Twelve months after Aston Martin Racing won its first FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) race at the inaugural 6 Hours of Shanghai, the team returns to the Shanghai International Circuit, this time with four V8 Vantage GTEs and sights set firmly on repeating its 2012 success.
With just two rounds of the 2013 championship remaining, Aston Martin Racing is in second place in the WEC Manufacturers’ Championship, just 4.5 points off the leader and with 52 points left up for grabs. Its stated aim for this weekend is to score maximum points in order for the team to arrive in Bahrain at the end of November for the final round of the season as Championship leaders in LMGTE Pro and Am.
Darren Turner (GB) and Stefan Mücke (DE) are in third place in the LMGTE Pro Teams’ Championship just 5.5 points behind the leader. A win in Shanghai would put the #97 Vantage GTEs long-standing pairing at the top of the leaderboard going into the final round.
“We’re in a good position going into Shanghai,” comments Darren Turner. “Stefan and I took the win here last year and the Vantage GTE was fantastic on this circuit. The aim is to take 26 points away from this weekend and go into the final round as championship leaders.”
Leading the LMGTE Am Teams' Championship by 12 points is the #96 Vantage GTE of Jamie Campbell-Walter (GB) and Stuart Hall (GB), who are also leading the GTE Am Drivers’ Championship. The British pair has scored a hat-trick of podiums since the 24 Hours of Le Mans and both drivers are looking to continue this run and extend their lead over the championship in Shanghai with the support of fellow Brit Jonny Adam.
“We’ve had a fantastic run in the last three rounds of the championship and the aim is to carry this on into Shanghai,” comments Jamie Campbell-Walter. “The car has been fantastic and our team has pushed hard all year to give us a championship-leading car. It’s great to have Jonny back in the car. It was such a shame he didn’t get to race in Fuji. He’s proven this year in the British GT Championship, which he won with Beechdean AMR, that he is ready for this next challenge and Stuart and I welcome him into the team in Roald’s absence.”
The #95 Vantage GTE-AM heads to Shanghai on the back of its win at Fuji and drivers Kristian Poulsen (DN) and Christoffer Nygaard (DN) welcome fellow Dane Nicki Thiim back into the team after he missed the last round due to a clash of commitments and was replaced by Bruno Senna (BR).
Senna will return to his #99 Vantage GTE-PRO for the 6 Hours of Shanghai and will drive alongside fellow Portuguese speaker Pedro Lamy (PT) and New Zealander Richie Stanaway.
From Aston Martin Racing press release
Photo: SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT (SHANGHAI, CHINA), 6 HOURS OF SHANGHAI, 27TH OCTOBER 2012, QUALIFYING. The No.97 Aston Martin LMGTE Pro entry sits in the pit lane prior to qualifying.
