Le Mans / Aiming to take its third ‘class’ victory at the 2019/2020 World Endurance Championship with the Vantage, Aston Martin Racing heads into the 88th running of the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans.
With the current turbo-charged 4-litre V8 Vantage GTE with three works team entries and one customer car firmly setting sights on its maiden Le Mans win, both classes will race for the first time at the Circuit de la Sarthe.
As France moves to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic for the first time, the famous event will be run behind closed doors.
The 24 Hours of Le Mans has been moved from its traditional mid-June slot to a late-September date this year, for only the third time in its history.
Aston Martin Racing is determined to put on a good show for the millions watching on television around the world by repeating its 2017 triumph for Darren Turner, Jonny Adam and Daniel Serra but there will be no fans in the tribunes opposite the world’s busiest pitlane.
Joined by the super-experienced Richard Westbrook (GB), last year’s GTE Pro pole-sitters and the current FIA World Championship (WEC) GTE Drivers’ points leaders Nicki Thiim (DEN) and Marco Sørensen (DEN) lead the charge in the #95 ‘Dane Train.’
When Aston Martin last won the GTE-Am class in 2014, only Thiim stood on the top step of the podium at Le Mans.
Depending on the fate of their closest rivals, victory for him and Sørensen is all the more important in 2020 because it could also net them the world championship title.
“I hope that we can win it this year, it feels like our time to fight for it,” said Thiim. “Just to be so competitive is a great feeling after the frustrations we’ve encountered at Le Mans in recent years. We also need to keep the right mentality towards the world championship. There are a lot of points at stake and for us, the main objective is to stay ahead of Porsche, so we want to finish ahead of them in the race.”
Sørensen added: “This year’s Le Mans is going to be one of the most important races in my career. We are going to race hard and try and win it but we are also going to be thinking a lot about the championship. We have to keep our heads down and focus.”
The race begins at 1430 CET on Saturday, 19 September, 2020.
Favourite Car: Maruti Suzuki Baleno
Quote: If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments - Earl Wilson
- Uber to use Volkswagen e-Golf for greener future - September 28, 2020
- 2021 Audi Q5 Sportback arrives in powerful presence & OLED lighting - September 28, 2020
- Made from 812 Superfast, Ferrari Omologata one-off took 2 years to complete - September 28, 2020
