StreetArt Racing secured a GT4-class podium on its 24H SERIES debut at this past weekend’s Hankook 12H MISANO, despite the team’s Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 suffering a terminal brake problem in the closing stages of the race.

In his post-race report, StreetArt Racing’s Pascal Bachmann explained that a leak in the Aston’s brake line at two-thirds distance, one of several issues that befell the Belgian team during the event, ultimately proved too complex to remedy in the time remaining. Ironically though, delays for Belgian compatriot, and GT3 class rival, Hamofa Motorsport meant StreetArt Racing was still able to secure a classified 3rd in-class in Misano.

“It wasn't our day, as we ended up having to retire the car due to a brake problem. A leak in the system, in a place that was impossible to repair in time. There was a bit of luck in our misfortune though, as we had a substantial lead over our pursuers [Hamofa], enough to guarantee us the third step of the podium.”

Issues for the distinctively liveried #407 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 started early on in the weekend when a right rear shock absorber snapped during Free Practice. Later that same afternoon, the repaired Aston would demonstrate its pace by setting the fastest GT4 time in Q1 – with Bachmann behind the wheel – though the team’s progress was delayed when Jahid Fazal-Karim suffered left rear suspension failure towards the end of his run in Q2. 

“As is often the case in motorsport, there is only a short step from happiness to despair,” Bachmann continues. “Just as he was finishing his last lap, the left rear suspension broke. Jahid had to slowly bring the car back, and the team then had just three minutes to replace the part and get the car back on track.”

A remarkable 15-minite turnaround time meant the Aston was back out for Q3, the second fastest GT4 time of the session by Julien Darras allowing StreetArt Racing to secure class pole position, on the final flying lap of the session, by a microscopic 0.016s over the Hamofa Motorsport BMW M4 GT4.

StreetArt Racing continued to hold the lead during Darra’s opening stint, but a front left puncture shortly after the team’s first pit stop quickly dropped the Aston back to 3rd in-class and two laps behind the Mercedes-AMG GT4 of new leader Buggyra ZM Racing. 

“As for the race, we started out in the lead, and had a good battle with the BMW and the AMG. Unfortunately, Julien suffered a front-left puncture at the very start of his second stint. We lost contact with the leaders, but anything was still possible.”

A precautionary brake change during the fourth hour of the race meant the #407 Aston Martin slipped four laps behind the leading Mercedes-AMG, though an on-track collision between the Hamofa Motorsport and the Orchid Racing Team Porsche 992 GT3 Cup shortly afterwards would eliminate the BMW altogether, and elevate StreetArt Racing back up to 2nd in GT4 at half-distance.

 A little over two hours later however, the Belgian team’s progress was further stymied with brake issues, suspected to be a direct result of the scorching heat all day at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. 

“There are a lot of components inside the [brake] calipers that wear down, and we have such high temperatures that we have to refurbish the calipers right now,” race engineer Matty Driesen explained to radiolemans.com’s John Hindhaugh. “We need to cool them down properly, easily, otherwise we would crack the calipers inside somewhere…

“We’ve got a track temperature over 50 degrees right now. It’s starting to cool down already. The hottest part of the day, we’ve already passed that, so that’s fine. But it’s really, really hot, and that heat… gets in the radiators… and the car doesn’t cool down properly.” 

The leak in the brake line was eventually found too late for StreetArt Racing to collect the chequered flag, though its 209 completed laps meant the Belgian team was still classified 3rd in GT4.

Despite the frustrations, Pascal Bachmann admitted in his post-race report that the result, and the weekend’s activities as a whole, could prompt StreetArt Racing to return to the 24H SERIES in the near-future. 

“We really enjoyed our first experience of endurance racing, and it's not impossible that we'll be back again before too long.”