With a stunning and dominant debut victory last time out at Fuji Speedway, TF Sport travel to Shanghai China this week for the third round of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
The team and drivers – Salih Yoluc, Jonny Adam and Charlie Eastwood – of the #90 Aston Martin Vantage GTE are currently second in the championship standings thanks to the victory, two pole positions and seventh place finish at the season-opening race at Silverstone.
With that all-important first WEC victory now in the history books, the team return to China aiming to shake off memories of last year’s race where, despite plenty of pace, the heavy rain and atrocious conditions saw the team finish in eighth position.
With plenty of long straights and tight corners, the Vantage GTE should be well-suited to the characteristics of the Herman Tilke-designed Shanghai International Circuit, despite an extra 25kg of ballast courtesy of the Japanese victory and championship position.
Another strong performance in China, could see TF Sport close the ten points’ deficit to the current championship leaders.
Tom Ferrier, TF Sport Director
“Looking forward to this one in China, the car should be good there and the drivers have all been there before. We’re back to a four-hour race after Fuji, which is a bit different in strategy, but after the last race we’re all feeling really positive.
“Obviously, we have some success ballast and we’ll see how much difference that makes after we start running in Shanghai. The general mind-set is that we can go there and win again, but one step at a time in WEC, we’d really like to go into Christmas after Bahrain with the championship lead.”
Jonny Adam
“Off the back of the win in Fuji we are all confident ahead of Shanghai. We now have success ballast to carry it will be a big challenge but as a team we are up for it.”
Salih Yoluc
“Our pace has been good since the first race at Silverstone and we went on to Fuji and we won that race easily, so that’s the goal again. We’re on a good roll in terms of pace and setup with the car, so we’re just looking forward to being back on track in China.”
Charlie Eastwood
“I really looking forward to shanghai, I think after a dominant performance in Fuji we want to continue that to China. Of course, now we have success ballast which will make it more difficult but hopefully the track should suit the new Aston Martin GTE.”