No strangers to running multi-car – multi-class entries of course saw the Henrik Lungaard led team become the third such Partner team to commit to the SRO governed series alongside that of the Walkenhorst Motorsport and Comtoyou Racing teams, also with a yet to be determined driver line up.

Again entering the new 2024 Evo version of the Vantage GT3 platform like the others, sources close to AMR have suggested that the AMR entry confirmed so far could still increase in numbers, even into double figures if everything aligns for those teams involved such is the interest with the latest Aston Martin offering.

With the team also confirming the retention of their long-term sponsor Mascot Workwear, we are just hopeful that the red and black livery of old will be retained by both cars in both series which start off at Paul Ricard in early April for the Endurance Series and at Brands Hatch for the Sprint Series in early May.

Home to AMR for many a pre-season #TeamAMR family get together, news from this final tyre test of the year at Monteblanco proved itself to be not so generous with news as the latest iteration of GT3 machinery still awaits its formal homologation certification which can only come after the release of its road going equivalent from Aston Martin Lagonda.

A few hundred miles north also saw the (as yet to homologated AMR Vantage GT4) also pound in the laps, this time around the Circuit De Catalunya near Barcelona as many current and prospective drivers and teams got to see next year’s GT4 for the first time over that two-day test.

Whilst some of those attendees have already committed to the AMR for the first-time next season, many were 17A version runners so were more familiar with the cars fundamentals.

To end of the week, some of those attending GT4 drivers have made their way over to the Paul Ricard circuit at Le Castellet for what appears to be the final Aston Martin Racing Drivers Academy shootout within the Spirit of Leman AMR Vantage GT3 which is there ahead of this weekend’s Ultimate Cup finale.

With Bullitt Racing hosting that event albeit exactly one year ago today at Barcelona, we will have to wait just a few more days to learn to takes over the crown from last year’s winner Roman Leroux. Whilst the initial nomination list at the start of the year was twenty-four drivers, many have fallen by the wayside along the season and a similar half a dozen shootout squad is again expected this time around.

Photo credit - social media

At a shared multi-day test event with of teams of varying formulae at the Norfolk circuit, works drivers Darren Turner and Jonny Adam were both on hand to assist the various invited parties as well as help within the making of some corporate films that will no doubt be released as and when these two cars do get officially launched in the not-too-distant future.

Whilst we did promise not to picture or publicly announce the names of those participating within the test, there was certainly an international theme to the day as track conditions were certainly more favourable yesterday than they were on Wednesday with bright intervals replacing the persistent rain of the day before. It was still typically freezing cold, so tyre temperature was always an issue.

Speaking with one team principal, he was hopeful of conducting an exciting new domestic/European race programme next season with one or both of the new chassis that will be become available over the winter onwards.

Other than the sights and sounds on display (and yes, the new Vantage GT3 still sounds incredible at speed), the day was more about accessibility of this new machinery with both existing and potential customers from around the world like with what we have seen from Aston Martin Racing already within the last few weeks. With anything like this, the news is not always what you see on the day but rather with what is confirmed by the teams and drivers nearer the time.

Unfortunately, we were only there equipped with an I-phone, so apologies for the low resolution of the photos and videos.

The presence within the UK this week of two Aston Martin Racing powered team owners/managers also suggested that something was afoot this week as you wouldn’t normally expect the likes of Tomonobu Fujii and Douglas Khoo to fly over from the Far East unless it was for something worthwhile!

The confirmation of the aesthetical outlines of this new race car certainly looks menacing although much of the development work remains out of sight for now under the revised lines of the bodywork with the new flares around each corner and a beefier looking wing the most obvious changes. We have always known that the existing Vantage GT3 is a fast car if the series simply allowed it to race through the good old matter of BoP again so we have no doubt that this ‘evo’ will be just the same.

Additionally, it is not a secret that the present car struggles with the present control tyre from Pirelli, so it is interesting again that this test was conducted using the official suppliers for the SRO family of series rather than the Michelins/Goodyears of the ACO family of series.

Whilst this moment should always be rejoiced at the visual confirmation that the AMR GT3 platform continues into another homologation rule set period with the impending release of the revised road car by Aston Martin Lagonda, it’s just that today has all been just a little bit underwhelming – again! That we find disappointing.

The proof in the pudding will obviously come about as and when the first Partner or Customer team take delivery of such a beast and see just how it compares to those from its racetracks advisories next season. 

The future looks bright across the Hypercar and GT race scene – let’s just shout about it a little bit more can we?