Dogged persistance in the desert pays off for Aston Martin Racing
Monday, September 18, 2017
Aston Martin Racing has triumphed in Texas, as Paul Dalla Lana (C), Pedro Lamy (P) and Mathias Lauda (A) took GTE Am victory in the Six Hours of Circuit of The Americas.
After taking pole position yesterday, their second win of the 2017 season ensured the trio both maximised their points haul for the weekend and regained the lead in both the team and drivers GT Am championships.
After an early spin following contact from a rival cost Dalla Lana the lead early on, the trio fought valiantly to pursue victory. A safety car released for barrier repairs after an on-track incident at the half way mark offered the #98 V8 Vantage GTE an opportunity to close the deficit to the leaders and in the final hour, Lamy made a move up the inside of turn one to reclaim first place.
Lamy said, “This was a special race and the perfect weekend. The heat was really intense inside the car but we were fighting so hard for the victory you just completely forget that. We had good pace throughout the race and the safety car helped to bring us back into contention. I knew I was going to have to make the move out on track and I managed to keep my move into the first corner nice and clean. It’s so good that we’ve made it back in the lead for the championship and we just need to keep these performances up for the rest of the season. I can’t wait now to get back to Fuji in four weeks’ time”.
In GTE Pro, the team’s #95 of Nicki Thiim (DN) and Marco Sorensen (DN) and the #97 of Daniel Serra (BR), Darren Turner (GB) and Jonny Adam (GB) finished 4th and 5th respectively, with the Danes just 9.2 seconds behind second place.
Paul Howarth, Aston Martin Racing Team Principal said, “This has been a fantastic result in extremely testing conditions for Paul, Pedro and Mat. To be back in the lead of the GTE Am championship after a difficult Le Mans shows the consistency they’ve had throughout the rest of the season and we’ll be looking to provide them with the opportunity to seal that championship win over the final three rounds of this championship”.
He added, “This is the final time that we will race here at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin. It has been a fantastic track for us over the past years and thank you to all the fans who’ve joined us here this weekend. We hope many of them can join us in Sebring for next year’s WEC super-season”.
Aston Martin Racing returns to the FIA World Endurance Championship for the 6 Hours of Fuji on Sunday 15 October.
Source material - Aston Martin Racing