The Comtoyou Racing team suffered something of a reality check at the weekend after their pair of Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3’s suffered both misfortune on and off the track that put their double race winning exploits of last time a distant memory within the DTM Series.

Racing this time at Oschersleben within the fifth round of the German based series, the #007 car of Nicki Thiim and the #008 car of Nicolas Baert were hoping to continue the fine form that the Dane enjoyed last time out at the Norisring despite their cars being affected by the expected increase in Balance of performance base weight.

 

Early sessions lead to the obvious prediction coming true of nether car being competitive amongst its class of eighteen other runners as both drivers eventually qualified at the tail of the pack going into Saturday’s opening hour long, pit stop punctuated race.

Despite the hot and dry conditions, Baert would again be saddled with another puncture which the team this time elected not to repair and send him on his way but rather wait until race two on Sunday. Thiim, meanwhile, would do what Thiim does and push to the end where he would eventually recoup a P12 finish for at least a few championship points to add to his tally.

 

Race two would be affected by another bizarre situation on the wrong tyres being fitted to the wrong wheels (i.e. fronts onto rears and vice versa) which again left both cars this time at the very back of the grid.

Missing the rain that affected the ADAC GT4 Germany race, it was another frenetic start to the race as Thiim quickly moved up the order ahead of the pit window. Baert’s own misfortunes within the series would continue just after as his car suffered suspension failure, but he and his crew did at least earn themselves the fastest pit stop time for their efforts.

 

Thiim would eventually finish P13 at the end of race two together with the fastest lap of the race to again secure a handful of valuable championship points as the series moves onto the Nurburgring next time out in mid-August.

Photo credits - DTM

 

 

Both the DTM and ADAC GT4 Germany Series are back in action this weekend as both series move across to Oschersleben for what will be the fifth round of the GT3 based DTM but only the third round of the GT4 series.

Last time out at the Norisring was something special for the #007 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 of Nicki Thiim as the crew and driver did what was necessary to secure the double overall race wins at the end of each of the hour-long races despite each race being interrupted either by accident of weather.

However, that success last time out comes at a weight cost this time out as the Vantage GT3 will suffer from the addition of a 30kg increase in car base weight as well as an additional 20kg increase in handicap weight.

With the circuit layout being a sequence of short straights before ninety-degree bends, that additional weight for the car will have a clear impact on both its acceleration out and braking into the corners. The team did suffer from brake issues in the second race of last weekend’s GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Series from Misano before Thiim could get into the car but that should be upon another chassis to his DTM entry.

 

Thiim will once again be joined within his #008 car by Nicolas Baert who is still to demonstrate any kind of improvement in terms of racing performance in what is now his second season within the series. Three weeks ago at the Norisring, the Belgian failed to get to close to the midway point in the timing during either qualifying nor in the race each day whilst Thiim proved that the car had pace this time around.

This weekend also sees the entry reduced to twenty cars after the race one halting crash landed one driver in hospital with leg injuries after heavy contact from another car going into the tight hairpin.

 

Then there will be the competitive nineteen car grid of the ADAC GT4 Germany Series which again sees the #4 Cosy Racing by ESM Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 Evo of Jan Philipp Springob and Philipp Gogollok.

Unlike the bigger Vantage GT3, the Vantage GT4 didn’t quite get the performance envelope that it needed to race around the improvised street circuit of the Norisring despite two bites at the apple by race organisers.

 

A P5 overall qualifying performance from each driver ahead of the weekend’s racing wasn’t still forward enough for the pairing to capitalise with a race finish higher than P5 overall. For this weekend at least, the Vantage GT4 will be given a 5kg BoP weight reduction (25kg over declared base weight) over that at the Norisring.

Photo credits – DTM / ADAC

  

 

 

For the final two Aston Martin Racing powered racers competing in Europe last weekend, it was sadly for them a case of what might have been had their not been pegged back in terms of performance from the start.

Yes, we’re back to that sordid tale of Balance of Performance again which is the primary reason that neither the #90 E2P Racing AMR Vantage GT3 did very well from the start of the 24H Series to the Nurburgring nor did the #4 Cosy Racing by ESM AMR Vantage GT4 as they battled out only their second round of the ADAC GT4 Germany Series from the Norisring.

 

For the Spanish based E2p Racing team, that was the tale being painted upon their social media channels today after their poor showing P9 in class finish to the six plus six-hour debut race for the series from the German circuit. Their matters were made exacerbated by the premature ending of Saturdays six-hour opener due to barrier damage after a high speed off for one of their competitors (thankfully uninjured as a result) and also being needlessly turned around by another car coming up the inside from a country mile away.

 

The team will now concentrate upon the fifth and final round of the European season from their home track of Barcelona towards the end of September.

Then over in Germany, the Cosy Racing with ESM had similar issues as a 30kg base weight increase to their car severely affected their chances around a circuit already not to the benefit of their AMR Vantage GT4 platform.

 

With drivers Jan Philipp Springob and Philipp Gogllock behind the wheel again, these were two very abled drivers who would have wrung the last once of power out of the car but had to make do with a P8 result in race one on Saturday. Then, and despite a reduction in that BoP change to just 20kg in race two – that only allowed the #4 crew to post a P5 result as they now look towards their third round of the season from Oschersleben at the end of month.

Photo credits – Teams / Series

 

 

 

 

The Comtoyou Racing team alongside driving talent Nicki Thiim today achieved that extremely race event in modern GT racing by scooping not just a pair of overall pole positions but also two overall race wins at this weekends DTM Series visit to the Norisring.

Again fielding a pair of Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3’s for the Dane and fellow teammate Nicolas Baert, it was the Dane who took the performance momentum secured at the previous round from the Lausitzring into the improved street circuit layout within Nuremburg to achieve this feat.

 

Saturdays race opener proved itself to be the usually expected exciting one as twenty-one GT3 cars (with their solo drivers) entered the tight hairpin for the first time. Securing the race lead during the opening laps, the race was soon red flagged for a nasty incident at the hairpin that saw one car miss its braking point/or lose their brakes, to hit into the barrier before slamming into the car in front. Whilst both drivers were eventually hospitalised as a result – neither are understood to have sustained life-threatening injuries although one did sustain a significant leg injury.

That meant that Thiim had to take on another restart with just over twenty minutes of the hour-long race remaining but at least his tyres were still relatively fresh from his mandatory stop just before the red flag. Getting back to green, Thiim didn’t have too much to defend from the opening lap pressure to come home for his only second race win within the series of his career and Comtoyou Racing’s first. Baert would come home P15 overall.

 

Race two on Sunday in contrast was at least started under cloudy but dry conditions before the rain arrived at the circuit forcing Race Control to send out the Safety Car for the initial wet laps. Getting back to green, the pack endured the slippery conditions until another red flag was shown – again for a multiple car incident at the hairpin, just this time not as serious as Saturday but with only twenty minutes having elapsed.

 

The restart allowed those to fit wets if they chose to as the quick quickly dried. With some close company by a Ford Mustang, Thiim had to very dominant on track to maintain track position as the compulsory stop was still looming but another quick stop from the team saw the Dane maintain his lead and take his second race win of the weekend. Baert again finished down in P15.

Photo credits – Team / DTM

 

 

 

 

There’s no let-up in the race schedule for the Comtoyou Racing team as they move on this time from the Spa 24 of last weekend and on to the latest round of the German DTM Series this weekend from the Norisring and their two Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 entries.

Whilst the teams exploits within the 24hr proved itself to be something of a brutal one with all four cars cashing out of the event at one stage or another, we believe that the Belgium based team retains series specific chassis that would allow their drivers Nicki Thiim and Nicolas Baert to arrive without the worry of any post event repairs.

 

This round will be the fourth round of the eight-round season with two more-hour long races to look forward to around what usually becomes a very brutal street circuit layout that hasn’t always been kind to previous AMR powered entries.

Last time out in the series from the Lausitzring two weeks ago, Thiim attained his and the team’s best results to date in the DTM by taking pole position for race one (with a P4 result) before standing upon the second step of the podium in race two but the differences in circuit layouts between last time and this time are profound.

 

We also welcome back the supporting ADAC GT4 Germany Series for the first time since their opening round way back at the end of April when nineteen GT4 powered crews competed at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.

 

Within that group set we will see the #4 Cosy Racing by ESM Aston Martin Vantage GT4 of Jan Philipp Springob and Philipp Gogollok who will be looking to repeat their fine start to the season in Austria where the German pairing secured both a P2 and then a P1 start to each of the two, hour long races before delivering a P10 and P1 finish at the end.

 

We have seen both the team and both drivers compete at this circuit before and like both GT4 and DTM series, it will be a case of who can keep out of trouble will prevail.

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media

 

 

It was back to winning ways this weekend for the #4 Cosy Racing by ESM Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 crew as they competed within the first two races of the opening round of the season for the ADAC GT4 Germany Series.

After an earlier pre-season test, the nineteen crews of this year’s intake were back at the Red Bull Ring in Austria for this weekend’s two one-hour long races with drivers Jan Philipp Springob back for his second consecutive season with the team and with the return of Philipp Gogollock after a year away.

 

Things look promising early into the race weekend as Springob was able to claim a P2 starting position ahead of Saturday’s race opener but although he retained that position going into the mandatory pit window, an issue on track which needed a ‘control-alt-delete’ in the cockpit along the main start straight for his co-driver saw them ultimately finish P10 overall – P9 within their Junior class.

Better, however, was to come in Sundays concluding race after Gogollok had gone one better in Qualifying to secure his first pole of the year.

 

This time, there were no such issues again on track as the #4 crew lead a lights to flag race to claim their first race win of the season despite the Vantage platform taking a 40kg increase in its Balance of Performance declared base weight in-between races.

The next round of the season will be from the Norisring in early July.

Photo credits – ADAC GT4 Germany

 

Also racing at the Nurburgring this weekend will be the DTM Series and their twenty-two provisional entries including the two Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3’s of Gilles Magnus and Nicolas Baert.

This will be their fifth round of an eight-round season after having raced last time out around the Norisring back in Early July.

 

This weekend sees just the third round being run of the ADAC GT4 Germany Series, this time from the Nurburgring but with three Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 powered crews within its twenty-two-car strong entry.

This is firstly the two Prosport Racing full season entries of both Marek Bockmann/Anton Abee aboard their #17 car and Hugo Sasse/Roman Fellner-Feldegg in their #19 car but this time they will be joined by the returning Eastside Motorsport team and their #4 Vantage GT4 Evo for drivers Jan Philipp Springob and Storm Gjerdrum.

Whilst there was class success from the Aston Martin Racing powered runners within the Iberian Supercar Series runners at the weekend, it was sadly not the case for the two stablemates from the Prosport Racing team as they battled out what was just the second round of the GT4 Germany Series from the Norisring.

First time out at Oschersleben saw both the #19 car of Hugo Sasse and Roman Fellner-Feldegg make their intentions known with both a P3 and P2 finish whilst the sister #17 car of Marek Bockmann and Anton Abee saw off earlier sickness to come back with a P6 finish in race two, so hopes were high for the challenges of the Norisring.

 

Disappointment for the two Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 drivers at the end of another busy DTM weekend after earlier Free Practice and Qualifying pace was not realised during the brutality of the two races around the tight Norisring circuit.

Earlier pace for the #7 car of Nicolas Baert and the #8 car of Gilles Magnus had seen the son of the team owner circulate as high as second within Free Practice and his qualifying pace was also there during the two split sessions although his P2 time for race 2 was annulled after it was found that his car exceeded its permitted turbo boost.

 

The two full season Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 crews return to the DTM Series this weekend for the German series fourth round of the season from the Norisring.

Straight off the back of the Spa 24 hour event where the Belgian team had four such cars entered into that event and where none of them actually finished thanks to either mechanical defect but mainly accident induced damage (not of their making), it would have been something of a rush job to get these two cars turned around in time for this rounds track action which started today.

Nicolas Baert and Gilles Magnus are back within their familiar #8 and #7 cars respectively and both have come out looking racing during today’s earlier Free Practice 1 and 2 sessions where Magnus ended the day second quickest and with his team mate just a quarter of a second down in P8.

After nearly a five-week break since their opening round of the season from Oschersleben, the GT4 Germany Series is back in town this weekend ahead of its next two, hour long races around the Norisring.

The provisional entry list for this weekend again shows the two Prosport Racing Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4’s amongst its twenty-one-car entry with Anton Paul Abee and Marek Bockmann again within the #17 alongside the #19 car of Hugo Sasse and Roman Fellner-Feldegg.

Last time out didn’t get off to a great start for the #17 crew as Abee was sidelined for the opening race of the season with illness before being able to make a return to the car for the second round where they managed a credible P6 overall finish.

The #19 of former series champion Sasse and AMR GT4 newcomer Fellner-Feldegg ran better to claim both pole position for race one before finishing P3 overall in the race to back that up again in race two with a P2 finish in that.

Despite these results, they still trail the leading #11 Mercedes AMG GT4 crew by fourteen points after they claimed race wins within both races.

Track action for this series will begin on Friday with two Free Practice sessions before moving into Qualifying 1 on Saturday morning for the first race later in the day before a repeat of the same process on Sunday.

Photo credits – Team / Series / social media

 

The tripping point for the #55 Aston martin Racing Vantage GT4 crew was the sudden change in conditions at the circuit that saw Friday testing and Saturday Qualifying take place under hot summer sunshine before the heavens opened just ahead of the opening hour-long race.

Despite Gogollok positing the crews best yet Qualifying position to be only pipped at the post by the reigning series champions, their P2 start saw the race start from behind the Safety Car before being red flagged after just five minutes.

After nearly an hours delay, the race again resumed from behind the Safety Car before being red flagged again (for track conditions) before resuming after another half hour delay with forty-five minutes remaining. Fierce pressure in the opening green flag laps from the Aston eventually earned them the race lead before contact from the #2 BMW behind caused the Aston to spin just ahead of the pit stop window.

 

After a five-week break, the ADAC GT4 Germany Series is back in business this weekend as they visit a more traditional circuit at the Nurburgring for what will be their fourth round of the season.

Last time out at the Norisring proved itself to be a very painful exercise for the solo Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 entry from the Zakspeed/Eastside Motorsport team after contact from other cars within each of the two races there resulted in two untimely DNF’s to go alongside what has already been a difficult season for the team.

 

Another series having enjoyed a long summer break since their last round is the DTM Trophy Series who are back in business this weekend from the Nurburgring.

Also representing the start of their homeward stretch to their 2022 season after rounds from the Lausitzring, Imola and most recently from the street circuit of the Norisring in early July, this weekend sees both Team Speed Monkeys Aston Martin Vantage GT4’s return to racing after a disastrous round at the Safety Car plagued visit to the Norisring.