Darren Turner‘s quest for the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) started off in the best possible way with victory at the Six Hours of Silverstone.
The weekend did not start too well for the #97 Aston Martin Vantage GTE, having to sit out first free practice due to some teething problems for the new car, but all was sorted in time for qualifying as Turner and Stefan Mucke put the car on pole position.
Mucke began the race behind the wheel and built a strong lead in his opening stint. Turner took over from Mucke and ran an equally strong run, but as he came in to the pits to swap seats with Bruno Senna, the rain came at Stowe.
Aston Martin made the call to stay on slicks and risk the conditions, a decision that many could argue won them the race as the top Ferrari made the choice to come in for wet weather tyres. Four laps later, however, the Ferrari was back in as the circuit dried out again.
The tactics set up a strong finish for the Aston Martin team as Turner took the final stint and stroked the car home for victory in the GTE Pro victory.
“John Gaw [Aston Martin Racing team boss] told me that we would push like crazy over the weekend as it was our home race and that’s what we all did,” said Turner. “This is the perfect way to start the season. I’m proud of the whole team at AMR and I’m confident we can continue to push hard throughout the season.”
