Packed weekend of racing for Aston Martin at Silverstone

Aston Martin DBR9s, DBRS9s and Vantage N24s have featured heavily in GT1, GT3 and GT4 competition in a weekend of thrilling racing in the FIA GT Championship at Silverstone, held over 5-6 May.

Competing for the Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy in the FIA GT Championship, the number 33 JetAlliance DBR9, driven by Karl Wendlinger and Ryan Sharp finished 4th, having started from the front row of the grid and led the early stages of the race.

Aston Martin Racing BMS claimed 7th for Fabio Babini/Jamie Davies and 12th for Enrico Toccacelo/Fernando Monfardini, both cars having lost time with punctures. Jonny Cocker/Piers Johnson took 10th place in the Barwell Motorsport car and the second JetAlliance car of Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer/Robert Lechner finished 11th.

Meanwhile, in GT3, packed grids of 50 cars entertained the crowds in two one-hour races. Saturday’s race saw the Hexis Racing DBRS9 of Jean-Claude Lagniez/Frederic Makowiecki achieve 3rd place. Sadly the same pair retired from the lead in Sunday’s race. The BMS Scuderia Italia DBRS9’s of Diego Alessi/Alessandro Frassinetti and Toni Seiler/Sandro Sardelli finished 4th and 5th with the number 25 Hexis Racing DBRS9 of Clement Mateu/Julien Rodrigues coming home 8th – scant reward for a competitive showing from the French team who are new to FIA GT3 this year.

Scoring a double podium in the new GT4 championship, two Aston Martin Vantage N24s were in action in a double bill of racing over the weekend - driven by Danish racer, Jac Nellemann and Aston Martin’s Vehicle Dynamics Manager, Chris Porritt respectively.


In Saturday’s inaugural race, Nellemann took pole position in qualifying, with Porritt starting from 3rd. An entertaining and closely contested race culminated in a nail-biting finish, with Nellemann just squeezing out Porritt by four hundredths of a second and fending off tough opposition in a highly competitive GT4 field.

In Sunday’s race Porritt took 5th and Nellemann 6th on the starting grid, but both quickly began to progress up the field in the 40-minute race. Driving the number nine car, Nellemann took 3rd to claim his second podium finish, with Porritt taking 4th place, after a dramatic move from 5th in the final lap of the race.

Commenting on his double podium result, Jac Nellemann said: “The Vantage N24 is a delightful car to drive and the GT4 series looks like being very competitive.”

The Aston Martin team were joined at Silverstone by more than 100 Vanquish customers who celebrated the marque’s flagship car with a commemorative drive - led by Aston Martin Chief Executive Officer, Dr Ulrich Bez - from the home of Vanquish production at Newport Pagnell in Buckinghamshire, to the Silverstone circuit.

Already established as a modern classic, the Vanquish has proved to be a huge success for Aston Martin with over 2000 cars delivered to customers around the world.