You are currently viewing Impressive work of Team Virage during the 24hrs of Barcelona

The highs and lows of motorsport were out in force at the weekend at the 24 hours of Barcelona for the #1 Aston Martin Vantage GT4 of Virage/PROsport Performance.

The car had been showing promising pace in practice and qualifying, with the PROsport regular drivers Nico Verdonck and Rodrigue Gillion being joined by Virage drivers Nico Silva and Jon Aizpurua. Spirits were high as Nico Verdonck was starting from P2 on the GT4 grid, setting the early pace with an outstanding first stint, Nico brought the car back in P1 to hand over to Rodrigue.

Unfortunately, this is where the dramas started for the #1, where it became apparent there was an overheating issue. Rodrigue brought the car back after just one lap where the Aston was returned into the garage for extensive work. The team worked tirelessly, but realising the head gasket was the issue, the decision was made to do an engine change with the sister car.

What should have been a 2 days job, the incredible team of professionals went to work through the night and a huge cheer erupted after midnight when the car was brought back to life in around 11 hours!

For the second half of the race the Aston Martin GT4 completed lap after lap with no issues and as the sun came up and the chequered flag was waved, the team had amazingly crossed the finish line – albeit unclassified due to the amount of time garaged, but the whole weekend demonstrated the never give up attitude the team possesses.

Nico Verdonck and Rodrigue Gillion finished 3rd overall in the championship (along with Akhil Rabindra), collecting well deserved silverware in GT4.

The week-end really demonstrated the highs and lows of motorsport and with the events of the weekend at Spa Francorchamps, we wish to extend our thoughts to Anthoine Hubert’s friends, family and extended motorsport family.