Aston Martin Racing is celebrating an emphatic victory, as the British squad claimed a 1-3 finish at the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) 6 Hours of Mexico, with an Aston Martin Racing entry leading the GTE Pro category for the entire race.
Driving a clean and consistent race despite the changeable conditions experienced today at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, Darren Turner (GB) and Richie Stanaway (NZ) brought their #97 V8 Vantage GTE home in first place.
Having built a commanding lead in the initial 3 hours of the race, the advantage allowed the team to take a lower risk strategy in the tricky conditions and maintain the lead to the finish. The result leaves Turner leading the GT Drivers Championship on 86 points.
Stanaway added, “The car was really fast here this weekend and I was hoping it should have been a relatively straight forward race. Luckily when the rain hit we’d given ourselves a buffer and we were able to use that to cope with the changeable conditions. Dunlop have made some great ground and the tyre was really good all weekend and I’m really happy for Aston Martin Racing. It’s our first win of the season and I’m glad Darren and I were able to get this result for them.”
After taking their place on the podium, Sørensen said, “It was good to get the podium but I had to drive with a little bit of anger for my final stints to get the best result possible. It was great to finish P3 again but I’m also a bit disappointed because we’ve been searching for our first win in GTE Pro. I haven’t got this yet but this gives me even more determination to perform next time out at Austin.”
The result leaves the #95 entry of Thiim and Sørensen leading the GTE Pro Team Championship on 83 points and Aston Martin Racing leading the overall GT Manufacturers title on 179.
Speaking on today’s result, Team Principal Paul Howarth said, “What a week the whole team has had. From the very first session the whole team has committed to achieving our end goal of winning and to have both Pro cars on the podium. Of course a 1-2 would have been brilliant, but the #95 crew did an outstanding job to get the car back into a podium position.”