Aston Martin Formula 1 driver Lance Stroll retired from his GT World Challenge Europe debut at Paul Ricard when the #18 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin suffered a gearbox failure late in the six-hour race.
Mari Boya, a Formula 3 race winner and member of the Aston Martin young driver programme, started the event before former Manor grand prix driver Roberto Merhi took over and was 38th when he handed the car to Stroll with just under two hours remaining.
Stroll only drove the final stint after dark, having had limited night running because of technical issues; he recorded the eighth-fastest lap of the race but could not recover positions. The #18 car had earlier picked up penalties for going off-track and failing to respect blue flags, and the team retired it shortly before the finish due to the gearbox problem.
A second Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, the #7 entry driven by Mattia Drudi, Marco Sorensen, and Nicki Thiim, won the race, and Stroll had entered the event during a break in the F1 calendar to contest his maiden GT race.
This report is based on information originally published by Motorsport.
Read the full article at Motorsport.
More automotive news: Latest car news