Racing and Competition

Aston Martin’s Red Bull Soapbox team “24 Seconds of Le Ally Pally” has taken second at the 2017 Red Bull Soapbox Race at Alexandra Palace, after a dramatic performance in front of 22,000 strong crowds. With an extensive ten-minute testing program for the GTE racer complete, the team headed to Alexandra Palace in the knowledge that at the very least, they’d deliver an entertaining run.

Briggs Automotive Company (BAC) is celebrating another hugely impressive performance feat, having dominated its class at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2017 Hillclimb. With Test Driver Oliver Webb at the wheel, BAC’s One-of-a-Kind Mono supercar clocked a sensational 49.54-second lap up the iconic hill to top the Supercars and Race Cars for the Road Shootout leaderboard.

Aston Martin’s wildest-ever car – the track-only Aston Martin Vulcan – has been taken to breathtaking new extremes with a performance upgrade package developed by the luxury marque’s new performance brand, AMR. Making its public debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Aston Martin Vulcan AMR Pro sports extensive aerodynamic enhancements and shortened gearing to produce increased downforce, greater responsiveness and reduced lap times – improvements that underline its status as one of the world’s most extreme and exclusive track cars. Built in a strictly limited run of just 24 cars and delivered to customers throughout 2016, the 820BHP Aston Martin Vulcan was conceived and engineered to deliver the excitement and exceed the performance of Aston Martin’s Le Mans-winning race cars. Over the last two years, Aston Martin Vulcan owners have received step-by-step driver training by Aston Martin’s expert […]

Bentley Motorsport took victory at the Blancpain GT Series Paul Ricard 1,000 km with its #8 Continental GT3 and drivers Andy Soucek (ES), Maxime Soulet (BE) and Vince Abril (MC), as Bentley Team Absolute took a win and second place in the USA. The six-hour Blancpain GT Series race took place from 18:00 until midnight on the world-famous track in the south of France and Bentley Team M-Sport once again ran its pair of Continental GT3s.

Aston Martin Racing has taken victory at the 85th 24 Hours of Le Mans in dramatic style, after Jonny Adam (GB) snatched the GTE Pro lead on the final lap of the iconic endurance race. Partnered by Darren Turner (GB) and Daniel Serra (BR), the trio and their Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE performed faultlessly to ensure they remained in the hunt for victory right until the death.

The Concours of Elegance 2017 will host a 60th anniversary celebration of Jaguar’s legendary 1-2-3-4-6 finish at the 1957 Le Mans 24 Hours race. All three podium finishers will drive in convoy, alongside two further Le Mans-raced D-types, into the grounds of Hampton Court Palace for the duration of this year’s Concours of Elegance. Despite taking victory in the 1955 and 1956 Le Mans 24 Hours races, it was the 1957 running when the D-types really had their chance to shine. Scotland’s Ecurie Ecosse team took the first two places in D-types, followed by Equipe Los Amigos in third and Equipe National Belge in fourth. Rounding off Jaguar’s five finishers in the top six was a privateer D-type driven by Duncan Hamilton and Masten Gregory.

Aston Martin Racing has claimed an emphatic pole position and new lap qualifying lap record at the 85th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Piloting his #97 V8 Vantage GTE through the dead of night at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Darren Turner (GB) smashed through the original record during qualifying practice 3. Setting a 3m50.837 to claim pole in the process, he and teammates Jonny Adam (GB) and Daniel Serra (BR) have enjoyed the best possible start to their Le Mans weekend.

Aston Martin Racing has returned to the world-famous 24 Hours of Le Mans and is ready to take on this weekend’s 85th running at the Circuit de la Sarthe. With track action underway on Wednesday, the iconic race remains the centerpiece of the FIA World Endurance Championship and will be contested by the team’s three V8 Vantage GTEs; two in the GTE Pro class and a single works entry in GTE Am.

The McLaren 570S GT4 scored its second win of the 2017 British GT Championship season, customer team track-club winning the series’ blue riband event, the Silverstone 500, as part of a packed GT4 class. Drivers Adam Balon and Adam MacKay fought through the field in the three-hour race, after starting P8. In what proved a tight race between the 18 GT4 runners – including six examples of the McLaren 570S GT4 – the triumphant pair crossed the line just 2.7 seconds ahead of their nearest competitors in the bright sunshine at Silverstone.

MG has issued the following in regards to the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) … Following the statements from both Triple Eight Racing and Daniel Lloyd yesterday, MG UK would like to acknowledge the contribution that Daniel has made since joining that MG RCiB Insurance racing team this year and wish him all the best in his future endeavors. It has been clear that, so far in 2017, the on-track results have not reached the level to which MG or any of our partners aspire and we support the efforts that the Triple Eight team is making to remedy this situation, starting this weekend as the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship heads to the Croft Circuit in North Yorkshire.

JD Classics – one of the world’s leading classic car specialists – secured a race victory at Brands Hatch over the weekend, to continue its winning streak three events into the season. The team’s legendary Costin Lister was victorious in the Stirling Moss Trophy, with an XK120 supported by JD Classics finishing second-in-class in the Woodcote Trophy. The Costin first took to the track late on Saturday morning for its 30-minute qualifying session. The hard work of JD Classics’ Competition Department, both back at their Maldon HQ and trackside, shone through as Chris Ward drove the Lister to a blistering 1:43.065 time just five laps in. The time proved to unbeatable, with the nearest competitor – a Lotus 15 – still more than two seconds off the pace. 

Aston Martin Racing survived a dramatic, last-hour torrential downpour to win its class in the 2017 ADAC Nürburgring 24 Hours after dominating the event’s SP8 category with a flawless performance. The #7 Aston Martin Vantage GT8 led its class for much of the race and ran with such metronomic precision that it ran among the more powerful GT3 race cars in higher-specification classes inside the top 30 from the night-time onwards.

Robert ‘Bob’ Tullius is the founder of the famed Group 44 racing team, he won countless races, several championships and paved the way for sponsorship in modern racing. He is undeniably the best known and accomplished American racer of British sports cars. Tullius will be inducted on Friday into the British Sports Call Hall of Fame.

The wait for the 35th America’s Cup is nearly over as Land Rover BAR, led by five-time Olympian Sir Ben Ainslie, prepare to battle in Bermuda for sailing’s ultimate prize. America’s Cup sailing, called ‘F1 on water,’ is faster, more competitive and more technically advanced than ever before. Reaching speeds of 60mph, these boats fly above the surface, pushing the boundaries of aerodynamics, control systems, data analysis and performance in the pursuit of optimum speed and efficiency.

Bentley Motorsport will return to Nürburgring 24 Hours for the third consecutive year this week as it aims for podium success with its three Continental GT3s. Working with European racing partners Bentley Team ABT, a division of well-known ABT Sportsline, Bentley is aiming for its strongest performance at the legendary “Green Hell”. To signal the team’s participation in one of the world’s greatest racing events, Bentley is unveiling the Continental 24 – a limited edition series of 24 bespoke models for Europe based on the Continental Supersports.

Panasonic Jaguar Racing made it a hat-trick of points-scoring races in the center of the French capital today. Drivers Mitch Evans and Adam Carroll finished in P9 and P15 respectively, scoring two championship points in the Qatar Airways Paris ePrix. These valuable points mean the British team leaps to P8 in the team standings at the halfway point of their debut season, with six FIA Formula E races remaining.

British motorsports-engineering company PERRINN has announced that it has received the first order for a brace of its new LMP1 car to race the 2018 FIA World Endurance Championship.  With the design work already completed alongside preliminary digital and crash test simulations, the as yet unnamed car is expected to be revealed in late November before testing starts in December.  With the program already at such an advanced stage, PERRINN has confirmed it is capable of supplying further cars for the 2018 season. The first two cars sold will be run by a European race team with its identity and engine details to be released shortly. Priced competitively at £1.2m for the rolling chassis, the car will rely on torsion bar front suspension with coil springs over dampers at the rear and is expected to weigh ‘significantly under’ the mandated […]

Panasonic Jaguar Racing recorded their second consecutive points finish in today’s FIA Formula E Monaco ePrix. Mitch Evans and Adam Carroll survived a testing battle throughout the race to finish in P10 and P14, scoring another valuable championship point for the British team. Jaguar remains P9 in the team standings. Racing in the Mediterranean Principality, Mitch and Adam succeeded in bringing both cars home through an action-packed race, recording the team’s second consecutive top ten finish in only the fifth race since Jaguar returned to international racing.