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Aston Martin Racing will contest the final round of the Blancpain Sprint Series in Baku this weekend (1/2 November) with Jonny Adam (GB) and Andy Soucek (ES) in the Beechdean V12 Vantage GT3 and, following a solid debut in Zolder a fortnight ago, sights are set on another top five finish.
In the works team’s series debut, Aston Martin Racing works driver Adam and team-mate ex-F1 test driver Soucek quickly made their mark in the highly-competitive 30-strong grid by finishing both one-hour races in fifth place.
Despite being one of the most experienced Vantage GT3 drivers in the world, it was Adam’s series debut but he knew that they had to push hard from the start in order to be competitive.
“We knew we had to hit the ground running,” commented Adam. “This series is so competitive, you don’t have time to settle in. Andy had never driven the car before so we used the practice sessions to give him as much time in the car as possible and he took to it straight away. That’s the beauty of the Vantage GT3, it’s fast and competitive but also easy to adapt to.”
The V12 Vantage GT3 was introduced at the start of the 2012 season and has been incredibly successful. Adam and Beechdean AMR team-mate Andrew Howard (GB) took the car’s first ever race win in April 2012 and, since then, the car has raced in most of major races and championships around the world, now including the new-for-2014 Blancpain Sprint Series.
“I’m really looking forward to getting back in the Vantage GT3,” commented Soucek. “We had a great race in Zolder but I think we can do even better in Baku this weekend now that we have gelled as a team and I have spent a bit more time in the car.”
Baku World Challenge in Azerbajan is the only street circuit race in the Blancpain Sprint Series calendar. The 4.4km long circuit runs through the old town of Baku, centering around the country’s largest national flag and running along the Caspian Sea coastline.
“It’s a great circuit and we are all looking forward to seeing the Vantage GT3 compete there,” commented Team Principal John Gaw. “The team, of course, would like to finish even higher than they did in Zolder but the competition is tough. There are teams there that have experience in the Baku World Challenge and many of them have contested the whole of the Blancpain Sprint Series season. This is just our second race in the Series so we must remain realistic but the car is good, the drivers are great and the team is strong. We’ll see what happens at the weekend.”
paddocktalk
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