Fifty years – almost to the day – after it last won a two-seater, prototype championship, Aston Martin was victorious in both the Team and Drivers categories in this year’s Le Mans Series.

The double victory was achieved on home soil, at Silverstone, last weekend (13 September). Never really in contention for an overall win, the three-car, Gulf-sponsored entries finished in third, fourth and seventeenth place. That was enough to win the Series outright as a team (Aston Martin Racing), with three of its drivers (Jan Charouz (CZ), Tomáš Enge (CZ) and Stefan Mücke (DE)) in the 007 car victorious in the drivers category.

The race was won by the pole-sitting, uncatchable Team ORECA-Matmut Oreca 01 - AIM, driven by ex-F1 driver Olivier Panis and Nicolas Lapierre.

Aston Martin was also victorious in GT1: the Gigawave MotorSport DBR9 of Ryan Sharp and Peter Kox finished in 19th place, two laps ahead of its nearest competitor.

Aston Martin Chairman, David Richards, said: “It’s fantastic that 50 years on from Aston Martin winning the World Sports Car Championship, Aston Martin Racing has triumphed again, winning the Le Mans Series. It really is an impressive result and I am extremely proud of the whole team.”

Text: Steve Wakefield
Photos: Aston Martin