Drivers Frank DePew and Robin Liddell, climbed from 20th on the GS-class grid aboard the #71 Aston Martin Vantage GT4 thanks to a combination of fast, consistent, driving and excellent work from a flawless crew in pitlane and on the timing stand.
DePew and Liddell made history by winning the corresponding race last year and, in doing so, giving the then brand-new Aston Martin its first win anywhere in the world. Twelve months on, Liddell served notice of the team from DeLand, FL, by setting the fastest time across the event’s two practice sessions.
Virginia racer DePew also set a strong pace in practice and qualified the Aston Martin 20th in a 15-minute qualifying session on Thursday in which Sebring’s long lap restricts a driver’s ability to improve on their previous marker. Taking a mature approach to an all-action opening handful of laps, Frank climbed to15th place within 20 minutes of the start, improving his pace and lapping on a consistent basis.
By the time he’d reached the minimum drive-time limit after 40 minutes of the two- hour race, he’d impressively climbed to 11 th spot. It was at this point when Robin – the 2015 IMPC champion and a four-time winner at Sebring – took over driving duties and immediately began matching the pace of the race leaders.
With no Full-Course Caution periods to bunch the field together, however, the Scot was restricted in his progress and lost time in traffic after making an early final fuel stop with 50 minutes left. That tactic paid off handsomely as he climbed from 10th to eighth in the closing moments of the race to cross the finish line in the team’s best finishing position of the year.
Frank and Robin have climbed from 22nd to 15th in the Drivers’ points as a result and will look to gain further ground when the series resumes at Laguna Seca in May.
Frank DePew said: “I was happy with my stint, but not my qualifying – I’d like to have given Robin less work to do. The plan was to not get aggressive at the start. I had good pace and was being held up, but ‘jamming it in’ wasn’t going to end well so I took my time, waited for things to settle down and then picked the cars off one by one.”
Robin Liddell said: “Frank drove exceptionally well today with his stint times very pleasing. As it was an all-green race, we never had the chance to close in on the guys at the front and we didn’t quite hit a home run with the car either. Overall though, eighth really isn’t a bad result. It was a good day with solid points on the board.”