Aston Martin wins 2015 Britcar Dunlop 24 Hours
Aston Martin celebrates today as Beechdean AMR took victory and the British marque’s factory entry finished fifth in the 2015 MSA Dunlop Britcar 24hr race at Silverstone.
Both the V8 Vantage GT4 of Beechdean AMR and Speedworks Motorsport entries enjoyed a trouble-free 24-hour race. With a line-up completed by Aston Martin Evolution Academy racers Jamie Chadwick (GB) and Ross Gunn (GB), the former circulated the 5.9km Northamptonshire-circuit a total of 529 laps to take overall victory with the latter finishing 4th overall and second in class.
Aston Martin’s factory entry also enjoyed the taste of success. The race, which marked CEO Dr. Andy Palmer’s first competitive outing as an Aston Martin race driver, saw the team battle changeable conditions as wet weather played a key part in determining the team’s strategy throughout the late evening.
Sharing driver duties with Dr. Palmer in the #36 V8 Vantage GT4 were Chief Creative Officer Marek Reichman; experienced British motoring journalist Andrew Frankel and 22-year-old racer Alice Powell.
The Castrol-liveried Vantage GT4 has been maintained by the skilled engineers and technicians of Aston Martin’s Special Projects division; responsible for delivering Vantage GT12 and Aston Martin Vulcan. David King, Director of Special Projects commented, “This is a remarkable achievement for the team that specialises not in racing but in designing and building Aston Martin road and track cars. They brought with them years of experience in producing world-class sportscars and leave with invaluable data and knowledge for future development.
“Time and again the Vantage GT4 has demonstrated its durability, speed and driveability to take race wins and podiums around the world. I’m so pleased for everyone involved”.
The V8 Vantage GT4 is equipped with the model’s hallmark 4.7-litre engine and an identical chassis to its road-going sibling. As the marque’s most focused model in the range, it provides the perfect basis for a competitive racing machine.
Andrew Frankel said, “It has been better than you could have possibly expected. The car has performed perfectly, the team have been fabulous. I think that Andy, Marek, Alice and I have come together extremely well. We’ve learnt lots from Alice throughout and we all really stepped up despite the difficult conditions”.
Following the team’s success, Alice Powell commented, “When the race finished I was speechless. It was an amazing few days. The car’s been absolutely outstanding and with three Astons in the top five, it doesn’t get much better. The guys have done an outstanding job and for the level of experience they have, they’ve done brilliantly”.
Dr. Andy Palmer added, “It was a fabulous weekend. My main aim was to understand how a race team works as it’s so intrinsic to our brand. It was of unbelievable proportions with every season imaginable. However, the main thing for me was that the team pulled together and really looked after each other throughout the race”.
