Eight mixed Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 to contest opening round of GT4 European Series next weekend
Having already had up to seven brand new AMR Vantage GT3’s taking part within the Endurance part of the GT World Challenge Europe Series next weekend, another fifty strong GT4 field from over ten manufactures will again do battle together over the course of their two one-hour races per event for their six round 2024 campaign.
Whilst some of the seven Aston Martin powered entries have already been confirmed to us over the winter months, two further entries still require the finer detail of a second driver to be confirmed as both Mateo Villagomez (aboard his #82 Racing Spirit of Leman) and Baudouin Detout (aboard his #39 GPA Racing) cars still have that ominous TBA against their entries.
When has been revealed is the number of new 2024 evolutionary models of the Vantage GT4 that are due to take part within the series from the off with four of the seven AMR’s being listed as ‘Evo’s’.
Ruben Del Sarte and Josh Miller head the AMR runners in today’s provisional entry list with their 2019 based #5 Mirage Racing silver entry but their sister #7 Pro-Am entry of Stanislav Safronov and Aleksandr Vaintrub will be (apparently) running in the new 2024 version.
Both Racing Spirit of Leman entries – the #82 car of Mateo Villagomez (plus one) and the #74 silver entry for Alexandre Machado and Kevin Kullmann are also listed as being ‘evo’ versions. We know that the team did have one such car for their sponsor reveal evening last week and we see that another may have been dispatched to them only last night in time for their other commitments within the parallel FFSA GT4 Series this weekend.
Former FFSA GT4 Am Champions Florent Grizaud and Kevin Jimenez are both back with GPA Racing with their 2019 machine, again in the Am class aboard their #72 entry which they hope to swap out to a 2024 40A version later in the season. They also have Baudouin Detout waiting in the wings for a co-driver within his #39 GPA Racing entry – something which the entry lists also refers to as an Evo! We know that he and the team have been out testing over the previous weeks with various hopefuls alongside but nothing yet has been confirmed.
That leaves the two entries from the German based Prosport Racing team to finalise the AMR seven as Hugo Sasse pairs up this year with Raphael Rennhofer and Henrik Still competes alongside Fabio Rauer in their #99 and #100 silver entries respectively.
Photo credits – teams / social media / Daniel Buergen
Friday, March 29, 2024 |
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Mirage left flying the flag in a race left devoid of Aston Martins by the end
Thanks to damage sustained within race one’s spectacular incident involving the #98 AGS Events Racing AMR of Christophe Carriere and the #39 GPA Racing AMR of Tom Verdier, neither car found their way onto the starting grid ahead of todays race. The extent of damage to each car is unknown but the #98 car was seen to roll after it hit the inside tyre wall.
There was then the omission from the grid of the sister #89 AGS Events Racing AMR of team boss Nicolas Gomar and Hugo Bac after they suffered a unexpected failure of a hydraulic component on the way out to the grid.
Like the series sister series in the UK today, umbrellas were also needed at the Nogaro circuit but not to keep off the rain – rather than as a shield against the prevailing winds and bright warm spring sunshine.
Unfortunately for the remaining Aston Martin runners, that sunshine didn’t last too long for two more runners either as a three-car coming together on the opening lap saw the #63 Alpine come across the bow of the #72 GPA Racing car of Kevin Jimenez and the #73 Racing Spirit of Lemans car of Clement Dub causing damage to all three cars. Jimenez would be forced to pit with a puncture but would re-join albeit a lap down whilst the #74 would persevere into the next problem!
A good start however from the #7 Mirage Racing AMR of Louis Meric after the team had worked late overnight repairing the damage from their race one incident but he would hang onto P7 throughout the opening laps despite having dropped down from his P4 Qualifying position of yesterday.
Fifteen minutes in and the #74 Racing Spirit of Lemans car again gets some more rough treatment as the #888 Audi tags it into a spin when it was nowhere close to making the apex first but at least the #74 was again able to restart just ahead of the mandatory pit stop window opening.
A good job from Meric as he handed the #7 Mirage car over to Romain Carton in seventh whilst the sister #5 car of David Kullman had done a better job in race two to hand over to co-driver Ruben Del Sarte. It was then salt was really rubbed into the wounds of the Racing Spirit of Lemans team as the #92 car of Mateo Villagomez came to a sudden halt on track whilst tenth to end up ‘dead stick’ with nowhere to go.
Whilst Race Control waited for all to complete their pit stop cycle, the inevitable Safety Car was called to recover the #92 to a place of safety. Getting back to green with just fifteen minutes of the race remaining, it was to be a clear sprint to the finish but from the eights Aston Martins originally listed, it was only the #7 Mirage car of Carton who would be anywhere close to challenge, but he was still in a distant eighth.
To conclude what was a miserable race for the four AMR powered teams, the #7 Mirage car of Carton and Meric came home P8 overall – P6 in class with its sister #5 car of Del Sarte and Kullman P16 overall / P9 in class with the #74 and #72 Racing Spirit of Lemans and GPA Racing cars finishing at the tail end of the timing screen.
Next stop for this series will be at Magny- Cours at the beginning of May.
Photo credits – FFSA GT4
Photo credits – FFSA GT4
Monday, April 10, 2023 |
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Heartache and a podium for the Aston Martin contingent at FFSA GT4 opener
After a final Free Practice and two Qualifying sessions around the Circuit Paul Armagnac de Nogaro yesterday, the first round of the French FFSA GT4 Series finally got underway with its first of two, hour long races around the circuit in the south-west of the country.
Eight Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 crews had all qualified throughout the three classes available to them with the #92 Racing Spirit of Lemans car of Victor Weyrich (starting) and Mateo Villagomez starting highest in sixth overall and second within their own silver class.
There were then several places before the next with the #5 Mirage Racing car of Ruben Del Sarte (shared with David Kullmann) in P16 overall and P9 in silver and the #39 GPA Racing car of Tom Verdier and Baudouin Detout just behind, placed P8 within their Pro-Am class. The highest Am class runner was the #74 Racing Spirit of Lemans car of Ronald Basso and Clement Dub P19 overall and P2 in class with the remaining cars spread between P22 and P30 overall.
Starting under mostly clear skies and bright, warm Easter sunshine the race got off to a surprisingly orderly start considering the twisty nature of the circuit, this being the first race of the year and the thirty-six car, multi-class grid.
It would however be an early bath for Christophe Carriere after he rolled his #98 AGS Events Aston Martin on only the second lap. Fortunately, the car land the right way around and a clearly frustrated driver was able to extricate himself from his car unaided. What condition the car remains in is yet to be seen tomorrow. The #39 GPA Racing Aston of Tom Verdier also went missing from the timing screen at the same time of the #89 car so we can only assume that there was contact between them.
After that, the race did settle into its customary nose to tail train as the top dozen or so cars battled for position until the top three broke away in the minutes leading up to the spit stop window leaving Weyrich in a distant fifth.
Just before the pit stop window opened, an over ambitious move from Romain Carton in his #7 Mirage Racing Aston saw him ride up over the rear wheel of the Mercedes ahead of him and straight into the gravel and tyre wall bring out the Safety Car to boot.
With stops all completed, it became another FFSA style mad dash to the flag before two cars coming together immediately ahead of the #72 GPA Racing Aston of Florent Grizaud and Kevin Jimenez brought out the Safety Car again with just eight minutes of the race remaining.
Sadly, that would be how race 1 finished but despite the three Aston Martins being lost along the way, it was a return to the podium for the #72 GPA Racing for their first Am class podium of the year for Grizaud and Jimenez after finishing second in class. The next best finish was the #5 Mirage car of Del Sarte and Kullmann with a debut P6 in the silver class for Kullmann with a Pro-Am P8 for the AGS Events crew of Hugo Bac and Nicolas Gomar.
The #92 and #74 Racing Spirit of Lemans cars would each finish P9 in their respective silver and Am classes.
The FFSA GT4 goes again tomorrow.
Photo credits - FFSA GT4
Sunday, April 09, 2023 |
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Unachievable odds face the final Aston Martin crew as the FFSA GT4 Series reaches its conclusion this weekend?
Having competed at Nogaro, Magny-Cours, Albi, Spa Francorchamps and most recently Ledenon at the start of September, this weekend’s finale again sees a plethora of Aston Martin Racing powered teams conclude their season with just one crew retaining the remotest of possibilities in lifting a class title at the end of the two-hour long races.
With twenty-six points being available from each race, it is the #72 GPA Racing AMR Vantage GT4 of Kevin Jimenez and Florent Grizaud who presently rest in third within their Am Class who retain the only championship possibility, but their will reply upon total disaster for the two crews ahead of them to overcome the forty-seven-point deficit to the class leaders.
Two podium finishes for the French crew at the final races of the parallel GT4 European Series in Barcelona (all under the watchful guidance of AMR factory driver Valentin Hasse-Clot) will have given the team the maximum incentive to succeed this weekend.
Eight AMR Vantage GT4 crews are listed upon the entry list for this weekend although some names have already changed from those posted by the series. With Hasse-Clot now confirmed to be on Aston Martin Racing duty with the Bullitt Racing team at the final round of the Le Mans Cup Series from Portimao, his and co-drivers Arnold Robin positions within the #13 Mirage Racing AMR Vantage GT4 have been filled with the return of Ruben Del Sarte and Paul Aural König who re-join forces having raced together with the French squad within the GT4 European Series at Hockenheim earlier this year.
Three further Astons are again entered by the AGS Events Racing team with another of their mid-season driver revised line ups, with two more from the Racing Spirit of Lemans team as well as another car from the GPA Racing team with so far just one driver being listed in Matthieu Casalonga.
Except for the Am class, the remaining Pro-Am and Silver classes within the series have not been threatened by any AMR powered team beyond that of Hasse-Clot and Romano Ricci who did in the early stages of the season to lead the Pro-Am class before two lowly points scores and injury to Ricci lost them that momentum.
As usual, both races will be streamed live via the series social media channels.
Photo credits – Teams / Series
Tuesday, October 11, 2022 |
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Podiums won but finally out of Championship contention for the AMR runners in FFSA GT4
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Going into this round had three AMR crews needing a perfect win/win race result together with those above them in their respective classes also failing to score to maintain the very slim Championship aspirations they may have had going into the final round of the season.
Whilst there were class Pole Positions and class podiums to be earned by the eight AMR runners over the two races that make up a usual FFSA GT4 weekend, those results were unfortunately not sufficient to maintain those dreams.
The #74 Silver Class Racing Spirit of Lemans Aston Martin of Roman Carton and Victor Weyrich did earn themselves a front row start for Saturdays opening encounter but that was sadly to convert into another failure to finish that was only somewhat buoyed by a P4 in class in Sundays race.
The Am Class contending #161 AGS Events Racing AMR of Didier Dumaine and Christophe Carrier had a weekend to forget with a DNF in race one that extended into a DNS for race 2 whilst the #72 GPA Racing Aston of Kevin Jimenez and Florent Grizaud did at least get to step upon the AM class podium with another brace of P3 in class finishes. Again, that was not enough to maintain the Championship aspirations.
The #13 Mirage Racing crew of Valentin Hasse-Clot and replacement co-driver Arnold Robin also needed a double race win but had to settle for a P4 and then a P12 in class to finally end their hopes for a crew that once lead their Pro-Am class.
For these eight runners, their 2022 FFSA GT4 Series season will conclude at Paul Ricard with the SRO Racing Festival weekend in mid-October.
Photo credits – Teams / FFSA
Tuesday, September 13, 2022 |
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Last gasp for some AMR runners as the FFSA GT4 nears its conclusion
Having battled it out over double header rounds at Nogaro, Magny-Cours, Albi and most recently at Spa Francorchamps during the SRO’s Speedweek, it has sadly been another year where the multiple Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 entries have failed to deliver with just a couple of exceptions.
In the Am class, a recent string of lowly or indeed no point finishes for the #72 GPA Racing AMR of Kevin Jimenez and Florent Grizaud and the #161 AGS Events Racing AMR of Didier Dumaine and Christophe Carriere has left them both with only the slightest of mathematical possibilities of claiming the class title, but either must win all the remaining races of the season plus rely upon the top two cars in the Championship failing to finish all the remaining races as well.
In the Pro-Am class, the once championship leading Mirage Racing AMR of Valentin Hasse-Clot and the then Romano Ricci has now slipped to fourth, but Ricci’s ongoing injury sees him again miss this event with his place again being taken by Arnold Robin. With the points deficit being forty-six points to the leader, that would require a 100% finish from the #13 crew with those above them also failing to finish/score.
Driver changes include AGS Events boss Nicolas Gomar joining Hugo Back within the #7 car, Fabien Baule joining Stephane Debrosse within the teams #79 car and the removal of the teams #89 Gomar/Loris Cabirou Pro-Am entry.
These cars will again be three of eight AMR Vantage GT4’s due to compete again within the series from the full season teams of the AGS Events Racing, Racing Spirit of Lemans, GPA Racing and Mirage Racing – also again with both races being streamed live via the Series social media channels.
Photo credits – FFSA GT4
Tuesday, September 06, 2022 |
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Scattered success for the Aston Martin FFSA GT4 entries at Albi
The third round of the French FFSA GT4 Series from Albi also concluded yesterday after another two action packed races for what was scheduled to be from ten Aston Martin powered teams thanks to two further Vantage GT4 entries from the GPA Racing team.
However, for the #89 AGS Events Racing crew of Loris Cabirou and Nicolas Gomar were sadly unable to participate within the weekends two one-hour races after Cabirou suffered an accident during Qualifying that left him inverted upside down inside his car having impacted into the tyre wall and returned to the racing line.
Thanks to a selfless act of fellow GT4 racer Michael Blanchemain who protected the stricken Aston by parking his Audi in harm’s way from the oncoming traffic, Cabirou was able to free himself from his car and to a place of safety without further event, but their car was unracable from that point on.
Another great early display of consistency from the #72 GPA Racing crew of Kevin Jimenez and Florent Grizaud saw them claim another Am Class pole position for Saturdays race 1 which they duly converted to another podium with a P3 finish at the end.
The #13 Mirage Racing AMR of Valentin Hasse-Clot and Romano Ricci also fared well in race one starting from third in their Pro-Am Class to eventually finish second at the end.
The two new GPA Racing entries of #48 Didier Sirgue and Gilles Colombani and renumbered #8 David Pouget and Matthieu Casalonga each did well in their debut races together with the #48 Qualifying P12 in Am Class before finishing eighth in class whilst the #8 Am class car started from 17th in class to finish twelfth. They returned similar placements for Sundays race which equated to a great opening day for the extended GPA Racing team.
Sundays race was not quite as productive for the AMR runners as the #72 GPA crew proved that they were indeed human by failing to finish whilst the #161 AGS Events Am car of Didier Dumaine and Christophe Carriere returned to class winning ways with a P2 finish just ahead of their #79 AGS teammates Stephane Desbrosse and Lauris Nauroy in third.
The next round of the season takes the expected forty runners to Spa Francorchamps in Belgium for the start of the SRO’s annual Speed Week.
Photo credits – FFA GT4
Monday, June 27, 2022 |
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More mixed AMR fortunes after the night and day races of the FFSA GT4 Series at Magny-Cours
No changes from the earlier round at Nogaro for the eight Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 runners from either the AGS Events Racing, Mirage Racing, Racing Spirit of Lemans or GPA Racing squads ahead of Saturday’s night and Sunday’s day races.
Last month’s opening round pulled up a few surprise results within those eight cars as it was the #72 GPA Racing car of Kevin Jimenez and Florent Grizaud who faired best with two P3 podium finishes with the #13 Mirage Racing car of Valentin Hasse-Clot and Romano Ricci having won a podium and ‘lost’ a podium over the same weekend.
This weekend was certainly no different with the opposition within the French national series now certainly having made their matches to the domineering performance of the AMR Vantage GT4 from previous seasons to make this season certainly ‘hard work’ for all.
It was the new for 2022 #92 Pro-Am entered Racing Spirit of Lemans car of Ronald Basso and Sandro Perissouthi who did best in class during the two qualifying sessions, placing their red, white, and blue AMR onto the front row of their class each time although they couldn’t quite convert those into class podiums by the end of each one long race.
The only podium success after Saturday’s night race was indeed from their sister Silver Cup entered #74 Racing Spirit of Lemans car of Romain Carton and Victor Weyrich who scooped their first podium of the season so far with a P3 finish in class.
Better fortune was to come however within Sunday’s daytime race when the #13 Mirage car of Hasse-Clot and Ricci again stepped onto the podium after their P3 finish in Pro-Am as well as a first Am Class win for the #72 pairing of Jimenez and Grizaud to now secure P3 in their Championship table.
It was unfortunately another difficult round for the AGS Events Racing team and their four Aston Martins with only the #161 Am entered car of Didier Dumaine and Christophe Carriere coming closest with a P4 result in race 1 and two P6 finishes in Pro-Am for the #89 Nicolas Gomar and Loris Caribou car.
Next round of the series will be at Albi at the end of June
Photo credits – Teams / FFSA
Monday, May 16, 2022 |
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Other AMR success at opening round of the FFSA GT4 Series from Nogaro this weekend
Whereas we enjoyed the company of just two Aston Martin racing teams competing within the UK headline GT4 series, over in France we again had the delights of eight AMR Vantage GT4 crews being run from the AGS Events Racing, Mirage Racing, Racing Spirit of Lemans and GPA Racing teams across the usual Pro-Am, Am and Silver Cup classes.
Two races around the Circuit Paul Armagnac de Nogaro for the forty plus GT4 race cars eventually saw AMR crews walk away with silverware for their efforts.
During race 1, the #13 Mirage Racing crew of Valentin Hasse-Clot and Romano Ricci hung on to claim P3 in their Pro-Am Class at the end, but a pit stop minimum time infraction cost them a drive through stop and hold penalty for their efforts and that (perhaps) cost them a shot at the class win. A further post race penalty for further contact towards the end of the race saw their #13 hit with a 30 second time penalty - casting their efforts on track well into the mid table of results.
This duo were however more fortunate in the second race when they did claim third in class to leave Nogaro with at least some points in the bag.
The biggest success however came from the #72 GPA Racing duo of Kevin Jimenez and Florent Grizaud who manged to convert their P2 and P3 grid slots in class into two P3 podium finishes in their Am class.
Looking at the weekends results however, it appears as though several more Aston Martins were there are there abouts of a class podium during each hour-long pit stop punctuated race, especially with the two Spirit of Lemans AMR Silver Cup entries of both Romain Carton/Victor Weyrich and Ronald Basso/Sandro Perisouthi.
Their next round will be at Magny-Cours in mid-May.
Photo credits – Teams / FFSA GT4
Monday, April 18, 2022 |
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