Unpleasant Shanghai surprise for Tuner and Stanaway
Sunday, November 06, 2016
Sunday’s penultimate round of the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship in Shanghai, China, ended on the first lap for Aston Martin Racing team mates, Darren Turner and Richie Stanaway.
After scoring a fifth place starting position in Saturday’s 20-minute qualifying session, Turner and Stanaway were fired up to make it to the podium but their challenge ended at Turn One on the very first lap of the race.
“The No.45 Manor LMP lost it going into Turn One and rolled back into the path of the oncoming GT cars,” explained Turner. “Richie had just arrived at the apex and was left with nowhere to go so it was a hard impact. The team tried to fix the car but the further they got into it, the deeper they realised the damage was. It soon became apparent that the car couldn’t be fixed in time for us to get back into the race.”
“It goes without saying that it’s a very disappointing result as this puts us out of the fight for the driver’s championship and, more importantly, takes away crucial points for the manufacturer’s championship,” he continued. “That said the #95 car scored some good points for fourth place so we are still well in the hunt for the manufacturer’s title.”
Attention now turns to the final round of the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship in Bahrain in two weeks’ time (19 November). With none of the GTE championships resolved it is going to be an epic race for the title.
Source material - Darren Turner PR
