day for position, as the #42 Stellar Audi was given a ten second stop and hold for their incorrectly timed pit stop. That dropped the Audi back both on track and behind the #27 car and let the #23 car reassume its P2 race position.
Eventually forcing the error from the Toyota, Day was able to take the GT4 race lead with still half an hour remaining – a position that they would never look back from as the Norfolk team and their young dup of drivers went on to secure their second race win of their inaugural GT4 season after that of Snetterton last time out.
For the Newbridge team, their race wasn’t quite over as having caught the Toyota on the final lap, they were also caught by the #42 Stellar Audi which eventually passed both for position making for a P6 overall and P3 finish in Pro-Am for the #27 crew.
With the results of Spa Francorchamps already under appeal by at least two GT3 teams after their Qualifying penalties, this race result will remain provisional as a matter of course but as those appeals do not affect any of the GT4 runners, we believe that the #27 should retain its overall GT4 Class lead going into the next round of the Championship at Brands Hatch in September.
For R-Racing, they have proved that Snetterton wasn’t a ‘get lucky’ opportunity as they have brought home a class win at the most challenging circuit that they will visit this year. Today’s result will close in their points margins to the Newbridge, Stellar, Century and Academy drivers ahead of them in the Champiosnhip.
Photo credits – Teams / Jacob Ebrey
Sunday, July 24, 2022 |
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Team Brit AMR sign off their Britcar endurance campaign with another podium
Team Brit finished off their 2021 Britcar Endurance Championship in style at the weekend by claiming one final podium of the year by the end of Saturday’s final race of the season at Donington Park.
Eventually finishing third in race two, that and their P6 in class from race 1 left the #68 crew of Aaron Morgan and Bobby Trundley fourth overall in the Endurance Championship and third in class. They could rightly look back onto a season of ‘what might have been’ for the normally aspirated Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GT4 crew after those races where they either finish upon the podium or they didn’t really finish at all as they missed the E4 Class title by just nine points.
They were joined at Donington by both the part time Britcar entry from the Triple M Automotive team and their AMR Vantage GT4 for Dale and Mark Albutt who concluded their season with an improving P8 and P6 in class over the final day of racing.
Gleb Stepanov’s Aston Martin Vulcan was also in attendance with the series again although they were not a quick as we would have thought they would have been as he and co-driver Stephen Tomkins only achieved P7 and P11 finishes around the full Grand Prix circuit to see out the Championship for another year.
Photo credit – Steve Jackman
Monday, October 25, 2021 |
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Three Aston Martin's including a Vulcan at Britcar finale from Donington Park
Like so many other series that we have already spoken about in recent weeks, the Britcar Endurance Championship is just another one coming to its seasonal conclusion this weekend, this time from Donington Park with another multi-class grid including three Aston Martins.
Season long contenders from the Team Brit Team make their final appearance of the year after issues at recent rounds sadly saw out any overall Championship contention possibility that drivers Aaron Morgan / Bobby Trundley may have had with their Vantage GT4. Their P9 overall Championship position is a remarkable achievement in any situation but with two races still outstanding this weekend, there may still be some improvement upon that position as well.
Joining then in their Class 4 grid will be the Dale and Mark Albutt AMR Vantage GT4 from the Triple M Automotive team. Unfortunately for these guys, they haven’t been able to commit to a full season of Britcar racing this season, so we expect them to finish on something of a high after Saturday’s final one hour race.
Also making another guest appearance in the Championship is the Gleb Stepanov and Stephen Tomkins Aston Martin Vulcan. Raced in the series several times before over the years with various teams, the Class 1 Invitational car will be expected to win the race on outright pace but presumably only is the track conditions allow them the throw this high value car around like a race car!!
Photo credits – Britcar / Teams / Stephen Jackman
Thursday, October 21, 2021 |
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Words of note from this weekend and last
Just a few words of note from last weekend’s event and what should have been happening elsewhere this weekend coming.
The Britcar Endurance Championship were at Brands Hatch last weekend for the latest races for their Endurance and Praga Cup class. That meeting on Saturday was of course abandoned after the serious accident that occurred during a support race - an incident that cost the life of a race marshal at a post on the outside of the circuit going into Paddock Hill Bend.
Recently named by colleagues as Robert Foote, racing driver Alice Powell has kindly set up a “Just Giving’ page to help those left behind after this terrible accident. A link to that account can be found here:-
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/forourmarshal?utm_term=dzB6rMYVq
Also, another event that should be taking place this weekend has already been postponed allowing the circuit to carry on with its humanitarian efforts in southern Germany after the recent catastrophic floods in the region a couple of weeks ago that saw an ever-increasing loss of life.
Those efforts mean that the scheduled ADAC GT4 Germany round from the Nurburgring this weekend will be delayed until a future date to be confirmed. Donations towards these efforts can be made via the links that @frozenspeed (local motorsport photographer) has posted on his Twitter account as well as other fund raising opportunities.
Photo credits – Britcar / GT4 Germany
Monday, August 02, 2021 |
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An untimely reminder of the dangers of motor racing
However, it sadly transpires that during one of this afternoon’s races, a serious incident took place at Paddock Hill Bend during one of the support races when a race car left the racetrack and impacted with manned circuit infrastructure.
We don’t know the circumstances of the incident, nor the existent of the injuries received but the race meeting was abandoned as a result this and the extent of barrier damage as well.
Our thoughts and prayers are with all those involved as well as the friends and family of those involved.
Like always, there would not be any racing if it wasn’t for the unselfish actions of the men and women of the many race marshalling clubs of the world, each volunteering their time for the safety and benefit of others.
Photo credit - BMMC
Saturday, July 31, 2021 |
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Britcar Endurance back out at Brands Hatch with a single Aston this time around
With the Silverstone classic also running this weekend, the fifth round of the Britcar Endurance Championship takes place around the Indy circuit layout of Brands Hatch on Saturday with a somewhat reduced grid to that of last time.
Featuring amongst the twenty-three car entry of endurance and Praga based cars this time around is a sole Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 from the Team Brit organisation and drivers Aaron Morgan and Bobby Trundley aboard the #68 Class 4 car.
The crew’s last excursion out in the Championship at Silverstone at the start of the month where there were four AMR's entered didn’t exactly go to plan with one of the boy’s worst results to date down in P23 overall – P8 in class after that two-hour affair which in turn has dropped them down the overall Championship table to ninth.
Brands Hatch returns to a two – one hour race format on Saturday before the Trophy class cars take over for Sunday.
Photo credits – Team Brit / Britcar
Thursday, July 29, 2021 |
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No AMR success in Britcar Endurance at this weekends visit to Silverstone
Their second visit of the year to the Northamptonshire circuit after the season opener back in April, Saturday’s round would this time be a two-hour affair for which attracted a four car AMR Vantage entry.
The #68 Team Brit entry for Aaron Morgan and Bobby Trundley had been scoring at least one podium finish per event so far but technical issues for these guys early into the day’s proceedings yesterday clearly had them on the back foot, from which they would not recover.
The top Qualifying AMR car was the #38 Vantage GT4 of Dale Albutt who would start from P22 overall and P6 in Class 4. They would be followed by the #68 car in P24/P8 and then the newer, turbo charged 2019 AMR Vantage GT4 of Chris Murphy just behind. The fourth car came in the form of Mike Coker’s Valour Racing #73 car who would start his first Britcar event from P27 (P1 in class being the only INV class car to run).
Having started upon a dry track it wasn’t long before the rain started to fall, initially only around parts of the circuit but not all of it as many hung on in there with their slick tyres.
We lost the #73 car with steering issues after only nine laps but the other three full season entries continued through rain and sunshine before the weather front eventually passed over.
With the weather having now stabilised to dry with periodic bouts of sunshine, the race was then allowed to flow through to its conclusion.
By the end of the two hours, Murphy was the highest placed AMR car P18 overall/P5 in class with the #7 Triple M Automotive AMR of Dale and Mark Albutt next in P20/P7. The #68 Team Brit car would conclude its day’s proceedings in a disappointing P23/P8
Photo credits - Britcar / Teams
Sunday, July 04, 2021 |
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Britcar at Silverstone for 120min Round four with up to four Aston Martins
Amongst the so far full season entry from the #68 Team Brit car of Aaron Morgan and Bobby Trundley again features the #38 Triple M Automotive entry for Dale and Mark Albutt as well as the #72 Chris Murphy and his new 2019 specification of car. They will also be joined by Mike Coker and his #73 Valour Racing AMR on this week’s provisional entry list for Saturday’s two-hour race.
The #68 Team Brit crew presently sit in fifth place in the Endurance Championship after podium finishes at all the previous rounds so far which is a remarkable achievement considering their own set of personal circumstances that motor racing is helping them (and others with the team’s multi-class racing programme) to overcome.
Qualifying is due to take place just before noon with the start of the 120 minute race being flagged off at 15:55hrs
Photo credits – Team Brit / Eat my Pixels
Wednesday, June 30, 2021 |
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DNF blots copy book for AMR runners in Britcar's visit to Oulton Park
Today saw the third round of the Britcar Endurance Championship take place from Oulton Park with two older generation Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GT4’s within its midst.
For #68 Team Brit car of Aaron Morgan and Bobby Trundley, it was a case of trying to continue their string of podium successes following their results from both Silverstone and Snetterton rounds whilst for the #38 Triple M Automotive AMR of Dale and Mark Albutt, it was simply a case of getting ‘back into it’ having skipped the last round at Snetterton.
For the #68 car, Saturday’s event was simply a case of win some – lose some as they secured another class win during the first race but that was unfortunately marred with a DNF after spinning out and into the tyre wall after the hairpin during the meetings second hour long race.
For the #38 car, they would mark their return with a valuable pair of P4 finishes in both races as the Championship moves back to Silverstone in early July.
Photo credits – Team Brit / Britcar / Eat my Pixels
Saturday, June 12, 2021 |
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Britcar moves to Oulton Park for Rd 3
Two rounds down and the Britcar Endurance Series moves onto Oulton Park this weekend for two further one-hour races around the Cheshire circuit.
Amongst the grid of twenty-eight cars spread across six classes lists two older generation Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GT4’s – the #38 from Triple M Automotive for both Dale and Mark Albutt as well as the #68 Team Brit car for Bobby Trundley and Aaron Morgan.
The #38 car was absent from the last round at Snetterton in early May, but the #68 car scored two class podium finishes (P2 and P1 respectively) to add to their P2 finish at the second race of the opening meeting at Silverstone in April.
The remarkable thing about these successes for the #68 crew is the personal history behind the two drivers as Trundley uses motor racing to help deal with his autism whilst Morgan suffered a spinal injured whilst competing in motocross and is now confined to a wheelchair.
Championship wise, the #68 car sits first in their E4 class and fourth overall.
A remarkable bunch of individuals earning results that anyone would be proud of.
Photo credits – Team Brit / Eat my Pixels
Tuesday, June 08, 2021 |
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Team Brit secure Britcar double at rain soaked Snetterton
Congratulations go again to the Team Brit Aston Martin Racing crew of Aaron Morgan and Bobby Trundley for going some better than last time out at a rain soaked second round of the Britcar Endurance Championship today at Snetterton.
Despite what the week’s earlier provisional entry list suggested, the #68 normally aspirated AMR Vantage GT4 sadly turned out to be the sole representative from the marque amongst the twenty-nine car grid.
Having Qualified in P10 overall (second in their Group 4 class) behind the EDF Motorsport Seat Cupra again, race 1 started for Trundley in gloomy conditions as heavy rain swept in by strong winds dramatically affected track conditions with a Safety Car being required at the halfway point of the hour-long race to allow for the recovery of a stranded car having ran as high as P4 overall.
Going back to green, Morgan was soon taken for Class position by the EDF car but still had track position to maintain their P2 position in class during the remaining ten minutes to claim their second podium of the season.
Starting the afternoons second and final race of their meeting from the fifth row, Morgan would at least have the chance of starting on a wet to drying track as the light began to fade under the still cloudy sky.
Progressing well, two more stranded cars again called out the Safety Car just ahead of the pitstop window but delays on track and a scary incident in pit lane for three cars lead to further delays in going back to green.
Losing nearly half the race duration to these incidences, Trundley would have only about fifteen minutes to see out the day’s proceedings and from fifth in class at the resumption of racing, Trundley would eventually take the lead of Group four with just three minutes remaining to round off a brilliant weekend for them and this special team
Well done them all!
Photo credits - Team Brit
Saturday, May 08, 2021 |
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Team Brit secure podium finish at opening round of Britcar Endurance
Congratulations to the #68 Team Brit pairing of Aaron Morgan and Bobby Trundley who yesterday secured their first podium finish of their 2021 season at the opening round of the Britcar Endurance Championships around the shorter International circuit variation at Silverstone.
On a tight one day schedule and having had something of an adventurous opening race yesterday where they got spun around whilst competing for third in class, the crew came back from a long Safety Car interrupted second hour long race of the day to finish P2 in class with their specially adapted, dual controlled Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GT4.
A speedy young pair and despite that spin in race one, the #68 crew still finished first ahead of the other two AMR Vantage GT4 cars from both Whitebridge Motorsports and Triple M Automotive in both of the day’s races.
The Britcar Endurance Championships moves onto Round 2 at Snetterton on May 8th.
Photo credits – Britcar / Team Brit
Sunday, April 25, 2021 |
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Britcar out on track at Silverstone with three old school Vantages
All the older normally aspirated model of the Vantage GT4, Saturday’s two one-hour races will see entries from Triple M Automotive for Dale Albutt and Mark Albutt aboard their #38 machine, Bobby Trundley and Aaron Morgan aboard their #68 Team Brit car and finally Chris Murphy keeping himself busy along with his GT Cup commitments in his #72 Whitebridge car.
Thanks to Steve Jackman at Eat my Pixels, we have seen these cars on track at Silverstone earlier this month as their took up an early opportunity to circulate at the circuit during their pre-season official test day.
The race meeting itself will be conducted around the International circuit at Silverstone which incorporates the Wing pit lane, around Village, back onto the Hanger Straight through Stowe and finally in and out of Club.
Photo credits – Eat my Pixels / GT Cup
Thursday, April 22, 2021 |
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