DARREN Turner roared into the lead of the GT Drivers Championship standings with victory in the inaugural 6 Hours of Mexico race.

Turner, from Chacombe, near Banbury, and Aston Martin teammate Richie Stanaway narrowly saw off challenges from the other Aston Martin Vantage V8, driven by Nicki Thiim and Marco Sørensen, to claim maximum points in Mexico City

The victory propelled Turner to a three-point lead over Sørensen in the drivers’ standings ahead of the sixth round at the Circuit of the Americas, in Austin, Texas, on September 17.

Qualifying just one-tenth of a second shy of pole, Turner’s first stint an hour into the race saw him going head-to-head with race leader Sørensen trailing just a few seconds behind.

The turning point cam during wet conditions, when Stanaway finally made the breakthrough to pass the other Aston Martin and seize the lead.

Driving a double stint to close out the race, Turner had to hold off a late challenge from the Ferrari, eventually easing to victory by almost ten seconds.

“It’s a great feeling to be leading the championship and hopefully I can keep that momentum until the end of the year,” Turner said.

“It was a fantastic result for everyone in the team and especially for Dunlop to get their first win in GTE Pro with us.

“This helps hugely with the manufacturer’s championship points, too, and I think we can go forward for the rest of the flyaway rounds with confidence.”