Two determined races from the Cosy Racing by ESM Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 powered team saw them get their championship aspirations back on track after the ADAC GT4 Germany Series visit to Oschersleben at the weekend.

 

Racing as only their third round to the season, their out of the box performances at the opening round of the year at the Red Bull Ring had been unsurprisingly muted by the series visit to the improvised street circuit layout of the Norisring last time out, so good performances were high on the agenda for both Jan Philipp Springob and Philipp Gogollok aboard their #4 car amongst the grid of eighteen other runners.

 

Despite repeated revisits to the Balance of Performance clip-board over the weekend, the weekend started well for the pairing on Saturday after Springob claimed pole position ahead of that opening hour-long race later in the day.

Not quite a comfortable lights to flag win, the #4 crew managed to stay clear of trouble during the opening laps to hold onto the race lead going into the compulsory pit window. A further full course yellow brought the pack back together again going into the final quarter of the race which left Gogollok busy in with his mirrors as he protected the teams run into another race win in the series.

 

Roles reversed for race two saw Gogollok this time undertake the role of qualifying, taking the start from P3 on the grid later in the day.

Decidedly cooler than Saturday and with the potential of further rain still on the radar made for a very skittish start to the race around the very greasy track. With something of a dry line nearly always visible around the track, the still falling rain did nothing to affect the flow of the race until just before the pit window when the rain fall intensified and two contacting cars left debris around the track. Delaying the pit window by a few minutes, the clean up behind the Safety Car was quickly down as the #4 car pitted from fourth.

 

With the rain then reducing in volume, the speed of the race towards the chequered flag increased accordingly as Springob chased down the podium placed cars ahead. That was quickly done as the #4 car moved up to third with any further charge thwarted by a late FCY for debris slowed the pace back down again leaving just a couple of minutes to the end. The team would eventually finish their third race weekend of the year with another podium finish to add to their race win.

Photo credits - ADAC

 

 

 

 

The opening race of the weekend on Saturday kicked off with Jonathon Mitchell and his #007 former TRG-AMR Vantage GT3 again beating the #47 Graham Davidson driven former Oman Racing AMR to the pole position at the start of that fifty-minute race.

For the large Aston Martin Racing powered entry, the former Massive Motorsport Vantage GT3 was sadly an early casualty at Copse on the first run through when another car caught its nose and tipped both into a spin, taking another with them and leaving the Sampson driven car with rear end damage as a red flag was called for the clean-up.

 

With the marshals again doing a sterling job, it was quickly back to racing within the tight track schedule with Davidson doing what he could to chase down the #007 up ahead. With nobody afraid to race these now historical listed cars, further incident and accident was inevitable with a Safety Car intervention again further delaying the racing with little over fifteen minutes remaining.

Eventually getting back to green with just four minutes remaining, it was another last two lap dash to the flag with Mitchell able to hold off a charging Davidson (and the two other cars close behind) to take the win with the #47 car in second. The Kyle Tilley/Christian Albrecht driven former #18 AMR works car was the next best finisher in sixth with the #13 ex. TF Sport AMR of Shaun Lynn and Scott Malvern rounding off the top ten.

 

Race two on Sunday started much the same way with the #007 and #47 Astons again locking out the front row although both the #52 DBRS9 and the #68 cars were sadly both missing from the grid after their respective race one incidents.

This time avoiding any opening lap incidents, Mitchell was soon stretching his legs out from as Davidson soon had his rear-view mirrors full of Chevrolet Camero but quickly the #007 car would suffer from technical issues as the previous lap’s gap to second was quickly overcome and surpassed as the car eventually stopped out on track.

That left both Davidson and Phil Keen to battle for the lead into the pit window with the #47 able to restore its lead thereafter. The #18 AMR Vantage GT3 was also coming into the mix this time around after Tilley had taken over from Albrecht to run in third overall with little over fifteen minutes remaining.

As the sunlight began to turn down, the #47 Oman Racing AMR of Davidson secured another race win within the series with the #18 car coming home in third with the #13 former T-Sport AMR of Lynn/Malvern rounding out the top five as the final Aston Martin across the line.

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media

 

 

 

 

With six rounds down and still four more to go, this season’s IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Series is still far from over with nearly as many championship points still on offer that the present table leaders have accrued so far going into next weekend’s seventh round from Road America.

This time around, we welcome back the four mainly full season Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 powered protagonists after only three made the trip to the other side of the Canadian border last time around.

 

Three weeks ago at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, the #4 Medusa Motorsport AMR team of Athan Sterling and Hunter Yearny elected not to make the trip north, rather spending their time at Road America testing ahead of next weekend’s two-hour race. The last few rounds of the series have been more than challenging for AMR’s latest recruits within North America as they adapt to the Vantage GT4 platform over that of their original Ford Mustang as well as two untimely and race ending accidents as well. Hopefully, preparation will be their key to a better race weekend this time around.

The #14 Circle H Racing AMR of David Hampton and Thomas Merrill have also found the last few races more than challenging as they have become embroiled within other crews incidents and accidents to find their early fine start to the start slumping off unfortunately rapidly. A P8 at the Glen the only rose between a DNF blotted copybook at the events either side of that sums up their season so far but again, the championship situation would allow the crew to elevate themselves up the order with some more consistent finishing over the remaining rounds.

 

The #26 Heart of Racing AMR Vantage GT4 of both Hannah Grisham and Hannah Greenemeir has certainly been quick – specially in qualifying for the last two rounds where each driver has managed to secure overall pole position for themselves at both Watkins Glen and CTMSP. Unfortunately, race pace and unforeseen circumstances with other cars has blighted them in both races with a P6 finish at the Glen before a very disappointing P15 finish last time out after a late black and orange flag for the crew last time out. Despite all of that, the #26 crew still stand within grasping distance of the championship lead should results go their way over the remaining four races.

Finally, the #66 Car Blanche (nee Van Der Steur racing) AMR of Trenton Estep and Allen Patten hold the best AMR powered position within the overall championship table in sixth after pushing on through some difficult races to still come away with a respectable finish and important points haul.

 

Fourth overall in Canadian and fifth overall at the Glen, and despite some significant contact for the car within both races sees the pairing laying just the equivalent of one race win away from the top of the table with visits to VIR, Indianapolis and Road Atlanta still to come.

Track action will begin next Thursday with practice before Qualifying on Friday and the start to the two-hour race at 13:50hrs local this time around.

Photo credits – Teams / social media

The IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship enters its homeward stretch to its 2026 campaign next weekend as the combined grid of GTP, LMP2 and GTD based entries make their way to Road America Circuit near the Great Lakes for another endurance round.

Whilst the GTD based entries were running last time out at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park three weeks ago, the prototype-based entries haven’t run since Watkins Glenn a further two weeks before that.

 

That round was certainly one to forget for the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Valkyrie GTP car of Ross Gunn and Roman De Angelis after the Canadian emerged from pit lane and into a wall of stationary traffic putting himself and two other cars out of the race. That lull in the schedule has at least allowed the team to make the necessary repairs to what was quite an extensively damaged Valkyrie – again all valuable information for the team running the same chassis in both IMSA and the FIA World Endurance Championship in just how the car fairs in situations like that. Fortunately, all drivers concerned were able to walk away otherwise unscathed with is the important thing at the end of the day.

Within the GTD classes, we will have just the championship leading #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 of Eduardo Barrichello, Zacharie Robichon and Tom Gamble alongside the #068 Car Blanche AMR of Valentin Hasse-Clot Trenton Estep and Marius Fossard to cheer on – ie. No return as yet of the #44 Magnus Racing AMR team this time around.

 

For the white #068 car, it’s also a return to the GTD class after both Hasse-Clot and the guesting Scot Andrews stepped into the realms of the GTD Pro class for the first time in what was only their second race together in the post Van Der Steur Racing and now Car Blanche era. Despite finishing at the back of the more established pack, the team and crew showed pace at but also indiscipline at times, something that pushed them down the order.

For the #27 Heart of Racing crew, Canada started well after Barrichello missed the home race of his FIA WEC campaign to concentrate upon his and the teams IMSA GTD hopes to secure his first pole position of the season. After the two hours and forty minutes of that race alongside De Angelis this time around, the P6 finish in class was still enough for the Brazilian to maintain his championship lead going into these four final rounds of the season.

 

Track action for the combined IMSA grid of fifty-four cars starts on Friday with Practice One before running through further practice sessions and qualifying on Saturday before being waved off to this six-hour affair at 11:40hrs local next weekend.

Photo credits – Teams / social media

 

 

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

  

 

 

The Walkenhorst Motorsport team last weekend bucked the trend of their Aston Martin Racing stablemates at Comtoyou Racing having all of the fun within racing competition of late as they came away from the Misano with two podium finishes in class to their name.

Racing at just the second round of the Sprint Cup Series, the German based Walkenhorst team entered two silver classed AMR Vantage GT3’s alongside the three AMR entries from the Belgium based Comtoyou team for the weekend’s two one-hour races.

 

Race one on Saturday would be an into the night race with the forty-four strong grid lining up just before dusk but with just the #34 Walkenhorst AMR of Jamie Day and Mateo Villagomez breaking into the top half during the earlier qualifying getting a P12 overall starting slot over the next best of the #7 Comtoyou Racing Pro class entry of Nicki Thiim and Kobe Pauwels.

Race one unfortunately got off to a troubled start with many of the front running cars making contact with one another with two cars sustaining damage with a wide debris field that necessitated the Safety Car before the end of the opening lap.

 

Fortunately none of these were AMR powered runners but that did lose ten minutes of the race clock during the clean-up operation before things got going again as Day still featured as the only Aston Martin runner within the top half of the entry coming up to the mandatory pit stop window.

By the time that had finished it was practically dark around the mainly unlit circuit as now Villagomez took up the charge within the #34 car but with something of a comeback drive from Pauwels aboard the #7 Comtoyou car as he was climbing his way up towards the overall top fifteen.

 

Despite a late FCY for a car stranded in the gravel that would eventually see the race finish under waved yellows, the #34 completed the opening race of the weekend with an overall P14 finish – P2 in silver whilst the #7 car still missed out upon a class top ten finish despite their best of efforts. The #21 Comtoyou silver entry of Oliver Soderstrom and Arthur Dorison ended their day with a credible P3 in class – two places in front of the #35 Walkenhorst entry of Maxime Robin and Gaspard Simon. The #11 Comtoyou Racing bronze class entry of Felice Jelmini and Marcelo Tomasoni would feature at the tail end of the pack at the end of both races in their opening weekend of the series.

Race two on Sunday would be run under the full heat of the summer sun but with Pauwels starting from the second row of the grid in third and with the #34 Walkenhorst this time the next based AMR in P21.

 

A cleaner start this time saw Pauwels drop a place before holding position for what then appeared to be a resumption of the abilities, but brake issues would quickly see the car back in the garage for what be an immediate retirement. That left Villagomez still down in P21 as the lead Aston again.

As the race progressed, the #35 teammate of Robin was next seen climbing both the class and overall race ladder immediately prior to their stop but once that had been completed, their sister #34 again took over the leading reins for Aston Martin. Whilst the two remaining Comtoyou Racing cars got a variety of time penalties for (usually) track limits which put paid to their races, it was to be another great display from the two Walkenhorst entries again on Sunday.

 

Day and Villagomez came home to secure their second P2 in class podium having come home P16 overall whilst both Robin and Simon had their best result to date with their P5 finish in class.

The next round of the season will be from Magny-Cours in France in just ten days’ time.

Photo credits – Team / Series

 

 

 

 

Misano finally gave the two Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 powered crews something to cheer this weekend as both silver and Pro-Am classed crews took home silverware for their efforts in the GT4 European Series.

Hitting the back stretch to the 2026 season, recent races have been difficult for team especially for the #74 Pro-Am entry which needed a new driver after the opening round to partner Florent Grizaud with Kevin Kullmann eventually stepping forward at the eleventh hour. The #72 silver class entry of Clement Seyler and Pedro Garcia started well at Paul Ricard but since then, mistakes have been made by both drivers.

 

Starting race one into the late afternoon saw the #74 getting a decent starting slot P9 overall with the sister car not too far behind in P13 as both Seyler and Kullmann took the start with the Safety Car annulling the first starting charge thanks to a stranded car in track. Both cars held their relative places on track through the two starts and up until the start of the pit stop window.

Whilst Garcia did hold station when he got behind the wheel to the #74, Grizaud did drop back in the overall stakes but did still hold onto P6 in class at the time. As the shadows got longer towards the end, Garcia found himself defending heavily from the McLaren behind for what would turn out to be a P4 overall finish for the Seyler/Garcia combination with Grizaud/Kullmann car finishing P8 in class at the end.

 

For Sunday’s race, the grid had already been determined in qualifying yesterday with Garcia claiming a P11 overall starting position over the P25 place for Grizaud.

Another clean start to the race but another early Safety Car was avoided after two slow cars on track managed to find places of safety beside the track without causing any further issues. Like race one, the #74 car ran safely within the top ten whilst the #72 car this time ran fourth in class by the time of the pit window.

 

Stops over and Seyler maintained their top ten position whilst Kullmann soon moved up to second in class with just over twenty minutes remaining before a smoky Mustang brought out a Full Course Yellow seven minutes later.

 

Getting back to green with little over five minutes to go had of course brought the pack back together bringing on three very busy final laps of the race. Originally crossing the line sixth overall, a post-race penalty for a car ahead elevated the #74 car up to fifth with the #72 car second in Pro-Am for their first podium finish of the season. Garcia would also be awarded the Rookie of the Race award to sweeten previous racing disappointments in the series.

Photo credits – Team / Series

 

 

 

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.

 

If you weren’t able to get o either the Spa Classic or the more recent Le Mans Classic and old cars are definitely your thing – there is always next weekend’s Silverstone Classic or rather the BRDC Classic as it is now known to think about.

With race cars from between the two world wars to more recent icons featured within the events three-day programme, our attention is immediately turned to the Motor Racing Legends – GT3 Legends entry for the event.

 

Featuring a spread over twenty-eight GT3 based chassis from between 2006 and 2015, there will also be seven Aston Martin Racing powered entries in either Vantage GT3 or DBRS9 format.

We have picked up upon this series several times now across their season so far and an AMR powered car has always been at the sharp end of the racing with car re-established to a former livery design of their time just for added spectacle.

 

 

Both Jonathon Mitchell’s #007 ex TRG AMR Vantage GT3 and Graham Davidson’s #47 ex Oman Racing Team AMR Vantage GT3’s have certainly been doing the rounds recently with many of these cars entered having also raced around the Circuit de La Sarthe at the Le Mans Classic just a few weeks ago.

Shaun Lynn will also be in attendance with his former TF Sport Salih Yoluc car as will Nick Sampson with his former Massive Motorsport Vantage GT3. Christian Albrecht will also be in attendance with his recently acquired factory liveried car.

 

Robert Oldershaw is the odd man out as he enters what looks like a former Vantage Racing DBRS9 with James Parker completing the AMR powered entry with a car we cannot quite work out whose that was historically.

They will again enjoy two hard fought races over the weekend.

Photo credits – Teams / GT3 Revival / social media

 

 

 

 

 

The GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup Series are back out again this weekend at Misano, Italy for what is still only their second round of the season with the GT4 European Series again in support.

Since the season opener from Brands Hatch back in early May, the Endurance Cup Series has then taken precedence within the race calendar as they built their way up to the Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa event at the end of June but this and the next three rounds of Sprint Cup will now follow in quick succession.

 

Forty-four crews have been confirmed for this weekend’s two one-hour long pit stop punctuated races with both the Comtoyou Racing and Walkenhorst Motorsport teams fielding five Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 powered crews between them.

Nicki Thiim and Kobe Pauwels again head the Comtoyou Racing entry with their #007 Pro class entry alongside their #11 bronze class entry of Marcello Tomasoni and Felice Jelmini and the #21 silver classed entry of Oliver Soderstrom and Arthur Dorison.

 

Within the Walkenhorst camp, they will again field two silver classed entries for both Mateo Villagomez and Jamie Day aboard their #34 and Maxime Robin and Gaspard Simon aboard their #35 car.

The best results of last time out in the UK came from the #34 Walkenhorst car after they secured (after post-race penalties had been applied) P3 in race one and P4 in race two so for the other crews – there is much to improve upon this time out with the #11 Comtoyou Racing car competing within their first race of the year having skipped Brands Hatch.

 

Within the supporting GT4 European Series, thirty-eight crews have been confirmed within the provisional entry with both Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4’s again being listed.

David Kullmann and Florent Grizaud again compete within the teams #72 Pro-Am entry with Clement Seyler and Pedro Garcia within their #74 silver classed entry within what will be for them, their fourth round of the season having raced already in France, Italy and Belgium.

 

Last time at Spa Francorchamps during the SRO’s Speed Week became something of a torrid affair for the two full season entries with neither crew finishing higher than P11 in class having been outshone by the guesting Grange Motorsport AMR from the British GT Championship.

They too will race two one-hour pit stop punctuated races over the course of the weekend.

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s down to the Mistral Circuit this weekend for the International GT Open Series as they embark upon their fifth round of the season with another seventy plus sixty-minute race format over the weekend at Paul Ricard.

Thirty multi-classed GT3 crews are again in the attendance with both the #14 Good Speed Racing and #97 Blackthorn Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 Evo powered crews amongst them.

 

Last time out at the Hungaroring two weeks ago was something of a disappointing affair for both Aston Martin powered crews as the best that the #97 crew of Charles Bateman and (then) Kobe Pauwels could offer was a P5 in Pro-Am in both races whilst the #14 crew of Piotr Wira and Tomasz Magdziarz could only manage a P5 in race at the end of race one before experiencing something of an odd incident going into the final right hander at the end of race two that saw the green livered car speer into the inside barrier causing significant front end damage.

Whilst the #14 crew remains a constant again (and with the car suitably fixed and repaired), the #97 car resorts to its advertised full season crew of both Bateman and Jonny Adam in lieu of Pauwels after the Scot has flown back from Brazil and his latest exploits within the FIA World Endurance Championship last weekend.

 

Track action begins on Friday with Free Practice before Qualifying 1 and the opening seventy-minute race later on Saturday. Qualifying 2 and the sixty-minute race will again be run on Sunday.

Results so far this season would mean that Bateman would need something like a minor miracle over the remaining rounds of the season to narrow down his points deficit within Pro-Am whilst Wira does remain in contention in Am, being just seventeen points behind the class leader.

 

Photo credits – Series / Teams / social media