Aston Martin moved within one point of the European Le Mans Title following a fourth place finish at the ‘4 Hours of Red Bull Ring.’
Darren Turner and Beechdean AMR team-mates Andrew Howard and Alex MacDowall qualified their #99 V8 Vantage in sixth position, just half a second behind the pole sitters.
Andrew Howard enjoyed a positive first hour stint, handing over to Darren Turner to battle with the Ferrari of Andrea Bertolini.
“I had a really good battle with (Andrea) Bertolini in the winning Ferrari,” he continued. “I tried a move into Turn 1 and it was paint-rubbing close but it was great racing. I got a bit close again later on when the Ferrari was baulked by an LMP3 car and the concertina-effect meant that he hit the P3 car and I hit the Ferrari. It was a fun stint and I was pleased to be able to hand the car over to Alex (MacDowell) in third place.”
The teams podium hopes were diminished when a late full course yellow allowed rival cars to take advantage of a free pit stop, dropping the #99 car into fourth place.
Our strategy was good and we had a good race car,” said Turner. “The last Full Course Yellow played into the hands of the other competitors and there was nothing we could do. That said we were very happy with our race pace and the general car performance was very strong.
“Now we need to knuckle down and make sure we get a good result at Paul Ricard at the end of August. The championship is still very close and it is there for the taking.”