Aston Martin Racing Vantage debut at Spa-Francorchamps
The Aston Martin Racing Vantage makes its European circuit debut at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the second round of the FIA World Endurance Championship. Darren Turner, Stefan Mücke and Adrian Fernandez will drive the car that took them to third place in the FIA World Endurance Championship in LMGTE Pro in the Sebring 12 hours in March.
After the failure of the AMR One prototype programme last year, the British team will want to do well at Spa, just a few weeks ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where a second car is on the reserve list. The car remained in the United States after the Sebring 12 hours to compete in the second round of the American Le Mans Series on the streets of Long Beach, California.
John Gaw, Aston Martin Racing Team Principal: “We’ll arrive at Spa full of confidence that we can deliver another competitive performance. We made real progress with the Vantage GTE during its first two races at Sebring and Long Beach, so we’ll target another WEC podium come race weekend. The whole team is looking forward to racing in Europe again, particularly at a circuit with so much heritage. The Vantage GTE hasn’t yet raced on a track such as Spa, what with its long straights and high-speed corners, so I’m sure we’ll learn a lot about the car throughout the weekend which will be beneficial for the rest of the season.”
Darren Turner, driver : “We’ve had two good races now with the Vantage GTE, taking strong results in both of them. The car is coming along well now and we understand more about its performance and characteristics every time we go out. Racing at Spa is usually a highlight of a driver’s season and it’s no different for me so I hope we can continue our good work there. After the two American races this one will be more akin to Le Mans, with regards to strategy and the long lap time. It will be good for the guys to readjust from the ALMS to the WEC regulations before we head off to Le Mans.”
On Thursday 3rd May, the three Aston Martin factory drivers will be on track for the first free practice session of the WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps (tickets here).
Cécile Bonardel (Source: Team press release)
Photo: SEBRING (FLORIDA, USA), SEBRING CIRCUIT, SEBRING 12 HOURS, Tuesday, March 13, 2012, PRIVATE TESTING. The Aston Martin Vantage will race at Spa-Francorchamps in the second round of FIA World Endurance Championship.