Darren Turner could only manage fifth at the 6 Hours of Nurburgring after his switch to the #97 Aston Martin Racing team. The Brit comes away from the race fourth in the FIA World Endurance Championship’s GTE Pro drivers standings.
Turner, who had spent the first three rounds in the #95 machine, has decided to switch for the foreseeable future. Only Richie Stanaway has remained in the car from the previous rounds.
The pair qualified in third, but Stanaway soon picked up damage during his first stint. While the Kiwi had originally made it up to second, a door replacement dropped Turner down to sixth. From there, they spent the race working their way back into contention.
“In my second stint I had great battle with Olivier Pla,” said Turner. “He had just come out on new rubber during the second part of my stint and it was obvious that keeping that car behind me was the key to getting a good result for the whole team.”
“I really enjoyed the scrap we had, trying to out-race and out-think the other guy. Battling that close is hard enough but with intense LMP1 and LMP2 battles going on around you too it can make for some hairy moments!”
For the #97 crew the final stint was all about the on track battle with Pla in the #66 Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK car. Sadly for Turner, he was held up by an LMP2 car passing him and lost fourth.
“Overall it wasn’t the best result but despite that extended pit stop we held on and fought back to fifth at the flag. It’s good to be back in the #97 car and it’s good to race with Richie as I haven’t shared a car with him before.” said Turner.
“The main thing is that we bagged more points and as we look forward to the international stage of the season we are still in contention.”
