Round 9 of the Aston Martin Asia Cup Saw Ringo Chong Take Victory In The F1 Singapore GP Support Event Whilst Mark Williamson Sealed The Championship

The 9th and final round of the 2009 Aston Martin Championship took place at Marina Bay in support of the Formula One Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday 27 September 2009. The setting could not have provided a better end of season crescendo as the title battle went down to the wire.

After qualifying the two Championship title contenders, Dilantha Malagamuwa (Dilango Racing) and Mark Williamson (Concord Motorsports) were level on points so everything was to play. However, it was to be local racer Ringo Chong, rejoining the series for his home event, who would lead the pack from pole position after a stunning qualifying lap saw him pip Malagamuwa into 2nd on the grid and Williamson into 3rd.

In warm and humid conditions, and with expectations high, the lights went to green with Chong making a strong start. As he led into the first corner, the Championship battle between Malagamuwa and Williamson got off to an electrifying start with Williamson just able to outdrag Malagamuwa to snatch 2nd place. For five laps the duo were nose to tail as Malagamuwa tried everything to get ahead of Williamson’s Concord Motorsports N24. On lap five, disaster struck for Malagamuwa when he went into a spin on Turn 14 after clipping the kerb. Falling back down the field, the Sri Lankan driver saw his title hopes slip away but he ably fought back for an 8th place finish.

Though the Championship title was grabbing attention, there was plenty of battles throughout the field to keep the crowd entertained. A tremendous scrap between Greg Teo (Singapore), George Ong (Singapore) and Eric Cheung (Canada) raged for the entire ten lap race. With Chong keeping command of the lead, the expectations of a home winner at this prestigious F1 support event was palpable, but there was further home grown excitement with the prospect of another Singaporean driver making the podium. Local driver Mok Weng Sun was in a fierce fight with Malaysia’s Tunku Hammam for the 3rd spot. It was on the last lap that Mok took advantage of Hammam running wide to dive into 3rd place which he just clung onto as the duo crossed the finishing line side-by-side.

The podium was one of pure elation. In taking the win, Chong described the moment as “making a childhood dream come true”. Chong’s understandable emotion for such a result at his home event was echoed by his countryman Mok Weng Sun who revelled in his 3rd place finish. Australia’s Mark Williamson was more than happy with his 2nd place which saw him take the 2009 Aston Martin Asia Cup Championship driver. His victory was loudly cheered by his Concord Motorsport team-mates Nasrat Muzayyin, Simon Waters and Ryan Marsden, who all enjoyed good finished at Marina Bay, with the added bonus the Singaporean based team were awarded the ‘Best Supporter Of Year’ trophy.

Whilst Malagamuwa could have been rueful over what may have been, he warmly accepted his position as 2009 Vice-Champion, a position he also took in 2008, and was gracious in defeat. Mark Williamson and Concord Motorsports proved themselves worthy Championship winners. A spectacular location lent itself to a fittingly spectacular end of season race.

AMR Teams

Stefan Muck and Harold Peimat will drive the solo Aston Martin Racing LMP1 Coupe at the Okayama Asian Le Mans Series races whilst Tomas Enge joins Hong Kong Racing in the Vantage GT2

Barwell Motorsport enjoyed a highly successful British GT series finale at Brands Hatch last weekend, ending the national season on a high note with another pole position to add to our tally. In a drama-packed weekend of racing, we dominated the first half of Saturday’s race with Andrew Howard posting a storming drive from pole position in his V12 Aston Martin DBRS9.

Race 1 – Saturday, 1-Hour (38 laps)

The highlight of Official Qualifying for us was undoubtedly the stunning pole position won by Andrew Howard in the first race session for the ‘non-pro’ drivers. Andrew has got better and better with every race he has done this year, and this pole position was the culmination of a season’s hard work. The Beechdean Ice Cream man revelled in the great high-speed balance of his 500bhp DBRS9 at the very fast and challenging Brands Grand Prix circuit, and actually posted two laps that were good enough for pole. In a nice touch for the Barwell team, his closest challenger came in the form of Leo’s Ginetta G50Z, which led to some interesting inter-team rivalry between the mechanics dedicated to each car..! Andrew’s pole also rounded off a very impressive little statistic for Barwell Motorsport’s 2009 season; it means that we have scored a pole position with every car we have run this year...adding the Ginetta G50Z in British GT, the Vincent Vosse/Eddy Renard-driven Aston Martin DBRS9 in Belgian GT, and the Mark Lemmer/ Mike Brown-driven Honda Integra in the Belgian Touring Car Series (class pole).

Andrew belied his lack of pole position starting experience by making the perfect getaway, and then confidently swooped through Paddock Hill Bend to lead a British GT race for the first time. Despite the pressure of having the entire grid snapping at his heels during the course of the opening lap he didn’t put a wheel wrong and, together with the Leo Machitski-driven Ginetta, started to open up a handy margin over the rest of the pack. Although he was a ‘first-timer’ in this situation at British GT level, Andrew put on a masterclass of how to lead a race. He got his head down, banged in a series of rapid laps in the 1m32s bracket, and pulled out a gap of seven seconds over the third placed Ascari of the Jones twins as early as lap 12.

The leaders started to hit the GT4 class backmarkers on lap 14, and unfortunately for both Andrew and Leo they got a slightly worse deal in lapping the traffic than the third-placed Ascari. This cut the lead of the two Barwell cars down to four seconds as the race entered the pit-stop phase for driver changes after 23 minutes. Andrew thus pitted on lap 16, but was forced to brake hard in the pit lane when the Ford GT was released from his pit stop right into the path of the Barwell-Beechdean Aston (the Ford then receiving a stop-go penalty for this action). Andrew’s fast reactions saved a collision but it had cost him a vital few seconds of time.

With the Jones Ascari benefiting from the Ginetta’s pit stop problems, this left them free to mount an attack on the leading Barwell-Beechdean Aston, now being piloted by Jamie Smyth. With the quicker Jones twin now at the wheel of the Ascari, he started to eat into Jamie’s lead by small margins as the race entered its second half. Smyth seemed to have the gap pegged at around the one second mark, but then on lap 25 he ran wide on the exit of Westfield bend and allowed the Ascari to sneak through. Sadly Jamie then also fell foul of the race officials as he was deemed to have overtaken a backmarker in a yellow flag ‘caution’ zone at Paddock Bend where a car had crashed off, and the challenge for a strong position was ended when he had to come back in to the pits to serve a 10-second ‘stop-go’ penalty.

GT3 Results – British GT Championship Round 13 – Brands Hatch
OVERALL CLASS
1st. 1st GT3 Jones/Jones Preci-Spark Ascari KZ1R
2nd. 2nd GT3 Burton/Wilcox VRS Ferrari 430 GT3
3rd. 3rd GT3 Lester/Simonsen Rosso Verde Ferrari 430 GT3
4th. 4th GT3 Scott/Wilkins ABG Motorsport Dodge Viper
5th. 1st INV GT3 Machitski/Quaife Barwell Motorsport Ginetta G50Z-Zytek
6th. 5th GT3 Cameron/Edmonds MTECH Ferrari 430 Scuderia
7th. 6th GT3 Warren/Hyman Chad Racing Ferrari 430 GT3
8th. 7th GT3 Walker/Mortimer Team RPM Ford GT3
9th. 8th GT3 Howard/Smyth ‘Barwell-Beechdean’ Aston Martin DBRS9

Race 2 – Sunday, 1-Hour (39 laps)

Jamie had made a solid start and was running well in seventh place, right on the coat tails of the Jones Ascari and the Scott Viper. This trio had been maintaining a good pace just a little bit back from the fourth-place Ginetta, but by lap 10 the Viper’s pace started to fade away and he was becoming a mobile chicane. The Ascari managed to find a way past after a couple of laps of trying, but Jamie then got firmly stuck behind the big American machine. The Viper’s grunt just managed to keep it out of the Aston Martin driver’s reach at the end of the straights, and thus Jamie and the Barwell crew could only look on in frustration as we slipped back a further eight seconds behind the Ascari.

In an attempt to get Andrew out in some clean air and try and jump the Viper, we called Jamie in slightly early on lap 20, and the Beechdean man blasted out of the pits for his last drive of the 2009 British season. He certainly put every ounce of energy he had into trying to get another podium finish, and him and Leo were the fastest drivers on the track in the second half of the race. Although our tactics had paid off and allowed Andrew to circulate in some clean air, unfortunately we just missed out on leapfrogging the Viper, and so Andrew now had the same problem as Jamie. With the Ascari and any hope of a podium disappearing up the road, Andrew was trying to launch attacks on the Wilkins-driven Viper everywhere. Unfortunately as he attempted to line up a pass for the exit of Paddock Bend on lap 29, he left his braking too late and nerfed the Viper into a spin. It was a completely unintentional move, and Andrew later received a rap on the knuckles from the race officials for his actions.

He then regrouped after the contact with the Viper and quickly dealt with the Walker-driven Ford GT. His next goal was to set about closing down the gap to the Jones Ascari, and he took on this challenge with relish. For lap after lap Andrew kept on pushing and relentlessly surged closer and closer to the back of the championship-leading Ascari. In an incredible charge he had closed the gap down from 14 seconds to only two in 10 laps, but he just ran out of time to claim third spot out of the GT3 points-scorers.

This was a great way to end the British season, and further testament to the terrific hard work and skills of the Barwell Motorsport squad. This year we have entered six British GT events and 11 races (including 22 starts across 3 cars), claimed two pole positions and three race wins, and we have not suffered any retirements whatsoever due to mechanical failure !


GT3 Results – British GT Championship Round 14 – Brands Hatch
OVERALL CLASS
1st. 1st INV GT3 Machitski/Quaife Barwell Motorsport Ginetta G50Z-Zytek
2nd. 1st GT3 Lester/Simonsen Rosso Verde Ferrari 430 GT3
3rd. 2nd GT3 Burton/Wilcox VRS Ferrari 430 GT3
4th. 3rd GT3 Jones/Jones Preci-Spark Ascari KZ1R
5th. 4th GT3 Howard/Smyth ‘Barwell-Beechdean’ Aston Martin DBRS9
6th. 5th GT3 Walker/Mortimer Team RPM Ford GT3
7th. 6th GT3 Cameron/Edmonds MTECH Ferrari 430 Scuderia
8th. 7th GT3 Warren/Hyman Chad Racing Ferrari 430 GT3

AMR Teams
AMR

Paul Ricard HTTT is the home circuit for the Hexis Racing AMR team, who will be hoping for better luck in the South of France than they had at the Autódromo Internacional Algarve. Round 4 winner Frederic Makowiecki describes a lap of the 5.8km circuit in his nr4 Hexis Racing AMR Aston Martin DBRS9

"I like Paul Ricard now with a new track, which is incredible. The circuit is very interesting because we have different parts with slow corners and a long fast straight followed by two quick corners. This is the reason I like this track and it is very important to have a good set up.

"Coming across the line you arrive at the first chicane in 6th gear, dropping down to 3rd for the corner, braking at around 100 metres. We brake very late to keep the speed for the next part of the circuit. After the next chicane we have a very long corner at Saint-Beaurne which is very difficult because the car understeers here. Staying in 3rd gear the corner opens up on the exit. It is important to get the set up for the entry of the corner as it will try to go to the outside of the track and you must stay in the middle to get a good exit.

"The next corner at L'ecole is very short which is normally flat but if you make an error here you can end up in the wall here, so it is difficult but not really a big problem, you just need to be clean in this corner. We arrive at the next corner, which is the Chicane in the middle of the Mistral Straight, at aroudn 230kph. The Chicane is taken in 2nd gear, moving up to 3rd at the exit and it is important to get a good exit to carry the speed for the rest of the Straight.

"After the Mistral we arrive at Signes in 6th gear, maybe in 5th, at around 190kph. This is a difficult part of the circuit because after we take the corner we lose some of the braking before the next turn at Beausset. Beausset is a little bit like the second chicane, taken in 3rd gear we arrive at around 200kph, dropping to around 150kph in the corner. The next corner at Bendor is long but slow and is important to prepare for the exit.

"The next corner at Village is flat and is no problem, which leads to the very long left corner at Tour. Arriving at 170 or 180kph, braking and dropping to 3rd gear and then down to 2nd gear for the last corner at Virage du Pont, which is a short right hand turn which takes you back onto the start-finish straight.

"The Paul Ricard circuit is very smooth and you can use the kerbs but they are very aggressive, so you have to be careful. There are four maybe five places to overtake on this track. At the first Chicane is a good place if you have very good traction out of the corner. The second chicane is also a place to overtake as it is easy for a driver to make a mistake and present an opportunity. The chicane in the middle of the Mistral Straight is also a good place. The track is very wide and smooth and there are opportunities to overtake at most places. It is a great circuit and I'm looking forward to the two races."
AMR Teams

The weather was mild all weekend long in England for the last round of the 2009 Le
Mans Series at Silverstone, and even though clouds appeared in the sky on Sunday
morning, they didn’t prevent SPEEDY RACING TEAM SEBAH from standing on the
podium for both of their cars.

The first free practice session started smoothly for the #13 Lola-Aston Martin LMP1,
driven by Andrea Belicchi, Marcel Fässler and Nicolas Prost, even though a broken
damper interrupted their set-up work schedule. After the team quickly changed the
faulty part, the beautiful British car was soon back on track to find the best race setup.
Andrea Belicchi set the fourth fastest time in qualifying, which demonstrated that
SPEEDY RACING TEAM SEBAH worked in the right way for the race. Moreover, the
crew posted the second fastest lap during the warm-up, and confirmed the car’s
potential.
Andrea Belicchi had a good start to the race and fought for the lead with two of the
works Lola-Aston Martins, as well as the pole-sitting Oreca car. These four cars took
turns in the lead one after the other, depending on the pit-stops. Nicolas Prost then
took over in the #13 and drove a faultless double-stint. He took the lead when he
boldly passed the #007 Lola-Aston Martin into Stowe Corner. Emerging from the
pitlane in fourth place after a pit-stop to hand over to Marcel Fässler, it was not long
before the #13 car was back in the lead of the race. Marcel consolidated the lead
with his fast pace, but unfortunately the team were instructed by the race officials to
make an unscheduled pit-stop to replace a damaged bodywork louver a few laps
before crossing the finish line. Despite a short pit-stop to carry out the repair, the car
finished second, whereas a great victory had been within reach.

Andrea Belicchi: “We could finish the race and we would have won it without this
small problem. We have been fast all along the season. Second place is a good
result, and I am happy.”

Marcel Fässler: “I am disappointed because I think that we could have won this race,
but second place is still a good result. We demonstrated that, had the car been
reliable, we would have clinched a good result at each race. I would have settled for
second place at the beginning of the weekend, but as a race driver, I always want
more! Especially because the victory was so close.”

Nicolas Prost: “We had a great race with a strong performance from all the drivers
and we lose the race because of a technicality. This is life, but it is hard to swallow at
the moment. The car and the Michelin tires were great, as well as our strategy. We
did better than we were expecting because our pace during the free practice and
qualifying sessions has not been good. We were there at the end.”

sebah-racing.com
AMR Teams

Andrew Howard's Beechdean Aston Martin and Allan Simonsen's Rosso Verde Ferrari shared the pole honours this afternoon (Sat) at Brands Hatch in qualifying for the concluding rounds of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship.

Howard's 1m 31.393s lap of the Brands Grand Prix circuit was more than a tenth of a second fastest than anyone else could manage in the first qualifying session, and brought Howard his first-ever British GT pole. It was a double celebration for the Barwell Motorsport team, for their Invitation Class Ginetta G50Z, in the hands of Leo Machitski, went second fastest.

"The Aston was made for this circuit," said a delighted Howard. "It's an Aston track and the car is just awesome around here..."

British GT
AMR Tems

Aston Martin has revealed that work is already underway on its own LMP1 prototype for the 2011 Le Mans 24 hours.
Aston Martin Chairman David Richards confirmed last weekend that AMR had pushed the button on the much talked about project.
Work started in earnest during the summer on a successor to this year’s reworked Lola coupe, which competed in the 24 Hours and last weekend sealed the Le Mans Series title at Silverstone.

“We have had our design team working on it for two months “said Richards. “Most the initial CFD work has already been done we have brought good design people onboard and we have partnership with Formula 1 Teams.”
Aston Martin and AMR will develop their own engine to replace the six litre V12 that powered its coupes this season “we know what we think is the right thing to do is,”
Richards insisted that finance is already in place for AMR to produce its own car in the future.
“That’s no problem,” he said “We have sponsorship agreements”

Richards explained that AMR is in the process of putting together a three year plan for its motor sport activities. He said that it was important to “stop looking from year to year”.
“We have made no secret of the fact that we want to build a complete car ourselves, but we want to do it properly so we need a proper plan,” he said “That’s one of the reasons why we are looking at 2011.”

AMR had looked at building its own car for next season. It decided to focus on 2011 after the ACO revealed the 2010 Le Mans engine rules last month.
AMR team principle George Howard-Chappell said: “We are far enough down the line with the design that we could have done it for this year if the petrol/diesel equivalence had been sensible. Clearly this is not the case.”
Howard-Chappell explained that the first draft of the 2011 engine rules issued late last year is more favourable to petrol powered cars than those now firmed up for next year.
A plan on where AMR will race next year has yet to be decided. The best case scenario, according to Richard would be for AMR to sell its fleet of Lola-Aston Martins and focus on its new car. “We would like to see them in private hands, which would allow us to get on with developing our own 2011 car” he said “There is a lot of interest from people wanting to race our cars”
AMR Teams

The Aston Martin Asia Cup (AMAC) returns with pride to support
the Formula One Singapore Grand Prix. Last year’s race saw the
Aston martin Asia Cup, in its debut year, thrill spectators with an
exciting battle with drivers from Asia and beyond plus a former
Formula One Star!

The 2009 Season So Far…
The Aston Martin Asia Cup comes to Marina Bay with eight
thrilling rounds under its belt. This year has seen some titanic
battles, none more so than for the Championship lead which is
currently a duel between Mark Williamson, of Concord Motorsport
and last year’s vice-Champion Dilantha Malagamuwa, of Dilango
Racing. These epic races have taken place across Asia and in a first for AMAC, included the series’ first night race
in support of the Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race (MMER) at Sepang, Malaysia, last month. Throughout the
field there has been exciting and entertaining racing.
Whilst the battle for the Championship is sure to be the forefront of
their minds, neither contender can rule out the threat from the many
other able drivers who’ll be looking to mark their mark on this
prestigious event in Singapore. The home spectators will have no
fewer than six drivers to support in the race. Amongst these is Ringo
Chong, a podium finisher in last year’s race who will be keen to
repeat the feat. Mel Choo, whose 2009 season has seen him add the
might of the Mosler in Super GT to his racing credentials, will be
eager for home glory. A welcome returnee to the AMAC grid is Mok
Weng Sun, his Team PCS Racing have such honours as winning the
MMER in 2008.
It could be said Singapore have six and a bit to support in AMAC with Nasrat Muzayyin’s Singaporean team,
Concord Motorsport, fielding a total of 4 cars including Williams’ Championship contender. From further afield
Canada’s Eric Cheung is making great grounds in his first full year of AMAC racing whilst Frenchman Jean-Marc
Merlin will be looking to add a little magic. Malaysia is represented by Tunku Hammam, who already has a race
win to his credit this season. Hong Kong is represented by Andrew Luk and Frank Yu.
www.astonmartin-asiacup.com
AMR Teams

Villois Racing heads to Magny CoursAfter the long summer break, due to the cancellation of the race in on the Valencia street circuit in August, the International GT Open restarts on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 September.

The race will see a battle for the drivers’ and teams’ titles between Swiss team Kessel Racing and the Piedmont Aston Martin team Villois Racing.

The setting for this battle is Magny Cours in France. The circuit is very fast and offers lots of places to overtake giving spectators an unforgettable view.

Villois is currently ranked first in the teams’ championship with a 14 point lead. The Villois drivers are second in the drivers’ championship, 10 points behind the leaders. With 60 points up for grabs in the last six races of the season anything is possible.

At the wheel of the beautiful number 61 DBRS9 GT3 will be Wiser and Lancieri with Petrini and Guerrero partnering in the 62 car.

The team and drivers have been preparing carefully for the race and the desire to win is very strong.

The team welcomes a new partner – Milano Distribuzione which is a young company active in painting and applied technologies. Milano Distribuzione offers customers a wide range of services, products, equipment, advice and training courses, drawing on the experience gained by its founders. A common factor of innovation and a desire to win links Milano Distribuzione and Villois Racing, leading to the collaboration which will evolve as the partnership grows and matures.

www.astonmartinracing.com
www.villois.com/
AMR Teams

With the LMS title already in the bag for Luc Alphand Aventures Corvette C6.Rm was there really going to be much of a race for the LMS fans in GT1?

Qualifying said it all: with barely a tenth separating the grid, there was no lack of competitive fight on the cards. The Larbre Saleen S7R Ford was 7/100th ahead of the Gigawave Motorspots Aston Martin DBR9, which edged out the Corvette by 1/10th. As ever with endurance racing, the question was, would the last the distance?

At 11.37 BST the engines fired up with that particular combination of growls and howls so utterly characteristic of LMS, with LMP1's, 2's & Prototypes and GT1's and 2's sending rumbling shock waves through the grandstand as they prepared for the warm up lap.

Ryan Sharp took the first stint and immediately the pack came back in sight of the Start/Finish for the rolling start, the young Scotsman charged down on the Saleen declaring his intent

Closing the gap, Ryan pitted after the first hour to hand over to Peter Kox for a double stint With a brilliant display of commitment and verve, Peter overhauled the Saleen and used every single one of his 600 horses to increase the gap to a lap by the time he handed back to Ryan at the half way point at just after 3 hours in to the race.

Another disciplined, pointed performance by the young Scot gave not an inch of his lead away.

With a pitstop in hand and a flawless drive Ryan Sharp handed the lead back to Peter Kox. But Peter was determined to leave no doubters in his wake and extended his advantage first by one and then by 2 laps until pitting. Coming out of the pits the Flying Dutchman pressed on and magnificently held a one lap advantage to the finish line taking Gigawave MotorSport to its first First.

Team Principal Nigel Stepney said, "It was a well earned victory in a competitive field where nearly every starter went the full distance. Peter and Ryan drove measured, commanding stints and the team never missed a beat.”

Reflecting on a season when the Team has been busy as the deployment partner of Nismo for the Nissan GT-R, Stepney continued: "We've come to expect this level of performance from Steve (Hagger, team manager) and the crew but we always said that some of our podiums could have been ewe better. Today we did it and it felt pretty good. Tomorrow, we start again. It's been great to get the Aston out again but we're back to the business of developing the GT-R for the remainder of the season."
AMR Teams

Drayson Racing had a truly bittersweet weekend culminating with today's running of the Autosport 1000km of Silverstone. The event brought the highest practice, qualifying and race-running results ever enjoyed by the British team whilst running the Aston Martin Vantage GT2. However, with two hours remaining in the six hour event, a call from driver Paul Drayson (London/Gloucestershire, UK) would cause the British team to leave in frustration. The declaration of "I've lost drive" crackled over the radio. After a diligent effort to resolve the issue in the car's drivetrain, Team Manager Dale White (Bozeman, MT, USA) called an end to the day for Drayson and co-driver Jonny Cocker (Guisborough, Yorks, UK). The chequered flag brought not only unfinished business in the 1,000km race but also ended the team's first Le Mans Series season and its two-year development effort of the No. 87 Drayson Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT2 as well.

The drivetrain failure would foil another strong run by the UK-based operation. Cocker made a remarkable start moving from sixth on the grid, the team's best-ever starting position with the Vantage GT2, to as high as second in class. The young Brit was running comfortably in the top-three of the class when a puncture to the left-rear tyre forced an early pit stop for replacement. The stop dropped the two-time British GT Champion back to 12th. It was then that the gearbox became increasingly difficult to shift. The sequential-shift transmission necessitated more and more force to engage each gear. Though the drivers were able to adapt, the shifting issue was a potential harbinger of the failure to come. Adding insult to injury, Paul Drayson was struck twice by prototypes during the race, one of which pushed him off course causing damage to the left rear of the car. Cocker was also hit during the race. None of the contact is believed to have caused the drivetrain malfunction. Despite the trials, the team worked itself back into sixth position when the final failure occurred.

Drayson and Cocker each had their best results in the free practices leading-up to race day. The No. 87 set the third and fourth best time in the first two practice sessions, respectively. Cocker's flying lap in qualifying set the high-water mark for the programme in time trials with the Vantage. His second-place running position early in today's event was an all-time high for the Vantage in GT2 configuration.


Quotes


Paul Drayson, Driver/Owner:

"I am disappointed we had another technical failure on the car but, on the other hand, we have shown today the true pace of the Vantage and the team. So, to end the Le Mans Series having run as high as P2 is a good feeling. After all the on track incidents during the race the car was tough to drive. We fought back to sixth-place and were heading for a good result when I felt the drive go as I exited Priory corner during my second stint. I managed to coast the car back to the pits but that was the end of the race for us. I will miss the Vantage. It's a beautiful car and great fun to race. "


Jonny Cocker, Driver:

"Fantastic start to the race. Again managed to make a few places up straight away. Got myself up into P4 off the start then the JMW car spun which put us into third-place. By then we had the prototypes passing us and I managed to gain some time on the Melo car. I caught and passed the Modena Ferrari and up into P2 which is obviously a fanatic result for us; proving to everyone we are getting the most from what we have. Unfortunately, we picked-up a puncture at about 40 minutes into my stint which means we lost a lot of time to the leaders. The car was difficult to drive but we managed OK. We got back up into P6 but unfortunately Paul had the problem early in the fourth stint which led to the retirement. Fantastic for everyone around to see us up in P2 early in the race. It was really nice to do that at our home circuit. I'm really excited to be driving the P1 car at Atlanta but, even though the car has had its problems, the GT2 car is a nice car and it might be nice to have another go at it in the future."


Dale White, Team Manager:

"It's the end of an era. I was there for our first race with the Vantage GT2 and I was here for our last. I only wish we had ended on a happier note. We are proud of the development we've done with this programme and would like to help a team continue it. I believe the car has a lot of potential, as we showed again today."

To visit the official web site of Drayson Racing, please go to www.draysonracing.com.
To learn more about Aston Martin Racing, please proceed to www.astonmartinracing.com.
For more on the Le Mans Series, please visit www.lemans-series.com.
Drayson racing supports the Science: So What? So Everything! campaign aimed at raising the profile of science and the part it plays in our day-to-day lives. To find out more visit sciencesowhat.direct.gov.uk.
AMR Teams

Team DXB arrived in Barcelona at the Circuit de Catalunya in a buoyant mood with thier class winning Vantage GT4, a great pit crew, and professional driver Rob Barff who would double up as coach for the weekend.

Qualifying gave an indication of the challenge ahead, the pole setting car setting in a 1:58 against the Vantage GT4s 11th position time of 2:03.

The leading cars were slightly slower in race trim and the Vantage proved faster once all drivers were dialled in. After the first few hours the Vantage GT4 had moved up to eighth.

The main drama of the weekend came in the early hours of Sunday morning when the Vantage GT4 suffered a problem with the left front wheel bearing. Barff managed to maintain control of the car and brought the car back to the pits where the DXB crew replaced the bearing, hub, calliper, disk and bled the system in less than 10 minutes – fantastic work.

The Aston ran faultlessly after this and the team encountered no other serious problems throughout the race snatching 10th position on the final corner of the race.

In summary, it was a great experience both on and off track. The local teams and officials were fantastic hosts and welcomed the team warmly to a predominantly Spanish event, as did the crowds and marshals who delighted at the sight and sound of the V8 Aston Martin race car at full revs down the straight.

The DXB driver line included Frederic Gaillard, Julian Griffin, Jonathan Simmonds & Rob Barff who will also be joining team DXB for the Dubai 24hrs.

DXB Racing is a professional Motorsports services provider and the dedicated racing division of NFS Dubai, a Dubai based automotive engineering and tuning boutique.
AMR Teams

Aston Martin Racing - 2009 Le Mans Series ChampionAston Martin Racing is crowned the 2009 Le Mans Series champion claiming the Team and Driver titles 50 years on from Aston Martin winning the World Sportscar Championship in 1959 with the DBR1.

The 007 Gulf liveried LMP1 car of Jan Charouz (CZ), Tomáš Enge (CZ) and Stefan Mücke (DE) finished third in the final round of the Le Mans Series, the Autosport 1000km at Silverstone, recording their fifth podium finish from five races.

The 009 car of Harold Primat (CH) and Darren Turner (GB) finished fourth, narrowly missing the podium. The third Aston Martin Racing entry of Chris Buncombe (GB), Stuart Hall (GB) and Miguel Ramos (PT) finished 13th after suffering a technical problem early in the race.

The trio of Gulf liveried Aston Martins made a clean start to the 195 lap race which commenced with a rolling start at 11:35. Mücke took the lead across the start line in 007, Turner held third in 009 and Buncombe gained a place moving up to sixth in the 008 Aston Martin.

All three drivers settled in for a double stint behind the wheel of their respective Aston Martins. Mücke held first position until just under an hour into the race when he was overtaken and dropped back to second.

At the third round of pit stops Mücke handed the reigns of 007 to Charouz, Buncombe switched with Ramos in 008 and Primat took over from Turner in 009. The race was trouble free for the British team until just after 2pm when Ramos reported a problem in his 008 Aston Martin. A faulty air conditioning compressor was the cause and the Aston Martin Racing pit crew worked quickly, replacing the unit and enabling 008 to rejoin the race 20 minutes later with Hall at the wheel.

The race lead changed several times over the first half of the race with the top five cars all on different pit stop strategies, but at the three hour mark the Aston Martins were running second (007), fourth (009) and 24th (008) overall.

Hall set about working his way back up the pack, gaining 12 places and handing the 008 Aston Martin to Ramos in 12th place after a double stint.

Charouz in the 007 and Primat in the 009 also displayed strong performances during their double stints in the middle of the race.

Unfortunately there were quicker cars on the track today and Enge in 007, Ramos in 008 and Turner in 009 had their work cut out in the final third of the race.

All three drivers had trouble free runs with 007 and 009 pitting briefly in the closing stages of the race requiring a splash of fuel each for the final laps before the trio of Aston Martins crossed the finish line.

The final race of the series was completed in 5hrs 30mins which is quicker than usual, this was partly due to the fact that there were no safety car periods in a largely incident free race.

Team Principal, George Howard-Chappell: “This is a perfect end to what has been an incredible season for Aston Martin Racing. Full credit to the team and drivers who have worked tirelessly. Thanks to the dedication of the team the cars have been reliable all year.

“We have received an amazing welcome at every round of the series from Barcelona where we notched up our first win, to Spa where the 007 crew started from the back to finish on the podium. Portugal was a tough race for our car but again we achieved a podium finish and then Nürburgring was a dream race with all three Aston Martins finishing on the podium. To end the season on the podium at our home race where the support for the team has been fantastic is really the icing on the cake and I would like to thank all of our partners and sponsors for their support throughout the year.”

Aston Martin Chairman, David Richards:” It’s fantastic that 50 years on from Aston Martin winning the World Sports Car Championship Aston Martin Racing has triumphed again, winning the Le Mans Series. It really is an impressive result and I am extremely proud of the whole team.”

DRIVER QUOTES 007
Jan Charouz (CZ): “Amazing! It’s a very good feeling. We have worked hard all season and then it finally happened today and we won the championship. We had a conservative strategy and at one point it didn’t look like we would finish on the podium but we managed to finish third which was a great achievement as the opposition were very strong.”

Tomáš Enge (CZ): “We have been on the podium at every race and that is a credit to the team and the reliability of the car. The car running without problems and the drivers not making any mistakes was the key to winning the championship and I am very proud to have played my part in this victory for the team and for Aston Martin.”

Stefan Mücke (D): “I am very happy, I think for me it is my greatest success. It is great for Aston Martin and for us as a team of three drivers; we have finished every race on the podium which is a really amazing achievement.”

DRIVER QUOTES 008
Chris Buncombe (GB): “It was a great result for the team and despite the problem with our car being a British driver it was really good to race for a great British marque like Aston Martin here at Silverstone.”

Stuart Hall (GB): “Obviously it was disappointing to have the problem with the car as I think we were as high as sixth at one point but it was great for me to have all of my family and friends here supporting me and to be driving an Aston Martin at the home of British motor racing - Silverstone.”

Miguel Ramos (PT): “I had my best feeling in the car at this race. It is a shame that we had the problem and lost 20 minutes in the pits because the on-track result doesn’t reflect how happy I am with the way I felt in the car today.”

DRIVER QUOTES 009
Harold Primat (CH): “We just missed the podium because we needed a splash of fuel at the end to get us through the last two laps. This was because of a puncture I suffered right at the end of my last stint. So that is a little bit frustrating but we have finished in a solid fourth place in the Championship and team finished first and fourth which is fantastic considering it is our first year.”

Darren Turner (GB): “I’m really pleased for the team. It’s great that 007 won the Championship and we also had a good finish to the season in the 009 Aston Martin. The result is a credit to everyone who is part of the Aston Martin Racing team.”

In the GT1 class, Peter Kox and Ryan Sharp finished first in their Gigawave Motorsport Aston Martin DBR9.

Although the 2009 Le Mans Series has reached its conclusion, Aston Martin Racing now heads to the inaugural Asian Le Mans Series race meeting in Okayama, Japan on the 31 October and 1 November.

009 AMR - Lola Aston Martin 1st (LMP1)

007 AMR - Lola Aston Martin 2nd (LMP1)

13 Speedy Racing Team Sebah - Lola Aston Martin 8th (LMP1)

008 AMR - Lola Aton Martin 11th (LMP1)

25 Gigawave DBR9 2nd (GT1)

87 Drayspon Racing Vantage 7th (GT2)

Silverstone, 9 September, 2009. Aston Martin Racing heads to Silverstone for the final round of the 2009 Le Mans Series on 13 September. Works driver Darren Turner takes us for a lap of the Northamptonshire circuit, the home of British motor racing, in the stunning Gulf-liveried Aston Martin LMP1.

“I really enjoy racing in the Le Mans Series. One of the great things about it is the different classes all in the same race (LMP1, LMP2, GT1 and GT2), so there is always a lot of overtaking. We had a great result for Aston Martin with a 1-2-3- in Germany on 23 August and that has set up my colleagues in the 007 car with a great opportunity to take the title at Silverstone. We’ll certainly be doing all we can to help Stefan (Mücke), Tomáš (Enge) and Jan (Charouz) to take the win and the championship.

“Running three cars again at Silverstone means that there will only be Harold Primat and me in 009. I imagine that I’ll do the first two hours and then get back into the car for another two-hour stint to the finish. Hard work, but I love it.

“Silverstone is definitely one of the best circuits in the world. It has a great combination of medium and high-speed sections that are a rarity at circuits these days, as well as the more technical, second-gear corners. It is definitely great fun to race at Silverstone in something as fast and powerful as the Aston Martin LMP1 car, especially through the fast, flowing sections.

“Silverstone is also the last race of our season so there will be a good atmosphere. It is always great to race at home on a circuit you know well. I am looking forward to the weekend and having lots of family, friends and personal sponsors around.”

COPSE
“Copse is a very fast corner. You’ll probably find a few people in qualifying trying to go through there in sixth, but it is likely to be fifth gear for most. You have a small window to get the turning point right and carry good apex speed as you can’t see the apex. Thankfully it opens out, but we can’t really run wide and over the rumble strips, like some people do, as the LMP1 car has minimal ground clearance so we have to be tidy.”

BECKETTS
“The Becketts complex is probably the best combination in the world. You go in flat out and then it is a delicate balance of gradually reducing speed until the last right hander while making sure you can get a good exit onto the Hangar Straight. You could probably carry more speed through all the turns but that would compromise your exit. There is obviously quite a performance differential between the different Le Mans Series classes, so you are constantly overtaking throughout the lap. Silverstone has some good long straights, like Hangar, where we can blast past the slower cars at up to 190mph (at Le Mans, where we set the cars up with less downforce, the Aston Martin will reach up to 220mph). But the track is so wide at Silverstone that you can also overtake around the outside through many of the turns that can be quite spectacular – if a little hairy off the racing line.”

STOWE, VALE, CLUB
“Stowe is a challenging, fast corner that drops away after the apex but the camber helps you. If you get a good exit you can slingshot down the inside of people to overtake into Vale before you hit Club.

“Club is a compromise and another challenging corner. I always have the feeling I could have done it better but when I try something different it is no quicker. You have to short shift to keep the traction under control.”

ABBEY
“Abbey is a corner I really like. You can see the BRDC farm and the grandstand ahead of you. Here we can run a good amount of the car over the curbs and carry a fair amount of speed in third to make sure you get a good exit through Bridge.”

BRIDGE, PRIORY, BROOKLANDS AND LUFFIELD
“Bridge is a fast right that you just lift through in fifth before it takes you into ‘the complex’, the slowest section of the track. You can line yourself up on the exit and keep your speed up to force yourself up the inside for a pass going into Priory.

“Priory is a difficult corner with a blind apex over the top of a crest. But it’s an exciting place to overtake. You have to commit yourself fully to make sure you are right up alongside, or slightly in front of, the other car so that they can see you before they turn in.

“With enough grip you can also make a dash up the inside into Brooklands and get high on the curb. This slower section can be a bit awkward with the GT2 cars. Some of them have great traction and you can end up having to fight them off through here. You dive from Brooklands to hug the inside line around Luffield where the grip tends to be better.”

WOODCOTE
“The exit from Luffield is very important to make sure you get a good blast through Woodcote and onto the start finish straight. It’s a very wide entry but then narrows past the pit lane where you have no real time to look at your pit board – especially if you are at the far end. The line in the dry or wet is very different through Woodcote, probably because of all the painted lines that can make the car kick about in the wet. In the dry it’s an easy corner but much more challenging when it’s wet.”

AMR Teams

Fresh from its incredible podium clean sweep at the ADAC Nürburgring 1000km in August, Aston Martin Racing heads to the final round of the 2009 Le Mans Series (LMS); the Autosport 1000km of Silverstone on 13 September to compete for the LMS Driver and Team titles.

After claiming first, second and third in Germany, the team is looking forward to concluding the series it currently leads at its home race, Silverstone. Less than 30 miles from the Aston Martin and Aston Martin Racing headquarters, the 3.2 mile Northamptonshire circuit should suit the V12 Aston Martin powered LMP1 car with its great combination of medium and high-speed sections.

2009 is a special year for the British marque as it celebrates a historic racing achievement. In 1959 Aston Martin won the World Sportscar Championship with the DBR1. 50 years on, Aston Martin Racing’s three Gulf liveried LMP1 challengers seek to emulate this success.

The 007 Aston Martin and its drivers head to Silverstone seven points clear in the Team and Driver Championships. However, with one point for pole position and 10 points awarded for the win there is everything to play for.

“After the team’s outstanding result at the Nürburgring, we head to our home race with confidence but also realism. Undoubtedly we are in a strong position but the Team and Driver Championships are by no means secure and we still have six hours of extremely tough racing against very strong opposition to get through,” said Team Principal, George Howard-Chappell. He added: “That said, the circuit should suit our car and is well known to our drivers. I’m sure we will have a huge amount of support from the British fans too so we are looking forward to the race.”

The driving squad for Silverstone will remain the same as at the Nürburgring where all eight of the Aston Martin Racing drivers were on the podium. In 007, Jan Charouz (CZ), Tomáš Enge (CZ) and Stefan Mücke (DE) will be hoping to secure enough points to win the Team and Driver titles.
In the 008 car, British drivers Chris Buncombe and Stuart Hall will partner with Portuguese driver Miguel Ramos.

In the 009 Aston Martin, Darren Turner (GB) and Swiss driver Harold Primat will share the wheel, hoping to match or better their second place finish at the Nürburgring.

Aston Martin Racing will utilise the three one-hour practice sessions on Friday and Saturday to hone the set-up for the 195 lap race which takes place on Sunday from 11:35 until approximately 17:35. Qualifying for the race takes place on Saturday at 14:10

HEXIS Racing AMR wishes to inform that it is more determined than ever

This weekend in Portimao the team will be more focused than ever and determined to achieve its twin goals for the season, which are to win both the Drivers’ and Teams’ FIA GT3 European championships.

FIA GT3 European Championships’ provisional standings after 6 races :

Pilotes / Drivers :
1er Julien Rodrigues/Thomas Accary (Aston Martin DBRS9 HEXIS Racing AMR)
2ème Manu Robrigues/Frédéric Makowiecki (Aston Martin DBRS9 HEXIS Racing AMR)

Competing in the sixth round of the Britcar Championship held on Norfolk’s Snetterton circuit, Nicholas Mee Racing experienced its first disappointment of the season during the 4-hour endurance race but still earned a worthy 3rd place in the Aston Martin Challenge to maintain a healthy series* lead.

Due to regular driver Karsten Le Blanc being unavailable for the race at Snetterton, NMR welcomed two new drivers to team up with NMR’s other regular, Christiaen van Lanschot: experienced GT driver Ben de Zille Butler and Aston Martin historic racer David Clark.

All three drivers shared the Saturday morning’s short qualifying session with de Zille Butler setting the fastest time, qualifying the NMR Aston Martin GT4 in 18th overall and 3rd of the four AM Challenge contenders entered.

The rolling start passed without incident and van Lanschot made good progress up the leaderboard before being given a drive-through penalty for cutting the technically challenging last corner. This cost the team around 30 seconds but van Lanschot made up for this setback during his 80 minute stint and handed over to newcomer de Zille Butler while in 13th overall and 2nd of the AM Challenge contenders.

The second stint contained a scheduled pitstop for fuel and tyres and, after posting consistently rapid lap times to build a clear lead over the other AM contenders, de Zille Butler pitted for the second time with 80 minutes of the race remaining while in 9th place overall to hand over to third driver Clark.

Having not driven at Snetterton for over 10 years, Clark steadily settled into his stint with the knowledge that he was defending NMR’s AM Challenge lead from the hard-charging Calum Lockie of the Strata 21 team.

With just 15 minutes of the race remaining and while in 10th position overall, NMR’s car suffered an apparent electrical failure which caused Clark to stop out on the circuit. Efforts to restart the car were unsuccessful and so NMR’s race ended there.

Team Principal Nicholas Mee said, “Everyone in the team did a fantastic job and so we’re obviously all disappointed that we’ve not collected full points and maintained our 100% race reliability record. However, we’re consoled by our solid pace being sufficient for 13th overall and 3rd in the AM Challenge, which in turn means that our healthy lead in the AM series is maintained”.

NMR is now preparing for the biggest challenge of the season; the Britcar 500 6-hour race to be held at Silverstone on October 3rd

AMR Teams