Aston Martin Racing takes double pole for 6 Hours of Circuit of The Americas

Saturday, September 17, 2016


Aston Martin Racing has done the double and taken pole position in both GTE Pro and Am classes for tomorrow’s 6 Hours of Circuit of The Americas in an outstanding performance for the team.

Despite high ambient temperatures of 34°C, the #95 V8 Vantage GTE of Nicki Thiim (DN) and Marco Sørensen (DN) claimed their third consecutive pole position with a combined lap time of 2m04.610.

With the top five of the GTE Pro field split by only 0.279 seconds, their average was 0.042 faster than their nearest competition. The result gives the pair a vital additional point to extend their lead in an exceptionally close GTE Pro championship battle.


Thiim said, “Even after two laps that was incredibly hot in the Texan sun. That was an amazing effort from the team and for Marco and I to claim pole for the third time is great. It was quite close this time for pole, but that’s what we like. We enjoy racing and that’s what we’re here for and I’m really looking forward to tomorrow now”.

Sørensen, who set the pair’s initial times, said following the session, “We got pole for a third time in a row which is a great feeling and what the whole team was aiming for, but we now need that race win. If we can claim that tomorrow it will also help us a lot for the coming races and championship overall. We’ll rest up tonight because tomorrow’s race is going to be tough”.


The team is also celebrating a second pole position in GTE Am with the #98 entry of Paul Dalla Lana (C), Mathias Lauda (A) and Pedro Lamy (P); completing a successful day for Aston Martin Racing. With Dalla Lana and Lamy at the wheel throughout the session, the pair were able to set a combined average of 2m07.683.

Dalla Lana said, “That had to be the toughest quali I’ve ever been in. It was incredibly hot and greasy and Pedro and I really had to drive the car with some finesse to get the most from it. It’s great to come back like this, especially after the tough race in Mexico. We wanted to start this weekend in the right direction and we’re back on the top step for now”.


The #97 V8 Vantage GTE of Darren Turner (GB) and Fernando Rees (BR) will begin from fifth in the GTE Pro class for tomorrow’s race.

Speaking of today’s performance, Team Principal Paul Howarth said, “That was an unbelievable team effort across the board. We came here directly from Mexico fully focused on achieving our targets and while the track has thrown us many challenges, our ability to overcome them is down to proper execution by every member of the team.


Tomorrow’s race is going to be far from easy. It’s going to be very demanding, particularly as the race changes from the very hot daytime conditions into the cooler night, but as always it is about preparation and professionalism. Our big challenge now is to be ready to race at 5pm and convert our efforts this week into race wins”.

The 6 Hours of Circuit of The Americas begins at 17:00 local time on Saturday 17 September.

Source material - Aston Martin Racing
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