Aston Martin Valkyrie close to first point at Spa: "It boosts morale"

Although the result is still insufficient to some extent, theAston Martin Valkyrie continues to get closer to the pack. Taking advantage of various racing events, including the misadventures experienced by Peugeot , BMW, Proton, and AF Corse, prototypes n°007 and 009 finally finished 13th and 14th.

In addition to the various retirements, the deployment of the safety car at the end of the race contributed to the comeback of both crews. So much so that the top 10 was tangible for a moment. “We got the Full Course Yellow, which was what we needed, but it only lasted a very short time, it was just a safety car on the track, commented Tom Gamble after the raceWe would have liked it to be a little longer. But hey, it was already nice, it boosts the team's morale to see us move up in the rankings. In a way, it's the first time we've finished a race, I even think we were on the same lap as the leaders.

Aston Martin, one pit stop away from the reward at Spa

Driving the #007 Valkyrie with 6 minutes to go, Harry Tincknell would have liked to have entered the points zone for the first time. However, the Briton, seriously lacking energy, was forced to sneak into the pits to ensure he finished the race. Before the race, he was already anticipating that the Spa-Francorchamps track would be a perfect playground for Aston Martin's performance.

"I think the circuit suits us, it's a pretty smooth track, there aren't too many kerbs, Tincknell launched after qualifyingThere are still some areas in the second sector where we struggle a bit on the kerbs, we still have some work to do on that. We know that's an area for improvement. But I think the medium/high speed corners and the fairly smooth circuits are where we'll see the Valkyrie really shine as the program progresses. We're slowly learning where our strengths and weaknesses are."

Optimized preparation for the Valkyrie at Le Mans?

At the heart of an exponential progression, the crew of the Aston Martin n°007 composed of Harry Tincknell and Tom Gamble already seems to have its eyes fixed on the 24h of Le MansA new major challenge in the young commitment of the crew, this stage is awaited with ambition.

"As I was saying, here (at Spa-Francorchamps. Editor's note) We didn't have much running, and we had an incident on Thursday, which cost us more track time. For Le Mans, I hope we'll have a clean, problem-free preparation, anticipates Tom GambleFingers crossed. Who knows how it will go at Le Mans for the entire grid? But I hope it will be close, and we can aim for a good result.

On June 14th and 15th, Aston Martin will certainly have to rely on another racing incident to further distance itself. However, the step forward made between Imola and Spa is notable, and remains a benchmark ahead of the season's benchmark race, whatever the outcome, in La Sarthe.

ALSO READ > Loïc Duval takes the blow after the retirement of the Peugeot n°94 at Spa