Pole position for Aston Martin in GTE Am

31 October 2015, Shanghai – Aston Martin Racing will have a front-row lock-out in the GTE AM class of tomorrow’s FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) Six Hours of Shanghai after a close qualifying session that saw an incredible inter-team fight.

In just his second WEC event, British driver Liam Griffin (GB) took the #96 Vantage GTE from team-mate Stuart Hall (GB) and, on his second flying lap, went quick enough take pole position. However, Paul Dalla Lana (CA) in the #98 Vantage GTE put his three years of WEC experience into play and, on his final lap, snatched the number one spot away to claim his team’s fourth pole of the year.

“We had a good car and that enabled me to do a lap I was happy with,” Dalla Lana’s team-mate Pedro Lamy (PT) commented. “Paul did some great laps but I don’t think we were expecting that right at the end. He did a great job and that’s an incredible start to our weekend.”

In the GTE PRO class, it was the #99 Vantage GTE of Fernando Rees (BR) and Alex MacDowall (GB) that took the team’s best result. The Hanergy-liveried car will start the race from third.

The #97 Vantage GTE of Darren Turner (GB) and Jonny Adam (GB) will start from sixth. The pair held back a set of tyres in qualifying to improve their race strategy.

“Qualifying went well with an exciting fight inside the team in GTE AM and, like others in GTE PRO, there were different strategies at play,” commented Team Principal John Gaw. “Each of the teams did a great job in qualifying but tomorrow will bring with it its own challenges and we are very much looking forward to the race.”

The Six Hours of Shanghai starts at 1100hrs local time on Sunday 1 November. Follow the team on social media using #teamAMR.

Driver line-up:

96: Francesco Castellacci, Liam Griffin, Stuart Hall
97: Darren Turner, Jonny Adam
98: Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy, Mathias Lauda
99: Alex MacDowall, Fernando Rees, Richie Stanaway