- The new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 takes its maiden 24 Hours victory in Belgium
- Comtoyou Racing and Aston Martin celebrate their new relationship with a famous victory for Mattia Drudi, Nicki Thiim and Marco Sørensen
- First overall victory for Aston Martin at the 24 Hours of Spa since 1948
- Aston Martin becomes the first British manufacturer to win in 40 years
- First 24 Hours of Spa win for British super-luxury sports car marque in the modern era of the GT-only event
SundayJune 30, 2024, Spa-Francorchamps: Aston Martin recorded a glorious overall victory at the Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa – the world’s most prestigious 24-hour all-GT3 race which took place at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, on the weekend of 29-30 June.
The victory, claimed by Aston Martin partner team Comtoyou Racing and works drivers Mattia Drudi (ITA), Marco Sørensen (DEN) and Nicki Thiim (DEN), was the first for the British super-luxury sports car brand since 1948. The result also marked a maiden 24-hour triumph for the new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 and was the first time the famous Wings had beaten its major competition in the Belgian endurance classic since it became a GT event in 2001.
For double FIA GT World Endurance Champion Thiim and triple world champion Sørensen, known in the sport as the ‘Dane Train’, the victory represents the first time the duo have won a 24-hour race overall as teammates in the same car. even though they had three 24 Hours of Le Mans class wins between them.
Sørensen said: “This is a very special moment. Winning in the first year with the new Vantage GT3 is an amazing achievement. It’s a fantastic car and we’ve had a good feeling about it all year. But to win an event like this you need more than good driving and good luck, and the team, and everyone back at Aston Martin Racing, as well as my team-mates deserve credit for a victory that I will remember forever.”
Thiim added: “It’s hard to put into words what this means to me and to Aston Martin. We’ve been trying to win this race for a long time, and to do it like this is an incredible feeling. I think everyone knows how I feel about Aston Martin. We’ve had so many special memories together and this win is up there with the best of them for me.”
For Drudi, a European Fanatec GT World Champion, it was a chance to shine on one of the biggest endurance racing circuits, and he did, putting the #007 car into contention every time he entered the cockpit – even during the hours running the race, where he had put the team in the lead before the first of multiple Safety Car periods.
A complicated night of racing, where torrential storms and multiple incidents marred the event for several hours, Comtoyou Racing remained calm and kept the car in touch with the top race, even as pitstops during Safety Car periods forced 20 swings cars in the race. positions on occasion.
Each time, the team bounced back and raced back to the front, so that as morning came and the track dried, they were in a straight battle for the win with a rival Ferrari, two BMWs and the other Pro class #34 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 of partner team Walkenhorst Motorsport, driven by Henrique Chaves (POR), Ross Gunn (GBR) and David Pittard (GBR).
In the final hour of the race, the #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin trailed Ferrari by 10 seconds when its rival pitted and was held up at the pitlane entrance by a stalled car. This turn of events prevented Ferrari from having a chance to challenge for victory and deprived the fans of a grandstand finish as Drudi raced to the flag unchallenged.
“Winning with Nicki and Marco was a fantastic experience,” said Drudi. “This is such a difficult race, but I would say we had the perfect route, no problems and a very good execution. I’m very proud of everyone in the team.”
Gunn brought the #34 Walkenhorst Vantage GT3 home fourth after a strong run for the team that saw it lead on several occasions.
Indeed, Walkenhorst Motorsport, previous winners of the event, came close to taking victory in the Silver Cup class in the #35 Vantage GT3 driven by AMR Driver Academy 2022 graduate Romain Leroux (FRA) and 2024 contenders Lorcan Hanafin (GBR ) and Maxime Robin (FRA). Unfortunately, the car was the innocent victim of an accident, following a Safety Car period on Sunday morning, while battling for the lead of the class.
Of Comtoyou Racing’s four-car entry, which completed a record seven-car attack on the race by Aston Martin, #007 was often the fastest car in the race, but the team’s #21 Silver Cup driven by Charles Clark ( GBR), Sam Dejonghe (BEL), Matisse Lismont (BEL) and Xavier Maassen finished sixth, having led the class earlier in the race.
Closely derived from the new Vantage road car unveiled earlier this year at Silverstone, and built around Aston Martin’s proven bonded aluminum chassis and powered by its fearsome 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine, the new Vantage GT3 has a rich form. . In June alone he scored victories in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the SUPER GT Series, the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie and the Road to Le Mans. Now Aston Martin can add one of the most famous victories in its racing history to that tally.
Adam Carter, Head of Endurance Motorsport, said: “We offer our sincere congratulations and thanks to our partners Comtoyou Racing for this fantastic win for the new Aston Martin Vantage GT3. We’ve known since the start of the season what the car can do, and this performance at Spa was through a combination of technical excellence, endurance, grit and execution. I would also like to congratulate Walkenhorst Motorsport for a hard-fought performance that was unfortunate not to finish on the podium. The hard work of everyone at Aston Martin Racing is already paying off in a car that is still so young. To win the 24 Hours of Spa is no small achievement and given that it has only been done three times by a British manufacturer in its 100-year history and now twice by Aston Martin, it ranks as one of our greatest endurance victories.”
Aston Martin’s previous best Spa 24 Hours finish in the GT3 era was in 2021, when Gunn, Sørensen and Thiim secured a competitive third place overall, having dominated much of the race. Prior to that, the best GT finish for an Aston Martin was also third, in 2008, with the Giwaveve DBR9 GT1. Aston Martin last won the event in 1948, when it was run under different regulations, with a 2-litre Sports DB1 driven by Britons St John Horsfall and Leslie Johnson.
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