Blackthorn Racing: Aston Martin Ambition in GT Racing

Blackthorn Racing - Season So Far

Blackthorn Racing remains one of the most compelling Aston Martin customer-racing stories for Fuel the Passion to follow in 2026. Its programme stretches across the Asian Le Mans Series, GT World Challenge Europe, International GT Open and Michelin Le Mans Cup, creating a season defined by different cars, formats, drivers and levels of competition.

The first major success arrived in the final round of the 2025/26 Asian Le Mans Series at Abu Dhabi. Giacomo Petrobelli, Jonny Adam and Kobe Pauwels recovered from an opening-lap puncture to win the GT category in the #56 Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3. It was an important early demonstration of the team’s pace and resilience.

In GT World Challenge Europe, Blackthorn has built a strong Bronze Cup campaign. Paul Ricard showed early speed, while Monza provided the breakthrough result as Petrobelli, Lorcan Hanafin and Adam finished ninth overall and second in Bronze Cup.

The CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa then presented a very different challenge. Adam, Romain Leroux, Petrobelli and Hanafin completed the team’s first appearance in the race, finishing 31st overall and sixth in the 16-car Bronze Cup after 529 laps. It was not another podium, but completing one of the world’s toughest GT3 races represented another important step in the development of the programme.

International GT Open has now become Blackthorn’s strongest European championship story.

Charles Bateman and Henrique Chaves began the season with fourth in Pro-Am at Portimão before winning the category in Race 2. Bateman was then joined by Jonny Adam for the Spa GT Open 500, where the #97 Vantage finished sixth overall and second in Pro-Am.

Blackthorn missed Misano before returning at the Hungaroring with Bateman and Aston Martin Racing junior Kobe Pauwels. Fifth-place Pro-Am finishes in both races kept the team inside the championship conversation, although Hungary provided consistency rather than a headline result.

Paul Ricard changed that picture completely. Adam placed the #97 Aston Martin on outright pole position, ahead of every Pro entry in the 30-car field. He led the opening race before handing the car to Bateman, who maintained the Pro-Am advantage and brought the Vantage home seventh overall and first in class.

Sunday produced an even more dramatic victory. After the compulsory driver change and ten-second success handicap, Adam found himself more than 20 seconds behind the Pro-Am leader. He then delivered an exceptional recovery stint, closing at around two seconds per lap before passing Dexter Müller for second and Marcin Jedliński for the lead as the race entered its final lap.

Blackthorn finished 11th overall and first in Pro-Am, completing a perfect two-race class sweep.

The Paul Ricard double gave Bateman his second and third Pro-Am victories of the season and moved him to second in the championship, only three points behind leader Alexander Fach. It also demonstrated the different strengths of the #97 programme: outright qualifying speed, Bateman’s ability to protect a class lead and Adam’s capacity to recover through the field when the race demanded it.

Michelin Le Mans Cup remains the more difficult part of Blackthorn’s season. Barcelona ended before the race after the #91 Aston Martin was withdrawn following Claude Bovet’s accident in the Bronze Driver Collective Test. Le Castellet was more constructive, with the car reaching the finish and scoring the team’s first points of the campaign.

Road to Le Mans gave Blackthorn two Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo entries on the full Circuit de la Sarthe, but neither car was able to complete the distance. The #91 was classified after nine laps and the #90 after eight, underlining how challenging the programme remains as the team builds experience in the series.

The wider picture is nevertheless one of clear progress. Blackthorn has now won in the Asian Le Mans Series, scored a Bronze Cup podium at Monza, completed its first Spa 24 Hours and emerged as a genuine International GT Open Pro-Am championship contender.

There have also been difficult weekends, particularly in Michelin Le Mans Cup, but they form part of a serious multi-series customer-racing campaign rather than undermine it. Blackthorn is competing across some of Europe’s most demanding GT championships while continuing to develop its drivers, personnel and relationship with Aston Martin Racing.

Paul Ricard is the clearest evidence yet of what the programme can achieve. Outright pole position and two class victories made it Blackthorn’s most complete weekend of 2026 and placed the team firmly inside the International GT Open title fight.

FTP Summary

Blackthorn’s 2026 season has already delivered GT victory in Asia, a Bronze Cup podium at Monza, a completed Spa 24 Hours debut and three International GT Open Pro-Am victories. Paul Ricard became the new high point, with Jonny Adam securing outright pole before he and Charles Bateman completed a perfect two-race class sweep. Michelin Le Mans Cup remains the tougher storyline, but the overall direction is clear: Blackthorn is developing into an increasingly competitive Aston Martin customer-racing team across several major championships.

Follow Blackthorn’s 2026 Race Series

Explore the three championships where Blackthorn and Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn are carrying Aston Martin’s customer-racing story through the season.

Image © Blackthorn Racing. Used for editorial purposes.