Pauwels and Day now lead in the silver class going into the final round of Sprint Cup
Starting off last time out in Misano, the #21 Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 partnership of Jamie Day and Kobe Pauwels finally got ‘all their ducks’ into order to end that weekend with their first, class win of the season to move into last weekend’s penultimate round from Magny-Cours full of momentum, buoyed as well by Day’s race winning exploits within another SRO GTWC Series down under on the weekend in-between.
Joining them within the large forty car entry where of course the fellow AMR powered full season entries of the #270 Comtoyou Racing bronze classed car of Raphael Suzuki and Ricardo Baptista and the #35 Pro entered car from the Walkenhorst Motorsport team for both Mateo Villagomez and Henrique Chaves.
Earlier rain in the test sessions had thankfully passed the circuit by as the grid prepared themselves for the opening hour-long race that would take them into darkness ahead of a more traditional early afternoon slot on Sunday for race two.
Continuing really from where he had left off, saw Pauwels slot his car home eight overall and first in class whilst the #270 car of Suzuki did likewise for the first pole position of the season within bronze with a time worthy of P11 overall whilst Villagomez had to make do with a P21 overall starting position – P11 in class.
Starting off at dusk, the pack was quickly hauled back into line with an early Safety Car with three cars in the gravel. Eventually losing a quarter of the race to the clean-up, the race soon got back up to speed with the #21 car holding a distant class lead over their nearest rivals as the light began to fade heading into the pit window.
Stops over and Day still had work to do to protect their position, whilst the #270 sister car had slunk down the bronze order again into fifth in class as the #35 Walkenhorst was also unable to make up for too much time deficit with Chaves now behind the wheel.
Eventually finishing under the cover of darkness and with transponder issues, the #21 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin had done enough to secure their second class win on the bounce in seventh overall whilst its sister car had to make do with P8 in bronze and the #35 car P11 in Pro.
Going into race two, it was another class pole for the #21 car of Day in P17 overall but with Baptista having to make do with P11 but with Chaves being the best of the AMR powered runners in P7 within their respective classes for this race.
It nearly ended very quickly for Chaves as he drifted wide and through the gravel in the opening sequence of corners but miraculously survived the excursion to race another lap for his efforts but did drop plenty of positions on his recovery.
This time the race quickly settled into something of a rhythm as Day became lead Aston, second in class in P14 with Chaves now just a couple of cars behind him as the pairing raced into the pit stop window in that order. Stops over and it was again just the #21 within the top five of any of the three classes being competed in with Pauwels again holding the class lead.
A late FCY delayed things on track as the race clock went below the final ten minutes as a car within the gravel appeared difficult to remove for the track marshals. Eventually getting back to racing, Pauwels could enjoy a fifteen plus second gap to his class rival behind in the closing laps to secure his and the team’s third, class win of the season. The #35 car would eventually finish P16 overall/P11 in class and the #270 P36 overall/P10 in class.
Championship wise – these results elevate the #21 crew up to first place within the silver class drivers championship, six points clear with just the final two races at Valencia in the season still to go.
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
Monday, August 04, 2025 |
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GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup back in business at many-Cours this weekend
Within that expected entry list will be the same three Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 cars from both the Comtoyou Racing and Walkenhorst Motorsport teams but with one of those crews reverting to its original driver line up.
Last time out, we of course saw the #21 Comtoyou Racing AMR of Jamie Day and Kobe Pauwels secure their first silver class win of the year in Sundays hour long race after a their P3 podium finish within the earlier race.
They were by far, the best result of the weekend from the three cars with the #35 Walkenhorst entry of Mateo Villagomez and Henrique Chaves struggling to break into the top ten of their elected Pro class whilst the #270 Comtoyou Racing bronze entry did improve from P10 in class in race one to P5 in class after race two.
That result for the #270 car came after Brazilian racer Sergio Sette Camara deputised for his countryman Raphael Suzuki for this round alongside that of Ricardo Baptista. Despite this change of line up and Sette Camara racing a GT3 and in Europe for the first time, the pairing had their best result to date. This time, Suzuki again races alongside Baptista again.
Results from Misano also lift the #21 crew up to fourth within their silver class drivers’ championship table, now just sixteen points behind the class leaders with four races still to run including Magny-Cours.
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
Monday, July 28, 2025 |
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A birthday win for Talbot alongside Day for the first time in GT World Challenge Australia
Only thrust together for the first time this year after a driver re-alignment within the #1 Volante Rosso Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 powered crew that saw Declan Fraser be replaced with the young Brit for the remainder of the season.
Having jetted into Australia on the back of his own class win within the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup round in Misano in Italy last weekend, Day was welcomed by some very cold and wet conditions for his series debut within a team he has already raced with a the 12hrs of Bathurst earlier in the year.
Earlier qualifying had seen Talbot start Saturday’s race opener from the second row of the grid which saw a very ‘elbows out’ opening lap to the race that saw the #1 move up top second to sit comfortably as the race settled. A Safety Car for a car in the gravel saw those gaps removed as the race went back to green still ten minutes short of the pit stop window.
Talbot would later be issued with a driver standards warning for rear end contact with the #888 Audi as he looked for a way passed.
Eventually handing over to Day, the #1 car would assume the race lead after the #888 had to serve both a success time penalty from the previous race weekend and an additional five seconds for their lap one overtake of then pole setter to gain a position off track, but Day would immediately have multiple cars on his tail.
Unfortunately for the Brit, two separate mistakes on track saw him first loose the lead before then spinning out from fourth having ridden the exit kerb on turn one to eventually finish a disappointing (for them) P8.
Race two on Sunday was something entirely different as rain immediately prior to the start put all the fourteen cars onto full wets and kept them that way during the entirety of the hour-long race.
As usual, Day started this one from his qualifying position of P7 to run through an early Safety Car (for a car stranded on track after contact with the barrier) to pass an error free stint this time around over to Talbot from P6.
As the rainfall again intensified, Talbot quickly gained track position from the start of his stint to assume the overall race lead with just twelve minutes remaining but as the track conditions deteriorated, the #888 Audi was also hunting him down.
Despite side by side contact between the two cars going into the final lap, Talbot was finally able to demonstrate his capabilities within the AMR Vantage GT3 for the #1 crew to claim their first ever race win within the GT World Challenge Australia Series as the team now looks forward to the next round from The Bend at the beginning of September but as Day now flies back to Europe for the next round of the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup from France this weekend coming.
Photo credits – Team / Series / social media
Sunday, July 27, 2025 |
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Success for Comtoyou Racing and their silver crew within a delayed GT World Challenge Europe Sprint affair
Racing this weekend from Misano in Italy, saw the team again enter two such crews – the #21 silver cup entry for Jamie Day and Kobe Pauwels as well as the #270 bronze cup entry for their revised Brazilian driver line up of Sergio Sette Camara and Ricardo Baptista. There would also be the #35 Pro entry from the German Walkenhorst Motorsport team for Henrique Chaves and Mateo Villagomez.
Race one on Saturday would be an into the night affair for the three Aston Martins amongst the forty-four strong, multi-classed entry where the #21 crew had secured a P2 in class start as the lead Aston with Day taking the start.
A tight circuit and many well determined drivers lead to the inevitable contact on the opening lap that saw for an early Safety Car period at the end of the opening lap as several cars (and their parts) were left scattered about the circuit. That kind of lowered emotions within the cockpits once the race got going again as Day battled for the class lead only to lose it again a few corners later.
Villagomez was also enjoying a great start having moved up from P27 at the start to P19 at the end of a quick-fire Full Course Yellow for a stranded car just after the Safety Car restart whilst Camara was up to P28 overall from his earlier P42 qualifying position.
Whilst both the #35 and #270 cars stayed out late within the pit window, Day pitted early to hand his #21 car over to Pauwels from second in class as the race finally went into full darkness but at least the circuit was illuminated to some degree.
As the laps continued at a frenetic pace, both the #35 and #270 cars were holding P10 within their respective classes whilst the #21 car was looking comfortable in second in class but still eager to look for a way passed into the lead. Despite a late FCY towards the end of the night, the #21 car would take the chequered flag second in class, but a later post-race five second time penalty would drop them down to third in class after the event – still a great results for all.
Race two on Sunday should have been another fast and furious affair but for the consequences of a scary looking incident between a Lamborghini and a BMW within the opening ten minutes of the race.
Despite starting on class pole position, the #21 car of Pauwels was quickly pushed out wide on the opening lap to quickly drop down the order from his starting position of P8 to P17 whilst the #35 car of Chaves quickly improved his own position as a consequence up until the red flag.
The debris field and barrier damage was extensive and took track officials over two hours to repair/replace before the race could even have a chance of getting back on track but more importantly from all of that, all the drivers involved were reported as being OK for their troubles despite the fireball incident and secondary contact.
Getting back to green, it would only by a two/three dash affair to the opening of the pit stop window as Villagomez continued to lead the way in P12 overall with the #21 car three places behind them (and third in class) whilst Sette Camara looked to improve from their P9 bronze cup placement.
Soon Day was back behind the #10 Mercedes and pushing for the lead in class as his chance finally came his way thanks to the #35 Walkenhorst AMR being slow out of one corner that allowed the #21 to overlap and pass the #10 car around the outside of turn 15. Job done – or so it seemed until Race Control confirmed that that manoeuvre would be investigated for gaining an advantage off track!!
With just minutes of the race remaining, it was confirmed that the #21 car would suffer no further action for that earlier overtake of the #10 car to claim their first, class win of the season with the #35 coming home P9 in Pro and the #270 rounding off a good weekend for the Comtoyou Racing team P5 in Bronze.
The next round of the Sprint Cup will be from Magny-Cours, France in two weeks’ time.
Photo credits – Team / Series / social media
Sunday, July 20, 2025 |
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GT World Challenge and GT4 European Series back in business this weekend from Misano
Misano welcomes both the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup and GT4 European Series start what will be their third and fourth rounds of the season with over eighty crews due to take part across the two races per series this weekend.
Within the headlining Sprint Cup, there should be forty-four crews present including three Aston Martin Racing powered crews from both the Belgian based Comtoyou Racing and German based Walkenhorst Motorsport teams.
With just one apparent change within these AMR powered cars, we again welcome Jamie Day and Kobe Pauwels to run within the #21 silver ranked Comtoyou Racing entry alongside their #270 bronze class entry for their Brazilian racers Ricardo Bapitsta and Sergio Sette Camara who replaces the previous Raphael Baptista.
They in turn will be joined by the again solo #35 Walkenhorst Pro entry of Henrique Chaves and Matteo Villagomez where the latter driver was part of the team’s silver class winning AMR powered entry at the recent Spa 24.
Earlier results from both Brands Hatch and Zandvoort see the #21 crew hanging within their class with three P4 finishes in class whilst the #35 crew have certainly been less fortunate. This is still just the second round of the season for the #270 crew having missed the opening round in early May.
Then within the supporting GT4 European Series and its expected thirty-eight car entry, we also have the four full season entries even split between both the Mirage Racing and Racing Spirit of Leman teams.
The #7 Mirage Racing Pro-Am entry of Stanislav Safronov and Aleksandr Vaintrub have had the best of starts between them and the three silver classed AMR powered runners as they lie fourth in class overall after their opening three rounds of the season so far.
The #7 Mirage Racing Pro-Am entry of Stanislav Safronov and Aleksandr Vaintrub have had the best of starts between them and the three silver classed AMR powered runners as they lie fourth in class overall after their opening three rounds of the season so far.
They are again backed up by their team-mates Ruben Del Sarte and Roberto Faria within their #5 car alongside the two RSLM entries of Clement Seyler and Baudouin Detout aboard their #39 car and Will Orton and David Kullmann within their #74 car.
With the silver class again being another highly competitive venture, with the #5 crew leading the #39 crew by just one point albeit ninety-five points down to the dominant #3 Audi crew. The #74 crew have struggled the most so far with just two points finishes.
All crews within both series will again run one, hour long race across both Saturday and Sunday after Friday Free Practice and Saturday Qualifying.
Photo credits – Team / Series / social media
Thursday, July 17, 2025 |
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Zandvoort disappoints the AMR runners in both Sprint Cup and GT4 European Series
Zandvoort wasn’t presumably the circuit of choice for the Aston Martin Racing powered runners within both the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup and GT4 European Series Vantage GT3 and GT4 runners at the weekend as many came close, none were able to threaten the top steps of either series podiums.
Both racing only their second rounds of the season for both the GT3 runners within the GTWCE Series after their season opener around the Grand Prix loop of the Brands Hatch circuit and the whole host of runners within the GT4 only series, the twists and turns of the seaside nestled Dutch circuit (as well as their competition) proved difficult for the seven AMR powered runners within both series.
The GTWCE Series did welcome a third AMR powered crew as Ricardo Baptista and Raphael Suzuki finally made their series debut within their #270 Comtoyou Racing AMR alongside that of their #21 stablemates in the form of Jamie Day and Kobe Pauwels and the #35 Walkenhorst entry of Matteo Villagomez and Henrique Chaves amongst the forty-one strong entry.
Racing within the Bronze, Silver and Pro classes respectively by the #270 and #35 cars got roughed up within the opening hour-long race of the weekend and whilst the Brazilian crew within the #270 were still able to finish their debut race, the #35 car sadly didn’t due to damage. Despite finishing well down the overall order in P15, the #21 Comtoyou entry narrowly missed the class podium with a P4 finish.
It was a similar tale within Sunday’s final round for both the #270 and #35 as although both finish this time around, both cars were well outside of the points for their efforts with only the #21 crew replicating a higher order finish with another P4 placement in class.
Four AMR Vantage GT4 crews were also in action within the supporting GT4 European Series with two cars apiece from both the Mirage Racing and Racing Spirit of Leman stables.
This time racing with forty-three competitors, only the Pro-Am entry of the #7 Mirage Racing AMR for Stanislav Safronov and Alexandr Vaintrub threatened the class podium with a P2 finish in race one and then a P3 finish on Sunday for them to now slot in a distant second to the dominating Henrik Still/Joachim Bolting driven Porsche.
The #5 Mirage Racing entry of Ruben Del Sarte/Roberto Faria managed a P7 finish in race one but a DNF in race 2, as did the #74 RSLM crew of David Kullmann and Will Orton who failed to finish race one but put in a P13 result in race two. Only the #39 RSLM entry of Baudouin Detout and Clement Seyler finished both races within the silver class with a P12 and P8 finish respectively.
The GTWCE Sprint Cup series will be back in action from Misano in mid-July whilst the GT4’s will be back in action slightly earlier at Spa Week at the end of June.
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
Monday, May 19, 2025 |
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Three AMR Vantage GT3s for Gt World Challenge Sprint visit to Zandvoort this weekend
Having already covered the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup Prologue events at Spa Francorchamps with today's and tomorrow's Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa Prologue test days, their European Sprint Cup and GT4 European Series sees themselves back in business this weekend with their second rounds of the season from the Dutch coastal circuit.
After having just two Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 crews feature within the opening round of the Sprint season from Brands Hatch a couple of weeks ago, there will be three such examples this time around for Zandvoort where a second Comtoyou Racing crew will feature alongside that of their sister car and Walkenhorst Motorsport entry.
Also at Spa Francorchamps this week, the #21 Comtoyou Racing AMR of Jamie Day and Kobe Pauwels will be back within the silver class alongside the Pro class entry from the #35 Walkenhorst team for Mateo Villagomez and Henrique Chaves.
Brands Hatch proved to be a tough opening encounter for those two crews with a best result of the weekend fourth in class for the #21 car in race two whilst the #35 posted a best race result P8 in class in the same race.
They will this time be joined by Rafael Suzuki and Ricardo Baptista for the first time in this series after the Brazilian pair put in one event within the GT3 Winter Series from Valencia where a heavy impact from behind (through no fault of their own) ruined a podium winning start to their Comtoyou Vantage GT3 adventure togther in race one of that weekend. Hopefully they do not suffer any similar circumstances around the coastal dunes of Zandvoort as they race within the Bronze class.
Photo credits – Team / Series / Daniel Burgin
Tuesday, May 13, 2025 |
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Both AMR crews improve between races as the GTWCE Sprint Cup kicks off at Brands Hatch
Just the two AMR Vantage GT3 crews this time around, one from each of the Comtoyou Racing and Walkenhorst Motorsport stables as both cars carried at least one driver in their earlier stages of the GT3 racing career and with the Walkenhorst dipping their toe into the Sprint Cup scene for the first time amongst the thirty strong entry.
Racing this time in separate classes saw the #35 Walkenhorst crew of Henrique Chaves and Mateo Villagomez compete within the Pro class whilst the #21 Comtoyou Racing entry again stuck with the silver class for their drivers Jamie Day and Kobe Pauwels.
Sometimes fresh but otherwise pleasant track conditions blessed the strong grid and the large crowd as two one-hour races were in store after the preceding Free Practice, Pre-Qualifying and individual Qualifying sessions. P4 in class was the best starting position gained by Day ahead of his start in race 2 whilst the P10 in class was similarly placed in P12 and P9 in class for each race respectively.
Sunday made for a busy programme with race 1 starting at 11:00hrs with race 2 not that long after at 15:45hrs.
With Villagomez and Pauwels taking the start for race 1, everyone survived the bumping and grinding of the opening laps before the differences in pace stretched the grid, but many crews were already coming to the attention of Race Control for track limits. Both crews pitted at the first available opportunity from the mid table of the pack, but Day was rudely spun around by Lamborghini on his outlap that lost him time but sadly after that – neither Aston was to figure above P25 overall for the #35 and P27 for the #21 car.
For the later race 2, the sunshine had gone with cooler and cloudier conditions affecting the cars on track everyone again got through the opening laps although Chaves had to roll his sleeves up to get through from his P10 start and up into P8 by the end of lap one. Despite losing positions on that opening lap, Day retained his P4 place within silver.
A stranded car in the gravel just before the opening of the pit window delayed matters slightly as half the pack pitted at the first chance once the Safety Car was removed but another car stranded in the gravel would bring that back out again very soon.
Stops over but under a FCY, the #35 was still up within the top 10 overall whilst the #21 had retained its P18/P4 position as the race finally got back underway with just ten minutes remaining. Despite losing traction with fading tyres, the #35 Walkenhorst car of Villagomez managed to hang on until the end to finish P9 overall whilst the #21 crew finished the day P4 in silver.
The next round of the Sprint Cup Series will be from Zandvoort in Holland in just over three weeks’ time with the Spa 24 Test Day somewhere in-between.
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
Monday, May 05, 2025 |
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Just two Aston Martins for this weekends GTWC Europe Sprint opener from Brands Hatch
Starting off in the UK we will see the opening round of the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Series around the Grand Prix loop of Brands Hatch this weekend. With the Endurance side of the equation already underway, this weekend’s pair of races will see just two AMR Vantage GT3 Evo’s compete amongst an expected grid size of thirty cars.
The entry list confirms the #21 Comtoyou Racing silver entry for drivers Jamie Day and Kobe Pauwels as well as the #35 Pro entry from the Walkenhorst Motorsport team for their driver Henrique Chaves and Mateo Villagomez. Whilst the #35 entry has remained static from its time of announcement earlier this year, the Belgian teams entries have been changed since Matisse Lismont departed the team in favour of a Corvette entry just before the start of the Endurance series with his space now taken up by an endurance/sprint entered Day, but with the total removal of their planned #210 entry.
That should have been for their new Brazilian pairing of Ricardo Baptista and Raphael Suzuki as they did within one round of the GT3 Winter Series earlier this year but with just Pro, silver and gold classes being competed at this weekend – that might explain way.
Whilst the abilities of Chaves are well documented, the reigning FFSA GT4 Silver Champion Villagomez is still at the start of his GT3 learning curve although this will not be his debut GT3 event having raced at the Bathurst 12hr and also double stinting within the Endurance Cup rounds with Walkenhorst.
Saturday will see the field to the track for Free Practice, Pre-Qualifying and Qualifying before race 1 at 11:00hrs local with race 2 soon after at 15:45hrs local.
Photo credits – Teams / social media / Daniel Burgin
Tuesday, April 29, 2025 |
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New faces and stepping up places for some within AMR this season
Krognes, 34, whose pedigree includes the overall Nordschleife-based Nürburgring Langstrecken Series (NLS) title in 2012, is the official GT3 lap record holder on the fearsome circuit’s NLS layout since 2022. A long-serving driver for Walkenhorst Motorsport, he will also participate in the team’s SP9 Pro class assault on the Nürburgring 24 Hours in June.
“Christian’s performances over the years at the Nürburgring have ensured he has long been someone we’ve kept an eye on, and when the opportunity arose for us to bring him into the AMR family officially, it seemed like an obvious decision to make,” said Aston Martin Racing Director of Performance Gus Beteli. “He is super-fast, gives precise and consistent feedback, works well in a team environment and is a safe pair of hands behind the wheel; all key attributes when competing in the highest levels of endurance racing.”
Krognes, who since switching from karts to car racing has built his career mainly around Nürburgring-based endurance events, described becoming part of the AMR works driver line-up as the “realisation of dream”.
“Joining Aston Martin was always a childhood dream for me,” said Krognes. “Now I’m looking forward to taking on the challenges ahead with my great teammates at Walkenhorst Motorsport behind the wheel of the spectacular Aston Martin Vantage GT3. I’ve always admired the brand’s heritage and I’m very proud to represent such an iconic manufacturer. I also want to take this opportunity to thank AMR for putting its faith in me as well as all the people who have supported me so far on this journey. I can’t wait for the season to start.”
Krognes joins arguably the strongest ever AMR works line-up, one full to the brim with stellar talent. Former FIA World Endurance Championship GT champions Marco Sørensen and Thiim both return with multiple programmes, while Spa 24 Hours winner Mattia Drudi will compete in WEC, GTWC Europe and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Aston Martin Formula One® Team Driver Ambassador Jessica Hawkins will step back into an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 for a second consecutive season as she joins Comtoyou Racing in the GTWC Europe Endurance Cup. Her team-mates in the #11 car will be confirmed at a later date.
Hawkins, who recorded two Silver-Am class podium finishes at Donington Park in her maiden British GT Championship season, said: “I’m thrilled to make my debut in GT World Challenge Europe with Comtoyou Racing this year. Having previous experience with the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 from my time in British GT and working with an established team like Comtoyou, I hope will help heading into the season.
“I’d like to thank Arm and Valvoline for their support in helping me to progress to GTWC Europe, it’s an excellent next step in my racing career and will ultimately give me the opportunity to work towards my ultimate dream of competing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. I’m looking forward to getting started and racing at some new and familiar circuits.”
The Briton will be surrounded by a wealth of talent in the Belgian partner team – a GTWC Europe Endurance Cup Pro class title contender in 2024 thanks in no small part to Spa 24 Hour winners Drudi, Sørensen and Thiim, who return for another season in the #007 for another crack at championship glory.
The newest AMR Driver Academy winner Jamie Day also steps up to the GTWC Europe Endurance Cup with Comtoyou Racing in 2025 in an Aston Martin Vantage GT3. The 2024 British GT GT4 Silver class champion will run in the GTWC Silver division alongside Belgian duo Kobe Pauwels and Matisse Lismont.
Walkenhorst Motorsport’s Pro line-up of Chaves, Krognes and Pittard will be joined by an equally impressive Silver class crew in the #35 Vantage GT3 that features yet another AMR Academy winner – Romain Leroux, alongside Mateo Villagomez and Oliver Söderström.
The AMR partner team will dovetail its Endurance Cup assault with a Pro class campaign in the Sprint Cup for Chaves and Villagomez.
Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport Adam Carter added: “The strength in depth brought to bear by our partners in the GTWC Europe is a testament to the competitive level and driveability of the Vantage GT3 platform. The car came close to winning the Pro class title in 2024, and I’m confident that the driver line-ups in place across all the divisions are capable of fighting for championship glory in 2025. I would like to extend a warm welcome to Christian, who is an excellent addition to the works roster and we are excited to see what he can achieve with Vantage, and also to congratulate Jessica on her graduation to European GT competition. It’s going to be a fascinating GT season, and at Aston Martin we look forward to this with eager anticipation.”
The GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Official Prologue takes place 10-11 March at Paul Ricard in France, with the opening round of the series taking place at the same venue on 11-13 April.
Source material – AMR
Photo credits – GTWCE (Jacob Ebrey) / social media
Monday, March 10, 2025 |
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Walkenhorst and Comtoyou confirm their GT World Challenge Sprint and Endurance driver crews today
Having had the series confirm car numbers between the two series and teams just a week or so ago, today’s news confirms all bar one of those crews as many embarked upon the first day of Prologue testing with their competitors to be at the Paul Ricard circuit in southern France today.
Noting some welcome returnees and well as some new and upcoming faces within the GT3 family of AMR teams, today saw the following crews formally announced.
Within the GTWCE Sprint Cup Series, there will be three AMR Vantage GT3 Evo crews running for the five-round season – two from the Belgian based Comtoyou Racing team and one from the German based Walkenhorst team.
Within the GTWCE Sprint Cup Series, there will be three AMR Vantage GT3 Evo crews running for the five-round season – two from the Belgian based Comtoyou Racing team and one from the German based Walkenhorst team.
After a couple of rounds of pre-season racing within the GT Winter Series of late, Kobe Pauwels and Matisse Lismont have been confirmed alongside Brazilian newcomers Ricardo Baptista and Raphael Suzuki whilst the Walkenhorst team will run with Henrique Chaves guiding the GT4 convertee and reigning FFSA GT4 Silver champion Matteo Villagomez.
Then within the five endurance rounds, we will see another five entries from these two teams plus of course the Verstappen.com entry from the 2 Seas Motorsport team for drivers Thierry Vermeulen, Chris Lulham and Harry King.
Comtoyou Racing again line up the Spa 24 winners of last season with Mattia Drudi, Marco Sorensen and Nicki Thiim again joining forces behind the #007 with Lismont and Pauwels joining up with reigning British GT GT4 Silver Cup Champion Jamie Day for the endurance rounds with Jessica Hawkins plus two driver yet to be advised as a third car effort for the season.
The two Walkenhorst AMR crews also have a degree of stability about them as Henrique Chaves and David Pittard again pair up but with Ross Gunn’s position of old now taken by AMR’s latest Professional driver acquisition in Christian Krognes now alongside. Their teams second will be a silver graded crew where Romain Leroux will be alongside to help both Villagomez (who is also doing a Sprint and Endurance double) and Oliver Soderstrom.
The two Walkenhorst AMR crews also have a degree of stability about them as Henrique Chaves and David Pittard again pair up but with Ross Gunn’s position of old now taken by AMR’s latest Professional driver acquisition in Christian Krognes now alongside. Their teams second will be a silver graded crew where Romain Leroux will be alongside to help both Villagomez (who is also doing a Sprint and Endurance double) and Oliver Soderstrom.
The attending teams at today’s opening sessions of the Prologue test where met with changeable weather conditions which saw the #33 Verstappen.com crew post the fastest times of the three AMR crews than ran over the two sessions held today.
Photo credits – Teams / Series (Jacob Ebrey)
Monday, March 10, 2025 |
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