After a longer break, the FIA World Endurance Championship returned to Austin, Texas. There, our motorsport customers Aston Martin Racing and the race team “Heart of Racing” Lone Star Le Mans six-hour race celebrated their first LMGT3 victory in the World Endurance Championship.
Ian James, Daniel Mancinelli and Alex Riberas shared the cockpit in the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo, equipped with KW V6 Racing Solid Piston dampers since homologation in the 2024 season.
Already in qualifying, things went like clockwork for the Aston Martin team with the #27 and they conquered pole position in their class. Things also went well for the Vantage GT3 in the race.
At beyond 30 degrees celsius in the shade at the “Circuit of the Americas” in Texas, The Heart of Racing Aston Martin (#27) drove 160 of 164 laps at the top of the LMGT3 class. In addition to the fastest LMGT3 lap (2:05.129 minutes) in the race, the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo (#27) celebrated its first LMGT3 victory in the WEC with a 20-second lead.
The Porsche 911 GT3 R from Manthey, one of the most successful Porsche GT3 teams, on the other hand, which was also homologated with KW V6 Racing Solid Piston shocks, had to start the race in Texas from fourth (#92) and 16th (#91) on the grid.
Both Porsches had started in Austin with 30 kilograms of “success ballast”, but the Meuspath-based company still managed to drive its 911 GT3 R to second and third place in the LMGT3 class.
LMGT3-Championship leaders Alex Malykhin, Joel Sturm and Klaus Bachler finished second in the #92 car. The #91 car, in which Yasser Shahin, Morris Schuring and Richard Lietz shared the cockpit, drove from 16th position in LMGT3 to third place in class over the entire race!
The two BMW M4 GT3s of Team WRT crossed the finish line in fifth (#31) and 14th (#46) LMGT3 positions. The D’Station Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo (#777) finished 17th.
The Lamborghini SC63 of Lamborghini Iron Lynx, which competes in the Hypercar class, showed its competitiveness in North America. Already at the start before the first corner, the Lamborghini SC63 passed six opponents.
On the first lap, the #63 overtook two other hypercars and was always in the front third of the points. In the course of the race, the Lamborghini SC63 team received various penalties.
The pace varied in the final hour, but a 45-second penalty resulting from a drive-through infraction dropped the SC63 to 14th place in the final classification of the general classification.
On the same weekend, the ADAC GT Masters was held at the Belgian rollercoaster track at Spa-Francorchamps. In Saturday’s race, cars equipped with KW Racing dampers took a podium finish.
The Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo (#34) of Walkenhorst Motorsport finished third. The #35 sister car finished fifth. The BMW M4 GT3 (#54) of FK Performance Motorsport squeezed between the two Aston Martins.
The Porsche 911 GT3 R (#91) fielded by Team Joos by Twin Busch finished in the top 10 in seventh place. ProSport Racing (#37 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo) and Fach Auto Tech (#4 Porsche 911 GT3 R) finished the race at Spa-Francorchamps in 13th and 15th place. The second BMW M4 GT3 (#10) fielded by FK Performance Motorsports did not finish.
On Sunday, the KW Racing customers celebrated the overall victory and second place, which means that the title fight in the ADAC GT Masters remains exciting.
The BMW squad of FK Performance Motorsport (#54 BMW M4 GT3) with the two drivers Leon Köhler and Maxime Oosten celebrated their third success of the season in the ADAC GT Masters with their victory at Spa-Francorchamps.
The Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo (#34) gained the lead after the Ferrari (#14) spun. After a safety car period due to the recovery of a car, the #34 received a penalty lap for its false start, which threw the Aston back to eighth position.
At the front, there was a three-way battle between the Mercedes-AMG (#1), the BMW M4 GT3 (#54) of FK Performance Motorsports and the Porsche 911 GT3 R of Fach Auto Tech (#4). However, the #1 received a 15-second time penalty for an offence during the race afterwards and so the victory went to the #54.
The Fach Auto Porsche 911 GT3 R (#4) finished third. Fifth place went to the Walkenhorst Motorsport Vantage (#34).
The Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo of ProSport Racing finished eleventh (#37) and 13th (#27). While the second BMW M4 GT3 of FK Performance (#10) arrived last. Team Joos by Twin Busch Porsche (#91) and the second Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston (#35) did not see the finish line.
Photos Group C Photography, Organizer, Teams, Aston Martin, BMW, Lamborghini, Porsche, ADAC Motorsport