Difficult weekend away in Austria for Beechdean AMR

Reigning European Le Mans Series Champions Beechdean Aston Martin Racing (AMR) scored vital points towards their 2017 championship total at the Red Bull Ring in Austria (21st-23rd July).

Following on from a successful 24 hours of Le Mans in June, Beechdean AMR travelled to the south of Austria to compete in the third round of the European Le Mans Series. Heading to the Red Bull Ring, Beechdean AMR lied third in the GTE standings and were aiming for a reasonable points haul to maintain championship contention status.

British driving trio of Andrew Howard, Darren Turner and Ross Gunn were able to keep their GTE rivals honest throughout the 4-hour race, but ultimately fell short in the final hour, coming home 6th in class. The result ensures the Banbury-based outfit remains joint 3rd in the ELMS Team standings, and 21 points short of the overall lead.

Team owner and driver Andrew Howard commented, “It was a difficult weekend of both me and the car. Darren and Ross drove really well but the am pace was exceptional in the front running cars and this made all the difference. Time for a bit of homework and some new balls in France.”

2017 24 hours of Le Mans GTE Pro winner and Beechdean AMR driver Darren Turner added, “The team were as great as ever and I think we got as much as we could get out of the weekend. Let’s regroup and make sure we get to Paul Ricard in a stronger position and hopefully get ourselves back on the podium.”

“The team did a fantastic job all weekend and it was a shame they weren’t repaid with a good result.” Said youngster Ross Gunn. “The Ferraris and Porsche were incredibly quick all weekend and proved too much for us this weekend to take on. I am very confident we can fight back at Paul Ricard next month.”