Podium success for Aston Martin Racing crews at IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge opener
With most having attended last weekend’s Roar before the 24 Official Test, track data was good although in Qualifying, all were out gunned again by both the Porsche 718 GT4 and the new Ford Mustang for the new AMR convertee team, Van Der Steur Racing to claim the lead Aston starting position in sixth ahead of yesterday’s four-hour opener.
Issues were however at hand even before the green flag was waved as TR3 driver Paul Kiebler was unexpectedly called away from the circuit leaving IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship AMR Vantage driver John Potter of Magnus Racing the opportunity of some unexpected Daytona track time within a platform he had never driven before and the #09 Stoner Car Care Aston of Ramin Abdolvahabi and Rob Ecklin had needed an overnight engine change after Qualifying.
Under fine Florida sunshine, the opening race featuring a whopping forty-six cars finally got underway to some unexpectedly but very welcome clean opening laps with only slight adjustments in the starting running order taking place over the first half dozen laps or so.
Drama for the #64 Team TGM Aston of team boss Ted Giovanis was however soon at hand just ten minutes into the race as he spun between turns one and two but at least managed to avoid both the wall and chasing TCR pack leaders, albeit at a cost of dropping him to the rear of the GS field. That gap on track was however recoverable once the first FCY was called five minutes later for a stranded TCR car.
Back to green after an eight-minute period of caution of course led straight to another as the Rebel Rock Camaro this time found the wall between turns one and two with this caution this time allowing the pit lane to be opened for those who wanted service. The #29 TR3 car of Jon Branam as well as the #64 Team TGM car elected to stay out as the remainder of the GS field pitted for a mixture of fuel only and/or tyres leaving both the #29 and #64 cars on an entirely new fuel strategy.
By the time the race went back to green, forty minutes had already elapsed on the race clock and that allowed Giovanis to pit his #64 car as he had served his driver minimum time of forty minutes and allowed faster driver, Owen Trinkler aboard with still some three and quarter hours to go.
At the first hour mark, Branam pitted from P7 overall/P1 within their Bronze Cup sub-class to allow Potter his first racing mileage aboard a similarly functioning but less powerful and aero dependant Aston Martin at the rear of the pack.
The #19 Van Der Steur car of Wyatt Brichacek was still within the top ten having started his second stint aboard the blue and white car but Hugh Plumb in the #46 Team TGM car had already passed him for position to assume the lead AMR role within the race in sixth whilst Todd Coleman in his first AMR IMSA race had moved his #88 car up from P18 to P11 and both Automatic Racing prepared #9 and #09 cars had also moved forward to be just outside of the top ten although a pit lane violation for Ecklin in the #09 would drop them back from that just before the halfway mark of the race.
Two more quick succession FCY’s were then called as first the second placed Porsche had contact with the wall on the banking before two TCR cars came together in a heavy way whilst under braking into the Le Mans chicane. Further strife for Ecklin as he tried to serve his drive through only to find the pit lane officially closed meaning that he would have to do that all over again once the race went back to green – and also once he had served his new penalty for speeding within the pit lane too!!
After great opening stints from both Moisey Uretsky and Justin Piscitell aboard the #44 Baby Bull Racing AMR within the top ten allowed third driver Michael Cooper to climb aboard the colourfully liveried Vantage GT4 to take them to the end with just over ninety minutes remaining but he and Austin McCusker (now aboard the #19 Van Der Steur) and Tom Long (now aboard the #9 Automatic car) would still need another stop to make it to the end.
Both TGM cars momentarily ran line astern in second and third before Trinkler was forced to pit for service and Cooper assumed the lead AMR role within the race in eight as the race entered its final hour.
Plenty more ducking and diving went on as the minutes and laps ticked away as fuel and tyre strategy came massively into play. Another FCY for another Porsche into the safer wall around the banking momentarily slowed the race again and another long clean-up process and wave around left us with just over thirty minutes on the clock.
Long was the best of the Aston drivers at that restart, pushing his colourful AMR up to sixth making it Astons in 4th,5th, 6th and 10th as a further Porsche stopped on track, lifting all of them up another position on track.
With fifteen minutes to go, the gamble for the #64 TGM car had sadly not worked out as Trinkler was forced to pit for fuel, taking them out of what would have been an incredible recovery drive after their earlier spin and with the sun finally disappearing behind the main grandstand, the race entered its final laps but not even a late stopping BMW would be allowed to affect the inevitable results of the race.
As the chequered flag dropped, the #9 No Limits Automatic Racing car of Jim Jonsin, Brett Sandberg and Tom Long finished their first IMSA race together just off the podium in P5 with the #46 TGM, #44 Baby Bull, #88 Archangel and #19 Van Der Steur Astons finishing together in P9, P10, P11 and P12 respectively.
The #29 TR3 car of Branam and Potter would claim P14 overall but more importantly P1 within the Bronze Cup at their first impromptu attempt with the #09 Stoner car and the #64 TGM car rounding off the results for Aston Martin Racing in P17 and P19 but with Ecklin and Abdolvahabi also securing a podium P3 position in the Bronze Cup.
A great start, and for those who enter either the next round or the series as a full season entrant – we can look forward to all of that again as the series visits Sebring in just a few weeks’ time.
Photo credits – Teams / social media / D Gibson / B Chapman / H Pitman / J Price
SEVEN Aston martin racing Vantage GT4s (so far) enter official test before opening round of the Michelin Pilot Challenge
Presumably building upon the successes of last years Championship winning Volt Racing crew of Alan Brynjolfsson and Trent Hindman sees the return of some familiar faces for this season as well as a number of new teams make the transmission to the Vantage chassis for what might be for them, a dual IMSA and SRO undertaking in 2023.
In numerical order, the #09 Automatic Racing entry is now taken up by the racing crew of Tom Long (returning AMR driver) with Jim Jonsin and Brett Sandberg as they will share that car as the more established line up of Rob Ecklin and Ramin Abdolvahabi move across to the #99 throughout the year but excluding the Roar test.
Next comes the new #19 Van Der Steur Racing AMR of Rory Van der Steur, Austin McCusker and Wyatt Brichacek as has been previously announced, a trio that has only recently taken delivery of their new car for testing ahead of next weekend’s Roar before the 24-official test at the circuit.
The #29 TR3 Racing supported car sees Paul Kiebler and Jon Branam return to the platform and series after they completed the opening rounds of the series last year with an Aston Martin before electing to swap across to the Mercedes AMG GT4 platform and then other series as the year progressed. This duo has been out testing several times already over the winter in preparation for this new season.
Moisey Uretsky and Justin Piscitell (with Michael Cooper) for this four-hour opening round complete the #44 Baby Bull Racing AMR entry after they sampled the IMSA series at the tail end of last year and will again run another IMSA/SRO split season this year.
Next comes the two Team TGM Aston Martins of bothers Hugh and Matt Plumb within the #46 machine with team boss Ted Giovanis and Owen Trinkler aboard the #64 machine as they campaign a very busy schedule at Daytona with a GTD entry within the Rolex 24 race itself over the same weekend before resorting back to the Michelin Pilot Challenge Series for the remainder of the year.
Finally but by no means least, the #88 Archangel supported Todd Coleman and Conrad Grunewald swap over to the Aston Martin for the first time having ran (Coleman) a Toyota Supra GT4 within the GT4 America series last year as they too run a split season again this year as again has been previously announced.
These seven cars help to make up a healthy forty-three car entry with GS again being the larger field with thirty-one entries and with the balance being made up with the twelve TCR class entries.
Photo credits - Teams
New Bronze Cup targeted by Automatic Racing's Stoner Car Care AMR crew
The Stoner Car Care Racing fielded by Automatic Racing team makes the short drive north on I-4 to Daytona International Speedway this week, as the Roar Before the Rolex 24 begins the 2022 season for the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge series.
Team veterans Rob Ecklin, Jr. and Ramin Abdolvahabi return behind the wheel of the No. 09 Stoner Car Care Aston Martin Vantage GT4, committed to battle for the Bronze Cup title in the series’ Grand Sport (GS) Class.
The Bronze Cup award is new for IMSA this year, with podium and season-end recognition to the top Bronze-rated finishers. Every driver in each car’s lineup must be Bronze rated and while both Ecklin and Abdolvahabi know the competition will be tough, they’re excited for the prospect as preparations continue for next weekend’s season opener, the BMW M Endurance Challenge.
While the three-day Roar event offers teams the chance to blow off the off-season rust, business obligations will preclude Ecklin’s attendance at the Roar.
“I’m very disappointed that business will keep me away this weekend,” said Ecklin, president of Lancaster, Pa.-based Stoner, Inc. “It’s a holiday tradition, to head immediately to Daytona! It’s such an iconic track – we’ve been there so often but every time you go feels so special. It’s going to be stiff competition in the Bronze Cup this season, with some very fast drivers in that category, so it’s going to be fun. It’s one more challenge to go after.”
With Ecklin not on hand this weekend, the team’s former endurance driver, Brandon Kidd, will step in to test the Aston Martin on Friday and get the setup ready for Abdolvahabi.
Kidd was recently upgraded to a Silver ranked driver, taking him out of eligibility for the Bronze Cup and curtailing his race plans for the year.
Abdolvahabi will use the remainder of the sessions on Saturday and Sunday to continue setup work and to bring himself back up to speed on the high banks and tight corners at Daytona.
“2022 presents an entirely new challenge with the new Bronze Cup,” said Abdolvahabi, a neurosurgeon in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. “It’s great that our efforts to get this Bronze Cup in the series have paid off. It’s a motivation – we know that at this stage in the game, it’s unlikely that two Bronze drivers, or even a Silver and a Bronze, can go up against two Gold drivers. This gives us a level playing field and a way to get recognized for that. But for the Roar, the goal is to get back into the groove. We haven’t been in this car since Road Atlanta, so we’ll do some data gathering at Daytona and get some strategy going on. It’s a great warm up for next weekend.”
It will be quite busy in the Automatic Racing garage this weekend, as team manager David Russell will also field an Aston Martin Vantage GT4 for Paul Kiebler and Jon Branam.
“We’re looking forward to the Bronze Cup,” said Russell. “Rob and Ramin will run the full season, gunning for that title, and I think they have a good shot. The Bronze Cup concept is very popular around the world. The Bronze drivers are really the backbone of the series so I think IMSA will be surprised at how positive the outcome will be. There are so many guys who are not full-time race car drivers who are super competent on the racetrack so it’s good to recognize them.
“For the team, it’s great to start off with a home race, just 45 minutes up the highway,” Russell continued. “It’s so much more efficient, especially with the Roar and the race being back-to-back – that was a good move by IMSA. The field is super strong this year, and it’s clear that the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will continue to break records so there are so many positives right now with the extent of manufacturer involvement and the calibre of teams.”
Source material – Stoner Car Care
