Walkenhorst withdraws Pro car
Walkenhorst Motorsport has withdrawn its #34 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo from tomorrow’s race, following an accident for Jamie Day during the final session of the Prologue test.
Reigning Sprint Cup silver drivers’ champion Day was due to share the entry with Henrique Chaves and Christian Krognes, for his Pro class debut.
The German squad will now focus its efforts on its #35 Aston Martin for Ethan Ischer, Gaspard Simon and Mateo Villagomez, which competes in the Silver Cup.
The withdrawal leaves the field at 58 cars, with 17 of them running in Pro.
Paque joins Razoon – more than racing
Austrian outfit Razoon – more than racing has confirmed that 2026 Dubai 24 Hours pole sitter Benjamin Paque will race its #914 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992.2).
The 21-year-old joins Dominik Olbert and Gerhard Tweraser, who have also been announced to be racing after testing in the car during the Prologue.
Accordingly, the team has switched from Silver to the Bronze class for its Endurance Cup debut.
Sutton “straight back in the deep end” at Paradine Competition
Four-time British Touring car drivers’ champion Ashley Sutton is making his second GT3 start this weekend, as he follows up his debut with Paradine Competition at Monza last year with another one-off appearance for the British team.
The 32-year-old is on a steep learning curve, as he competes at the Circuit Paul Ricard, and potentially at night, for the first time, with two new teammates alongside him in the #992 BMW M4 GT3 Evo in Christian Hahn and Robert De Haan.
This has been made all the more challenging by a clash of dates, which meant he missed most of the Prologue to attend the BTCC Media Day at Brands Hatch.
“I haven’t sat in the car since Monza, so it’s straight back in the deep end,” he told DSC. “I’m on the back foot, but we love a challenge.”
Sutton, as the only driver to win a BTCC title in both FWD and RWD machinery, is renowned in touring cars for his adaptability, something which also serves him well when making the switch from his Ford Focus Titanium to the M4 GT3 Evo.
“I actually don’t find jumping between the two cars difficult at all,” he said.
“It’s more understanding what you can get away with in terms of the track, because I’ve never been here. Every session you go out, you always find a little bit, so it’s more getting up to speed with a track rather than a car.
“The car you kind of get your head around after two or three laps. I’ve done enough Rear Wheel Drive stuff in the past to understand how they function.”
Although it now has to be applied to a different venue, Sutton believes that there is still plenty that he can carry over from his prior experience at Monza.
“Learning tyre management, and how you manage the car and yourself over a distance,” he highlighted. “And GT racing in general, because that was my first taste of an element of endurance racing. It was only a three-hour, [so] six hours this weekend is another step up again.”
Boya: “I don’t know what to expect” on GT debut
Aston Martin F1 Academy driver Mari Boya is set to make his sports car debut, as part of the crew of the one-off #18 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo alongside Lance Stroll and Roberto Merhi.
“I found out last week,” he told DSC. “I received a call from Japan, from Nuno [Pinto, Aston Martin F1’s academy racing director]. It was 5 AM, so I didn’t answer him, and when I woke up in Spain, I said yes, and we organised it.”
This weekend fills an eight-week break in Boya’s rookie FIA Formula 2 campaign, as he continues towards his end-goal of reaching Formula 1. Following a difficult start to the F2 season at Albert Park, Boya feels that his maiden GT3 outing offers a much-needed refresh, but is also valuable experience for his future career.
“I’m a guy that always enjoys being in a car,” he said.
“For the first time in a GT3 I was really surprised. I didn’t expect the car to be so nice to drive and enjoyable. Braking is really different, and especially the weight of the car. All the transitions are much slower than a single-seater, everything feels more like a boat, but it’s still really fun to drive.”
“I feel a good driver must be able to adapt all type of cars, and I think here I’ve proven that I can be fast in this type of car.”
Boya’s early pace is all the more impressive considering that he hasn’t been able to complete any testing pre-event, such was the last-minute nature of the #18 Aston Martin effort. However, with all three drivers series rookies, and two of them new to GT3 competition entirely, the Belgian squad has had to balance its run plan to allow all of them the chance to get up to speed.
“Every run, I start to understand the car more and more the car, and at the moment it’s going really well,” Boya said.
“I would love to be driving a lot more, but it’s the first time that I have to divide the car in three. I’m not used to it, but I would love to do the full day, for me to be much better.”
Heading into race weekend proper, and it’s clear that Boya is taking things one step at a time, as he prepares to compete in the largest grid of his career, and also potentially race under the cover of darkness for the first time.
“I don’t know what to expect,” he admitted. “Everything is really, really new for me, but I prefer not to overthink things so much. Go and drive. That is the thing that I love the most.”
Group Photo
At the conclusion of the Prologue, GT World Challenge Europe’s class of 2026 was gathered on the start-finish straight for the annual collective photo.
The GT4 European Series has also done its own group photo, this one on the Mistral straight, which showcases this year’s 38-car grid for the support series.
Lamborghini display coming together
Several of this weekend’s Lamborghini display cars have been positioned on a roundabout in the outer paddock. The display is located next to the Lamborghini Super Trofeo paddock.
Petrobelli tops Bronze Test
Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn’s Giacomo Petrobelli was fastest in this morning’s hour-long Bronze Test.
The #56 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo driver set a 1:55.065, ending up 0.151 seconds clear of 2Seas Motorsport’s #222 Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO of Charles Dawson.
Bashar Mardini’s #89 Lionspeed GP Porsche 911 GT3 R (992.2), Rinat Salikhov’s #87 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG and Ahmad Al Harthy’s #42 Oman Racing by Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 Evo completed the top five.
Images courtesy of SRO/JEP
