Just over an hour by road south-west to the Dubai Autodrome has seen the Asian Le Mans Series contingent make camp at the lavish Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi for this weekend’s second and final weekend double header of its 2023 series.

Having rejoiced (briefly) at the spectacle of FIVE Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 compete over the opening race weekend in Dubai, that unfortunately and all too quickly turned sour for many of these AMR teams as first accident damage ruled one out, another was hobbled at the start of the first race for another to be all but destroyed in Sundays second race.

 

Whilst the Dubai Autodrome Circuit has perhaps never been the ‘kindest’ to an Aston Martin Racing programme whatever the series involved, you would be hard pressed to recall such an event where most, if not all of the AMR runners had been blighted with such appalling luck and misfortune.

Like previously said, both the Bullitt Racing and TF Sport teams faced early logistical issues that forced a costly air freight bill for one and the late arrival of another car for TF Sport plus much of their pit equipment.

Hopefully, tomorrow will see the first signs of Aston Martin Racing planetary alignment after a several of our teams suffered both delay and technical woe in their build up to the start of the Asian Le Mans Series from the Dubai Autodrome over the last couple of days.

Firstly last week, we had the Spanish based Bullitt Racing rediscover their containerised Vantage GT3 and pit equipment still standing upon the quayside of their local harbour forcing the Stephen Pattrick lead team to air freight their goods over to the Middle East just in time but at great expense.

 

Hot off the back of a stunning GTD class victory in the Rolex 24 at Daytona last month, Aston Martin’s ultra-successful, multiple championship-winning Vantage returns to the international motorsport arena for the opening rounds of the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series, which kicks-off at the Dubai Autodrome this weekend.
 
No less than five Vantage GT3s, all based on the ultra-luxury British sportscar brand’s critically acclaimed roadgoing version that shares the same aluminium chassis and four-litre V8 turbocharged engine, are entered for the four-race, two-event series in Dubai and then Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit the following weekend.

The quintet of Vantages are prepared by four Aston Martin Racing [AMR] partner teams in attendance, and they will be fully supported by Aston Martin Racing’s Asian regional distributor, Motorsports Services AMR Asia. Spearheading those four teams will be D’station Racing and Viper Niza Racing’s operations. FIA World Endurance Championship LMGTE-Am champions and 24 Hours of Le Mans winner TF Sport has entered two cars (and will assist D’station Racing as it does in WEC), while AMR’s Spanish distributor and team, Bullitt Racing, will make its series debut in Dubai.

Japanese squad, FIA WEC GTELM Am class front-runner and previous Asian Le Mans Series race-winner D’station Racing, will field its #77 Vantage GT3 for team owner Satoshi Hoshino (JPN), Tomonobu Fujii (JPN), and Charlie Fagg (GBR). Viper Niza Racing meanwhile makes its Aston Martin debut in the Asian Le Mans Series with its regular Thailand Super Series line-up that comprises team owner Douglas Khoo (MAL) and team-mate Dominic Ang (MAL).
 
TF Sport returns to the series with its 2023 European Le Mans Series line-up of John Hartshorne (GB), double 24 Hours of Le Mans class winner and works driver Jonny Adam (GB) and reigning FIA WEC GTELM Am vice-champion and 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Henrique Chaves in the #95 Vantage. Joining them in the team is long-time Chinese GT Aston Martin racer David Pun, racing under a Chinese flag, in the #61 car. He will be partnered by IMSA GTD Pro race winner and works driver Ross Gunn (GBR), who raced alongside Pun in the Chinese series in 2019. Adrian Henry D’Silva (MAL) will also drive in the car.

Bullitt Racing, a 2022 Le Mans Cup front-runner makes its debut in this year’s Asian Le Mans Series and brings with it a very strong driver line-up comprising Martin Berry (CDN), Jacob Riegel (DEU) and works driver Valentin Hasse Clot (FRA).
 
Huw Tasker, Head of AMR Partner Racing, said: “Interest from the Asian sector of the motorsport market is growing phenomenally quickly, particularly in GT racing. We know from other areas of international motorsport that Vantage is a highly competitive proposition in the hands of professional drivers, aspiring amateurs and gentleman racers alike and this year’s Asian Le Mans Series is another opportunity for us to prove that is the case. It’s fantastic to see D’station Racing and Viper Niza leading the charge for Aston Martin in the Asian Le Mans Series, and we’re certain that also having very strong entries from TF Sport and Bullitt Racing Vantage is very well represented in Dubai this weekend, and next week in Abu Dhabi.”

 

Having eased our way into the year with just a 24-hour GT3 race and a ‘couple or three’ of regional GT4 races, just six weeks into 2023 we have what will typically become the norm as up to fourteen Aston Martin Racing customer crews are expected to compete within four events scheduled for this weekend.

The obvious will of course be the Asian Le Mans Series that kicks off in Dubai with two quick-fire four-hour races scheduled around the Dubai Autodrome with a GT field that is expected to contain five AMR Vantage GT3’s.

Evisu Racing have become the latest team to strongly hint upon their driver line up ahead of their entry within this seasons Asian Le Mans Series.

Entering an Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 under the banner of TF Sport, the Chinese based team put out an Instagram post today saying that AMR factory driver Charlie Eastwood and experienced Malaysian based racer Adrian D’Silva will be joining the Evisu clothing empire boss, David Pun in the #61 car for the four-round series.

 

Family photos have been taken on track and the first laps of private testing have been completed for the thirty-seven multi-class car entry of this year’s Asian Le Mans Series that starts this weekend at the Dubai Autodrome.

Amongst that entry list will feature three Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GT3’s from the UK based TF Sport team for regular clients racing under both that and the names of both D’Station Racing and Oman Racing. 

After what has felt like an eternity but in reality has only been little over four weeks, it’s great to see and hear the engines of motor racing finally start to set up again for what will be another incredible busy season of racing.

Last out for any Aston Martin Racing customer team back in early December at the GT Winter Series opener at Portimao has this week various teams preparing themselves for the opening race events of the year as well as opening test sessions in preparation for their respective 2022 commitments.

Starting at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi has the Gulf 12Hr entry finally hitting the F1 circuit in Open Practice today ahead of their six plus six-hour event over the course of Saturday with David Holloway and his Century Motorsport prepared AMR Vantage GT4 leading the class by the end of today’s opening track action against their sister BMW M4 GT4 and Greystone’s McLaren 570s GT4 within the events fifteen car strong grid.

Back for some more of the same after his visit to the event back in 2019 with then an Optimum Motorsport prepared Aston Martin GT4, Holloway is this year joined by his two closest co-drivers in Piers Johnson and Bradley Ellis.

Getting fifty laps in during session 1 to finish P2 in class and another fifty-five laps in session 2 to lead their three-car class by nearly half a second puts them into a good place ahead of tomorrow’s three Free Practice sessions and individual Qualifying runs later in the day.

Also out and about on track this week has been the Heart of Racing team as they prepare to fly out to Dubai this weekend in time for their second Creventic Series entry in so many months at the Dubai 24.

Having sampled the 24H Series back at a fateful visit to Sebring where late gear box issues robbed them and their #423 AMR Vantage GT4 of a near certain class podium, drivers Gray Newell, Ian James, Alex Riberas and Roman de Angelis will reconvene in the desert next week to hopefully make amends within their eleven GT4 class field.

They will then be straight back and across the Atlantic in time for the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Champion Roar before the 24 event from Daytona just the weekend later.

The Heart of Racing car of course joins the Duel Racing with TF Sport and PROsport Racing AMR Vantage GT3 crews as well as the PROsport Vantage GT4 crews all as previously reported and who all remain on the events provisional entry list.

Then we have seen the American based Bsport Racing team out for some early test mileage at the Palm Beach Raceway in Florida after their GT3 and GTE exploits in both the UK and Bahrain late last year where Brian Putt and Kenton Koch are expected to return for another bash at the GT4 America as well as the GT America Series with a new for 2022 two car effort.

Finally and most recently, we have had the Uno Racing team out in force at their local Zhuhai Circuit today with both of their AMR Vantage GT3’s and GT4 for some early year mileage. Whilst it is not clear for which series they are entering this season – whether it be the GTSSC Series again or even the GT World Challenge Asia Series, we do still know that the team is listed upon the entry list (under David Pun’s Evisu Racing name) for the Asian Le Mans Series that kicks off in Dubai in just four week’s time.

Their last outing was at Macau where Pun secured class honours by the end of the two GT races around the infamously tight street circuit.

Their biggest struggle, like so many teams entered into all the early races of 2022 mentioned above will still be travel in and out of various countries due to CV19.

Fingers crossed for all of them.

Photo credits – Gulf 12hr / Social Media / Teams

Tomorrow sees that start of the formal track proceedings ahead of the running of the 68th Macau Grand Prix this weekend around the distinctive street circuit of the semi-autonomous region of coastal China.

For the first time since a three-car effort back in 2015, this weekend’s event shall see the return of Aston Martin Racing’s latest Vantage GT3 platform, this time running in the hands of Uno Racing for their drivers David Pun and Marchy Lee.

Belated congratulations to David Pun for securing the runners up position at the weekend in the inaugural running of the GT Super Sprint Challenge after another visit to the Shanghai International Circuit.

Racing in an Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GT3 for the first time this season (and indeed in the first AMR Vantage GT3 to be exported into the Chinese racing arena before later extending to a two AMR car team after the enforced break), both COVID and an incident later during testing threw ‘many spanners’ into the works for the Evisu fashion empire boss as the season was first delayed just after the opening round before he (and team co-driver Riokonig) swapped to an Audi R8 GT3 chassis at the last minute after an incident during testing left the Uno Racing team left them with only a single AMR serviceable chassis.

Wanting to finish the season out in an Aston, Pun returned to his fashionably liveried AMR for last weekend's event where he eventually claimed an overall P7 and P4 finishes during Saturday's wet finale - enough to conclude his runners up position in his AM+ class.

Working under the driver coaching of former British F3 racer Adderly Fong, the team now look to this months Macau Grand Prix event for their next action.

Photo credits – Uno Racing

The Shanghai International Circuit welcomes back the GT Super Sprint Challenge Series this weekend for what is their fifth round of their extended 2021 season as well as one of Uno Racing’s Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GT3’s for driver David Pun.

Having started the series with a class podium at the first round of the series way back in July, a further enforced break in motor racing events in China saw the teams wait until September when the team returned with two AMR Vantage GT3’s and a Vantage GT4 for the second round in Shanghai.

Since then, the team has skipped a round (for unknown reasons) before coming back at Uno Racing’s home track of Zhuhai – not in there AMR’s but with a pair of Audi R8’s!!

That transpired to be because of a testing incident with one of the cars prior to that round that left one car unrepairable in time for the race weekend with drivers Pun and Riokonig swapping over to two available Audi’s with Team X Works. At that round, the driver crews picked up an overall race win for Pun in Race 1 with a P3 for Riokonig before swapping fortunes in Race 2 with a P2 and P1 race win respectively later that weekend.

For this weekend’s fifth round, we understand from the team that still only one Aston Martin remains in a serviceable condition and will be raced by Evisu fashion boss David Pun whilst teammate Riokonig competes again in the Audi.

Photo Credits – Uno Racing.