Within the team’s season long ST-1 class Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT8R saw just Max Orido see out the final round alongside his old teammate of Nobutera Taniguchi where the duo claimed class pole position for the first time this season. Having been always the bridesmaid to the #2 KTM, Fuji proved to be fortunate for the #47 car as, despite their driver grade time penalty being served, the duo were still able to come out to claim the cars maiden win of the season.

Whilst that did not change the Class Championship result, it did at least allow all to have a smile on their faces as the team’s #777 Vantage GT3 also came home with the usual GT8R crew aboard for the first time.

Running for the first time this season with Tatsuya Hoshino, Tsubasa Kondo, Kenji Hama and Jake Parsons, saw the inexperience of the Vantage GT3 be compensated with their knowledge of the Fuji Speedway circuit to come home P7 in class together with the fastest lap of the race to see out the team’s domestic season on something of a high.

With the team about to confirm their new for 2024 Super GT driver line up as well as awaiting for confirmation of its continuation within the FIA World Endurance Championship, 2024 is again looking busy for the team as their continuation within the Super Taikyu Series goes without doubt.

Photo credit - Team

This weekend we also see the return of the team’s #777 Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 for the first time this season within the ST-X Class but not with the usual ‘suspects’ behind the wheel.

This final race of the season will see Tatsuya Hoshino, Kenji Hama and Jake Parsons step up to the GT3 for the first time alongside regular Super Taikyu #777 Tsubasa Kondo whilst the #47 Vantage GT8R will be driven by Max Orido and Nobuteru Taniguchi.

That meant that the class battle was lost even before the series reached their home circuit at Fuji Speedway so in a twist of plan, the team have this week confirmed that just Orido and fresh driver Nobutera Taniguchi will race the final round at Fuji in mid-November.

Running in just a two-car class, the #47 car featuring Tatsuya Hoshino, Max Orido, Kenji Hama and Jake Parsons are again in the business of trying to limit the so far dominant KTM crew from clinching the ST-1 class Championship ahead of the season finale at Fuji next month.

Photo credits - D'Station Racing

Running in a two-car class, the #47 car featuring Tatsuya Hoshino, Max Orido, Kenji Hama and Jake Parsons are again in the business of trying to limit the so far dominant KTM crew from clinching the ST-1 class Championship.

With just two rounds remaining, the #47 crew really do need to beat the #2 KS Frontier KTM crew to have any championship potential at the season finale around the teams home track of Fuji at the end of November.

The weekend also sees the next round of the South African G&H Extreme Supercar Series run at the Zwartkops Raceway with Into Africa Racing again fielding their mighty AMR Vantage GT3 in the hands of Stuart White.

Last time out at Killarney, White managed to secure not just a race win but also the lap record around the circuit thanks to adjustments made to the car by the team and attending race engineers.

Finally, we have the final round of the British Endurance Championship at Donington Park this weekend which will now see two Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 teams do their thing.

The MKH Racing AMR crew of Peter Montague and Stuart Hall will be looking to round off their 2023 season in style whilst the Newbridge Motorsport team will debut within the Championship with AMR factory driver Tom Canning and Indian racer Humaira Mushtaq.

The #50 MKH Racing crew need to overcome a seventeen-point deficit to the #21 Venture Innovations Mercedes AMG GT4 crew at the end if they are to lift the GT4 crown.

Photo credits – Steve Jackman / social media

Ran under sweltering conditions, the #47 car qualified eighth overall within the mixed class grid – albeit P2 to the KTM again to then suffer slight contact during the race with an ST-X classed car to lose one of its door mirrors.

Having to pit for repairs, that delay allowed the already faster KTM to develop a one lap lead over the #47 car from which there was no hope of recovering even with some subsequent periods of caution.

That leaves the team just two further rounds at both Okayama and Fuji to overcome that now double-digit deficit – all starting in about six weeks’ time as team attention now turns to the World Endurance Championship form their home track of Fuji this weekend.

Photo credits - Team

Having seen the team and some of the crew race with podium winning success at the last round of the GT World Challenge Asia Japan Cup Series from Okayama a couple of weeks ago, the ST1 class was forced to miss the last round of the series due to paddock size but the #47 Tatsuya Hoshino, Max Orido, Kenji Hama and Jake Parsons driven car will be back this time around with one simple game plan.

Having been the bridesmaid in class to the all-conquering #2 KS Frontier KTM so far this season, the AMR crew sit just 9.5 points behind the KTM crew within this two-horse class with just three rounds including this one to go!

Photo credits – Series / Team

Finishing the race eighth overall and again second overall in class, the team can now look forward to something new as the car is being entered into the Okayama round of the GT World Challenge Asia Series (Japan Cup) with an otherwise unstated two driver line up in August.

The next round of the Super Taikyu Series will be from Autopolis at the end of July but with the gap ever increasing to the #2 crew ahead, their best bet for championship status will be via misfortunate on track of their KTM rivals.

Photo credits - Team

However, and with their WEC ambitions firmly in mind the team has elected to send their latest Silver ranked driver in Casper Stevenson to Japan to take part within the Fuji 24 event with the #47 cars more established driver line up.

Limited to racing knowledge both within Europe and not of a 24-hour duration, this race will give Stevenson critical knowledge and experience both for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in just over two weeks’ time but also for the WEC round at Fuji later in the year.

Stevenson will join drivers Max Orido, Kenji Hama, Katsuya Hoshino, Tsubasa Kondo and Jake Parsons within the ST-1 class.

Photo credits - Team

Over in New Zealand, the GT Series has moved across to the Taupo International Motorsport Park for their penultimate triple header round of the season having raced at both Hampton Downs and Highlands Park.

For this round we have again gone back down to just one Aston Martin Vantage GT8R of Stephen Harrison as Joel Giddy has apparently swapped to a Mercedes AMG GT4 platform already for that event. Harrison presently lies sixth within the GT4 class, still within reach of the class leaders in front.

Photo credits – Teams / Series

Racing in at least four of the available seven rounds and where their international commitments allow (from that we again take that to be another World Endurance Championship commitment), the team have confirmed that team boss Satoshi Hoshino, Tomonobu Fujii and Tsubasa Kondo will drive the teams #777 GT3 ST-X classed car whilst Max Orido, Kenji Hama, Jake Parsons and Tatsuya Hoshino will again share their #47 Vantage GT8R. 

That quartet only narrowly missed out on securing the ST-1 Class title at the final round due to a need for an untimely splash of fuel during the final ten minutes of the final race whilst leading the class.

Photo credits - Team

In the same series this year, Hoshino and Fujii were partnered by Tom Gamble so today’s announcement will add that little bit of continuity for the squad as we also expect them to confirm their WEC programme over the next few weeks on top of an already busy domestic and Asian theatre commitment in 2023.

Again, the Asian Le Mans Series remains at the Dubai Autodrome for two back-to-back four-hour rounds over the weekend of the 11th and 12th February before moving just across the border to the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi for the two concluding rounds over the weekend after.

For TF Sport, we will wait with somewhat baited breathe to see if they will be in attendance with more than one AMR powered crew again like they did this year.

This news comes the day after the team only just failed to secure the ST-1 Class Championship win at the final round of the Super Taikyu Series from Suzuka. Needing to beat the #2 KTM by more than 3.5 points, things were looking good for the #47 Vantage GT8R crew of Max Orido, Kenji Hama and Jake Parsons for much of the five hour race until fuel levels forced them to pit for a splash and dash inside the final ten minutes.

That was all that was needed by the #2 crew to retake the class lead from the #47 crew and therefore claim the class win and the Championship.

Photo credits – Team / A Lofthouse

Stating the Vantage GT8R first is because the Max Orido, Kenji Hama and Jake Parsons driven #47 car is currently placed second within their ST-1 class Championship, just three and a half points behind the #2 Sintium Apple KTM X-Bow with this final round to go after having claimed the top step of the class podium at the previous two rounds.

Having had the ST-1 class sit out the last round (as each lower class is scheduled to do once during the season) left just the team’s #777 AMR Vantage GT3 of Satoshi Hoshino, Tomonobu Fujii and Tsubasa Kondo to fly the AMR flag at Okayama just over five weeks ago where that crew Qualified and finished third both overall and in the ST-X class. Having skipped the opening three rounds because of their international duties – this series for that crew is simply for race mileage and experience.

Should the #47 car scoop the overall class prize at the weekend, that will continue the teams fine form within their domestic series having won the ST-X class in 2021 as well as numerous GT3 and GT4 runners up in class finishes since taking on board the then latest AMR machinery.

For the international viewer, race coverage will be available via the series YouTube channel on Sunday.

Photo credits - Team

This weekend will again feature Satoshi Hoshino, Tomonobu Fuji and Tsubasa Kondo within the ST-X classed #777 GT3 entry, running for the first time after their disappointment of Motegi where a rear suspension issue blighted and otherwise good start to that five-hour race.

Arriving at the series late in the season thanks to their prior World Endurance Championship commitments abroad, there will be no championship aspirations for the GT3 crew unlike that of the GT8R crew who lie in second place within the ST-1 class.

Photo credits - Team

Unfortunately for them, a rear hub issue for Kondo forced him to return the car to pit lane at a very slow pace where the connectivity of the rear nearside wheel was set to an obvious precarious angle. The car would play no further part in the event and would be classified as finishing in P33 out of the fifty-one car, multi-class entry.

Having said that, the teams #47 AMR Vantage GT8R of Tatsuya Hoshino, Max Orido, Kenji Hama and Jake Parsons would continue their recent podium finishing streak with an ST-1 pole to flag class win by the end of the five-hour race to narrow the gap to the #2 KTM car that finished third in class.

The next round of the series is at Okayama in mid-October but next up for the team will be the penultimate round of the World Endurance Championship from Fuji Speedway next weekend.

Photo Credits – Team / series