Aston Martin Racing celebrates Nurburgring success

MOTORSPORT

ASTON Martin Racing claimed a double podium success in the 6 Hours of Nürburgring, taking victory in the GTE Am class and third in GTE Pro.

With conditions remaining dry throughout the fourth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), the trio of Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy and Mathias Lauda drove a faultless race to bring their V8 Vantage GTE home in first place.

Lauda produced a strong stint to take the number 98 Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE into first place and the team did not hand over the lead in the final three hours of the race.

Austrian driver Lauda described it as a ‘perfect race’.

“This is our second win this year already and three podiums too,” said Lauda. “We had a perfect race, the crew did a superb job, our strategy was always good and we pitted at the right time. Paul, Pedro and I did really good stints with no issues and I really feel that we deserved to win.”

In GTE Pro, the team enjoyed a strong points haul for its #95 V8 Vantage GTE entry with third place. Despite Nicki Thiim and Marco Sørensen displaying a strong performance, a late full course yellow soon after their final pitstop allowed others to benefit from the slower track, dropping the all-Danish crew to third by the finish.

The #97 GTE Pro entry of Banbury-based Darren Turner and New Zealander Richie Stanaway finished the race in fifth place.

Paul Howarth, Team Principal Aston Martin Racing, added: “A double podium weekend for the team, winning in Am and taking third place with #95 is great. The first four and a half hours were the closest GT racing we’ve seen this year, which is really great for the series.”

The FIA World Endurance Championship will return on 3rd September for the 6 Hours of Mexico following the summer break.