...... and V8 Vantages but Lola-Aston Martin takes seventh in French classic

14 Jun 2011

Following the premature demise of the works AMR-Ones, more woe ensued for the two production Aston Martins at Le Mans. After climbing as high as fifth in the 18 car strong and highly competitive LM GTE-Professional class, the Jota Sport AMR V8 Vantage GT2 of Sam Hancock/Simon Dolan/Chris Buncombe suffered a major engine problem. Despite the team’s and Aston Martin Racing’s mechanics attempts to repair the 4.5 litre V8, the car officially retired shortly before the six hour mark.

Meanwhile, the Gulf AMR Middle East V8 Vantage GT2 of Fabien Giroix/Roald Goethe/Michael Wainwright had been running extremely well. Having risen to fifth in the 10 car LM GTE-Amateur class after one hour, and then led at the third and fourth hour marks, it dropped to ninth after a long stop to repair the front splitter. After slowly regaining lost ground, just after 3.30am on Sunday the Aston was involved in a big accident at the Porsche Curves causing its retirement; thankfully Wainwright, after being treated for a broken rib and punctured lung, was able to return home later the same day.

Some much needed consolation for the four Aston Martin retirements was, though, on the horizon. Running a conservative strategy from the start, the all-Belgian Kronos Racing/Marc VDS Lola-Aston Martin B09/60, the same car that Signature Plus fielded at Le Mans last year with 6.0 litre V12 engine, similar to the then works AMR cars and a last minute race entry after being second reserve, had qualified 12th in LMP1; like all 2010 runners, however, the two year old car was subject to power restrictions and reduced fuel capacity to keep performance in line with 2011 prototypes. Driven by Vanina Ickx/ Bas Leinders/Maxime Martin, Aston Martin’s last hope of a finish at this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours, apart from losing a wheel in the first hour and slight contact with another car on Sunday morning, ran steadily and faultlessly to an impressive and much deserved seventh position overall.