Aston Martin Racing is preparing for the inaugural Six Hours of the Circuit of the Americas with its eyes set firmly on extending its lead in the GTE Pro Teams’ and drivers’ championships.
AMR will field five V8 Vantage GTEs at the Circuit of the Americas, three in GTE Pro and two in GTE Am. With the season nearing its conclusion, the World Endurance Championship field will be joined at COTA by the American Le Mans Series challengers, adding an extra element to the event.
Darren Turner and Stefan Mucke go into the COTA round leading the standings, having won the opening two rounds of the season before scoring two further podiums in the first half of the year. The duo will be among the favourites to take the victory at the drop of the chequered flag.
The #98 Vantage GTE will be driven, once again, by Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy and Richie Stanaway, the same trio who took pole position at the previous round in Sao Paulo. Bruno Senna and Fred Makoweicki will pilot the #99 Vantage GTE, with Makoweicki returning to the team having missed the Brazilian round.
Jamie Campbell-Water and Stuart Hall take driving duties in the #96 GTE Am entry, having just come off a win in Sao Paulo, while Kristian Poulsen, Christoffer Nygaard and Nicki Thiim driving the all-Danish #95 machine.
“We’ll arrive in Texas as leaders of the GTE Pro Teams’ championship, while Darren and Stefan lead the GT Drivers’ standings,” explained Aston Martin Racing team principle, John Gaw. “We’ve racked up three race wins so far this season and we have a perfect record of scoring pole position in both GTE classes at every race so far, so we know the Vantage GTE has got the pace to fight at the front.
“With that in mind, we’ll be aiming to score maximum points for the Manufacturers’ championship. The circuit will be new to everybody, which will make Thursday’s practice session extremely important, but I have every faith in the team and our drivers to get dialed into the track right away. We’ll first look to maintain our perfect qualifying record, then add to our tally of race wins.”
