Aston Martin CEO Proves his Worth Behind the Wheel

Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer and his team left Texas with a second-place finish in the Hankook 24 Hours of Circuit of the Americas.

Last week, the British automaker announced that its CEO would be one of four drivers in the 24-hour endurance race at the Circuit of the Americas, and now the team is heading home with a suitcase full of silverware. The second-place finish came in the SP3 class, where Palmer, John Hindhaugh, Paul Hollywood, and Peter Cate put up a fierce fight behind the wheel of the Vantage GT8 race car.

The race was split in two halves, with the first half running from 9:00 AM to 11:00 PM on Saturday, and the second half going from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM Sunday. The team actually built a full lap advantage by the fourth hour, but contact from another competitor and a damaged front-right ball-joint caused by on-track debris resulted in two separate trips to the garage.

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But those mishaps wouldn’t slow down the pit crew, which consisted of members from the company’s Special Projects division and Nurburging test center. After the repairs, the car hit the track again with just a 15-lap deficit to the leading car.

The four drivers reduced the deficit to five laps after the class leaders suffered mechanical issues, helping them secure the second-place finish.

“That was marvelous,” said CEO Andy Palmer. “To take second place was great and it could have been first if we hadn’t suffered damage to the car…but actually, I think that makes this finish rather special. Often people focus on the drivers, but what the team did to make each of those repairs so quickly and efficiently shows their quality and expertise. To get the deficit back down to five laps after our earlier issues wasn’t down to just one driver, but to the whole team and I think that encapsulates the spirit of Aston Martin and racing in general.”

Along with finishing second, the team also received Radio Le Mans’ Spirit of the Race Aware, which is chosen by listeners and fans around the world.

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