Car Blanche, the new team which took over from Van der Steur Racing just a few short weeks ago, is back in action this weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Last time out at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, the team took a podium on debut in the GTD class under YRB Racing’s new ownership, making a big splash.
This weekend, the all-white Aston Martin Vantage dons a red number plate and door mirrors, and a new number #68, now competing in the GTD Pro class instead of GTD. Driver Valentin Hasse-Clot and Team Principal Chris Deely met with the media on Friday evening, during which some outstanding questions surrounding the somewhat mysterious rebrand came to the forefront.
First and foremost, when asked about the ownership of YRB Racing, it was made clear that the identity of the team’s new owner will not be made public for the foreseeable future.
“You probably know as much as you will at the moment. We’re happy with the amount of information that is out on that topic at the moment. So that’s the way it’ll stay,” said Deely.
The ownership change came together quite quickly, with talks beginning just three months ago, according to star driver Hasse-Clot, who was again vague. “It all happened very quickly. Meeting the right people at the right time in life,” said the Frenchman.
This mystery is not necessarily for marketing purposes, but instead part of the new team’s mission statement for the Aston Martin.
“It’s not on purpose. It’s just how it is. We don’t do that on purpose to entertain people. It’s like that, and we’re focusing on this sporting aspect. But in the end, it sounds like a mystery for everyone. But it’s not like a marketing plan. It is just how it is,” Hasse-Clot continued.
That successful debut was not necessarily a surprise to the confident #68 crew, as they were fast all weekend and had a very solid lineup of Hasse-Clot, Trenton Estep – called up from the VDSR/Car Blanche Michelin Pilot Challenge programme – and young Marius Fossard, who raced alongside Hasse-Clot at Le Mans in June.
“It was not unexpected because we topped both practice sessions [that weekend] and got just a bit unlucky at some stages in the race with the pit lane closed and everything, and we made our way back into the top three.
“We had a very good lineup for that race with two drivers we trust, Trenton, who’s an in-house driver in the GT4 category, so who had a lot of running the same weekend, knows the team, and Marius, my little protege in Europe in ELMS, and Le Mans, so was in a good rhythm. So I think it was not a huge surprise, but for sure a big relief for us,” said Hasse-Clot.
Deely gave Hasse-Clot a lot of credit in his role in the change of ownership, with the driver appearing to operate in a central role within the team. “I think it’s definitely been quick for us as well, but it’s something he and I have been working on for a while. I got to say thank you to Val for kind of orchestrating all of this. Has been instrumental behind it all.”
The Car Blanche team is almost entirely composed of former van der Steur Racing crew members, with minimal restructuring to date. However, they have big ambitions going forward.
“I think it’s all positive change for the team. We still maintain the same team we had before, but you know, taking steps forward to continue getting better and improving on the track and off the track,” Deely commented.
“[The personnel is] the same as it was. But we’re definitely pushing to add more, add more experience, and grow now, for sure. But the goal is to continue to expand and continue to add talent, add personnel, but at the moment we’re still kind of as we were before.”
Hasse-Clot has been with this group since 2023, beginning with a one-off drive at Indianapolis in the Michelin Pilot Challenge. From then on, he raced for VDSR in the Michelin Pilot Challenge in 2024, before moving up to the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD class in 2025, in a Michelin Endurance Cup campaign.
Thus far in 2026, Hasse-Clot has been a constant in this group, running as part of VDSR for the first four races of the season, then finishing third in Car Blanche’s Watkins Glen debut.
While this change came together recently, competing in the GTD Pro class with this crew around him – now including Scott Andrews, who filled in for Hasse-Clot at Laguna Seca – has been a goal for the French driver for some time now.
“I think it has always been a goal for us, especially Chris and I in the background for two or three years to one day reach GTD Pro. After the switch and the change, we decided to go as soon as possible to learn. Because we could have waited until the end of the year and gone testing, but at some point, as Chris said, you need to go. So why not now?
“Especially after a very good weekend in Watkins, first podium for us, we thought it would be the right moment.”
The GTD Pro field is an intensely competitive class to enter, but as is often said in IMSA broadcasts, there is technically no difference in machinery between the GTD Pro and GTD classes. Hasse-Clot quipped that the only difference in taking on GTD Pro is the colour of the car number panel on the door being red rather than the GTD class’s green scheme.
“Well, it’s just a colour in the background of the number [panel] first. It’s the same car, same group of cars around. So I believe we just continue the work we started in Watkins, and we have a lot of work ahead of us anyway. So we just focus on ourselves, and I’m sure we’ll be competitive.”
As of right now, the secretive new team’s goal is to continue racing in GTD Pro next season. However, there is some uncertainty around which GT class they will race in for the remaining races on the 2026 calendar, with the team potentially returning to GTD.
“The rest of the year will be a little bit of learning and changing from one race to another, but the plan is to be in GTD Pro next year for sure,” said Hasse-Clot.
“We’re happy to have something to do during the class split now,” Deely joked. “It was always just stay left and just wait for everyone to pass.
“At the end of the day, it is just a change in colour. We’re still gonna compete at the highest level we can.”
The team has big ambitions for the future of their programme. The blank-slate livery is evocative of the new direction the Aston Martin crew are headed in under their new identity.
“For now, it’s the start of a new adventure, so we’re starting from a white page and a white car,” he commented.
Deely added, “I think we’re implementing new changes every time we come out, whether that’s rebranding or structuring behind the scenes, we’ll slowly start to fully get to where we want to be. But we’re very far from where we’re going to be.”
Images © Jack Webster / dailysportscar.com, IMSA
