This time qualifying in P8 within a total entry list of just nine cars saw the #2 car make up early ground as the race got underway amid a rain shower leaving the grid split over tyre selection. Electing to start on wets, Bell quickly moved up to third in the opening laps but was penalised for having crew members working upon the car whilst on the grid for which they received a drive through penalty.

Initially returning to the track in sixth, the now drying track lead to the cars who started on slicks to finally come through leading to another disappointing P8 finish. For race two on Sunday, the #2 car failed to take the start for (as yet) unknown reasons.

Then, within the longer GT World Challenge America Series, the #24 Heart of Racing AMR Vantage GT3 of Gray Newell continued his GT3 development under the watchful eye of AMR factory driver Darren Turner who was racing at the circuit for the first time.

A change in strategy within the #24 car saw Newell ran longer in his opening stint in race one for the car to eventually return home fourth in class after Turner lost out to contact from another car whilst challenging for a podium position.

Their chances in race two a thwarted at an early stage on Sunday after the car found itself being boxed in during the opening corners where Turner lost momentum to then become baulked by slow cars on track up until the pit stop window. Again pitting differently to the pack, it was hoped that Newell could achieve the undercut but eventually lost out after himself being punted off track before returning for a lowly P7 finish.

The season will now conclude at Indianapolis for their eight-hour finale next month.

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Much like last time out at Road America three weeks ago, there will be one Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 apiece in each of the GT World Challenge America and GT America Series racers as the #24 Heart of Racing AMR of Gray Newell and Darren Turner look to duplicate their P3 class winning podium winning efforts at Road America whilst the #2 Racers Edge AMR Vantage GT3 of Jason Bell just looks to get in some quality racing laps after another miserable venture out last time again.

Whilst the #24 HoRT AMR will again compete against fourteen other Pro, Pro-Am and Am class rivels, the entry list for the GT America races has thankfully increased to (albeit just) nine GT3 only based entries. For both crews, championship winning aspirations are not upon the radar this time around.

Finally, there will be the three, one-hour long races of the GT4 America Series as its scheduled twenty-three strong entry list- again featuring Aston Martin Racing powered entries across its silver and Am classes.

Road America started well in Qualifying for the JMF Motorsport and Van Der Steur AMR Vantage GT4 crews of Braydon Arthur and Mike David Ortmann secured pole position in their #4 car ahead of their #3 sister car of Jesse Webb and Jonathon Neudorf in second and the #39 Van Der Steur AMR of Max Hewitt and Luca Mars in third but for the rain storm that descended upon the circuit immediately prior to the start of that opening race. For that reason, race one from Road America has been rescheduled to run within this race weekend on top of its usually rostered two races.

For race 2 which did run on Sunday from Road America saw the #4 JMF crew take an overall solo race win for Ortmann after Arthur proved to be unwell on the day with the Am classed Skip Barber Racing AMR of Michael and Alex Garcia who claimed a second in their class whilst the #26 Heart of Racing Vantage Gt4 of Hannah Grisham and Hannah Greenemeir finished just off the podium this time around, P4 in silver.

Championship wise – the #4 JMF crew of Arthur and Ortmann do still retain something of a mathematical possibility of lifting the silver class drivers crown at Indy, but they would need to certainly finish upon the podium for the remaining five races whilst hoping that the falter along the way themselves.

In Am, the Garcia brothers have a slightly easier points deficit to climb being just forty-two points the current leaders in fourth with these five races to go.

The revised race programme for the GT4 America Series will see the Road America make-up race being ran after Free Practice 2 on Friday before reverting back to its more usual race programme format over both Saturday and Sunday.

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Whilst the preliminary sessions had been undertaken within dry conditions, a P5 starting position ahead of Saturdays forty-minute opener was looking promising – at least until the torrential rain arrived ahead of their assembly upon the grid.

Starting from behind the Safety Car, visibility was atrocious even at those low speeds as the race clock had already begun for at least the first couple of laps before going green but even before the grid got that far, Bell would be seen spinning off into the grass outfield to nudge the tyre wall. Getting going again and catching the rear of the pack before the end of the next lap, there didn’t appear to be too much damage done to the car.

With just twenty-eight minutes remaining, the race finally went to green further but more substantial rear end contact with the circuit barriers saw the #2 car stranded across the track with significant damage before that first racing lap was complete.

Later reported as being otherwise OK for that impact, Bell and his car were also done from Sundays second race due to the extent and nature of the damage that could not be repaired in time at the circuit to end yet another miserable race weekend for them all.

Next stop for the series will be from Barber Motorsport Park in early September.

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Last time out at VIR little under a month ago saw the Heart of Racing take monumental steps forward within their SRO3 class after positive Balance of Performance changes to their car saw the Pro-Am pairing secure a double class podium finish with a P2 in race one and a P3 at the end of the second ninety-minute race.

Those results lifted the #24 crew up to fifth within the Pro-Am Drivers Championship with a pair of races left at both Road America and Barber Motorsport Park before the final race of the season at the joint GT World Challenge America / Intercontinental GT Challenge round from Indianapolis in mid-October.

Within the GT America Series however, we will witness one of their smallest grid entries for some time as just seven GT3 based (SRO3) classed cars will compete within their two forty-minute rounds of the weekend.

Jason Bell, like at VIR last time out, has again elected to race solo under the tutelage of Michael Cooper and the Racers Edge Motorsport team as he continues in his development within his #2 AMR Vantage GT3 Evo.

Despite qualifying third in class last time out at VIR, an off for him at the old Oak Tree Bend saw his car nosedive into the tyre wall and have his internal fire extinguisher go off for his first DNF of the weekend before having to pit early during race two with similar internal car issues. Hopefully, those issues have now been long since sorted with the more open layout of the Road America circuit hopefully playing into the hands of a more powerful Aston Martin.

Having seen a variety of GT4 teams and drivers compete within the series over the previous five rounds and with two 89X Motorsport AMR Vantage GT4 cars running at VIR last time out, none have returned for this fifth round of the season and that must be worrying for the series officials.

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At the top of the list, the headlining GT World Challenge America Series this week sees just one AMR Vantage GT3 take part within the expected sixteen strong entry for these two races as the #2 Racers Edge Motorsport AMR makes alternative arrangements for its bronze rated driver Jason Bell within just the GT America Series.

That leaves the #24 Heart of Racing AMR of Gray Newell and Darren Turner to try what they might after their pair of P7 finishes within Pro-Am last time out.

Within that GT America Series, the Vantage GT3 of Bell will not be the sole Aston Martin either as Michael Fitzpatrick and his 89X Motorsport team come back for some more, hoping that consistency can be more the key after he secured a P2 class finish over the bumps of Sebring in race one but failed to finish race two.

They and just seven other cars will compete within their two forty-minute, non-pit stop punctuated races over the weekend.

That leaves the ultra-competitive GT4 America Series and their expected twenty-nine car entry, within which will feature five AMR Vantage GT4 crews. That’s unfortunately a two car drop from Sebring but will again feature two cars from the JMF Motorsport team and a car apiece from each of the Skip Barber Racing, Heart of Racing and Van Ders Steur AMR teams as well.

Sebring saw the #39 car of Max Hewitt step up from the GT America Series to compete within the busier GT4 America Series for the first time alongside accomplished side-kick Luca Mars within the silver class and from where the dup secured two class pole positions, a P2 class finish (P3 overall) in race one and an P5 class finish in race two to round off a successful weekend in Florida.

Obviously, they were will trying to show that that was no fluke around VIR but the two JMF crews suffered lots of mistakes and misfortune at Sebring that effectively saw them take themselves out of race contention both times whilst the #26 HoRT AMR of Hannah Grisham/Hannah Greenemeir and the #07 Skip Barber Racing entry of brothers Alex and Michael Garcia each had to make do with a pair of P7 and P4 finishes within their respective silver and Am classes.

For each series, official track action begins on Friday with Free Practice before rolling into Saturday with Qualifying and the first race of the weekend before rounding off their respective weekends with race two on Sunday.

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Posting his first SRO America qualifying lap time that would see hm start from P8 on the grid for Saturday’s opening forty-minute lap of the weekend, Fitzpatrick was at least able to move up one position in class to secure not just a P2 finish in the race but also pole position for race 2 on Sunday.

Unfortunately, an incident for another competitor within an earlier GT4 America race saw the GT4 grid reduce to just two running entries but having fought doggedly to protect his P1 position from the chasing Toyota for the first six laps, a dropped tyre in the twisty section of track saw the #89 car spin out and into the tyre wall.

Despite being able to extricate himself, the incurred damage was too much for him to continue with but hopefully the team will be back out at the next round from Virginia International Raceway at the end of July.

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Having raced so far at both Sonoma and the Circuit of the Americas, the number of Aston Martin Racing powered participation has now increased to seven crews after the #39 Van Der Steur AMR crew elected to swap from the solo driven GT America Series to that of the dual driven GT4 America Series from this point forward.

At Cota, the GT America Series has just the #39 Van Der Steur AMR Vantage GT4 of Max Hewitt within its GT3/INV and GT4 entries but Hewitt and the team have elected to take a brave step up the GT ladder by swapping over to the silver class within the bigger and more competitive GT4 America Series for the first time.

With the former karter stepping up to the GT4 platform for the first time this year, the competition for the young American just hasn’t been there this season with as few as three GT4’s being entered this season.

Whilst he pushes himself to the ‘enth degree, his place within the series has now been taken up by the #89 AMR Vantage GT4 of Mike Fitzpatrick and his 89X Motorsport team having dabbled quite successfully within series such as the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Series and the World Racing League with their 17A variants of the Vantage.

Even so, this fourth-round event of the 2025 season sees just nine entries so far committed to it with just six GT3 cars (after the withdrawal of the Flying Lizard Motorsport BMW entry), one INV GT3 car and two GT4’s for their two forty-minute, solo driven races.

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Trailing the pathways already set by the GT4 based series running within Germany earlier in the days saw three crews return class podium finishes at the end of their one three-hour round on Saturday. The new to AMR JMF Motorsport team continued their fine start to the relationship (as initiated at the opening round from Sonoma earlier in the month) with a P2 finish for the #4 car of Mike David Ortmann and Braydon Arthur.

Their silver class finish was closely followed by the #26 Heart of Racing AMR of Hannah Grisham and Hannah Greenemeir who secured their first silverware of the new year as did the #15 Archangel pairing of Adrian Comstock and Thomas Merrill who converted a lowly P25 qualifying position into a P3 overall / P2 in Pro-Am finish for their efforts.

Those performances were mirrored within the GT America Series as the sole AMR running #39 Van Der Steur car of Max Hewitt continued from where he left off at Sonoma with a pair of visits to the podium for his P2 finish in race 1 and up one step to claim a class win by the end of the second forty-minute race of the weekend.

Finishing off with the Heart of Racing and Racers Edge AMR Vantage GT3’s competing within the GT World Challenge America Series saw distinct progress made from the two crews since their opening round in California. 

Inter team honours again went to the #24 HoRT entry of Gray Newell and Darren Turner over the #2 Racers Edge entry of Jason Bell and Michael Cooper (only just each time though) as Saturdays opener saw the pair move up the ladder to achieve P4 and P5 finishes in class respectively before ending the weekend with a P7 and P9 finish in class on Sunday.

All three series will be out again over the bumps of Sebring in little under three weeks’ time.

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Best performances within each series full season entries have come within the GT4 ranks as they are where the numbers of entries are compared to the just two AMR Vantage GT3 entries within the GT World Challenge.

Both bronze rated drivers within that series did spread their wings a little the other week to race their GT3’s solo at Long Beach within the GT America series and whilst Gray Newell had cause to celebrate both with an overall pole position and podium finish at the end of one race whilst Jason Bell possibly regretted the whole idea of it after technical issues all weekend.

Back within their usual series this time around, Newell will again compete alongside AMR factory driver Darren Turner aboard their #24 Heart of Racing AMR whilst Bell rejoins Michael Cooper aboard their #2 Racers Edge prepared GT3 Evo for two more, ninety-minute-long races.

In GT America there has been something of a trade of as it’s just the #39 Van Der Steur AMR Vantage GT4 entry for Max Hewitt after the #007 Prosport Competition AMR of Tim Savage swaps over to the GT4 America for this weekend. Both drivers rightly elected to skip the street circuit round of Long Beach to concentrate on the more forgiving circuits on the calendar with Hewitt still on something of a high after his P2 and P1 finishes in class last time out at Sonoma. 

His entry list again sees fourteen entries but with just three of those being within the GT4 class, just a finish this time around will automatically receive a trip to the class podium – but obviously, everything is in the winning these days after each of their two forty-minute races.

That leaves the now six AMR Vantage GT4 entries now listed within the GT4 America Series and their two, hour long races this weekend.

Last time out at Sonoma saw three crews visit their respective class podiums with a debut P3 finish in silver for the #4 JMF Motorsport entry for Braydon Arthur and Mike David Ortmann whilst theirs sister #3 car of Jesse Webb and Jonathon Neudorf enjoyed similar spoils in race 2 with a P3 finish of their own.

The #07 Skip Barber Racing AMR of the Garcia brothers also visited the Am class podium after race 2 but the weekend was hard graft for the other two AMR entries for Hannah Grisham and Hannah Greenemeir within their #26 Heart of Racing entry as well as the #15 Archangel entry for Adrian Comstock and Thomas Merril.

The additional car to this series will be the #007 Prosport entry for Savage and Dwayne Moses, a driver who has been with the team for a while and raced their older 15A iteration of Vantage GT4 within the World Racing League.

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