GTE Pro: Lynn’s win in the Martin Aston
Aston Martin claimed a second GTE Pro victory of the season at Spa over a weekend when the British marque proved the pace of the latest Vantage GTE in both wet and dry conditions. Maxime Martin and Alex Lynn took the win, their first, by just less than a second at the end of a race in which all five manufacturers in class led.
Martin and Lynn qualified a close second to the Ganassi Ford GT of Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell in the dry, but conceded that the cold and wet conditions forecast for race day were their hope of winning the race. The second-generation Vantage loses out over a second stint on a set Michelin slicks, a hangover from the short development curve with the French manufacturer after a late switch from Dunlop. The conditions that prevailed on Saturday meant that was unnecessary.
Martin held the lead briefly at the start of the race and then Lynn took the car back to the top spot in dry conditions early in the third hour. The around-the-outside move on Richard Lietz at the fast Blanchimont left-hander was even braver than it looked, given that the Porsche driver had put him on the grass as they approached Les Combes earlier the same lap. The Aston moved back into the lead in the closing stages as the other cars ahead of it pitted. Lynn handed over to Martin in what turned out to be the car’s final pitstop with an hour and 45 minutes of the full duration to go, and Martin was able to hang on in a stint that, he said, “involved quite a lot of fuel saving”.
James Calado brought the #51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE he shares with Alessandro Pier Guidi up from fifth on the five-hour mark to second. He reckoned victory would have been possible but for the red flag. Not only did the Ferrari appear quicker in the worsening conditions, but it had made its final fuel stop 25 minutes after the Aston.
Porsche wrapped up the GTE Pro manufacturers’ title at the end of a race it might have won but for conservative strategy devised with that intent. The factory 911 RSR driven by Lietz and team-mate Gianmaria Bruni crossed the line in third place, but was demoted to eighth with a time penalty for causing a collision earlier in the race.
That promoted the other Porsche driven by Kevin Estre and Michael Christensen to third, which means they are now 36 points ahead of their team-mates with just 39 to play for at Le Mans. They were in contention for much of the way, but a late stop to ensure they weren’t tight on fuel as the chequered flag approached blunted their chances.
Neither Priaulx and Tincknell nor team-mates Olivier Pla and Stefan Mucke were quite in the game during the race. The Ford GT had an unhealthy appetite for full wets and couldn’t switch on the so-called drying wet. Priaulx and Tincknell ended up fifth after the demotion of Bruni and Lietz.
The MTEK BMW squad came away with fourth place for Augusto Farfus and Antonio Felix da Costa. They were running second early in the final hour when a pitstop that might have paid dividends had the race gone the distance dropped their M8 back.
The Dempsey-proton Porsche crew of Christian Ried, Matt Campbell and Riccardo Pera took GTE Am honours. Their 911 RSR was another car that was tight on fuel at the end, having pitted with an hour and 25 minutes left on the clock.