Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Targets Paul Ricard Glory
Aston Martin will field a formidable seven-car Aston Martin Vantage GT3 line-up for the opening round of GT World Challenge Europe at Paul Ricard on Saturday, 11 April. The entry makes up more than 10 per cent of the 60-car field in the world’s biggest GT-only endurance championship. It also gives the British ultra-luxury performance brand its strongest start to the series to date.
The line-up includes three Pro Class entries at Paul Ricard. One of them is a fourth Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 for Aston Martin Aramco Formula One® Team driver Lance Stroll (CAN), former Formula One® driver and GT racer Roberto Merhi (ESP) and Aston Martin Aramco Academy driver Mari Boya (ESP).
The trio will compete in the Pro Class and join the rest of the 60-car field for the Prologue test at Paul Ricard on Wednesday, 8 April, just before race weekend. The traditional day-to-night season opener will then begin on Saturday evening.
Alongside that car, Aston Martin will run its two regular Pro Class season entries at Paul Ricard. The brand will also field two more Vantage GT3s in both the Silver and Bronze Cups. The combined line-up features six works GT drivers and two Aston Martin Racing Driver Academy graduates.
Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport, Adam Carter, said; “It is fantastic for Aston Martin to have the strongest Vantage line-up the brand has ever fielded in the GT World Challenge Europe that includes two Pro cars filled with Aston Martin works drivers, and we’re proud to say, our two most recent AMR Driver Academy graduates, Kobe Pauwels and Jamie Day. The GT World Challenge Europe goes from strength to strength with every passing season, and there is no better way, or place, to showcase Vantage’s exceptional abilities on the international motorsport stage.”
Comtoyou Racing has become a major force in GT racing with Aston Martin. The Belgian team gave Aston Martin its first victory in the Spa 24 Hours of the modern GT-only era in 2024. Works drivers Mattia Drudi (ITA), Marco Sørensen (DEN) and Nicki Thiim (DEN) secured that success. The team then claimed the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Silver Cup title in 2025 with AMR Driver Academy winners Jamie Day (GBR) and Kobe Pauwels (BEL).
For 2026, the team’s regular line-up includes the #7 Pro Class Aston Martin Vantage GT3 for Drudi, Thiim and Sørensen, the #21 Silver Cup entry for Sébastien Baud (FRA), Pauwels and Oliver Söderström (SWE), and the #11 Bronze Cup Vantage for Marcelo Tomasoni (BRA), Aaron Muss (USA) and Kyle Marcelli (USA).
Two other key Aston Martin partners will join Comtoyou Racing in the GT World Challenge Europe. German team Walkenhorst Motorsport returns, while Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn will make its series debut after strong campaigns in the British GT Championship and the Asian Le Mans Series.
Walkenhorst Motorsport will field the #34 Pro Class Vantage for works Aston Martin drivers Henrique Chaves (POR), Christian Krognes (NOR) and Silver Cup champion Day. In the Silver Cup, the team will run the #35 car for Ethan Ischer (CHE), Mateo Villagomez (ECU) and SRO GT Academy winner Gaspard Simon (FRA). Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn will campaign a highly competitive Bronze Cup car at Paul Ricard for works driver Jonny Adam (GBR), Giacomo Petrobelli (ITA) and Tom Wood (GBR).
GT World Challenge Europe stands as the world’s leading GT3 endurance series. The championship features 10 manufacturers and 60 cars, and it attracts some of the world's best sports-car racing talent. The five-round calendar starts at Paul Ricard in France, then moves to Monza in Italy from 29 to 31 May. It then heads to its showpiece event, the CrowdStrike Spa 24 Hours, from 24 to 28 June. The season ends with two three-hour races at the Nürburgring in Germany from 28 to 30 August and at Portugal’s Portimão circuit from 16 to 18 October.
The Aston Martin Vantage GT3 shares its mechanical architecture with the high-performance Vantage road car. The car won the 24 Hours of Spa in 2024, the world’s most prestigious GT3-only event. Aston Martin built the Vantage GT3 around its proven bonded aluminium chassis and powers it with a formidable twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 engine.
