The end of the road for one - the beginning of a journey for another!
It started so well for the Deranged Motorsport team in the GT Cup Championship with a class pole position followed up with a class win on the opening day of the new season, but this listing confirms the end of the road for this endeavour.
Acquiring one of Academy Motorsports Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GT4’s over the winter, the GT Cup was to be the Deranged Team’s target arena for 2021 as drivers Oli Brown and Matt Lewis were ‘ticking’ all the right boxes on the opening day with their first class win, missing out on another class podium in another due to a Safety Car procedure transgression before retiring from the next race with (?) suspension related issues.
That was sadly that for the #52 car as it didn’t venture out into any further rounds in the Championship and this sale listing is the first of anything heard from the team since.
Full listing details can be found at https://racecarsdirect.com/Advert/Details/125476/2019-aston-martin-vantage-gt4
Photo credits – Racecarsdirect.com
Thursday, December 16, 2021 |
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Next intake of the AMR Drivers Academy revealed
Again featuring drivers between the ages of 17 to 26 years old, this group of fifteen potentials feature in GT series being raced through from North America and over to Europe in both the AMR Vantage GT3 and Vantage GT4 platforms but with sadly just one competing in the UK.
A reflection of the times maybe, but the many AMR customer teams that have already started upon their 2021 seasons and keeping us busy have already been rewarded with multiple class wins and overall race podiums for their effort so far.
Some of these names will be familiar from previous season’s but they have come back to the Academy to further develop their racing skills with the help that this factory selection process can provide them.
Aston Martin Racing President David King added: “The Aston Martin Racing Driver Academy has proven itself a key indicator of talent in recent years, and we see it as a vital development tool. As Ross, Tom and now Valentin are proving, this initiative holds great value both to us and to the drivers who participate, as we seek to build on the talent that exists inside our network of customer teams. We intend to continue this tradition as we look to support our partners across the GT racing spectrum in every way that we can.”
Judged again by the likes of AMR President David King, MD John Gaw, Le Mans winner and multiple British GT Champion Jonny Adam as well as Ross Gunn and Valentin Hasse-Clot – it will be more than the result sheet that these young individuals will need to satisfy in order to come out on top.
The prize on offer for the successful graduate includes financial support towards their 2022 race programme, as well as assistance and guidance from the factory, tailored to their season plans.
| Name | Team | Series | Car |
| Hugo Conde | AGS Events Racing | GT4 European | Vantage GT4 |
| Roman de Angelis | Heart of Racing | IMSA | Vantage GT3 |
| Ruben Del Sarte | Mirage Racing | GT4 European | Vantage GT4 |
| Cesar Gazeau | AGS Events Racing | GT4 European | Vantage GT4 |
| Phil Dorr | Dorr Motorsport | ADAC GT4 Germany | Vantage GT4 |
| Tim Heinemann | PROsport Racing | DTM Trophy | Vantage GT4 |
| Nicolai Kjaegaard | Garage 59 | GTWC Europe | Vantage GT3 |
| Kenton Koch | Bsport Racing | GT4 America | Vantage GT4 |
| Konstantin Lachenauer | AGS Events Racing | GT4 European | Vantage GT4 |
| Antonio Ledesma | Virage Racing | Ultimate Cup Series | Vantage GT4 |
| Romain Leroux | AGS Events Racing | FFSA GT4 | Vantage GT4 |
| Matt Lewis | Deranged | GT Cup | Vantage GT4 |
| Akhil Rabindra | AGS Events Racing | GT4 European | Vantage GT4 |
| Paul Theyagens | Street Art Racing | GT4 European | Vantage GT4 |
| Tuomas Tujula | Garage 59 | GTWC Europe | Vantage GT3 |
Photo credits - HoRT /
Wednesday, May 19, 2021 |
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More Aston Martins at this weekends GT Cup from Brands Hatch
The second round of the GT Cup Championship comes from the Grand Prix circuit of Brands Hatch this weekend with an increased Aston Martin Racing contingent to that who featured so well at the opening round at Donington Park two weeks ago.
The #52 Deranged Motorsport AMR Vantage GT4 of Oli Brown and Matt Lewis make a return after suffering terminal issues that scuppered their earlier pace and podium success at Donington park as well does Chris Murphy (again running solo) aboard his older generation #72 Whitebridge Motorsport ran car who enjoyed equal class success last time out.
Also running the new turbo charged version of the Vantage GT4 like Deranged, sees both the #82 Feathers Motorsport Aston of James Guess and Darren Turner as well as the #15 Century Motorsport Aston of David Holloway and Adam Hatfield return to the tracks having secured four class podium positions between them.
Joining them on track this time around is the #47 Ultimate Speed AMR Vantage GT3 of Mike Brown and Matt Anderson as they get their latest race car out for the first time for a mixed bunch of GT Cup and British GT action. This weekend features just two pit stop punctuated races as it was due to run in support of the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Series that moved its race date in Kent back to the summer.
Unfortunately running again behind closed doors, the Championship has already proven that its live stream is very effective.
Photo credits – GT Cup / Teams
Tuesday, April 27, 2021 |
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A successful start to their GT Cup Championship campaigns for AMR Vantage GT4 teams
Where we first thought that we would have three Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GT4’s competing within that grid, we in fact ended up with four AMR’s after the Deranged Motorsport Team switched to the AMR GT4 platform having been first linked to a Bentley GT3 entry over the winter. Their 2019 Vantage GT4 joined those from Feathers Motorsport and Century Motorsport as well as the 2016 iteration run by the Whitebridge team.
Racing over both Saturday and Sunday, each day would see the Gentleman driver take on a solo 25-minute Sprint race in the morning before using their fastest laps to set the grid for the days fifty-minute pit stop punctuated race for them and their ‘Pro’ drivers.
The #52 Deranged squad of Matt Lewis and Oli Brown were certainly the fastest of the new AMR GT4 on Saturday taking a Class Pole to flag win in the Sprint race before missing out on a potential class win in the later endurance race by getting a 5 second penalty for passing under an earlier Safety Car.
The #52 Deranged squad of Matt Lewis and Oli Brown were certainly the fastest of the new AMR GT4 on Saturday taking a Class Pole to flag win in the Sprint race before missing out on a potential class win in the later endurance race by getting a 5 second penalty for passing under an earlier Safety Car.
The Feathers AMR of James Guess was equally racy over the weekend as they followed the Deranged car home in P2 in Saturday’s Sprint race as well as claiming a Class win in Sunday’s Sprint race after the retirement of the #52 Deranged car after mechanical issues in Sunday mornings Sprint and subsequent withdrawal from the weekends final race.
The Century Motorsport prepared AMR for David Holloway reacted well to the loss of Adam Hatfield even before the start of the race weekend as he was called away from the circuit, but his slot was soon taken by the team’s ‘resident’ driver coach Bradley Ellis. Holloway and Ellis would come close to securing their first AMR derived podium in GT Cup by finishing just off the podium in P4 in Saturdays endurance race.
Whilst the three new AMR Vantages were racing in the GTH Class, the #72 Whitebridge Motorsport car of Chris Murphy would be competing in the GTB class for older production-based car’s and he would have a good weekend with a podium finish in class both on Saturday and Sunday.
Moving in Sunday’s finale, another Safety Car interrupted race saw the #82 Feathers car of Guess and Darren Turner take another podium for their efforts this weekend by taking a class win with Holloway and Ellis rounding off the podium in P3. Leaving Donington, the #82 Feather car leads the GTH Class Championship by nine points.
The collective seven podium finishes was just icing on the cake after another entertaining weekend of racing that now moves on to Brands Hatch at the start of May.
Photo credits – GT Cup / Feathers / Century
Sunday, April 11, 2021 |
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GT Cup Championship opens their season at Donington at the weekend
Always an entertaining arena for multi-class GT racing in the UK, the Championship has always been a stepping-stone between club racing to those at the higher end of the spectrum – like with what we learned of Newbridge Motorsport with Matt Topham and Darren Turner progressing up to the British GT Championship today.
Amongst the impressive thirty-eight car entry for this weekend four opening races will now feature four Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GT4’s – two being the older normally aspirated engine cars whilst two will be the newer 2019 specification, turbo charged model.
Long standing AMR runner and former GTH Class Champion, Chris Murphy again returns to the Championship as a solo driver with his older model of AMR GT4 competing in the GTB class along with the Deranged Motorsport squad of Matthew Lewis/Ollie Brown running their car in the GTH Class.
Joining these two entries will be the two new turbo charged AMR Vantage GT4’s from both Feathers Motorsport and Century Motorsport and their crews of James Guess with Darren Turner and David Holloway with former GTH Champion Adam Hatfield.
This won’t be the first time the latest AMR GT4 has competed in the Championship after Holloway ran an Optimum Motorsport prepared car at the Snetterton round in 2019 with the intention of running a full season entry in 2020 before COVID took care of that before Newbridge ran their new Vantage in selected rounds last season. Today we have had the first glimpses of the #15 Century Aston.
Hopefully, it will be better luck for all concerned this season.
Photo credits - Teams social media
Wednesday, April 07, 2021 |
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