Team principal Antonin Charouz was pleased to see the car perform strongly during the race, being one of only two petrol cars to lap quicker than 3mins 30secs, and said the Lola Aston Martin had established itself as the car to beat amongst the petrol runners with its strong comeback.
"We have reasons to be happy," he said. "It was the first start of the car at Le Mans and unfortunately Jan had an off during his first stint after he lost downforce. It looked like we were finished as he stopped twice, but finally managed to bring the car back to the pits. We had some other niggling problems, but we finished the race.
"We started twice at Le Mans and we have two finishes, which is good. The car clearly demonstrated that speed-wise it is the class of the petrol field and it is not surprising that factory diesels were in a different league. As a privateer, it is always difficult to fight against mighty factory teams with huge resources, regardless of the engine technology. We pushed hard, gained back a lot of time on our direct rivals, so I am happy."
