Racing and Competition

JD Classics’ legendary ex-Fangio C-Type took victory at the Monaco Historique over the weekend, cementing its place as one of the most consistently successful historic racing cars in current competition. This latest win marks its 24th award in 27 races. JD Classics’ in-house racing driver, Chris Ward, took the wheel for qualifying in what was his very first time racing at Monaco. Ward put in an incredible lap that put him in pole position around two seconds ahead of the nearest competitor.

The #58 650S GT3 of customer team Garage 59 finished P6 in the second round of the Blancpain Endurance Cup at Silverstone to maintain Factory Driver Rob Bell’s Blancpain GT Series title hopes with six rounds remaining. There was further success for the 650S GT3 in Italy as customer team FFF Racing Team by ACM finished P2 in the inaugural round of the Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup at Imola. Bell and fellow Factory Drivers Côme Ledogar and Shane Van Gisbergen started the three-hour race at Silverstone P12 after an extremely tight Qualifying session earlier in the day, before fighting through the field during the race to set up a close battle to the finish. Bell started in the #58 Garage 59 McLaren 650S GT3 and in a similar fashion to his performance at Monza made up a lot of […]

Aston Martin Racing has qualified in pole position in the GTE Am class, with both GTE Pro entries also poised for a strong showing at the second round of the FIA World Endurance Championship; the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. Driven by Pedro Lamy (P) and Paul Dalla Lana (C), the #98 V8 Vantage GTE took the GTE Am pole with an average time of 2m20.351. After strong performances throughout all three practice sessions, their qualifying time was a full 1.851 seconds ahead of their nearest rival.

And now for something completely different … our video this week was only filmed a little over a week ago. What we have here is footage from the Walter Mitty Challenge by Classic Motorsports, April 23rd, 2016. Take ia ride in a Royale RP-4 with pro driver Elliot Forbes Robinson, around Road Atlanta’s 2.54 mile, 12 turn track. The onboard camera was mounted on the Royale RP-4 owned by our friend Gordon King. This footage is from the Group 3 Feature Race. The black and red RP-4 is Cliff Berry of Team Mean and the blue Lotus 23b is piloted by Doc Bundy of Team Regogo. Great driving by all.   This on Royale and the car from Gordon … Royale was a small race car builder in the 1960’s in England. Owned by Bill King. He built very successful Formula Fords […]

The first race of the second season of the Jaguar Classic Challenge opened in dramatic style with the pair of Julian Thomas and Calum Lockie taking the chequered flag. The season opener at the Donington Historic Festival began in perfect conditions with bright sunshine and a warm track in the morning qualifying. Julian Thomas topped the time sheets in his E-type from Joaquin Folch-Rusinol joining him on the front row and Martin Stretton third fastest, both in E-types.

Bentley Motorsport has continued its strong start to the 2016 Blancpain GT Series race with a third-place finish in Monza, Italy. The #8 Continental GT3, of Andy Soucek (ES), Maxime Soulet (BE) and latest Bentley Boy to join the team, Wolfgang Reip (BE), took the car’s second podium of the year so far. After making up five positions in the opening lap, the car #8 team drove flawlessly to take a further 15 points towards the overall championship. In the identical Bentley Team M-Sport sister car, drivers Guy Smith (GB), Vince Abril (MO) and Steven Kane (GB) charged through the pack to make up for their issues in qualifying. After climbing 28 places, however, the car #7 Bentley Boys took a drive-through penalty and had to settle for 14th. “The team did a fantastic job to get a podium this […]

On a busy weekend on both sides of the Atlantic for McLaren, Factory Driver Alvaro Parente starred in the 650S GT3, securing pole position and winning in his first appearance at Long Beach in the Pirelli World Challenge. Closer to home, the 650S GT3 and 570S GT4 – the latter making its competitive global debut – both scored points in the British GT Championship, finishing P7 and P5 in the respective classes at Brands Hatch, UK. Stateside, Parente put the #9 K-PAX Racing 650S GT3 on pole with a 1m18.947s tour of the two-mile Californian street circuit – a new qualifying lap record for the series. In the race, Parente held the lead from the start in what turned out to be a heavily interrupted affair, which saw two lengthy safety car periods limit the amount of competitive laps. On the […]

Aston Martin Racing has taken a double podium finish at this weekend’s 6 Hours of Silverstone, as the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) gets underway. The #95 GTE Pro trio of Darren Turner (GB), Marco Sørensen (DN) and Nicki Thiim (DN) enjoyed a positive afternoon at the British round of the WEC. With each driver double stinting, the #95 entry enjoyed trouble free running to achieve a strong haul of points at this early stage in the championship. Turner commented, “That was a huge change from yesterday and after starting the race in the #95 I had a good two hours in the car. The car ran perfectly and I’m both happy and encouraged by the performance of our new Dunlop tyres. With the strategy working in our favour and Nicki, Marco and I all avoiding trouble on the track, […]

Racing is in Aston Martin’s blood. From outright victory at Le Mans 24 Hours in 1959, to countless race wins in GT3 and GT4 categories and a continued race and title-winning form in the production-based GTE category of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), Aston Martin is proud to be at the forefront of GT racing. All Aston Martin road cars possess some of that sporting DNA, but the luxury brand’s most extreme models draw directly from that knowledge and passion to deliver something altogether more overt in looks and ability. The new Vantage GT8 is just that. Director of Special Projects and Motorsport, David King said: “We long held the desire to create a road car that truly reflects our racing activity at Le Mans. With the Vantage GT8, we’ve finally been able to achieve that. By focusing on […]

On the eve of the 2016 World Endurance Championship opener at Silverstone, Aston Martin Racing has unveiled a bespoke selection of wings for the Vantage GTE in celebration of the premiere endurance series. Every Vantage produced for the road or race track is crafted by hand and the wings that adorn each model make no exception. Commissioned by the British marque’s personalisation service ‘Q by Aston Martin’, the collection has been created by a highly accomplished and talented workforce based in Birmingham’s famous Jewellery Quarter. Each of these unique pieces celebrate each of the rounds of this year’s championship. With the series to commence with the 6 Hours of Silverstone, all three V8 Vantage GTE entries will be treated to a union flag inspired piece. Alternative designs of the iconic wings logo will be proudly displayed for the following eight […]

MINI UK is proud to announce British racing driver, Charlie Butler-Henderson, 37, as a new brand ambassador. 2016 will represent the first time Butler-Henderson competes as a MINI ambassador but he is in no way new to the track. He has driven in the British Touring Car Championship, MINI CHALLENGE 2015, Ginetta G50 Cup and the Trofeo Abarth 500 Great Britain. Butler-Henderson has racing in his blood, coming from a long line of motorsport heritage. His father, Guy, was a member of the British karting team; his Grandfather, Lionel, raced cars for racing legend Fraser Nash, and his sister Vicki, TV presenter on 5th gear and Top Gear, is known as the first woman to win a Maserati race at age 30 in the Maserati Trofeo support race at the British F1 GP in 2002. Butler-Henderson joins the MINI racing […]

The McLaren 650S GT3 began its 2016 European campaign in the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup opener at Misano, Italy with a double points finish. Despite tricky conditions throughout, Factory Drivers Rob Bell and Alvaro Parente scored valuable points in both races of the weekend and showed impressive pace during qualifying in the #58 McLaren 650S GT3, run by new customer team Garage 59. Bell and Parente were consistently quick throughout the two free practice sessions on Friday and this form continued into qualifying. The pair steered the car into the Q3 shootout session before Parente set a 1m 33.277s lap to place his McLaren 650S GT3 second on the grid; just 0.015s off the pole-sitter. The hour-long Qualifying Race – run under floodlights on Saturday evening – was held with the track damp at the start following a downpour […]

Bentley Motorsport’s works team made its Blancpain Sprint Series Cup debut at Misano, this weekend, and won the first race of the event, putting the #8 Bentley Team M-Sport Continental GT3 on pole for Sunday’s main competition. Andy Soucek (ES) and Maxime Soulet (BE) chose to start Saturday’s one-hour night race on slick tyres, while all but one of the other 38 competitors started on wets, a decision that ultimately won Bentley Team M-Sport its debut Sprint Series Cup race. The victory secured pole position for the main race and handed Bentley eight valuable points towards the Blancpain GT Series and Blancpain Sprint Series Cup titles. Sunday’s main race was not so fortuitous for the British team. Running in third place, the #8 Continental GT3 of Soulet was tapped from behind and sent spinning. An hour later, following a valiant […]

Goodwood is pleased to report that driver Michiel Smits is now recovering at home with his family following an incident on Sunday 20 March at 15.45hrs when his Lola T70 was struck by stray bodywork from another car causing him to crash. Commenting on the incident Michiel says he is “enjoying my own bed at home at the moment”, he added “my injuries are serious but will heal within 3 months, given the situation I am a happy person as it could have turned (out) much worse.” Michiel continued “The car will be repaired a.s.a.p. to be able to join races when I can. Further I’m already looking forward to next year’s event.” Goodwood wishes Michiel a full and speedy recovery.

Jaguar is to build the stunning XKSS as an ultra-exclusive continuation model. Nine new XKSS’s – often referred to by experts as the world’s first supercar – will be hand built by Jaguar Classic to the exact specification as they appeared in 1957, replacing the cars lost due to the famous Browns Lane factory fire. Tim Hannig, Director Jaguar Land Rover Classic, said: “The XKSS occupies a unique place in Jaguar’s history and is a car coveted by collectors the world over for its exclusivity and unmistakable design. “Jaguar Classic’s highly skilled team of engineers and technicians will draw on decades of knowledge to ensure each of the nine cars is completely authentic and crafted to the highest quality. “Our continuation XKSS reaffirms our commitment to nurture the passion and enthusiasm for Jaguar’s illustrious past by offering exceptional cars, services, […]

It will be ‘all aboard’ for the 110 competitors in this year’s Flying Scotsman Rally as they depart from a new terminus at Belvoir Castle on Friday 15th April for three days of glorious vintage motoring. The Endurance Rally Association’s critically acclaimed event will journey through the Lincolnshire and Yorkshire Wolds, onwards to the North and beyond via Northumberland and take in some of Scotland’s finest Lochs and Glens before arriving at the splendid Gleneagles hotel. The cars and crews will cover almost 700 miles from Leicestershire to Perth and Kinross with many off-road tests and challenges set along the route to supplement the on-road navigational and regularity sections.

The McLaren 650S GT3 returned to racing in Australia this weekend with the CAMS Australian GT Championship supporting the 2016 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix in Albert Park. Despite a strong field, and a tough opening race, the McLaren GT customer teams soon got to grips with the circuit and tricky conditions, securing a race win and three further podiums. Five examples of the 650S GT3 contested a highly competitive grid over the course of the weekend, which marked the first time the McLaren had raced in Melbourne. With the championship returning to Albert Park for the first time in six years, racing was of the highest levels, and the opening round proved extremely difficult for the McLaren GT customer teams, with Tekno Autosports driver Nathan Morcom the only one to finish in the top 10. This early setback […]

The cars are on the grid and engines are revving in anticipation for the moment the lights change. When the green light appears, the adrenaline-rush ramps up to the next level as the drivers in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) speed off to battle it out for that race win. Next week, the BTCC season gets underway at the annual series media day. With new drivers in the MG Triple Eight team, MG decided to have a chat to them both about their hunger to win, pre-race rituals and what is already a budding ‘bromance’. BTCC newcomer and Clio Cup Champion, Ashley Sutton, has a real go-getting attitude. Everything he puts his mind to is done with 110% and a goal is always in place. “I aim high, sometimes higher than I think is possible, so that […]