Aston Martin Celebrates FIA World Endurance Championship Bid with Double Victory at Silverstone
- May 20, 2013
After partnering with K&N earlier this year Warren Jones, Technical Partner Manager at Aston Martin Racing remarked “The partnership of these two great companies working together at the highest level of GT Racing will focus on one goal - to win!" The first event of the 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship got underway at the distinguished marque’s home track, Silverstone, located in Northamptonshire, United Kingdom. And making good on Jones’ forecast, Aston Martin Racing got off to a near perfect start at the Six Hours of Silverstone, earning a double victory in the ultra-competitive GT class. Darren Turner, Stefan Mücke and Bruno Senna ran a flawless race to victory in the Pro class in their No.97 V8-powered Vantage GTE. The trio led the race from start to finish. The three drivers survived an early traction control problem, rain and relentless pressure in the first hour from both its sister No.99 Aston Martin Vantage (Paul Dalla Lana, Frederic Makowiecki and Pedro Lamy) and the No.51 AF Corse Ferrari 458. However, the British-German-Brazilian driver lineup managed to stretch out a lead they would never surrender, finishing one lap ahead of their nearest rival in the GT Pro category. The race-winning 2013-specification No.97 completed 171 laps of the 3.7-mile Silverstone circuit, amounting to a total race distance of more than 630 miles at an average speed of 108mph.
The second triumph came from the Danish trio of Christoffer Nygaard, Kristian Poulsen and Allan Simonsen, driving the No.95 car to victory in the GT Am. Aston Martin Racing also earned a another podium finish with Pedro Lamy, Paul Dalla Lana and Frédéric Makowiecki, who put together an impressive performance with third place in the No.99 car in GT Pro. The trio crossed the line a single lap behind the winning No.97 machine, and within 13 seconds of the second place car after six hours of racing. The fourth Gulf-liveried Aston Martin, the No.96 car of Jamie Campbell-Walter, Roald Goethe and Stuart Hall, finished fourth in GT Am, after being in contention for a podium finish the entire race. While celebrating their near perfect start to Aston Martin Racing’s world championship bid, Darren Turner said: “That was an amazing result! We couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season. Stefan, Bruno and myself all pushed hard throughout what was, at times, a difficult race. However, the car was prepared perfectly with a lot of hard work and the result is a great reward for everything. Praise to our chief engineer, Dan Sayers, who has done a great job with the 2013 car and given us a package that should see us have a solid season.”
Making his WEC debut, Bruno Senna added: “I’m really happy to start my GT career with a win. It’s been great joining Aston Martin Racing and to get a pole position and win and go home from our first WEC race of the year with so many points for the championship is unbelievable. It was a tough race; we had to push hard while avoiding accidents, but my team did a great job. We must now keep pushing hard; the competition here is very, very strong.” Allan Simonsen, speaking for the No.95 GT Am winning car, commented: “I’m very happy on behalf of the whole team. It was a big push to get us here and to start the season with points is fantastic. To do it on Aston Martin Racing’s home turf is even better; we couldn’t be happier.” John Gaw, Team Principal at Aston Martin Racing, concluded: “Today’s outcome was better than we anticipated. We got much more than we expected out of the first race of the season; we came here aiming to score points with all four cars. This certainly bodes well for the championship. “To do this at our home race in Aston Martin’s centenary year is extra special. I’d like to particularly thank the technicians and engineers and all others who have worked tirelessly since Shanghai to expand to this four-car effort. We look forward, as a team, to challenging for more race wins.” The FIA World Endurance Championship resumes in Belgium next month at the Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps on Saturday, 4 May. Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world. |
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