This looks pretty heavenly, doesn't it? A lone Aston Martin Vantage GTE, hacking along its own little patch of the track at Spa, lights ablaze, running ahead of a setting sun. Driving nirvana for many – and if it had a soundtrack, aural perfection for most of us, too. Pretty cool, what’s more, to think that just a few days beforehand, punters like us were
this very same hallowed tarmac. Spa’s a bit special, and in the sun, with the Ardennes scenery as a backdrop, even more so. Not that the racers will have been taking in the landscape.
But this is what endurance racing is all about – pushing man and car through the usual barriers of time, and eking out every last morsel of energy from each as you do so. Which is why the WEC – with Le Mans as its next and, arguably, most celebrated event – is so fascinating. In the end, car 97 crossed the line fourth in the GTE-Pro class, behind two Ferrari 458 GT2s and another Aston. Not quite a podium, then, but a solid mid-table finish that the team will hope to capitalise on when it heads to Le Mans in June.