Aston Martin does the double at Spa

Saturday, May 02, 2015

Aston Martin Racing has won the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps GT race with its #99 Vantage GTE, as well as taking victory in the GTE Am class with the #98.

The #99 squad started the race from the front of the grid thanks to an impressive qualifying session by drivers Fernando Rees (BR) and Richie Stanaway (NZ). Joined in the race by Alex MacDowall (GB), the trio pushed hard and the crew performed near-perfect pit-stops to cross the line in first place.

In GTE Am, the #98 took its second consecutive win of the season with drivers Pedro Lamy (PT), Paul Dalla Lana (CA) and Mathias Lauda (AT), to continue its clean-sweep of 2015 pole positions and wins.

The #97 Vantage GTE finished fifth in GTE Pro with the #95 in sixth. In the GTE Am class, the #96 crossed the line in sixth.

John Gaw commented: “Congratulations to the #99 drivers for getting their first WEC GTE Pro race win and to #98 for continuing their clean sweep of GTE Am pole positions and wins this season. We’ve got some more points in the bag this weekend, as all cars finished the race, but we need to make the most of double points in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in order to strengthen our WEC GTE Manufacturer’s Title campaign.”

The WEC continues with the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 13/14 June. Follow the team on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and now Periscope using #teamAMR.

Driver quotes:

#99 Richie Stanaway: “That was an amazing result for us. I’ve got to say a huge thanks to team. They’ve been practicing a lot on their pit stops and I think that’s where we really hit it home today. They were able to hit 16-second stops every time and put the Ferrari guys under pressure. I couldn’t be happier and I’m now really looking forward to Le Mans.”

#99 Fernando Rees – “It's very special to take my first WEC GTE Pro win. We fought so hard last year and came close but you need so many details to come together. Today it did all come together and it's more even special because of where it is – Spa has so much history and emotion and that means a lot to me. The Ferrari was so quick, so for us to get the pole and race win, that's impressive. That couldn't be better. It all came together perfectly.”

#99 Alex MacDowall – “We knew this year we had the best opportunity, we just had to draw upon the fast pace from last year. This was the year to do it and to get Richie on board was a great addition. At Silverstone we showed pace but we were unlucky. However, we came here and smashed it, which is a great way to go into Le Mans in June.”

#98 Mathias Lauda: “After the win at Silverstone, the pole position here yesterday and then getting maximum points today, we are really thinking about the championship. The team did a fantastic job and our pit-stops were excellent. Paul did great lap times and Pedro was fast, as always. My first stint I had really good lap times. In my second stint I knew that there was a good gap to second place and I was able to play it safe and not make any mistakes. It paid off and our consistent lap times and resulted in this win.”

#98 Pedro Lamy: “The car was fast and we were leading all the race. We had a good strategy and managed to do five stops as part of that with no problems at all. I was trying to be quick and keep the car out of trouble, which is really difficult here at Spa but it all came together and it's great to take another win.”

Final classification:

GTE Pro
#99 Vantage GTE – P1
#97 Vantage GTE – P5
#95 Vantage GTE – P6

GTE Am
#98 Vantage GTE – P1
#96 Vantage GTE – P6

Source - Aston Martin Racing