Frank DePew and Robin Liddell, who earlier in the year gave the new-for-2024 Aston Martin Vantage GT4 its first victory anywhere in the world, came home ninth at the circuit near Braselton, GA after a battling performance
It was a sixth Top-10 result from the 10 races held this year for the team from DeLand, FL, and cemented Rebel Rock’s status as one of the most consistently outstanding performers in the series over the past five years.
DePew, who had earlier in the day ran a consistent and error-free solo race in the VP Racing Challenge to sixth in the GSX class, was laser-focused as the two-hour IMPC event approached in sunny conditions at Friday lunchtime.
Launching from 19th on the GS-class grid, the Virginian never put a wheel out of line as he climbed four spots during the opening stint of the race to leave him 15th when he pitted to hand over to Liddell as he hit his 40-minute minimum drive time.
Taking advantage of a Full-Course Yellow (FCY) period bunching the field together, Liddell was quickly into ‘race mode’ when the green flags waved with an hour to run and took just five minutes (or two laps) to climb to 11th spot; his charge on cold tyres halted by another FCY soon after.
As this was officially a ‘short yellow’, pitstops were not allowed and Liddell instead opted to come in for a fuel top-off as racing resumed, the Scotsman knowing that any further FCY inside the final half-hour would play hugely to his advantage. This did not happen; the race instead running ‘green’ to the finish, but Liddell was still able to climb to ninth spot; a result that secured 10th in the Drivers’ Championship for himself and Frank and P9 in Teams’ points for Rebel Rock Racing.
The Top-10 finish was also enough to allow Aston Martin to maintain its narrow lead over Porsche and clinch the GS Constructors title for the factory from Warwickshire in the United Kingdom.