New Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Wins LMGT3 Class for the First Time in WEC
Aston Martin’s new Vantage GT3 recorded its maiden victory in the FIA World Endurance Championship [WEC] when partner team The Heart of Racing [THOR] took a brilliant win in the Lone Star Le Mans at the Circuit of the Americas [COTA], on Sunday.
THOR’s win was emphatic, with its drivers Ian James (GBR), Alex Riberas (ESP) and Daniel Mancinelli (ITA) leading 160 of the 164 lap total distance during the six-hour event, having started from the class pole. Riberas also recorded the fastest LMGT3 lap of the race.
The team’s principal, James, who lives in North America and knows the COTA circuit well, led and delivered a flawless double-stint, resisting pressure from a rival Lamborghini in his second stint. Mancinelli, the first Italian driver to win a WEC race competing in an Aston Martin, extended the trio’s lead as their rivals faltered.
When he handed over to Riberas, the gap to THOR’s nearest rival had grown to more than 20 seconds. Riberas, fresh from a podium finish with the new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at VIR last weekend, brought the car home with a perfect double-stint.
This win was the tenth that Aston Martin achieved in all COTA classes since WEC began visiting the circuit in 2012. It was also the 53rd recorded by the British ultraluxury sportscar marque since the series started, placing it third on the all-time list of manufacturer wins. It was the 123rd occasion an Aston Martin crew had stood on the podium and the first time a North American team had won its class at COTA.
For THOR, this was the latest in a string of recent successes. The team, which contests IMSA’s GTD Pro and GTD classes, is second in the GTD Pro category with a victory at Watkins Glen [USA], having recorded three further podiums. In GTD, the team has also won a round at Mosport [CAN] and finished second at VIR [USA] last weekend. With victories also in SRO’s Pirelli GT4 America, the team has won in every arena in which it competes with Aston Martins this year.
THOR remains fourth in the LMGT3 standings with two races left to run in Japan and Bahrain. The team has scored 81 points so far this season, just nine points behind second place, with 65 points still available.
Aston Martin’s new Vantage GT3 also enjoyed success on the other side of the Atlantic at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. Partner team Walkenhorst Motorsport recorded multiple podium finishes in the prestigious ADAC GT Masters series. Denis Bulatov (DEU) and Mike David Ortmann (DEU) finished third overall in Race 1, while their teammates Chandler Hull (USA) and Nico Hantke (DEU) won the Pro-Am class. Bulatov and Ortmann then went on to take another silver class in third place in Sunday’s second race.
The WEC now moves on to Japan for the 6 Hours of Fuji, the penultimate round of the championship, at Fuji Speedway from September 13 to 15.
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