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Farfus replaces Turner at Aston Martin for final WEC races

BMW factory driver Augusto Farfus will make a return to the FIA World Endurance Championship with Aston Martin for the final rounds of the 2019/20 season, replacing Darren Turner.

#42 BMW Team Schnitzer BMW M6 GT3: Augusto Farfus

#42 BMW Team Schnitzer BMW M6 GT3: Augusto Farfus

Alexander Trienitz

Farfus, who contested the bulk of the 2018/19 WEC superseason for BMW, including both of that campaign's two Le Mans 24 Hours, has been recruited to drive the British manufacturer's factory-run GTE Am entry by car owner Paul Dalla Lana.

The Brazilian will share the #98 Aston Martin Vantage GTE with Dalla Lana and Ross Gunn at Spa in August, Le Mans in September and then the Bahrain finale in November. 

He is replacing long-time Aston Martin Racing driver Turner, who will focus on development of the marque's Valkyrie road car over the remainder of this year.

Farfus will also contest the second round of the European Le Mans Series at Spa on August 9, a week before the WEC event at the Belgian track, alongside Dalla Lana and Mathias Lauda, who drove the #98 car in the WEC in 2015-2018/19. 

Dalla Lana, 2017 WEC GTE Am champion with Lauda and Pedro Lamy, said: “I’ve been friends with Augusto for a long time, and we’ve wanted to race together for a while, but it’s only now that a break in his programme has allowed us to do this."

John Gaw, managing director of Aston Martin Racing, added: "Paul has chosen to recruit Augusto Farfus to race with him and we look forward to welcoming him to the team."

A long-time BMW driver in the DTM, Farfus's main programme with the German manufacturer this season is with the Walkenhorst team in the Intercontinental GT Challenge.

Le Mans this year will be his fifth assault on the French race, but his first not driving a BMW and also his first in the GTE Am ranks.

Aston will also contest the Paul Ricard ELMS opener this month as well as the following race at Spa, marking its first foray into the series as a factory entrant.

Dalla Lana, who will contest the first round at Paul Ricard on July 19 with Gunn and Lauda, said: “I’ve really missed competing on the track, and getting the opportunity to put in extra competitive miles in the ELMS is really exciting.

"The ELMS presents a tough challenge, and the races are long enough to test our skills and our systems as we prepare to return to WEC.”

Aston has stressed that three-time Le Mans class winner Turner will make a full-time return to the race track in 2021.

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