Aston Martin’s N24 Vantage is still going strong in 8th place in the inaugural 24-hour race of Bahrain, at a drenched International Circuit.
During the night the Aston Martin team cemented a place within the leading ten cars, but as other teams are forced into retirement, the N24 Vantage is now inside the top eight runners overall, having completed over 370 laps of the 6.14km circuit.
Shortly before beginning his fourth stint in the car, Aston Martin’s Vehicle Engineering Manager Chris Porritt, enthused: “The team have worked extremely hard through the night. The conditions are tricky, but we’ve coped well – we all know this car very well and all three drivers are more than capable of adapting to the unexpected conditions.”
A steady flow of rain began to fall on the International Circuit after 5am this morning, leaving standing water at various points around the track. While these conditions have forced most teams to reduce their pace, Aston Martin’s factory prepared, production standard, N24 V8 Vantage is maintaining consistent times across two and half hour stints for each driver.
Chief Mechanic, Martin Jackson said: “Nobody really wants to run in heavy rain of course, but in a way as we’re running so close to a production specification, the rain actually suits us – while others are slowing down we can still post some decent times.”
The race concludes at 2pm (GMT +3) on Saturday 16 December.