The British based Blackthorn Aston Martin Racing team were also in action in Germany at the weekend as their events programme saw them compete in not just the Michelin Le Mans Cup Series at Silverstone but also at Hockenheim within the International GT Open Series.

Their presence was also the sole AMR Vantage GT3 at the circuit with the Polish based Good Speed Racing team electing not to attend this sixth round of the 2026 season.

 

Charles Bateman would again be joined by factory driver Jonny Adam behind the wheel of their #97 Aston Martin as they and the team looked to progress their Pro-Am class efforts in time for the final round of the season from Barcelona at the end of next month.

Racing again both a seventy-minute race on Saturday before a further sixty-minute race on Sunday, the #97 car was again part of a healthy twenty-seven car line up for the event at the former home of the German Grand Prix.

With Bateman having qualified their car P14 overall/P2 in class, he would take the opening stint to the first race under the then warm and dry track conditions as he held his class position up until the first Safety Car intervention at the fifty-three-minute mark after two cars had come together. From the restart, it was almost straight into the opening of the pit window from where Bateman would hand over to Adam from P13 overall.

 

By the end of the stops, the #97 had however dropped to seventh in class with a tough twenty-five-minute sprint still ahead of the Scot where a last lap lunge would eventually see them finishing just off the class podium in P14 overall/P4 in class.

For race two, it was Adams turn to qualify the car which he did P3 overall but pole position (naturally) within class ahead of this slightly shorter race but even before the cars reached the start line, the rain was already beginning to fall with all of the cars on slicks.

 

A first corner heavy side to side contact with another car didn’t help matters either as the #97 dropped to seventh overall just before the end of the opening lap only to spin at the final corner to end up twenty third overall. From that point, it was a slow relentless climb up the order with some easy places made up as multiple cars went off in the rain for some easy drive-by places. The pit window was bisected by an ongoing FCY which would eventually be extended to allow all to pit under the same track speed conditions.

Starting his stint from P13 overall/P5 in class, Bateman would have just fifteen minutes to complete but even that was shortened by another Safety Car intervention for a car hard off into the wall. That left just five more minutes to go but with a 50% wet and a 50% dry’ish track to deal with for the #97 car to eventually finish P12 overall /P5 in class.

The series now moves onto Monza at the end of the month.

Photo credits – Fotospeedy

 

 

 

There were again chaotic scenes within the ADAC GT4 Germany Series as they also visited the ultra-fast Sachsenring circuit for their penultimate round of the season with the #4 Cosy Racing by ESM again the sole Aston Martin Racing representative.

For drivers Jan Philipp Springobb and Philipp Gogollok, they were very much within championship contention as the pairing were now just two points behind the overall leaders thanks to their recent string of pole positions and podium finishes.

 

As usual, it was Springob who would qualify the car for race one and that he did for a second row start to these reduced race distances this time around as Sachsenring would see two fifty-minute races as opposed to the more tradition hour long races – mainly as a safety consideration thanks to the high tyre degradation characteristic of the modern track.

Starting under overcast skies but dry circuit, it didn’t take Springob too long to move forward up to second overall behind the #51 BMW as that pairing quickly pulled a gap to those arguing between themselves behind.

 

A spinning Porsche into the gravel suspended the pit window as some had pitted before the FCY came out for the car off track with the #4 car one of those forced to stay out until next time around when those could then pit for a nett gain on track.

After the pit window and when the race went back to green, the #4 car was under investigation for speeding under that FCY which saw them told to take a 50kph visit to the penalty box – an elongated and slower visit at the defined corner but Gogollok was still able to hang onto P2 after all.

 

Despite dropping back from the leading BMW, the second-place finish was still vital to their cause as the looked forward to race two on Sunday with the Aston Martin Racing powered crew now at the top of the table.

Race two, however, was first delayed on Sunday by necessary barrier repairs before ultimately being cancelled as the weather closed in and the circuit was awash in rain. With the final round of the season from /Hockenheim in a months’ time, we wait to find out what will be done about this missed race today.

Photo credits - ADAC

 

 

Nicki Thiim’s DTM championship aspiration stook a massive hit this weekend at he and his Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Racing powered team again struggled with luck and fortune (if anything else) to give the Dane that extra push he needed.

Racing this weekend at the Sachensring for the penultimate round of the season, the #007 car of Thiim and the sister #008 car of Nicolas Baert would again be amongst a grid of twenty other GT3 powered crews where Thiim needed a decent handful of points to take that championship cause through into the final round of the season.

 

The usually chaotic start to any modern DTM race saw at least one car spun off into the gravel whilst others had to pit early because of damage, but Thiim still had that wind within his sails as he pushed through the mid race pitstop window to challenge for as high a fifth overall. Door banging others around sweeping corners, the Dane was forced by Race Control to hand one place back to avoid any possible penalty before going onto finish sixth overall on track but later confirmed down in eighth overall after the chequered flag.

Baert would eventually finish P16 overall and his crew would again win the fastest pit stop crew for their efforts.

 

Race two on Sunday would unfortunately be a much shorter affair for both AMR Vantage GT3 powered drivers as Baert was not able to capitalise upon his best qualifying position to date in tenth as he found himself sandwiched between at least two other cars to come away with race ending damage whilst Thiim would last until about two thirds race distance when he and Giles Gounon’s Mercedes came togther.

 

These results now place Thiim fifty points behind the now leading Porsche team with just two races at Hockenheim in a months’ time. Still holding a mathematical chance from an overall available points perspective but reality is pointing another way!

Photo credits - DTM

 

 

It’s another busy race weekend for Jonny Adam this weekend as he flies back from his latest, podium winning round of the FIA World Endurance Championship in Austin, Texas with the Heart of Racing team to continue out to Germany for the sixth round of the International GT Open Series.

Competing this time around at Hockenheim, Adam will this time be back within the Blackthorn Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 powered alongside his co-driver Charles Bateman around the Hockenheim circuit.

 

This time around, the #97 Blackthorn entry is the sole Aston Martin Racing representative as the #14 Good Speed Racing AMR appear to be giving this one a miss having completed within all the rounds up until now with varying degrees of success.

Success has also been intermittent for the #97 crew as Bateman has shared the #97 with three other drivers according to Adam’s or Henrique Chaves international commitments but that hasn’t left him out in being able to visit the class podium once or twice so far.

 

This weekend sees a seventy-minute race being ran on Saturday with a further sixty-minute race on Sunday – both with a mandatory pitstop and driver change window and with one driver qualifying the car per day.

Competing again within the Pro-Am class, Bateman presently sits second within his Drivers Championship just five points off the class lead with still five races to come over the final three races of the year (including this weekend’s).

Photo credits - Series

The Comtoyou Racing team rounded off a very productive racing weekend for Aston Martin Racing and its Partner teams when the #39 Vantage GT3 entry finally found podium success within the ADAC GT Masters Series.

Racing at the Salzburgring in Austria last weekend as the penultimate round of the German Series, drivers Baudouin Detout and Jamie Day had to overcome early adversity during Saturdays opening eighty minute long race after a start line contact for Day suffered them a puncture and damage which initially put them down to the rear of the pack after Day’s P5 qualifying position.

After the necessary repairs, both Day and then Detout completed something of a miracle recovery drive to eventually finish tenth overall out of the grid size of just thirteen cars.

Sunday, however, was more fruitful for the team and their driver’s first ever visit to the Austrian circuit after Detout placed their car nineth on the grid for the second race although they did have to do it all the hard way again.

 

Starting normally, the #39 car had to visit the penalty box for an early transgression which saw them fall to the rear of the pack on only the second lap. Progress through the ranks they did for Day to eventually cross the finish line third overall.

Too little too late as far as the championship is concerned as the pairing move up to sixth with just two races at Hockenheim still to come.

Photo credits – Team / social media

 

The Blackthorn Aston Martin Racing powered squad did their class championship aspirations a power of good this weekend as the #97 Vantage GT3 of Jonny Adam and Charles Bateman secured the double at this weekend’s International GT Open visit to Paul Ricard.

Round five to the season, this weekend came off the back of a very disappointing one for both Aston Martin Racing powered runners last time out at the Hungaroring two weeks ago as both the Blackthorn and Good Speed Racing efforts suffered performance wise over that weekends two races as well as a near last lap accident for the #14 Good Speed Racing AMR in race two.

 

This time around, things started well for the #97 Blackthorn effort after AMR factory driver Jonny Adam secured overall Pole Position for the weekend’s opening seventy-minute race whilst the solo driven #14 car of Piotr Wira only managed a P25 overall start out of the grid size of thirty runners.

 

Last weekend’s final races of the DTM and ADAC GT4 Germany Series produced another two races with a totally mixed bag of results for the Aston Martin Racing powered teams competing within them at the Hockenheimring circuit in Germany.

Despite the extremely varied weather at the circuit over the weekend, the Comtoyou Racing team again showed potential within the headlining DTM Series as Gilles Magnus qualified his #7 Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 sixth overall ahead of a very wet race one on Saturday before claiming pole for race two on Sunday.

 

There was little to shout about after the weekend’s visit of both the DTM Series and ADAC GT4 Germany Series to the Red Bull Ring as both series raced out their penultimate rounds of their season.

Whilst things started well for the three Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 crews from both the Eastside Motorsport and Prosport Racing teams in qualifying for both races, only the #4 ESM car of Jan Philipp Springob and Storm Gjerdum turned that early form in race success after they eventually finished third overall but having started race one on Saturday from pole position.

The final round of the ADAC GT Masters Series finished this weekend at the Hockenheimring certainly at lot better than the season had started for them for at least one half of the Walkenhorst Motorsport entry.

Rounding off this weekend sixth and final double header of the season it was again the pair of Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3’s from the Walkenhorst stable who represented the British marque within the seventeen strong entry.

 

Both the ADAC GT Masters and ADAC GT4 Germany Series conclude their 2024 seasons this weekend at the Hockenheimring after another six round campaign apiece that has left neither Aston Martin Racing powered team in with any championship winning contention this time around.

With the Walkenhorst Motorsport team entering a pair of their new 2024 AMR Vantage GT3’s into the series for the first time since Prosport Racings 2019 ill-fated effort with the then 16A variant, hopes were high of something good as last season’s GT4 Germany Champion Mike David Ortmann paired up with Denis Bulatov within the #34 car whilst American racer Chandler Hull paired up with another ex GT4 Germany racer in Nico Hantke.

 

It was to be a frustrating return to the GT World Challenge Europe Series for the Belgian based Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Racing powered team as they travelled to the Hockenheim circuit in Germany for the third round of the Sprint Cup Series.

The biggest surprise for this round was the number of times the SRO visited that touchy subject of Balance of Performance during the meeting, something which eventually saw the series adjust that of the AMR Vantage GT3’s BoP three times in a quest for their infamous parity amongst brands.

Despite arriving at the circuit as newly crowned Spa 24 Champions, qualifying for the opening hour-long race on Saturday saw all four cars from the team finish no higher than P23 within the thirty-two strong entry.