Following the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) press conference in Paris on 26 February, Aston Martin is delighted to report that seven Aston Martin race cars have been selected to take part in the 2009 Le Mans 24 Hours.

The 77th running of the race will take place on 13/14 June and invitees were selected from one of the largest entry lists in the history of the event. 82 teams entered the French classic hoping to secure one of only 55 places on the starting grid. Ten reserve cars have also been pre-selected should any of the 55 entrants withdraw prior to the race.

Aston Martin will be represented in three of the four classes and the split is as follows: 21 cars in LMP1, 12 in LMP2, 8 in GT1 and 14 in GT2.

Following victories in 2007 and 2008 in the GT1 category Aston Martin Racing is moving to the LMP1 class for 2009, a fitting decision 50 years on from Aston Martin’s outright win at Le Mans in 1959 with the DBR1. The team was delighted to receive three entries in the LMP1 class in this special year.

Joining Aston Martin Racing in LMP1 is a single car entry for Speedy Racing Team Sebah who will be running a 2008 Lola powered by Aston Martin.

Although the GT1 field has diminished this year with Aston Martin Racing moving up to LMP1, two customer teams, Jetalliance Racing and Gigawave Motorsport have been granted entries for their DBR9s.

In GT2 Aston Martin will be represented by newcomer to Le Mans, Drayson Racing with their Vantage GT2, the only Aston Martin entry in a field of 14 GT2 cars,

The ACO also announced changes to the format of the event for 2009. The test day, traditionally held two weeks before the race has been cancelled and the first qualifying session on Wednesday evening has be changed to a six hour free practice.


Wednesday 10th June:

18h00-24h00: Free practice for the Le Mans 24 Hours.


Thursday 11th June:

19h00-21h00 – 22h00-24h00: Qualifying practice for the Le Mans 24 Hours.


Friday 12th June:

18h00-19h00: Drivers’ Parade in the centre of Le Mans.


Saturday 13th June:

09h00-09h45: Warm-up. 13h15-13h45: Herringbone line-up.
15h00: Start of the 77th Le Mans 24 Hours.


Sunday 14th June:

15h00: Finish of the 77th Le Mans 24 Hours.

The Automobile Club De L'Ouest (ACO), official sanctioning body of the 24 Heures du Mans, has named Drayson Racing as one of only 14 LM GT2 class programmes worldwide to be selected to compete in this year's 77th running of the French 24 hour event. The 13-14 June race is the first visit by Drayson Racing to the world's most famous sports car race and the next step in a lifelong dream of owner/driver Paul Drayson (London/Gloucestershire, UK) to win the classic event. Drayson will share the No. 87 Aston Martin Vantage GT2 with longtime co- driver and young, British hot shot Jonny Cocker (Guisborough, Yorks, UK). The third driver in the Michelin Tyre-shod Aston Martin will be announced at a later date.

The legendary, twice-around the clock race will also be the debut of the Aston Martin Vantage GT2 at Le Mans. The invitation for the Official Partner Team of Aston Martin Racing owned by Paul and Elspeth Drayson is particularly poignant coming in 2009. This year's event marks the 50th Anniversary of Aston Martin's overall win in the Le Mans 24 Hours. In 1959, Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori drove an Aston Martin DBR1 to immortality by bettering the highly favoured Ferrari operation. The win established Aston Martin as one of the great motoring marques in history. In further celebration of this remarkable achievement, Aston Martin Racing will have entries in three of the four classes as it returns to the LM P1 class for the first time in over a decade and has cars defending its LM GT1 class title. Drayson Racing's Vantage GT2 is the sole representative of Aston Martin Racing in the road car-based class.
The 2009 invitees were selected from one of the largest entry lists in the event's long history. 82 teams entered the French classic in hopes of earning one of only 55 spots to compete on the famous 8.476 mile- long Circuit De La Sarthe. Ten "reserve" cars have also been pre-selected should there be a withdrawal from the 55 guaranteed positions.

While a first visit to Le Mans for the organisation and its regular aces Drayson and Cocker, the intricacies of Le Mans are no stranger to Team Manager Dale White (Bozeman, MT, USA). White led his White Lightning Racing LM GT2, then known simply as GT, team from the class pole position to victory here in both 2003 and 2004. A second-place in 2005 marks a third podium finish in four Le Mans starts for White-managed operations.

Drayson Racing will compete in the 12 Hours of Sebring, the American Le Mans Series season- opener, on 21 March. They will follow with the Le Mans Series season-premiere in Barcelona, Spain on 5 April. 10 May will see the final pre-Le Mans race with the 1,000 Km event on the historic Spa- Franchorchamps' circuit in Belgium.

Drayson Racing, owned by Paul Drayson, a member of the United Kingdom Parliament's House of Lords and the present Minister of Science and Innovation in the UK Government, has long been dedicated to "green", environmental causes. Among the 2008 achievements, Drayson finished second in the inaugural Green Challenge at the Petit Le Mans highlighting the team's efforts to advance environmentally responsible automotive technologies. Drayson Racing has placed equal importance on winning the Michelin® Green X® Challenge Award in American Le Mans Series and the Michelin Energy Endurance Challenge in the Le Mans Series as it has on taking its first international race victory.


Quotes


Paul Drayson, Owner/Driver:

"I am honoured and delighted that Drayson Racing has been selected to compete in the world's greatest motor race. Doing so in an Aston Martin in the 50th anniversary year of their historic victory at Le Mans is a dream come true."


Dale White, Team Manager:

"There are not words to describe how happy I am right now. When I first met Paul, the first thing he told me was that racing at Le Mans was his objective; to win Le Mans his dream. Receiving the invitation from the ACO to race in this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans is the next step in helping Paul achieve his dream. When you think about the importance of this event and the magnitude of representing Aston Martin in the GT2 class; it is all very, very exciting. There is a lot of work ahead of us but knowing we are going to be racing in Le Mans with the Vantage GT2 and Michelin makes all the long hours worth the effort."


Jonny Cocker, Driver:

"This really is fantastic news for everyone involved in the team, especially Paul, having worked so hard to earn the right to race at the LM24! I can't even describe how much I'm looking forward to the race! I have been visiting Le Mans for the past four years to spectate, always thinking 'one day'. It's hard to believe that I'm going to be there racing this year alongside so many other great teams and drivers. I would like to thank everyone who has been a part of this and, in particular, Paul and Elspeth for giving me the opportunity!"

Further strengthening its already impressive international sports car racing programme, Drayson Racing announced two exciting additions to its 2009 effort today. The Official Partner Team of Aston Martin Racing adds two-time defending Le Mans Series GT2 class Driver Champion Rob Bell to the driver lineup for the American Le Mans Series endurance races. Bell, a resident of St Helens, England, will join owner/driver Paul Drayson (London/Gloucestershire, UK) and Jonny Cocker (Guisborough, Yorks, UK) behind the wheel of the No. 007 Drayson Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT2 at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida on 21 March and the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta on 26 September. Furthermore, the Dale White-managed team will join the elite group of operations campaigning the Michelin Pilot Racing Slick in 2009. The official partnership with the world's leader in tyres encompasses both the American Le Mans Series and Le Mans Series efforts of Drayson Racing.

Since coming to sports car racing in 2005, Bell has left an impression in the road car-based GT2 class winning the last two Le Mans Series GT2 Driver Championships ('07, '08). In '07, Bell had two race wins and two pole positions driving for Virgo Motorsport and finished fifth in the LM GT2 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Panoz. Bell retained his Le Mans Series title in '08 with four wins and four pole positions. Last season, he made his American Le Mans Series debut at the 12 Hours of Sebring driving in the GT2 class. He finished seventh at Sebring and made two more starts in North America at Road America and Detroit.

While best known as a Ferrari ace in recent seasons, Bell's earliest sports car racing successes came behind the wheel of an Aston Martin. He drove a GT1 class DB9R to his first GT victory at the daunting 1000km/Six Hours of Nürburgring in 2005. Prior to his fulltime move to sports car racing, Bell won the 2001 and 2002 Formula Renault Winter Championship and finished as the highest-placed British driver (fourth) in the British Formula Ford Championship in '01. In 2000, he won the prestigious Ford Festival World Cup. Bell began his career racing Cadet karts in 1990 earning the British Junior Championship.

The likeable Brit will be a direct competitor to the No. 87 Aston Martin Vantage GT2 in which Drayson and Cocker will race throughout the five-race Le Mans Series schedule.

The addition of Michelin as an official partner is another impressive step forward for the team. Michelin of Europe will supply tyres to Drayson Racing for the full Le Mans Series schedule as well as its three race American Le Mans Series schedule (Sebring, Petit Le Mans and the Monterey Sports Car Championships). It marks the first full season endeavor for Michelin to outfit an Aston Martin Vantage GT2 in the Le Mans Series and the first time Michelin has supplied a GT2- class tyre for the Vantage in the American Le Mans Series. The team will assist Michelin in the tyre's development. Michelin will also be fitted to the Drayson Aston Martin should the team receive an invitation to compete in its first 24 Hours of Le Mans. Invitations will be announced for Le Mans on 26 February.

Drayson Racing, owned by Paul Drayson, a member of the United Kingdom Parliament's House of Lords and the present Minister of Science and Innovation in the UK Government, has long been dedicated to "green", environmental causes. Having successfully competed in 2008 running the latest 'Second Generation' cellulosic E85 Bio-Ethanol fuel, the team will again fuel the Aston Martin V8 with E85 in the American Le Mans Series. Among the 2008 achievements, Drayson finished second in the inaugural Green Challenge at the Petit Le Mans highlighting the team's efforts to advance environmentally responsible automotive technologies. Drayson Racing has placed equal importance on winning the Michelin® Green X® Challenge Award in American Le Mans Series and the Michelin Energy Endurance Challenge in the Le Mans Series as it has on taking its first international race victory.


Quotes


Paul Drayson, Owner/Driver:

"I am delighted with the progress that Dale and the team are making, underlined by these two announcements today. I'm pleased to welcome Rob Bell to Drayson Racing and look forward to racing with him at Sebring and Petit Le Mans. I'm sure Jonny, Rob and I will work very well together. The tyre partnership with Michelin is great news and will further enhance our competitiveness."


Dale White, Team Manager:

"This announcement marks two major steps forward for Drayson Racing. We have been working very hard to raise the entire scope of the organisation. The addition of Rob Bell not only is an important part of that effort but it also proves we are making the right moves. You do not attract the caliber of driver that Rob is unless you can give him a chance to win races. One of the critical parts to winning races is having the right tyre. There is no doubt that Michelin is the right tyre. My personal relationship with Michelin goes back a long time. We have won a lot of races together and I look forward to winning more with the Aston Martin Vantage GT2 riding on Michelin Pilot tyres. With these two announcements I believe we have reached a milestone for Drayson Racing today."


Rob Bell, Driver:

"I would like to thank Lord and Lady Drayson and Dale White for this opportunity. It's great to be a part of a new team and for such an amazing event as Sebring. My first-ever GT race was in a DBRS9 in 2005. I won on that occasion with Darren Turner, so I have fond memories of driving an Aston. I know AMR has been busy over the last year developing the Vantage GT2 and I'm looking forward to seeing how far it has come. I'm also looking forward to driving alongside Paul and Jonny, whom I have seen develop as a stronger pairing since their British GT days. I know some of the guys in the team and Dale bring a huge amount of know how, so I hope I can also bring something extra to the table. If we keep out of trouble and have a bit of luck it would be great to be on the podium with three British drivers in an Aston."


Matthieu Bonardel, Director 4 Wheels Racing Activities, Michelin:

"Michelin is honored and enthusiastic to start a partnership this season with Drayson Racing in both European and American prestigious endurance races. To have the Aston Martin Vantage GT2 joining today the family of cars racing on our tires perfectly fits our philosophy to support competitive teams, adapt our tires to all vehicles and optimize our preparation for Le Mans."

AMR Teams

Former British GT Championship-winning team, Barwell Motorsport, will be entering the Belgian GT Championship this season with an Aston Martin DBRS9 GT3. The car will be campaigned by its Belgian owner/driver Eddy Renard and very experienced professional driver, Vincent Vosse. As part of the Belgian Championship, Barwell will be making its debut in the Zolder 24 Hours in August.

Last year Renard and Vosse competed in the Belgian series in a Ferrari 430, in the former driver’s first year at this level after two seasons of Ferrari Challenge racing. They were regular top-five finishers and claimed a victory in the two-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps. Vosse has competed at the highest levels of GT and sportscar racing, and is a former Le Mans Series GT1 Champion and Spa 24 Hours winner.

Eddy Renard’s new Aston Martin Brussels-backed car will not be delivered until towards the end of March, but the team will be able to take in some pre-season testing in both the UK and Belgium. As a warm-up event prior to the start of the Belgian GT Championship, they will compete in the Dunlop Maxx Endurance Cup 3-hour race at Spa on April 4/5. The Renard/Vosse car will also join Barwell Motorsport’s British GT Championship squad for the Snetterton round on July 4/5, where it will run alongside the sister Beechdean-owned DBRS9 of Andrew Howard/Jamie Smyth.

“We are really excited about joining the Belgian GT Championship,” says Barwell’s Chris Needell. “It is a very competitive series and we are really looking forward to racing against the best teams and drivers in Belgium. Eddy and Vincent showed last year that they can challenge for top positions, and we are very hopeful of putting together a strong challenge for the title.”

AMR Teams