Previous European Le Mans Series LMGTE champion Beechdeen AMR congratulated incoming winners JMW Motorsport, which came second in last weekend’s 4 Hours of Portimão to clinch the GTE crown.
Last year, Beechdeen AMR secured the GTE title after JMW’s #66 Ferrari retired in the Estoril finale, but the Aston Martin Vantage runner could only manage fifth place in the 2017 standings, finishing fourth at the Algarve International Circuit.
“Congratulations to JMW on winning the championship,” said team boss and driver Andrew Howard. “I am looking forward to returning to racing in 2018.”
“[It was] a different story from last year,” added Darren Turner, “where we clinched the title at the last moment of the championship.”
“We still managed a few podiums along the way and gained huge experience. It was a pleasure to drive again with Andrew this year but also great to work with Ross [Gunn] as he continues to develop into a world class driver.”
Beechdeen AMR arrived in Portugal with a new line-up, with regular driver Gunn stepping back to allow Blancpain GT Series racer Immanuel Vinke into the fold. Vinke is believed to be a candidate for a 2018 drive in one of Beechdeen AMR’s GT entries, and was positive over his debut weekend in ELMS.
“The ELMS weekend was incredible!” Vinke said.
“The combination of the new car, new grid and classes as well as the rollercoaster-like track provided a very steep entry into the GTE environment for me.
“To work together with the engineers and drivers – namely Ross and Darren – gave me the possibility to steadily improve as the weekend progressed.”
