Aston Martin Racing leave Le Mans as World Endurance Championship leaders
Aston Martin Racing came away from the 84th running of
the Le Mans 24 Hours leading the FIA World Endurance Championship GT
Manufacturer's title. After running a near-faultless race, both the #95 and #97
GTE Pro entries finished in fifth and sixth place respectively. With the team
focused on ensuring a safe and steady pace throughout the early stages of the
race and throughout the night, each of the entries were tasked to make progress
at dawn.
The #95 Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GTE, driven by
Nicki Thiim, Marco Sørensen and Darren Turner finished fifth, having given a
spirited fight to its rivals and stayed in podium contention through the night.
However, the cruel nature of Le Mans struck as Turner suffered a right rear
puncture in the 20th hour, caused by debris on track.
Turner said following the race, “That’s probably been one
of the most straightforward races for the team. The car’s run like complete
clockwork all the way through. The only drama we had was a late puncture. The
guys have done a great job with the strategy and the mechanics have been
amazing in the pit stops. I’m just very proud that both GTE Pro cars have made
it to the finish”.
He added, “As you can see from qualifying and the earlier
part of the week, there was certainly a gap in performance between ourselves
and the turbocharged entries and this still showed through in the race. It’s a
real shame as the crowd were robbed of a wheel-to-wheel race with all of the
cars involved rather than just two.
The #97 GTE Pro entry, driven by Richie Stanaway,
Fernando Rees and Jonny Adam, executed the strategy to perfection to
finish sixth.
The result brings vital points in the crucial title fight
and provides Aston Martin Racing a nine point lead in the FIA WEC
Endurance Cup for GT Manufacturers.
Aston Martin Racing also starred in GTE Am with the #98
V8 Vantage GTE of Paul Dalla Lana, Mathias Lauda and Pedro Lamy leading into
the night before eventually retiring with a mechanical failure heartbreakingly
close to the finish.
“We’re delighted with the result this weekend and to be
able to walk away leading the GT Manufacturer's Championship has met our
objectives for the weekend,”commented Paul Howarth, Team Principal, Aston
Martin Racing.
He added, “Le Mans has offered us all of the challenges
we expected. We knew when we came here that we’d be facing some very strong
opposition and we knew what we had to do to resolve this. We continue from here
to fight for wins and the outright title. It’s a real shame for our #98 Am
entry, but I’m confident the guys will bounce back”.
Aston Martin Racing’s customer team Beechdean AMR driven
by Andrew Howard, Gary Hirsch and Liam Griffin made a great account of
themselves too, finishing seventh in the GTE Am class on their first attempt at
the Le Mans 24 Hours.
Howarth added, “I’d like to congratulate the Beechdean
AMR team and their drivers on bringing the car home at their first attempt.
It’s a fantastic result and I’m really pleased for them.”

Aston Martin Racing will be in action again at the FIA
World Endurance Championship’s third round; the Six Hours of Nürburgring on
Sunday 24 July.