Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Wins ELMS, Podiums in IMSA Battle
Aston Martin’s Vantage GT3, the marque’s most successful racing car, delivered a winning weekend across Europe and North America. It took landmark victories and a vital IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship podium that sharpened the fight for GTD honours as the series nears its climax.
Racing Spirit of Leman built on last month’s maiden FIA World Endurance Championship LMGT3 podium at the Rolex 6 hours of Sao Paulo by claiming its first European Le Mans Series class win at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. After Clement Mateu qualified third in challenging wet conditions, he teamed with Erwan Bastard and Aston Martin works driver Valentin Hasse Clot to master the four-hour race and finish on the top step. The win moved the French trio into the championship lead with two rounds remaining.
In IMSA, Seattle-based partner The Heart of Racing charged to third in the GTD class with the #27 Vantage GT3 after a stirring recovery. Casper Stevenson qualified fourth but dropped to 11th by the second corner after contact from behind. He fought back to sixth by the end of his stint, and Aston Martin works driver Tom Gamble kept the momentum over the next two hours. The pair finished third, less than three seconds from victory. This result, earned in the final IMSA sprint race before the endurance events at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Petit Le Mans, lifted Stevenson to second in the Drivers’ standings and moved The Heart of Racing to second in the Teams’ rankings.
Beechdean Motorsport won the GT3 Silver-Am category of the British GT Championship at Brands Hatch, with Andrew Howard and Tom Wood extending their lead with one race left in the 2025 season. Beechdean made it back-to-back Silver-Am wins at the Kent circuit with the Vantage GT3, which shares the mechanical architecture of the ultra-luxury Vantage road car, is built around Aston Martin’s proven bonded aluminium chassis and is powered by a fearsome twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8.
The Beechdean Vantage finished fifth overall and formed one of two Vantage GT3s in the top five. Blackthorn’s #7 car, which Giacomo Petrobelli and Aston Martin works driver Jonny Adam qualified second overall, finished fourth as the duo moved into second in the overall standings. Adam continues his pursuit of an unprecedented fifth series title.
Adam Carter, Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport, said: “It’s been a perfect weekend for Vantage with wins and podiums in three series that are extremely important to Aston Martin; the ELMS and IMSA, which are leading championships in their respective continents, and in British GT, which has a special place for Aston Martin as an iconic British brand and has been one of our most successful domestic series. These results continue to prove the adaptability and performance of the Vantage GT3 on a variety of circuits and highlight the fantastic job being done by our partner teams. We congratulate them all and will give them – and all AMR partner teams – our full support as they push for title success in their respective championships.”
