Points mean prizes
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Tomas Enge insists that Aston Martin just needs to target a mistake-free run in the AUTOSPORT 1000km at Silverstone next month to wrap up the Le Mans Series title.
The Czech driver heads into the season finale at the head of the championship, along with team-mates Stefan Mucke and Jan Charouz, following a victory at the Nurburgring last weekend.
The crew lies seven points clear of the Pescarolo of Jean-Christophe Boullion and Christophe Tinseau, which retired from the race in Germany, and Enge says the team will be satisified with a fifth place finish - the minimum required to take the title.
"At the Nurburgring, to finish first with our car, which was very important to get 10 points for the championship, and second with our team-mates was something incredible that nobody could expect before the race," he said. "And also for the Pescarolo not to finish the race, so we are seven points ahead of them in the standings. We just need to score fifth place to secure the championship at Silverstone.
"If it had been like we thought it would, that we'd win at the Nurburgring and the Pescarolo would be maybe second, we would be one point behind - which would have made Silverstone more exciting for the spectators and for ourselves as well. But now we just need to make sure we drive with no mistakes to finish in the top five. It's great to be in the lead, though. We've worked very hard to get into this position."
Darren Turner, who finished second at the Nurburgring with team-mate Harold Primat, says the team will do all it can to ensure success in both the drivers' and constructors' championships.
"It's really good that the #007 car has the seven-point lead, but the Pescarolo went into the Nurburgring race with a lead and it turned around very quickly," he said.
"There could be an issue with our #007 car at Silverstone, so it's important for the team's effort that both cars take as many points away from our rivals as possible."
Autosport.com
