Saturday 15 July, Nürburgring: Aston Martin Racing has claimed the GTE Am pole position and second in GTE Pro for the start of the fourth round of FIA World Endurance Championship; the 6 Hours of Nürburgring.
Driven by Pedro Lamy (P) and Paul Dalla Lana (C), the pair achieved an average of 1m56.721 with the #98 V8 Vantage GTE; a margin of 0.408 seconds over their nearest rivals. Joined tomorrow by Mathias Lauda (A), the trio will be looking to convert their eighth consecutive pole position in WEC into the class win tomorrow.
Lamy said, “It was great to take our eighth consecutive pole here today and keep that going. I was really happy to get the fastest lap of the first round of drivers in that session and Paul did a great job to make sure we stayed in pole position by the end of qualifying. We’re looking strong in the championship overall and the extra pole position points may make the difference once we reach Bahrain”.
In GTE Pro, the #95 V8 Vantage GTE of Marco Sørensen and Nicki Thiim will start from the front row after placing second during the session. With Sørensen out first, the Dane set an initial lap of 1m54.221. Thiim’s effort of 1m54.484 ensured the pair claimed a 1m54.352 average and a great opportunity to challenge for the race lead early on Sunday.
Thiim said, “That was a mega lap. I’m really happy with where we are today and I think we’re looking good for tomorrow’s race. After Le Mans, it’s great to get back out on track and Marco and I are hoping to get a good result here this weekend. It’s a great start but we’re going to have to fight hard tomorrow to get the race victory”.
Sørensen added, “It was a clean session and were more than delighted that we made a good step in the right direction in terms of lap times. We made some set up changes following practice that made a good improvement for our pace for this session, so things are looking good for the race tomorrow”.
The #97 V8 Vantage GTE of Daniel Serra (BR), Jonny Adam (GB) and Darren Turner (GB) will start tomorrow’s race from 7th.
Paul Howarth, Team Principal Aston Martin Racing said, “Congratulations to Paul and Pedro who once again demonstrated exceptional professionalism and execution to take their eighth consecutive pole position in the WEC. It’s a real credit to the hard work and determination of all of the #98 crew. Our attention now turns to tomorrow and ensuring that we take a good points in both categories and ensure Aston Martin Racing remains in contention for all GTE world championships”.
The 6 Hours of Nürburgring will begin at 13h00 local time on Sunday 16 July.
