Michael Satterfield
Aston Martin Racing has claimed its 50th victory since its inception in 2004, after winning the eighth round of this year’s FIA World Endurance Championship; the 6 Hours of Shanghai.
After taking the GTE Am pole position yesterday, the #98 V8 Vantage GTE of Paul Dalla Lana (C), Pedro Lamy (P) and Mathias Lauda (A) converted their advantage to victory, claiming a maximum 26-point haul from the weekend. In what was a trouble-free run throughout the entire six hours, the trio collectively amassed a gap of over one lap by the chequered flag.
The result ensures that the #98 entry reclaims the lead in both the GT AM Drivers and Team championships with a lead of ten in both.
Lamy said following the race, “This win really means a lot. It puts us in a great place for Bahrain as before the championship was looking really close. Obviously, you can never relax but this obviously makes the job much easier. To claim Aston Martin Racing’s 50th victory since the team started in 2004 is a really great achievement and really shows the success of Aston Martin Racing over the years. I hope we can make this 51 next time out.”
In GTE Pro, the team’s #95 and #97 entries finished the race in fifth and seventh position.
Paul Howarth Aston Martin Racing Team Principal said, “Today’s result really demonstrates the quality of this team not only in recent years, but over its entire existence since 2004. To claim 50 victories is a fantastic achievement and comes at an exceptionally important time as we pursue the 2017 GTE AM championship. That was a fantastic performance from Pedro, Mat and Paul, who were both consistently quick and clean out on track. We now need to keep our heads down, provide a similar result in Bahrain and secure both GTE Am titles and make sure we provide the current V8 Vantage GTE with a final win in the GTE Pro class.”
Aston Martin Racing returns for the title decider in Bahrain on Saturday 18 November, for the current V8 Vantage GTEs final race in the FIA World Endurance Championship GTE Pro class.
