Aston Martin Racing driver Darren Turner is looking on the bright side of early dramas in the Rolex 24 at Daytona saying, “We got a lot of useful mileage in the end and learnt a lot about the car so it will all help as we get closer to the start of our WEC season.” Aston Martin Racing ran a single Vantage GTE at the opening round of the 2015 TUDOR United Sportscar Championship, but their podium hopes were dashed when Paul Dalla Lana suffered a spin at Turn One and damaged the clutch.
After repairs the team opted to run the car for the remainder of the race to gather data ahead of their full season effort in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Pedro Lamy qualified and started the car, battling with the AF Corse Ferrari and the eventual GTLM class winners, Corvette Racing. He handed over to Dalla Lana who posted good times before the small error which forced him, and the #98 machine behind the wall. Once the car was repared Turner got a go in the car and through two long stints he was on the leaders pace.
“In reality our race was done during the second hour,” said Darren. “You have to take these things as opportunities though and we got back out there and were able to put lots of miles on the car which is always good for endurance testing. It was good to be able to run at the same pace as the leaders as that’s a big step forward from last year but equally frustrating that we lost so much time.
“It was just one of those races where everything is thrown at you and sometimes it doesn’t work out,” he added. “The team were kept very busy with repairs and it’s good to see the winter break hasn’t slowed them down at all.”
The #98 Aston Martin Vantage GTE placed sixth in class at the end of the 24 hours.
