To finish their first race of the year, in a one-off appearance in the FIA World Endurance Championship and racing under the Aston Martin Racing banner, was as good as it could get for Roald and Stuart. The Gulf Racing drivers were at the wheel of the No.98 Aston Martin Racing Vantage V8 in the GTE-Am category on the infamous Silverstone circuit this past weekend and brought it home to fifth in class after six hours of hard, hot racing.
A superb performance by 27-year-old Stuart in tricky conditions during qualifying, out-pacing the Pro category car and claiming class pole position, was a good omen. Furthermore the weather cleared for Sunday – only the second time this year that Roald and Stuart have enjoyed a rain-free race.
Stuart took the start in the 35-strong field and led the GTE-Am class for the first 20 laps of the race before the prototypes started mixing things up a little. Stuart said of his opening two-hour stint: “It’s the hardest race I’ve done, but I learnt so much in those two hours. We were able to fight very hard with the Ferrari and other Aston at the start but then got into the middle of the P2 traffic and lost a couple of places. The pace is good though and, after we took the decision to change tyres at the first stop, I was starting to catch up again to Cioci [in the eventual class-winning Ferrari]. It was quite hot though as my drinks tube came out of my helmet right at the start of the race so I didn’t have anything to drink.”
Roald then took the wheel and completed a magnificent 156 minutes, surviving the unwanted attentions of two over-ambitious LMP2 drivers, and handing over to Stuart for the final part of the race.
“It was the longest race I’ve done since Paul Ricard earlier in the year,” grinned Roald, “and this was intense – there were some mad dogs barking out there! I really enjoyed the whole race and it’s great to get a finish. In my first stint I managed to get to the times I’d set myself but, in the second, it was a bit harder as I was tiring and the traffic was more intense. I said to myself, okay just keep it on the track, don’t spin and bring it back for Stuart to finish the race.”
Final words to Stuart at the end of the race: “I think it was a positive weekend overall and I can’t be happier for Roald – it’s a big step forward. It’s the first race he and I have finished this year and, although there are still things we have to work on, we are getting there. You can’t come into this sort of championship and expect to win straight away; you have to earn your stripes. I’m so pleased for Roald as he didn’t take any risks in the traffic and we got a finish – a good day.”
Gulf Racing’s next competitive event will be fifth round of the Blancpain Endurance Series at the Nürburgring track in Germany on 23rd September.
Source : Gulf Racing