Aston Martin Racing takes pole position for 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps

Spa-Francorchamps: Aston Martin Racing has qualified in pole position in the GTE Am class, with both GTE Pro entries also poised for a strong showing at the second round of the FIA World Endurance Championship; the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.

Driven by Pedro Lamy (P) and Paul Dalla Lana (C), the #98 V8 Vantage GTE took the GTE Am pole with an average time of 2m20.351. After strong performances throughout all three practice sessions, their qualifying time was a full 1.851 seconds ahead of their nearest rival.

Following the session, Lamy said, “It’s nice to have a fast car in qualifying. Our car so far has been very quick and in these conditions, which aren’t normal for Spa, we managed to complete some really good laps”.

He added, “Paul (Dalla Lana) was amazingly fast and his performance was very impressive. This is a track that he likes a lot and this really shows out on the circuit. Paul, Mathias and I are all looking forward to tomorrow. It’s a long race but we’ll push right until the end”.

Aston Martin Racing will also start from third in GTE Pro, after the #97 V8 Vantage GTE of Fernando Rees (BR) and Richie Stanaway (NZ) achieved an aggregate of 2m17.987; a mere 0.343 seconds from pole.

Stanaway said following qualifying, “Fernando did a great job while on new tyres to get the session off to a good start, which took away some of the pressure from me. For the race tomorrow we’re starting in a good position, which allows us to open up our tyre strategy. Hopefully we can have good consistent pace tomorrow and take a step on the podium”.

The team’s second GTE Pro entry will start from sixth position, as the Danish pair of Marco Sørensen and Nicki Thiim set a time of 2m18.739 between them in the #95 V8 Vantage GTE.

The 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps begins at 14:30 CET on Saturday 7 May.

Aston Martin Racing