Aston Martin Racing GT4 competitors from throughout Europe were honoured on Tuesday night (13 December 2011) at the marque’s prestigious Gaydon Head Quarters during an awards ceremony.

A total of 11 trophies were awarded to those Aston Martin customer drivers and teams that had been most successful during the course of their various campaigns in 2011. The top-three driver pairings of the Aston Martin GT4 Challenge of Great Britain received their awards in recognition of their performances in the one-make series, which pits amateur racers head-to-head in identical Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT4s. The cars are derived from the V8 Vantage road car, modified in key areas to suit the demands of competitive circuit driving.

The second season of the Aston Martin GT4 Challenge of Great Britain, organised in conjunction with the Aston Martin Owners Club, started at Silverstone in April before taking in further UK circuits including Snetterton, Donington Park, Oulton Park and Brands Hatch, with overseas visits to Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, in July and a season finale at Dijon, France, in September.

Following a gripping championship decider, Dutchman Karsten Le Blanc and Briton Dan de Zille emerged victorious, and thus were crowned GT4 Challenge of Great Britain Winners. “We’ve enjoyed the Challenge so much this year,” said Le Blanc. “It’s not just young boys racing, but slightly more mature gentlemen drivers, which suits me perfectly! I must say ‘thank you’ to everybody at Aston Martin Racing for building such a fantastic car as the V8 Vantage GT4.”

Britons Tom Black and Alan Bonner collected the award for finishing second in the standings, while countrymen Chris Kemp and Stuart Hall took the prize for third.

The highest accolade of the evening was determined by an innovative points system that saw no fewer than 182 individual drivers from 25 separate championships, driving in various classes, compete for the Aston Martin Racing Global Award.

Competition in the Driver category was so fierce that two drivers were crowned joint winners; Spanish and Portuguese GT Championship team-mates Francisco Carvalho and Miguel Ferreira shared the laurels for having achieved multiple podium results in the Iberian series. The pair also finished as the best-placed Aston Martin crew in the final standings.

Fittingly, Veloso Motorsport – the outfit responsible for Carvalho and Ferreira’s successful campaign – collected Aston Martin Racing Global Award honours in the Team category.

“We’ve all worked so hard this season and achieved so much,” said team principal Luis Veloso, “so to win both the Driver and Team awards makes us all really proud. It’s been a pleasure to work with Aston Martin Racing and the V8 Vantage GT4 is a wonderful car; it’s been fast and reliable all year.”

Portuguese racer Pedro Lopes received the third-place Global Award in the Driver category, while Rhesus Racing and Young Driver AMR collected second and third respectively in the Team category.

David King, Head of Motorsport at Aston Martin, said: “It was a pleasure to honour all of our best GT4 teams and drivers from throughout Europe at the home of Aston Martin. We want to congratulate all of our award winners; they should be very proud of what they’ve achieved this year.”

The Challenge looks set to grow even further next year with a greater number of competitors, continuing the trend from the first season of the Challenge to the second, as well as the exciting prospect of a single-marque support race at La Sarthe during the 24 Hours of Le Mans weekend as part of the Aston Martin Festival.

2011 Aston Martin GT4 Award winners:
AMR Global Award – Winning Driver – Francisco Carvalho and Miguel Ferreira
AMR Global Award – Third Place Driver – Pedro Lopes
AMR Global Award – Winning Team – Veloso Motorsport
AMR Global Award – Second Place Team – Rhesus Racing
AMR Global Award – Third Place Team – Young Driver AMR
AMR Brazilian GT4 Award – Winning Driver – Cristiano Federico 
AMR Brazilian GT4 Award – Winning Team – ATW By Engmakers
GT4 Challenge of Great Britain Winners – Karsten Le Blanc and Dan de Zille, Nicholas Mee Racing
GT4 Challenge of Great Britain Second Place –Tom Black and Alan Bonner, Vantage Racing
GT4 Challenge of Great Britain Third Place – Chris Kemp and Stuart Hall, Stratton Motorsport
Spirit of the Challenge of Great Britain Award – Pierre Mantello

Aston Martin Racing

Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT4 race car. Fresh from a 2nd overall finish at the Britcar Silverstone 24 Hours and the 2011 Aston Martin GT4 Challenge title, arguably the most successful Aston Martin Vantage GT4 car is now for sale. Originally built by Aston Martin Racing in 2009 and since prepared and raced by Nicholas Mee Racing for 3 seasons, this manual gearbox car features full 2011 upgrade specification including 4.7litre engine, endurance Brembo brake package, Bosch motorsport ABS and traction control system and 2011 aero upgrade. Currently painted in Aston Martin Pentland green and supplied in excellent condition. For sale with an extensive spare parts package worth £30,000 +. Available now.

Price £110,000


Neal Garrard
Commercial Director
Nicholas Mee & Co. Ltd
12 Wellesley Avenue
London
W6 0UP

T: 0208 741 8822
M: 07718 340811

www.nicholasmee.co.uk

Nicholas Mee Racing rounded off its victorious 2011 Aston Martin GT4 Challenge winning season with a Class 3 victory and second overall in last weekend’s gruelling Britcar 24hr race at Silverstone. Drivers Karsten Le Blanc, Christiaen van Lanschot, Dan de Zille and Robert Nimkoff completed 560 laps of the 3.6604-mile GP circuit in the NMR Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT4 to finish behind the winning McInerney team’s Class 1 GT2 Ferrari 430 and just one lap ahead of the 3rd-place-finishing Class 3 Lotus Evora of Marcos Racing International.

NMR headed to Silverstone for this year’s 24hr race with high hopes of completing unfinished business after the team’s disappointment in 2010 when blighted by a crash late in the race while lying in 9th overall. Joining the team’s regular drivers for the 2011 24hr event was Robert Nimkoff who had purchased a V8 Vantage from NMR earlier in the year for SCCA racing in the USA.

With four classes based on power-to-weight ratios, NMR was one of 22 Class 3 entries among the total of 55 cars entered for this year’s race. NMR opted for a conservative qualifying strategy, concentrating on getting each driver to complete the mandatory three laps in both day and night-time sessions, and to allow Silverstone rookie Nimkoff ample time to learn the circuit.

In qualifying de Zille posted a time good enough for 16th on the grid, but rather than gamble on gaining a few positions the team parked the car up and prepared for the race. With the qualifying session completed, NMR was placed 20th on the grid.

The Britcar organisers had gone to great effort to generate a carnival atmosphere and deliver entertainment for the spectators, (rumoured to be in excess of 14,000 on Saturday), with a marching band, fly-pasts by Lynx and Apache helicopters and a drop-in by the Red Devils. Fans were also invited to the pits and the start line for a grid walkabout.

The race got underway at 16.29 on the Saturday with Le Blanc piloting NMR’s Aston. Each driver then rotated through the early hours of the race and into the night with 2-hour ‘double’ stints. The car would pit roughly every hour to refuel, with fresh tyres fitted every two hours or so.

Keeping out of trouble and with an excellent strategy, NMR climbed swiftly up the field and into the lead of Class 3 – a position it would maintain for the most of the next 22 hours. De Zille was the last driver to take his turn and at midnight started a heroic 2hr 53min stint, just 7 minutes shorter than the maximum allowed. During this session he posted some stunning lap times that moved NMR up into the top five overall.



NMR’s race continued unbelievably smoothly with zero car issues, a faultless performance by all four drivers and rapid and efficient pit-work by the NMR crew, ably headed by Giles Dawson. One of the most exciting features of the entire race was NMR’s epic duel with the Lotus Evora GT4 driven by a team of experienced professional and semi-professional drivers including sportscar veteran Cor Euser. The two teams battled it out for the lead of Class 3 and overall podium honours for over half of the race.

With all of NMR’s drivers having completed roughly the same distance, it was down to Le Blanc to drive the final stint to the flag. With the Lotus charging hard from behind it was an extremely tense period with just one lap, and sometimes, just seconds separating the two. Finally, at 16.32 on the Sunday, NMR’s V8 Vantage crossed the line in second position overall and first in the ultra-competitive Class 3.

During the race, held this year entirely in dry conditions, the safety car came out 10 times while NMR pitted 19 times, used 10 sets of tyres, two sets of front brake pads and 1,475 litres of fuel over 2,050 racing miles.

NMR would like to thank its fantastic sponsors and partners: TalentWorks International, GForces and ClassicDriver.com, as well as its various suppliers and support staff who have all contributed to this and indeed a whole season of success.



After the race NMR’s jubilant Team Principal Nicholas Mee said, “Heroes all! In 24 hours of racing we had no driver errors, no car failings, no time penalties, no damage and a dream result, all of which comes on top of five race wins and victory in this year’s Aston Martin Challenge series! I’m immensely proud and appreciative of the whole team’s achievements. Big thanks to our drivers, sponsors, pit-crew and supporters who have all helped make a great racing season even greater.

Photo credit: Will Belcher.

After 14 hours of racing the Aston Martin Vantage of Nicholas Mee Racing continue to lead their class and remain in contention for an overall podium. A faultless performance by #49 Vantage throughout the night and early morning saw the class3 car steadily move up the overall order.

Vantage Racing continue to battle on, problems caused the team to fall down the timing sheets early on with some 30 laps as a result of an ABS failure and subsequent trip into the gravel. A strong recovery drive brought the team up to 22nd overall only for a power steering failure to see them fall back down the timing screens .

The MB Racing Vantage suffered an ABS and gearbox failure and went off at Copse after running as high as 18th overall and 7th in class. The car was recovered to the pits and rejoined the race but with significant damage.

Results After 14hours
Nicholas Mee Racing 1st in Class / 4th Overall
Vantage Racing 10th in Class / 23rd Overall
MB Racing 12th in Class /29th Overall

Nicholas Mee Racing lead their class at the three hour mark, the 2011 Aston Martin GT4 Challenge champions have made an start to this year’s 24 hour race running as high as 7th overall.

Their fellow GT4 Challenge competitors Vantage Racing have suffered mixed fortunes during the first few hours of the race. Contact on Lap 2 forced the team to make an unscheduled pit stop early in the race, subsequently dropping them well down the order. A safety car to recover a stranded car allowed the team make up some of the lost ground. Alan Bonner set about making up the remainder of the deficit hauling the #50 Car to 4th in class by the end of the first hour. Disaster stuck the team again when an ABS failure on Tom Blacks outlap pitched him into the gravel with some 30 laps lost as a result.


MB Racing's 24 hour campaign also got off to a unfortunate start. Gear selection problems left them stranded on the grid with the car being pushed into pitlane during the formation lap. 7 laps were lost as the team battled to get their car back into the race. A solid performance by the team see them now residing 11th in Class and 30th overall.

Three Hour Results
Nicholas Mee Racing 1st in Class / 7th Overall
MB Racing 11th in Class /31st Overall
Vantage Racing 20th in Class /53rd Overall

You can find live timing and video of this year’s event Here

Level on 52 points at the top of the table after eight rounds, Nicholas Mee Racing scored its fifth win of the season in the ninth and final round of the 2011 AM GT4 Challenge to take first place in this year’s series. This follows Karsten Le Blanc and NMR’s victory in the inaugural AM Vantage GT4 Challenge series of 2009.

Le Blanc – NMR’s sole driver for the 80-minute race at the Dijon-Prennois circuit on 11th September – survived a late downpour while on slick tyres to take the chequered flag over one lap ahead of series rival Vantage Racing, and so secured first place in the race and the 2011 Challenge in which NMR scored 62 points out of a possible 80*.

Competing at the French venue for the first time, Le Blanc quickly found favour with the undulating track during Friday morning’s 2hr practice session, while Sunday’s 30min qualifying session saw NMR settle for third on the grid, two spots behind pole-sitter Vantage Racing.

With the forecast threatening heavy rain for Sunday’s race, Le Blanc made a terrific start by slotting straight into second position, and then took the lead from Vantage Racing while still on the first lap. He then settled into a steady, faultless rhythm for the first half of the race, and gradually extended his leading margin to 50secs before the compulsory pit-stop.

With the overall title at stake, the atmosphere in the pit lane was tense. Vantage Racing pitted first for its first driver, Tom Black, to hand over to teammate Alan Bonner, who had earlier set the pole position time. On his exit from the pit lane, Bonner crossed the white line for the circuit before the end of the pit lane and so incurred a drive-through penalty. This lessened the pressure on NMR as it would mean that the team would now have a one-lap advantage over its main rival. However, the NMR crew lost no focus when it was Le Blanc’s turn to pit.

Le Blanc subsequently took on new tyres plus a splash of fuel for his V8 Vantage GT4 and rejoined the race still with a comfortable lead. But there would be more tension as, 30 minutes before the end of the race, the predicted heavy shower finally arrived and competitors were forced to dive into the pits for treaded tyres.

Having missed the pit lane entry, Le Blanc used his next lap to gauge whether he’d be able to continue on slicks without pitting. Although his lap times did drop off, he was able to stay out on the now slippery track to run without incident to victory in the last AM Challenge race of 2011 with over a lap in hand on close rivals Vantage Racing.

After the race a beaming Karsten Le Blanc said, “I’m absolutely delighted with our win here and our clinching the Challenge. We were determined to take the title this year in memory of our dear friend and former Team Manager Craig Dawson, who passed away late last year. We've had to work hard all season to fend off our always competitive and consistent rivals and friends Tom Black and Alan Bonner of Vantage Racing, and, with both of us on equal points at the start of the race, the race and the series really could have gone either way.

“I wish to thank Giles Dawson for stepping into his late brother's shoes and for being a superb Team Manager. Big thanks also to all the other NMR crew members, to the management of Nicholas Mee & Co and to my co-drivers this season: Dan de Zille and my very good friend Christiaen van Lanschot. They have been perfect teammates – both quick and reliable.

“Finally, I would like to thank our fellow Challenge competitors who are a terrific bunch of people, plus Jamie Wall and Belinda Edwards for organising this year’s Challenge. All of us in NMR really hope it will continue to attract more entrants to the series which shares the best elements of both modern and historic competition; competitive racing between great cars and all combined with the wonderful camaraderie usually only found in historic motorsport circles."

Nicholas Mee Racing is now preparing for its final race of 2011 – the Britcar 24hr at Silverstone on 1-2 October where Karsten Le Blanc will be partnered by regular team-mates Christiaen van Lanschot and Dan de Zille, along with newcomer Robert Nimkoff from the USA.

The Aston Martin GT4 Challenge will journey to Dijon, France for the final round of the one-make challenge this weekend.

In a year that has shown this one-make challenge to be one of the most action-packed, exciting and atmospheric in the racing calendar; the Aston Martin GT4 Challenge has featured more races this year than ever before and has visited such iconic venues as: Silverstone, Snetterton, Donington, Spa Francorchamps, Oulton Park and Brands Hatch.  Almost every race has featured close driving, unexpected results and fantastic sportsmanship among the like-minded competitors.

The GT4 Challenge has inspired several individuals to take their first venture into GT4 racing including the BBC’s Chris Partridge who hosted a four part series of features on becoming a GT4 racing driver that focused on the Aston Martin one-make Challenge.

Commencing at Silverstone in April the series of races saw the Generation AMR car of Mark Poole and Richard Abra take the inaugural first place victory after a hard-won battle against Aston Martin guest driver; Red Bull Team Principal, Christian Horner. The series then travelled to Snetterton and, after an incident packed session the race was re-started with the Nicholas Mee Racing entry crossing the line to take first place at the hands of Karsten le Blanc and Dan De Zille.

A tense battle at Donington resulted in the first win for Chris Kemp, Stuart Hall and Tiffany Chittenden of Stratton Motorsport which led on to rounds five and six in Spa Francorchamps where Karsten le Blanc and Dan de Zille of Nicholas Mee Racing took two further victories. Oulton Park saw Tom Black and Alan Bonner in the Vantage Racing car take their first win of the series while last month, Brands Hatch offered up further excitement with Dan de Zille taking another win.

Earning further endorsement as a thoroughbred sports car, the V8 Vantage in both N24 and GT4 guise, has spent another year demonstrating its on-track capability and reliability.  The series has continued to offer an exciting first step onto the GT4 ladder.

Practice and qualifying at Dijon begin at 09:10 (CET) and are due to conclude at 9:40 (CET) with the 80 minute race beginning at 13:00 (CET) on Sunday 11 September

Aston Martin

Qualifying Report

The 40-minute session started with a drying track but with a few greasy patches on some of the apexes it made for some very difficult conditions. Mark Poole driving car 8, the Generation AMR entry, ran wide at Paddock and ended up in the gravel trap after hitting a wet patch under breaking, no damage was done and Mark managed to get the car back to the pits. Dan de Zille set the early pace in the Nicholas Mee number 12 machine; Olivier Bouche was pushing hard, in the Stratton Motorsport entry. As we approached the half way mark, it was Dan de Zille who held the provisional pole position, from Richard Abra who was now driving the number 8 car, third was Olivier Bouche in car 22, fourth was Tom Black in the Vantage Racing number 24 machine and fifth was Paul Bartley in the EQ8 Racing number 47 car. With just over five minutes to go the fight for pole became really intense with Richard Abra in car 8 putting together a fantastic lap to claim the provisional pole, Alan Bonner in car 24 held second with Dan de Zille in car 12 now third, fourth was Car 22 with Denis Tribel now at the wheel, fifth was Mike Brown in the MB Racing number 7 machine, who was putting together some fantastic lap times and sixth was Chris Porritt in the Aston Martin Lagonda number 77 machine. There was a six way battle for pole and the positions continually changed as we approached the end of the session, in the final minute of qualifying Dan de Zille in car 12 managed to pull together a 49.8 lap time which would claim the Nicholas Mee team’s third pole position in a row, second was Richard Abra in the Generation AMR number 8 machine and third was Olivier Bouche in the Stratton Motorsport number 22 car.

Qualifying Result

1. 12 Dan de Zille - Nick Mee Racing – 49.893
2. 8 Mark Poole/Richard Abra– Generation AMR – 50.229
3. 22 Pierre Mantello/Denis Tribel/Olivier Bouche – Stratton Motorsport – 50.577
4. 24 Tom Black/Alan Bonner - Vantage Racing – 50.720
5. 7 Mike Brown/Paul Cripps – MB Racing - 50.866
6. 77 Chris Porritt/Chris Partridge- Aston Martin Lagonda – 51.151
7. 91 Chris Kemp/Andy Peck - Stratton Motorsport – 51.919
8. 47 Stuart Patterson/Paul Bartley - Stratton Motorsport – 52.786
9. 5 Desmond Smail/Julian Reddyhough - Mardi Gras Motorsport – 53.547
10. 56 Richard Taffinder/Tim Eakin – Ultimate Speed – 53.751

Following Dan de Zille’s pole position and emphatic victory in round 8 of the 2011 Aston Martin GT4 Challenge held on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit on Saturday, Nicholas Mee Racing is now tied on points at the top of the Challenge table before the final round at Dijon.

Friday’s practice session was held in very wet conditions and de Zille, NMR’s sole driver for this race, and the team chose not to risk too much with better weather forecast for the following day’s qualifying and race.

Dan de Zille was an early pacesetter in Saturday’s qualifying session, but a number of other competitors then eclipsed his lap time as track conditions steadily improved. With just three minutes of the session remaining, de Zille returned to the circuit and, under some pressure, put in a stunning lap of 49.89 secs to take pole position from the Generation AMR pairing of Richard Abra and Mark Poole. This proved to be the only sub 50-second GT4 lap of the weekend.

The biggest Challenge crowd of the year so far were then treated to a thrilling display as de Zille started from pole and maintained his lead before being passed by Abra on lap 3. However, de Zille stuck to his task and maintained close contact with the leading car while building up a comfortable margin over Tom Black and Alan Bonner’s Vantage Racing car in third.

During the mandatory pit stop window Abra handed over to Poole, who was forced to retire with a break failure at Druids on his first lap and was unable to rejoin the race. By this time de Zille had built up enough of a lead that he was able to refuel, take on fresh rubber and rejoin the race ahead of series leader Vantage Racing now in second.

With both car and driver performing faultlessly, De Zille maintained his strong pace to reach the chequered flag two laps ahead of Black/Bonner, and so NMR and Vantage Racing are now tied on 52 points for the series lead.

After the race de Zille commented, “It was an amazing weekend but not quite as easy as it looked! As expected, it was a hard race physically, but as it marks my first ever solo victory it was probably the most satisfying of my career.”

NMR’s Team Principal Nicholas Mee added, “Hearty congratulations to Dan who drove superbly throughout, with congratulations and thanks also to Team Manager Giles Dawson and the industrious NMR pit crew. With points now level for overall victory in this year’s Challenge, we are anticipating an exciting finale at Dijon on 10-11th September.”

The seventh round of the GT4 Challenge of Great Britain will take place this weekend at the iconic Brands Hatch circuit in Kent on Saturday 27 August.

In only its second year the one-make, factory-backed Aston Martin GT4 Challenge of Great Britain has already visited some spectacular circuits and seen exhilarating action, firmly cementing itself as one of the highest calibre single-marque racing events. The cars, which are closely based on the road-going V8 Vantage and V8 Vantage S models, are an ideal first step on the GT racing ladder.

Throughout the season there has been a closely fought battle at the top between regulars Vantage Racing and Nicholas Mee Racing, however throughout the pack the competition has been strong. The final two rounds will decide which team will have achieved the most success in 2011.

The Aston Martin GT4 Challenge of Great Britain has so far visited: Silverstone, Snetterton, Donington, Spa Francorchamps, and Oulton Park The close yet fair competition, camaraderie amongst the participants and the shared passion for the Aston Martin Vantage raced by all, make the GT4 Challenge of Great Britain a truly unique experience.

Brands Hatch offers a world-class arena for teams and spectators alike. Racing on the ‘Indy’ circuit drivers will enjoy the likes of ‘Brabham straight’ and ‘Graham Hill bend’ whilst spectators will enjoy an amphitheatre style view of almost the entire circuit.

Practice and qualifying begin at 09:40 and are due to conclude at 10:10 with the race beginning at 14:20. For those wishing to make a day of it, Brands Hatch will also be playing host to the AMOC race meeting featuring cars from throughout Aston Martin’s illustrious history.

After this weekend, the Challenge will head to the final round at Dijon Prenois, France on the 10th and 11th of September.

Qualifying report

The 30-minute session started with a dry track but with the threat of rain in the air all drivers were very conscious of putting some quick laps together early on. Chris Kemp driving car 91, the Stratton Motors entry, went off at cascades on cold tyres, hitting the barriers and damaging the front left hand side of the car, he managed to get the car back to the pits for the team to make temporary repair. The early pace was set by Hannes Van Asseldonk in the Nicholas Mee entered number 12 car setting a 1:47.4 on his third lap. Tom Black in the Vantage Racing number 24 car and Stuart Patterson in the EQ8 Racing 47 car were pushing hard and fighting over second spot with Lorenzo Fachinetti in the number 77 Aston Martin Lagonda entry fourth. On his fifth lap Hannes managed to post a 1:46.8, which would prove to be quick enough to take the pole position. The fight for second position then ensued with Alan Bonner, now driving the Vantage number 24 machine, Olivier Bouche in the Stratton Motors number 22 car and Marek Reichman now driving the Aston Martin Lagonda number 77 car all pushing hard, but it would be Alan Bonner who would find enough pace to take second place with Olivier third and Marek fourth. With four minutes left in the session Chris Kemp rejoined the circuit after the repairs to his car were completed, but there just wasn’t enough time for him to set a qualifying time. So it was Hannes Van Asseldonk and Karsten Le Blanc who would claim pole position for Round 7 of the Aston Martin GT4 Challenge with a fantastic lap.

Qualifying Result:

1. 12 Karsten le Blanc/Hannes Van Asseldonk - Nick Mee Racing – 1:46.890
2. 24 Tom Black/Alan Bonner - Vantage Racing – 1:47.962
3. 22 Pierre Mantello/Denis Tribel/Olivier Bouche – Stratton Motorsport – 1:48.374
4. 77 Marek Reichman/Lorenzo Fachinetti - Aston Martin Lagonda – 1:52.405
5. 47 Stuart Patterson/Mark Walker - Stratton Motorsport – 1:52:710
6. 5 Desmond Smail - Mardi Gras Motorsport – 1:53.285
7. 3 Alan Hudd/David Croft – Alan Hudd Racing – 1:54.578
8. 56 Richard Taffinder/Tim Eakin – Ultimate Speed – 1:56.288
9. 91 Chris Kemp/Stuart Hall - Stratton Motorsport – NO TIME



Oulton Park Race Report

Karsten Le Blanc, in the Nicholas Mee number 12 car, led the field round on the green flag lap and as they approached the start line the field were in perfect formation, the lights went out and it was Karsten who managed to hold the lead into turn one. Tom Black in car 24 held second position with Pierre Mantello in car 22 third, fourth was Marek Reichman in car 77 and fifth was Stuart Patterson in car 47. On lap 3 Chris Kemp in car 91 had to pit to repair the floor tray, which was rubbing on the surface of the track, this damage was the remnants from the qualifying incident, the Stratton Motors team managed to repair the 91 car and Chris rejoined the race all be it several laps down. By lap 4 Karsten Le Blanc had managed to gain a 11 second lead, Cars 24, 22 and 77 were fighting very hard for second with Tom Black in car 24 making his Aston Martin GT4 car as wide as possible to defend from Pierre Mantello, in car 22 and Marek Reichman in 77.

Desmond Smail in the Mardisgras Motorsport number 5 entry was having a very tightly fought battle with Stuart Patterson in the EQ8 Racing number 47 car, Stuart managing to get passed Desmond going into turn 1 with a great maneuver. Stuart was now chasing after Marek Reichman in the Aston Martin Lagonda number 77 car and bringing Desmond Smail with him so a three-way battle then ensued for fourth.

Marek held on well but a coming together at turn 6 forced him into a spin and he lost about 20 seconds in the process, dropping him to seventh. Stuart Patterson now held fourth with Desmond Smail fifth. 6th was Alan Hudd in the Alan Hudd Racing number 3 machine. On lap 6 Pierre Mantello, in car 22 passed Tom Black, in car 24 for second position.

With 14 laps completed it was Karsten Le Blanc leading with a very impressive 29-second gap, second was Pierre Mantello and Tom Black third. The pit stop window opened and the first to pit for their mandatory 2 minute stop was Pierre Mantello in car 22 handing over the driving duties to Denis Tribel. Next to pit was Mareck Reichman in car 77 handing over to Lorenzo Facchinetti, Tom Black in car 24 also pitted handing over to Alan Bonner, as did Stuart Patterson in car 47 with Mark Walker ready to take on the driving duties. Chris Kemp in car 91 pitted on the next lap handing over to Stuart Hall but as Stuart is classed as an FIA Gold driver he carried a handicap penalty of 50 seconds which had to be taken before the team could take their 2-minute mandatory stop, Chris had to remain in the car with the engine switched off for this 50 second period. Tim Eakin in the Ultimate Speed number 56 car pitted next to hand over driving duties to Richard Taffinder. Next down the pit lane was the leader Karsten Le Blanc who was handing over to Hannes Van Asseldonk, Hannes also carried a handicap penalty for being an FIA Silver driver so Karsten had to remain in the number 12 car for 30 seconds before the team could refuel in their mandatory 2 minute stop. Desmond Smail who was a solo driver for this race now led from Alan Hudd in car 3, but both cars were still yet to pit, third was Hannes Van Asseldonk in car 12, fourth was Alan Bonner in car 24 and fifth was Lorenzo Facchinetti in car 77.

News then came through that the safety car was being deployed as Hannes Van Asseldonk in car 12 had gone off at Cascades under breaking, it later turned out that Hannes had turned off the ABS system by accident which led to the car locking up and ending up in the barriers. The safety car was now on track gathering the field together, Alan Hudd in car 3 seized the opportunity and pitted to hand over to David Croft and on the very next lap Desmon Smail in car 5 pitted for his 2 minute mandatory stop.

The race was then red flagged as there had been severe damage to the barriers that needed repairing. The cars came round to the start line awaiting news of a restart; the decision was made by the clerk of the course to restart the race as the field had only completed 66% of the race distance. The new race distance would be for 20 minutes, the MSA Blue book states that any race stopped after the leader has completed more than two laps but less than 75% of its duration will be considered as the first part of a two part race. Cars will be restarted from a grid set out in the finishing order, which shall be based upon the order of crossing the finish line at one lap less than at the time of first showing the Red Flag. Only cars, which are under their own power at the showing of the Red Flag, will be classified. The result will be the order of finishing at the end of the restarted race.

This all meant that Desmond Smail in car 5 would be on pole with David Croft in Car 3 second for the restart, the field would be led round for one green flag lap behind the safety car and form up for the restart of this very exciting race. Desmond Smail led the grid into turn 1 but it was Alan Bonner in the Vantage Racing number 24 machine that would lead the field across the line at the end of lap 1, second was Lorenzo Facchhinetti in the Aston Martin Lagonda number 77 entry and third was the hard charging Stuart Hall in the Stratton Motors number 91 machine. Stuart passed Lorenzo on lap 2 and set about catching Alan Bonner. Fourth was Olivier Bouche who was now driving the number 22 Stratton Motors machine. Stuart Hall caught Alan Bonner and by lap 5 was less than half a second behind him, Stuart managing to set the fastest lap of the race in the process with a very impressive 1:46.519. Alan now had to drive very defensively to hold off the hard charging Stuart Hall. The battle for third was also being hardly fought over with Olivier Bouche in car 22 chasing down Lorenzo Facchinetti in car 77.

The lead battle was getting very tense with Stuart Hall pushing Alan Bonner very hard, Alan was making his Aston Martin GT4 car as wide as he could. But it was Alan who drove very professionally to hold off Stuart for his and Tom Blacks first win in the series. Stuart Hall and Chris Kemp finished second which was a very impressive result considering all of the dramas the car had gone through over the race weekend. Third were Marek Reichman and Lorenzo Facchinetti with another great result for the Aston Martin Lagonda number 77 entry.

Race Result

1. 24 Tom Black/Alan Bonner - Vantage racing –11 Laps
2. 91 Chris Kemp/Stuart Hall - Stratton Motorsport –11 Laps
3. 77 Marek Reichman/Lorenzo Fachinetti - Aston Martin Lagonda – 11 Laps
4. 22 Pierre Mantello/Denis Tribel/Olivier Bouche – Stratton Motorsport – 11 Laps
5. 3 Alan Hudd/David Croft– Alan Hudd Racing – 11 Laps
6. 47 Stuart Patterson/Mark Walker - Stratton Motorsport –11 Laps
7. 56 Richard Taffinder/Tim Eakin – Ultimate Speed – 1:56.288

DNC 5 Desmond Smail – Mardisgras Motorsport – 7 Laps
DNS 12 Karsten Le Blanc/Hannes Van Asseldonk – Nick Mee Racing

Nicholas Mee Racing’s Karsten le Blanc and Dan de Zille scored a triumphant double victory in rounds 5 and 6 of the Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT4 Challenge held at Belgium’s famous Spa Francorchamps circuit at the weekend, thus regaining their lead in this year’s series mid-way through the season.

The nine Aston Martin GT4 Challenge entries at Spa shared the grid with British GT Championship, Dutch GT4 Championship and FIA GT4 European Cup contenders for the two, one-hour races, while NMR’s de Zille had an especially busy weekend as he was also competing in the Formula Ford European Cup.

Friday morning’s practice consisted of two one-hour practice sessions in which circuit rookie de Zille and le Blanc ran through car set-up and circuit familiarisation procedures. In the afternoon’s 30-minute qualifying session the first 15 minutes would be taken by Driver 1 who’d set the qualifying time for Saturday’s Race 1, while Driver 2 would set the qualifying time for Race 2 in the second half of the session. It was decided that de Zille would set the first qualifying lap and, although still learning the circuit, he managed to post the second fastest time behind Vantage Racing’s Alan Bonner. In the second session, le Blanc posted an initial lap good enough for third on the grid before the session was ended prematurely by an accident involving the Vantage Racing car that the crew would work all night to repair for the following day’s racing.

Having hurried from the Formula Ford parc fermé after his second Formula Ford race of the weekend, de Zille started race 1 from second on the grid. During his fast and consistent stint de Zille caught and passed Vantage Racing’s Alan Bonner for first place. A safety car incident then prompted a number of teams, NMR included, to come in for the compulsory pit stop a little earlier than planned, during which de Zille handed over to le Blanc. During this time the Aston Martin Racing entry driven my AMR’s MD John Gaw and Phil Dryburgh managed to leap-frog NMR for the lead. However, le Blanc drove with the bit between his teeth and, with another Challenge victory in his sights, he caught and passed the AMR car to bring the NMR’s Aston Martin home safely for another victory, three seconds ahead of another AML-entered car driven by ex Evo journalist Jethro Bovingdon and Sport Auto magazine’s Anja Wassertheurer in second place.

Effectively starting race 2 from second on the grid due to Kemp and Hall’s Stratton Motor Company car being unable to start because of engine issues, le Blanc battled hard with AML’s Jethro Bovingdon during the first stint. With around 35 minutes remaining, Le Blanc handed over to de Zille for the last of his five-race weekend! NMR’s Team Manager Giles Dawson calculated that the finish would be close as AMR’s Gaw was on a mission and obviously determined to reel-in de Zille. With NMR now in first after the pitstops, Dawson instructed de Zille to keep pushing hard, and this he did to take the chequered flag by just one second for NMR’s second win of the weekend.

Following race 2 a delighted Karsten le Blanc said,”Wow, what a productive two days at my favourite circuit; we had good pace in practice and qualifying, an impeccable car and some really close racing in both races. To come out on top in both is fantastic and better than I had dared hope for! I thoroughly enjoy the partnership with Dan and am very happy about the efforts of the whole NMR team. I’m really looking forward to our next outing at Oulton Park on 6th August."

Team Principal Nicholas Mee said, “Winning feels good, but winning twice in a day is even better! My thanks and congratulations go not just to the drivers Karsten and Dan, who obviously did a fantastic job, but to the whole team whose skill and hard work really paid dividends this weekend. We can now all enjoy the break before the next round, and will return to the fray with an even greater determination to succeed”.

Nicholas Mee Racing is now back on top of this year’s AM GT4 Challenge leaderboard with three firsts, a third and a fourth from the five races completed thus far. After Spa Le Blanc has 41 points, while de Zille – who didn’t compete in the first round at Silverstone – has 35. He’s followed by Bonner and Black with 32 points, Poole, Abra and Kemp all on 23, Mantello with 19 and Hall with 18.

Following victory in Round 2 of the Aston Martin GT4 Challenge at Snetterton at the end of May, Nicholas Mee Racing travelled to Donington Park at the weekend as series leader for rounds 3 and 4. However, with Saturday’s 3hr race curtailed and an electronic gremlin hampering progress in Sunday’s extended race, NMR’s highly competitive pace wasn’t accurately reflected in the result.

Saturday morning’s qualifying was held in light drizzle, and, driving well within his limits, Dan de Zille set a lap time that would place NMR third on the grid. Although both de Zille and Team Manager Giles Dawson felt that a better time was within reach, with tricky conditions a safety-first strategy prevailed and the team settled for 3rd.

Saturday’s race started in the dry with NMR’s regular driver Karsten le Blanc at the wheel of the team’s V8 Vantage GT4. Le Blanc made a good start, but drove with caution early on to preserve the Dunlop tyres and in the process lost a place to a hard-charging Michael Mallock who was making his AM Challenge début alongside his father, Ray Mallock – a name well known in Aston Martin circles due to his involvement in the company’s mid 1980s Group C endurance racing efforts.

Le Blanc then had a good battle with Mike Brown in the MB Racing car, and, after passing Brown for 4th place, le Blanc was then able to reduce his lap times to at least those of the three leading cars who by now had tyres that were starting to ‘go off’.

Unfortunately, after 40 minutes and with de Zille ready to take over and hunt down the leading cars, Mario Cordini’s car had a heavy accident which brought out the safety car and then the red flag due to substantial damage to the safety barriers. With insufficient time to repair the barriers that day a restart wasn’t possible and so, with less than 75% of race distance completed, the race was declared null and void.

Sunday’s race length was subsequently extended from its original 90mins to 120mins with grid positions again taken from Saturday’s qualifying session.

Rejoining NMR for his first race of the 2011 season, Christiaen van Lanschot started from 3rd on the grid and, after a fantastic 40min stint, he pitted while still in 3rd to hand over to Karsten le Blanc.

Le Blanc also enjoyed a good, solid stint before handing over to de Zille who immediately set about reeling in the Generation AMR car of Mark Poole and Richard Abra. Regularly lapping about 2secs faster than the leading car, de Zille’s progress was halted by an electrical issue (most likely an ECU error reading) which caused him to coast to a standstill by the side of the circuit and complete a reset procedure. Team Manager Dawson reckoned this cost the team some 54secs which dropped NMR down to 4th position.

Undeterred by this setback, de Zille set off in hot pursuit of Bonner and Black’s Vantage Racing car in 3rd place but the chequered flag came out before catching it and so NMR finished in 4th, just 8secs behind Vantage Racing and a mere 48secs adrift of the Stratton Motor Co car of Hall, Chittenden and Kemp which snatched victory from Generation AMR moments before the end of the race.

Giles Dawson and the team are now investigating the fault that lost time and preparing for rounds 5 and 6 at the legendary Spa Francorchamps circuit on 9-10th July.

The 40 minute session was very wet, with all cars starting off tentatively. James Appleby set the early pace in the Generation AMR number 8 car followed closely by Desmond Smail in the 4.3-engined Mardis Gras car. After twenty minutes the session was still led by the number 8 car now with Ant Scragg behind the wheel second was Michael Mallock in the RS Williams number 32 machine and third was Mario Cordoni in the Riviera Swiss number 10 car. There were some very close battles all through the field as all drivers started to gain confidence in very wet conditions. The last ten minutes of the session proved to be very exciting with the track drying slightly and all drivers now focused on putting together their fastest laps possible, Alan Bonner in the Vantage Racing number 24 car held the provisional pole position with Stuart Hall in the Stratton Motorsport number 91 entry second, third was Richard Abra now driving the number 8 car. With five minutes to go Stuart Hall put in a flyer to take provisional pole but on the very next lap Dan de Zille in the Nicholas Mee number 12 machine put in an even better time to move Stuart to second, third was now Alan Bonner and Richard Abra fourth. Michael Mallock was also putting in some very competitive times as well so there was a five-way battle for pole. The quickest times were still to come with Stuart Hall setting a 1:23.252 on his very last lap to take the provisional pole that was until Richard Abra put in an amazing lap of 1:22.857 to take the pole position for the third time this season.

Qualifying Result:

1. 8 Richard Abra/James Appleby/Ant Scragg- Generation AMR – 1:22.857
2. 91 Chris Kemp/Stuart Hall/Tiffany Chittenden - Stratton Motorsport –1:23.252
3. 12 Karsten le Blanc/Dan de Zille - Nick Mee Racing – :23.645
4. 32 Michael Mallock/Ray Mallock – RS Williams –1:23.967
5. 24 Tom Black/Alan Bonner - Vantage racing –1:24.006
6. 22 Pierre Mantello/Olivier Bouche/Denis Tribel – Stratton Motorsport – 1:25.183
7. 38 Steven Byrne/Phiroze Bilimoria – MCD Racing – 1:25.310
8. 10 Mario Cordoni/Roberto Rayneri – Aston Riviera – 1:25.978
9. 7 Mike Brown/Dave West - MB Racing –1:26.106
10. 80 George Miller/Les Goble – Tiger Coffee Aston –1:26.317
11. 5 Desmond Smail/Julian Reddyhough - Mardi Gras – 1:27.867
12. 47 Stuart Patterson/Paul Bartley/Mark Walker - Stratton Motorsport –1:32.033

Round 3 Donington Park National Saturday 25th June

Race Report

This was to be a three-hour race with three mandatory pit stops for all teams. Ant Scragg in the Generation AMR number 8 entry led the field round on the green flag, he got a good start in the dry conditions to lead the pack into turn one but was later passed by Alan Bonner in car 24 and by Michael Mallock in the RS Williams number 32 car, Michael then went on to pass Alan into the chicane to lead at the end of the first lap. Michael now with clear air in front of him started to put in some very quick lap times to increase his lead to over 7 seconds by the end of lap 8.

Ant Scragg then started to show his real pace by passing Alan Bonner through Hollywood on lap 9 and setting the fastest lap of the race on the very same lap, he then set about catching Michael and on lap 11 managed to pass him into the chicane. Ant then continued to set some very quick lap times and managed to draw out a good lead, Michael was now in second with Alan Bonner third, fourth was the Nicholas Mee number 12 entry of Karsten Le Blanc at the wheel. Chris Kemp, in the Stratton Motorsport number 91 entry, was the first to pit, this car was carrying a driver handicap penalty as Chris was sharing with Stuart Hall, who is classified as an FIA gold driver, the penalty set was for 56 seconds of additional pit stop time over and above the three 2 minute mandatory stops that all the other teams faced. This 56-second penalty was spread across the three stops meaning the 91 car had to take three stops of 2 minutes 18 seconds. Chris handed over driver duties to Tiffany Chittenden and the car took on fuel and four new tyres. Next to pit was the Vantage Racing entry with Tom Black taking over driving duties from Alan Bonner. All the key contenders then started to pit including cars 8, 12 and 22.

Then news came through that car 10 the Swiss Riviera machine driven by Mario Cordoni had run wide at the Kraner curves and ended up in the gravel trap sideways at the old hairpin, this had sent the car into a roll. The car ended up going through both the tyre barriers and the concrete safety barriers bringing out the safety car. The last remaining cars who hadn’t pitted then decided to make their pit stops one of which was the then leader Michael Mallock in the number 32 machine, this car also carrying a driver handicap penalty for Michael being an FIA silver driver. The safety car managed to gather the field together but within that first safety car lap the decision had been made to red flag the race, there had been too much damage done to the safety barriers. The Pit lane was then closed, with several cars still waiting to finish their pit stops. The rest of the field was brought round to the starting grid to await a decision from the clerk of the course. The decision was made by the clerk and the stewards and the race had to be stopped permanently, this was due to the extent of the damage to the barriers and the time it was going to take to repair them. As only 54 of the 180 minutes had been completed the race was declared null and void.

Race Result Round 3

NULL AND VOID

The decision had also been made by the clerk of the course to extend the 90 minute race the following morning to a 120 minute race to try and recover some of the lost race time from round 3. There would be no qualifying session for round four and the grid for the race would be taken from the qualifying session from round 3.

Round 4 Donington Park National Sunday 26th June

Race Report

With the grid already set from the previous days events there were a few driver changes to mention;

Car 7 Mike Brown/Dave West were joined by Paul Cripps
Car 8 Richard Abra was joined by Mark Poole
Car 10 was unable to make the race due to the damage sustained from the day before.
Car 12 Karsten Le Blanc/Dan de Zille were joined by Christiaen van Lanschot
Car 32 Michael Mallock/Ray Mallock couldn’t do the race due to Rays other work commitments with the World Touring Car series.
Car 38 Steven Byrne/Phiroze Bilimoria were joined by Spencer Marsh
Car 47 Paul Bartley was not able to do the race so left the driving duties to Mark Walker/Stuart Patterson.
Car 56 was a new car to the race and would start at the back of the grid; the two drivers were Richard Taffinder/Tim Eakin.

There was a ten minute warm up session to get everybody set for the two hour race. Richard Abra in car number 8 led the field round for the green flag lap, in the hot sunny conditions, with Tiffany Chittenden along side on the front row in car number 91. A very clean start was made by all with car 8 taking the lead; car 91 was second, third was the Nicholas Mee number12 entry with Christiaen van Lanschot at the wheel, fourth was Tom Black in the number 24 Vantage Racing machine and fifth was the Tiger Coffee entry of Les Goble. On lap 8 Les was fighting his way through the field and managed to find away passed Tom Black to take fourth position. By lap 9 Richard Abra had managed to gain a 13 second lead over Tiffany Chittenden that was until lap 10 where Richard ran wide on the exit of Coppice reducing his lead to just over 2 seconds. Tiffany then really started to push putting in some fantastic laps to put Richard under some real pressure. On lap 14 Les Goble continued his progress taking third position from Christiaen van Lanschot. Richard Abra again started to find some more pace and began to pull away from Tiffany in car 91. On lap 15 car number 38 the MCD Racing entry of Steven Byrne ran wide at Coppice and ended up in the gravel, Steven managed to get the car back to the pits to try and assess the damage and remove all of the gravel, the team managed to repair the car and got it back in the race.

On lap 19 car 56 the 888 racing entry, with Tim Eakin at the wheel, pitted for the first of the two mandatory stops he then handed over to Richard Taffinder. On Lap 23 the EQ8 racing entry number 47 car pitted with a misfire, but the Stratton Motorsport team who run the car manage to fix the problem and get the car back in the race.

Next to pit was the Mardis Gras number 5 entry of Desmond Smail swapping driving duties to Julian Reddyhough and taking on fuel and four new tyres. The first round of pit stops were now in well under way with cars 24, the leader car 8 and car 12 all pitting for driver changes, tyres and fresh tyres. Car 91 also pitted at this time but they had a driver handicap of 15 seconds per stop being added to the two minutes mandatory time. Once everybody had taken the first round of pit stops it was Richard Abra in car number 8 now leading, second was now car 91 driven by Chris Kemp, third was car 7 the MB racing entry driven by Mike Brown, fourth was car 80 with George Miller now driving and fifth was car 12 now being driven by Karsten Le Blanc.

For the second round of pit stops it was the Vantage racing entry, car number 24 of Tom Black, who was the first to stop, Tom passing the driving duties on to Alan Bonner. Next to stop was the Generation AMR crew with Richard Abra swapping driving duties to Mark Poole. Car 91 the Stratton Motorsport entry pitted on the same lap to take their second 15 second driver handicap penalty as well as the two minute mandatory stop, Chris Kemp now handing over to Stuart Hall. Two laps later car 12 then pitted with Karsten Le Blanc handing over driving duties to Dan de Zille. After all the pit stops had been completed it was Mark Poole in car 8 leading followed by Dan de Zille closing him down at about 2.5 seconds per lap, third was Alan Bonner who was being caught by Stuart Hall in car 91 at about a second per lap. We were all set for a fantastically close finish to this thrilling race. On lap 70 Car 12 suddenly lost pace with Dan de Zille complaining of loss of power the team later explaining that there was some sort of fuel starvation issue, this now meant that Mark Poole in car 8 was still leading with Alan Bonner in second catching Mark at about 1 second a lap, third was now the charging Stuart Hall in car 91 who was himself catching Alan at about 1.5 seconds per lap, there was only about 20 minutes of the race left and there was going to be a three way fight for the race win. By lap 76 Stuart had managed to catch Alan Bonner and then got a run on him coming out of Redgate corner, this meant he was along side and passed going down through Hollywood. Stuart now set about catching Mark Poole whose lead was now down to about 35 seconds there was only about 15 laps left to be completed and with Stuart catching Mark at about 3 seconds per lap this was going to be extremely close.

The tension started to grow particularly for the team managers of both cars, by lap 84 Stuart had managed to reduce the gap to around 10 seconds, Mark was driving brilliantly putting in some very consistent times, then with only five minutes of the race remaining Stuart managed to catch and pass Mark for the lead. Mark had fought very hard and had managed to keep enough of a gap to Alan Bonner to secure second place for the Generation AMR number 8 car. Stuart had put together a near perfect stint to claim a brilliant victory and the first for the Stratton Motorsport number 91 car in the Aston Martin Challenge of Great Britain. Third was the Vantage racing number 24 car of Alan Bonner who again had showed some very strong pace all through the race.

Race Result

1. 91 Chris Kemp/Stuart Hall/Tiffany Chittenden - Stratton Motorsport –91 Laps
2. 8 Mark Poole/Richard Abra - Generation AMR –91 Laps
3. 24 Tom Black/Alan Bonner - Vantage racing –91 Laps
4. 12 Karsten le Blanc/Dan De Zille - Nick Mee Racing –91 Laps
5. 80George Miller/Les Goble – Tiger Coffee Aston – 88 Laps
6. 22 Pierre Mantello/Olivier Bouche/Denis Tribel – Stratton Motorsport – 87 Laps
7. 47 Stuart Patterson/Mark Walker - Stratton Motorsport –84 Laps
8. 5 Desmond Smail/Julian Reddyhough - Mardi Gras – 84 Laps
9. 56 Richard Taffinder/Tim Eakin– 888 Racing – 84 Laps

DNF

10. 7 Mike Brown/Paul Cripps/Dave West - MB Racing – 54 Laps
11. 38 Steven Byrne/Phiroze Bilimoria/Spencer Marsh – 41 Laps

Qualifying report

The 40 minute session started with a greasy circuit and a hanging drizzle in the air, with less than two minutes completed the red flag was brought out for an incident involving Alan Hudd in car number 3 who went off at turn 4 in very slippery conditions. The car was damaged quite heavily at the front end and unfortunately wasn’t repairable for the race. The session was restarted after a 20-minute delay for barrier repairs, Richard Abra set the early pace in the Generation AMR number 8 car putting in some fantastic times as he mastered the tricky track conditions and on only his third lap set an amazing lap time which would give him and Mark Poole their second pole position of the season. The fight for the other positions on the grid ensued with Olivier Bouche, in the Stratton Motorsport number 22 car, holding second place for most of the session that was until Dan Dezille, in the Nicholas Mee Racing number 12 car, put in a flyer on his very last lap of qualifying to take the second place spot on the grid. In fourth was the Vantage Racing number 24 entry of Tom Black and Alan Bonner who were also putting in some top three times right through the session. With five minutes to go the heavens opened and put an end to a very exciting qualifying session. So it was two out of two for Mark Poole, Richard Abra and the Generation AMR crew.

Qualifying Result:

1. 8 Mark Poole/Richard Abra - Generation AMR –2:01.783
2. 12 Karsten le Blanc/Dan Dezille - Nick Mee Racing –2:03.165
3. 22 Pierre Mantello/Olivier Bouche – Stratton Motorsport – 2:03.488
4. 24 Tom Black/Alan Bonner - Vantage racing –2:03.716
5. 10 Jonathan Hartop – Aston Riviera – 2:03.747
6. 7 Mike Brown/Paul Cripps/Dave West - MB Racing –2:03.863
7. 23 Gaurav Burman/Matt Cummings - GMAC Racing –2:04.245
8. 91 Chris Kemp/Stuart Hall - Stratton Motorsport - 2:04.525
9. 47 Stuart Patterson/Paul Bartley/Mark Walker - Stratton Motorsport –2:05.728
10. 80 George Miller/Les Goble – Tiger Coffee Aston – 2:05.767
11. 77Gary Watkins/Andrew Frankel - Aston Martin Lagonda – 2:06.433
12. 5 Desmond Smail/Julian Reddyhough - Mardi Gras – 2:13.002
13. 3 Alan Hudd/Chris Scragg/Ant Scragg - Saudade Racing –NO TIME

Snetterton 300 Race Report

Mark Poole, in the Generation AMR number 8 entry, led the thirteen cars round on the green flag lap. As the grid approached the line, the tension grew, the lights went out and Mark led the pack into turn one but was passed by Karsten le Blanc in car 12 and Olivier Bouche in car 22 later in the first lap. Gaurav Burman, in the GMAC Racing number 23 entry, spun at the first corner due to cold tyres and then struggled to get the car back on the track, which brought out the safety car. Gaurav Burman managed to get the car going again and the lights on the safety car were extinguished allowing Karsten le Blanc to hold the lead as the race was restarted. On lap 3 Andrew Frankel, in the Aston Martin Lagonda number 77 car, made a move down the inside of Paul Cripps, in the Mike Brown Racing number 7 entry, at turn 9, there wasn’t enough room and he collided with Paul bouncing of the right hand side of the number 7 machine and over the apex curbing which in turn cracked the sump of the 77 car. Andrew, not knowing the car was dropping its engine oil, drove back to the pits and to an early retirement. There was now oil all through turns 11 and 12, the first to face the oil was Karsten le Blanc who spun on the exit of turn 12, the oil was causing mayhem with quite a few cars taking to the grass, inevitably the safety car had to be brought out again.

The new leader was Alan Bonner car 24 who navigated his way through the oil perfectly; Karsten le Blanc, Olivier Bouche, Jonathan Hartop car 10 and Mark Poole closely followed. The Marshalls did a fantastic job clearing up the oil, but there had been so much dropped that it took another 5 laps behind the safety car to make the circuit safe again. In the meantime the pit stop window had now opened. All teams had to take three mandatory pit stops during the three-hour race. The number 12 car was the first to stop taking fuel and front tyres but Karsten le Blanc remained at the wheel of the Nicholas Mee Racing machine. On the next lap Alan Bonner in car 24 pitted for fuel and front tyres but again no driver change. On lap 10 Jonathan Hartop car 10 and Chris Kemp, in the Stratton Motorsport number 91 entry, pitted. Jonathan took on new tyres and fuel but remained in the car as he would for the whole race, as he was the only solo driver on the grid. Chris Kemp took on new tyres and fuel and also a change of driver with Stuart Hall taking the wheel of the 91 machine. At the end of the next lap cars 8, 23, 5, 7 and 80 all pitted, the teams deciding that this was the best strategy for their cars at this point. On lap 13 the race was restarted with the new leader being Olivier Bouche, car 22, who hadn’t pitted in the safety car period. Olivier lead from Paul Bartley, in the EQ8 Energy number 47 entry, third was Karsten le Blanc and fourth was Alan Bonner. Stuart Hall and Richard Abra, now driving the number 8 car, were both making progress through the field. Stuart Hall being a professional driver, had been given a time penalty that was added to each of the three mandatory stops, so was keen to show his pace in trying to gain back the 42 seconds of penalty time that he and co driver Chris Kemp had been given. Olivier Bouche held the lead until lap 18 when Stuart Hall managed to pass going into turn 4. Stuart now led from Olivier with Alan Bonner third Richard Abra fourth and Karsten le Blanc in fifth. Stuart started to show his pace and put some fantastic laps together; on lap 27 Richard Abra passed Alan Bonner for second place and then tried to reduce Stuarts lead. On lap 38 Alan Bonner was the first to start the second round of pit stops, more fuel tyres and a driver change took place with Tom Black now taking the wheel of the 24 machine. On the next lap Karsten le Blanc was the next to stop handing over to Dan Dezille in the number 12 car. Next to pit was Stuart Hall who handed the driving duties back over to Chris Kemp, two laps later Richard Abra pitted from the then lead to hand over to Mark Poole, the next phase of the race was now starting to take shape.

On Lap 38 George Miller, in the Tiger Coffee Aston number 80 entry, had an engine problem and went off into the gravel on his own oil at turn 11, again oil had been dropped all through turn 11. Most of the field didn’t see the oil which led to a number of cars going off the track including Chris Kemp in car number 91, Mark Poole in car 8 and Tom Black in car 24. For the third time in the race the safety car was brought out, with the then leader being Mark Poole in car number 8. The third round of pit stops then ensued with all teams coming in for their final mandatory pit stops in the safety car period. After all the pit stops had taken place it was Dan Dezille in the number 12 car who now led from Tom Black, Richard Abra Third and Stuart Hall fourth. On lap 54 Richard Abra passed Tom Black for second and set about catching Dezille who still had a healthy lead. On Lap 70 Stuart Hall passed Tom Black for third and then the news came in that the Generation AMR`s number 8 car of Richard Abra and Mark Poole had to serve a penalty for exceeding the amount of time any one driver could spend in the car. The rules state that in two and three driver teams no one driver can exceed 67% of the race distance. The penalty decided, by the clerk of the course, was for a driver change to be made and on lap 72 Richard Abra pitted to put Mark Poole back in the car to finish the race.

With less than five minutes to go the heavens opened, all drivers deciding to drive round very gently for the last two laps on slick tyres in very slippery conditions. The race had a bit of everything with lots of drama but it was Dan Dezille and Karsten le Blanc in their Nicholas Mee Racing number 12 machine who crossed the line first to take a fantastic victory and the first for the team in the Aston Martin GT4 Challenge of Great Britain.

Provisional Race Result

1. 12 Karsten le Blanc/Dan Dezille - Nick Mee Racing –76 Laps
2. 91 Chris Kemp/Stuart Hall - Stratton Motorsport –76 Laps
3. 24 Tom Black/Alan Bonner - Vantage racing –76 Laps
4. 8 Mark Poole/Richard Abra - Generation AMR –76 Laps
5. 7 Mike Brown/Paul Cripps/Dave West - MB Racing –75 Laps
6. 10 Jonathan Hartop – Aston Riviera – 75 Laps
7. 22 Pierre Mantello/Olivier Bouche – Stratton Motorsport – 74 Laps
8. 23 Gaurav Burman/Matt Cummings - GMAC Racing –72 Laps
9. 5 Desmond Smail/Julian Reddyhough - Mardi Gras – 69 Laps
10. 47 Stuart Patterson/Paul Bartley/Mark Walker - Stratton Motorsport –63 Laps

DNF

80 George Miller/Les Goble – Tiger Coffee Aston – 37 Laps
77 Gary Watkins/Andrew Frankel - Aston Martin Lagonda – 3 Laps

DNS

3 Alan Hudd/Chris Scragg/Ant Scragg - Saudade Racing

AMR

Nicholas Mee Racing took a well-deserved victory in the second round of the 2011 Aston Martin GT4 Challenge series at Snetterton on 28th May. This marks the 2009 AM Challenge-winning team’s first ever outright race win and, following its 4th place in the first round at Silverstone in late April, takes NMR to the top of this year’s Challenge standings.

NMR’s regular driver Karsten le Blanc was first out during qualifying on the Saturday morning and set some very competitive times before handing over to Dan de Zille who had to contend with damp track conditions. Despite a slippery track, de Zille managed to set the second fastest qualifying time for a front row start.

Le Blanc started the 180-minute race and, by the second corner on the first lap, had taken the Talent Works-sponsored NMR V8 Vantage GT4 into first position. But it was to be an eventful race; on lap 3, journalist Andrew Frankel attempted a bold overtaking manoeuvre in the factory-entered V8 Vantage, left the circuit, damaged the sump and, leaking oil, returned to the pits on the racing line, all of which brought out the safety car.

Other incidents followed and these prompted NMR’s Team Manager Giles Dawson to bring in le Blanc earlier than anticipated for the first mandatory pitstop during another safety car period. At half distance le Blanc pitted while in 4th position for the team’s second stop, and handed the car to de Zille who immediately returned fast and consistent lap times. NMR’s third compulsory pitstop occurred at roughly 2/3rds distance, again under the safety car, and from there de Zille continued in similar vein, taking the NMR from 4th place to 1st.

De Zille maintained his pace and, with half an hour remaining, held a 25 second lead over the 2nd-placed Generation AMR car piloted by Richard Abra and Mark Poole. NMR’s lead was further consolidated when Richard Abra had to make a late pitstop which dropped Generation AMR down to 4th and gifted NMR with a one-minute lead over Stuart Hall and Chris Kemp in the Stratton Motor Co. car.

With just three minutes remaining the heavens opened and, despite torrential rain, NMR’s de Zille maintained position to take the chequered flag over a minute ahead of the Hall/Kemp car in second.

After the race a delighted de Zille commented, "What an amazing day! While it was disappointing to miss out on a shot at pole, Karsten did a great job keeping us in contention at the front. It was great racing through the pack and the guys behind ensured I could never let up the pace, pushing hard to the end. As a first outright race win it's brilliant and to it in an Aston Martin, and by such a margin is the icing on the cake. It's a terrific boost before my next Formula Ford round at Brands Hatch and I'm hoping I can get back in the Aston later in the season."

Karsten le Blanc added, “I couldn’t have hoped for better – a great car, smart strategy, a fantastic team effort and the best possible result. What’s more, I see no reason why we shouldn’t be at least as competitive in the next round at Donington Park on 25th June”.

Image: Gary Parravani

Following a successful first round of the Aston Martin Owners Club-organised 2011 Aston Martin GT4 Challenge series where Nicholas Mee Racing finished in a combative 4th position, the team is now preparing for round 2 to be held on the new 3-mile Snetterton 300 circuit on Saturday 28th May – sixty years after the AMOC staged the Norfolk track’s first ever motor race meeting.

NMR’s Talent Works-sponsored V8 Vantage GT4 will be driven by team regular Karsten le Blanc, and he’ll be partnered by Dan de Zille (24) who rejoins the team following an impressive and successful début in last October’s Britcar 24hr at Silverstone. Dan is also competing in the 2011 British Formula Ford Championship where he currently lies 5th in the standings.

Fourteen Aston Martins took part in round 1 of this year’s GT4 Challenge and among the drivers were Aston Martin’s Design Director Marek Reichmann, Aston Martin Chairman David Richards, and Christian Horner, Team Principal of the Red Bull Racing F1 team. At Snetterton the AML-entered car will again be driven by Marek Riechman, who’ll this time be joined by motoring journalists Gary Watkins and Andrew Frankel.

“It’s great to be back with NMR,” commented de Zille, “I can’t wait to get back in the car again, not least because it will be comforting to have a roof over my head after the craziness of Formula Ford!”

Testing will take place on Friday 27th May, with the 3hr GT4 Challenge race starting at 1pm the following day.

Qualifying Report

It was a dry session with all drivers conscious of making sure they completed their mandatory three laps in the thirty minutes allocated.

The early pace was set by Aston Martin Racing with Red Bull F1 team principal Christian Horner at the wheel closely followed by the Generation AMR entry of Mark Poole and Vantage Racing’s Tom Black.

As the tyres came up to temperature and driver confidence increased the times began to fall seeing a number of different changes for the top spot. As the cars started to pit for driver changes it was Horner still with provisional pole position.

Mark Poole handed over the driving duties to Richard Abra in the Generation AMR number 8 car who instantly made an impression setting some fantastic lap times and taking the provisional pole.

Alan Bonner who took over the Vantage racing number 24 car from Tom Black then found even more pace and took the provisional pole with Richard Abra second and Christian Horner lying third.

Owen Mildenhall in the Aston Martin Lagonda entry was putting in some impressive times fighting for the front row as well. Bonner then pitted to preserve the car for the race allowing Richard Abra to put a fantastic lap together setting the fastest time seen in the session, which he then managed to hold onto till the end of qualifying.

Qualifying Result:

1. 8 Mark Poole/Richard Abra - Generation AMR - 1:00.692
2. 24 Tom Black/Alan Bonner - Vantage racing - 1:00.820
3. 1 David Richards/Christian Horner - Aston Martin Racing - 1:01.168
4. 77 Marek Reichman/Owen Mildenhall - Aston Martin Lagonda 1:01.43
5. 12 Karsten le Blanc - Nick Mee Racing - 1:01.822
6. 91 Chris Kemp/Les Goble - Stratton Motorsport - 1:02.260
7. 47 Stuart Patterson/Paul Bartley/Mark Walker - Stratton Motorsport - 1:02.386
8. 7 Mike Brown/Paul Cripps - MB Racing - 1:02.470
9. 23 Gaurav Burman/Matt Cummings - Elephant Racing - 1.02.887
10. 3 Alan Hudd/Chris Scragg - Saudade Racing - 1:03.706
11. 22 Pierre Mantello - Stratton Motorsport - 1.03.892
12. 5 Desmond Smail/Julian Reddyhough - Mardi Gras - 1:03.892
13. 56 Richard Taffinder/Tim Eakin - Ultimate Speed - 1:04.358

Silverstone Race Report

Mark Poole started the race in the Generation AMR GT4 car, leading the pack round on the green flag lap, this was only Marks second ever race so to start on pole was a nerve racking experience, he did a fantastic job holding perfect pace as the thirteen cars approached the line, the lights went out and Mark led the pack into turn one but was passed by Tom Black and Christian Horner later in the first lap.

A really good dice for the lead then ensued with Black positioning his car perfectly to hold the lead. There were battles all through the pack with some really close racing taking place.

Horner continued to pressure Black for the lead but Black was making his GT4 Vantage as wide as possible, Horner finally managed to find a way passed on lap 8 but this lead was only held for three laps as Black re took the lead which he held all the way up to the pit stops.

Mark Poole then managed to pass Christian Horner on lap 12 as Horner’s tyres started to go off.

Poole was the first of the leaders to pit, pitting on lap 34. Next to pit was the then current leader Tom Black who pitted three laps later on lap 37. Horner now took the lead and managed to find some more pace as the balance of the car started to improve.

At half distance Horner led from Karsten Le Blanc in the Nicholas Mee number 12 car with the brand new number 22 Stratton entry of Pierre Mantello in third. Horner’s pit stop came on lap 52 where he handed over the driving duties to Aston Martin Chairman David Richards.

After all the pit stops had taken place it was Richard Abra driving the number 8 car now leading the race with Alan Bonner in second and David Richards in third. On lap 62 Richards lost two places firstly to Karsten le Blanc and then to Owen Mildenhall in the fast charging Aston Martin Lagonda number 77 entry.

Mildenhall now looked to chase down Le Blanc’s third position which he did on lap 66 managing to pass Le Blanc into Brooklands. The podium positions started to take place with Abra still leading from Bonner and Mildenhall in third.

The only other real fight left to sort out was for fifth position with Les Goble driving the Stratton number 91 car chasing down David Richards, Goble managing to pass Richards, who was now really struggling on very worn tyres, on lap 75. The checkered flag came out on lap 83 for Richard Abra and Mark Poole to claim victory in their first ever Aston Martin GT4 Challenge race.

Race Result

1. 8 Mark Poole/Richard Abra - Generation AMR - 83 Laps
2. 24 Tom Black/Alan Bonner - Vantage racing - 83 Laps
3. 77 Marek Reichman/Owen Mildenhall - Aston Martin Lagonda 83 Laps
4. 12 Karsten le Blanc - Nick Mee Racing - 83 Lpas
5. 91 Chris Kemp/Les Goble - Stratton Motor Company - 82 Laps
6. 1 David Richards/Christian Horner - Aston Martin Racing - 82 Laps
7. 7 Mike Brown/Paul Cripps - MB Racing - 81 Laps
8. 3 Alan Hudd/Chris Scragg - Saudade Racing - 81 Laps
9. 23 Gaurav Burman/Matt Cummings - Elephant Racing - 80 Laps
10. 5 Desmond Smail/Julian Reddyhough - Mardi Gras - 78 Laps
11. 47 Stuart Patterson/Paul Bartley/Mark Walker - Stratton - 77 Laps
12. 56 Richard Taffinder/Tim Eakin - Ultimate Speed - 76 Laps

DNF

22 Pierre Mantello - Stratton Motor Company - 65 Laps