The Solaris Motorsport Aston Martin is on its way to Portugal, theater of the first round of the 2017 International GT Open season. The technicians of the Italian team have succeeded in completing the Vantage GT3 assembly in a very few time, a perfect timing that allowed the team to load the truck and leave for the Estoril track. Francesco Sini and Mauro Calamia will be on track already on Thursday, when it’s scheduled a collective test day, at the wheel of their black and orange Aston Martin, obviously numbered 007.
It was a real race against the time for the Solaris Motorsport, forced to rebuild the entire car after the huge crash of Francesco Sini at Paul Ricard Circuit, during a wet test session on early March. On the 4th of April the new chassis, #037, was delivered to the Italian team and the technicians could start working. A long and painstaking job, a puzzle to complete starting from the closed box under the supervision of the Aston Martin Racing and Prodrive technicians. The engine, arrived on 15th of April, gave the decisive push and, as a sort of magic, on the Easter day the Vantage GT3 was reborn with the first switching on of the engine. A first check of the car and then the last finishing touches, the new paint scheme and on Saturday 22th the Aston Martin was loaded on the track ready to go in Portugal.
“It was amazing! These guys were fantastic, in less than 20 days they have rebuild an entire GT3! Really, I can’t’ find the right words to explain my feelings, we will never be able to thank them enough!” said Roberto Sini, Solaris Motorsport Team Principal, “We never stopped to work, we spend Easter day and all the holidays here at the factory, between a colomba and a wrench. Due to holidays and the inevitable days off, some spare parts arrived on late, we finished working just in time to load the truck and so we could not have the chance to go on track for a shake down. We would have liked a lot do it, to check everything was fine, this means we will do all the checks in Portugal. I really dont’ know what we have to expect from this weekend, there will be 24 fast GT3 cars and a very high level of participants, but, for us, to be there is already a success.”
“Very few times I saw so much self-sacrifice and willpower. Our guys did an outstanding job, when I heard the engine of the Vantage switching on…well, for a while I was not moved!” said Francesco Sini, who recovered at the best from the crash.“The impact was impressive and unexpected. When I saw the car at the workshop, I thought I was very lucky. But this is the past, I don’t think more about it. I’m also physically fit and I don’t have more the muscle pain of the first few days. I want to go in Portugal and bring home a great performance, I don’t’ know other way to thank these awesome guys!”
“Well, after so much years in motorsport, I never saw a so meticulous…check up before the season!” jokes Mauro Calamia, the Swiss waited to the debut on the Aston Martin in Portugal. “At the workshop the team did an incomparable job, now Francesco and me must honor these guys. What I’ve seen in this month helped me to understand a lot of things about this team, a squad very close as much as professional. I can’t wait to be back at the wheel of this beauty and hear once again the V12 Aston thunder!”
The racing weekend at Estoril will open the 2017 International GT Open season, arrived at its 12th edition with 24 GT3 cars on the grid. After the collective test session of Thursday and the free practices on Friday, both Saturday and Sunday we will have the qualifying session on the morning, at 9:40 AM and the races scheduled on the afternoon: the 70 minutes Race 1 will start at 3:15 on Saturday while the green flag for the 60 minutes Race 2 will wave at 1:15 of Sunday. Both the races will be available in live streaming.
