Blackthorn Racing: Aston Martin Ambition in GT Racing

Blackthorn Racing - Season So Far

Blackthorn Racing’s 2026 campaign has developed into one of the most varied Aston Martin customer-racing programmes of the year. Across the Asian Le Mans Series, GT World Challenge Europe, International GT Open and Michelin Le Mans Cup, the team has combined endurance racing, Pro-Am competition and a developing long-term ambition towards Le Mans.

The first major success arrived in the final round of the 2025/26 Asian Le Mans Series at Abu Dhabi, where 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.

In GT World Challenge Europe, Blackthorn established itself as a competitive Bronze Cup entrant. The #56 Vantage finished second in Bronze Cup at Monza, before the team completed its first CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, reaching the finish after 529 laps in 31st overall and sixth in Bronze Cup. The race included a dramatic front-end fire, but the car was repaired and returned to the circuit, making simply completing the 24 hours an important endurance milestone for the programme.

International GT Open has produced Blackthorn’s strongest European results. Charles Bateman and Henrique Chaves won Pro-Am at Portimão, while Bateman and Jonny Adam followed that with second in class and sixth overall at the Spa GT Open 500. The campaign reached another level at Paul Ricard, where Adam secured outright pole position before he and Bateman completed a double Pro-Am victory.

The following Hungaroring round brought two fifth-place Pro-Am finishes, before Hockenheim again demonstrated the outright speed of the #97 Aston Martin. Blackthorn finished fourth in Pro-Am in Race 1, while Adam produced one of the standout qualifying performances of the weekend on Sunday, placing the Vantage third overall and on Pro-Am pole, only 0.337 seconds from outright pole. Race 2 was then disrupted almost immediately by rain and an opening-lap spin, leaving the team without the result its qualifying pace had suggested was possible.

The Michelin Le Mans Cup has been a more difficult campaign. Claude Bovet’s Barcelona testing accident prevented the #91 from starting the opening race, before Bovet and Tom Canning scored the team’s first points at Le Castellet. Road to Le Mans then brought two Blackthorn Aston Martins onto the full Circuit de la Sarthe, although neither reached a classified finish.

Spa-Francorchamps added another setback. The #91 had worked its way into P8 in GT3 before Tom Canning was forced to stop with smoke and fire developing from the front-right wheel arch. The car completed 24 laps but was not classified.

Silverstone, however, provided a much more encouraging response. Bovet qualified the #91 Aston Martin third in GT3 with a 2:02.718, putting Blackthorn on the second row of the class grid. He then ran strongly in third during the opening phase of the race before a spin while attempting to make further progress cost positions. Canning took over for the second part of the race, with changing weather forcing further strategic decisions between wet and slick tyres. Blackthorn eventually finished seventh in GT3, scoring six championship points and lifting the #91 to 14 points for the season.

Silverstone also marked a significant development in the relationship between Fuel the Passion and Blackthorn Racing, with FTP joining the team behind the scenes throughout the Michelin Le Mans Cup weekend. The access provided a closer view of the preparation, driver briefings, strategy, pit stops and people behind the #91 programme.

Despite several difficult races, the wider trajectory remains strongly positive. Blackthorn has already delivered a GT victory in Asia, three International GT Open Pro-Am victories, an outright GT Open pole position, a GT World Challenge Europe Bronze Cup podium, a completed Spa 24 Hours debut and further front-running pace at Hockenheim.

Attention now turns to the Monza GT Open 500 on 25th–27th September, where the #97 Aston Martin will return to the endurance-style format in which Blackthorn already finished second in Pro-Am at Spa. The Michelin Le Mans Cup programme then concludes at Portimão on 8th–10th October, giving Bovet and Canning one final opportunity to build on the progress made at Silverstone.

FTP Summary

Blackthorn Racing’s 2026 season now combines genuine results with growing evidence of outright pace. Victory in the Asian Le Mans Series, three GT Open Pro-Am wins, pole at Paul Ricard, a Bronze Cup podium and completion of the Spa 24 Hours have been joined by third overall in qualifying at Hockenheim and a stronger Michelin Le Mans Cup performance at Silverstone. The results have not always matched the speed shown by the cars, but Blackthorn increasingly looks like an Aston Martin customer-racing team capable of competing at the front across several very different 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.