Young Driver AMR: Fourth in qualifying race

Young Driver AMR was very successful in the qualifying race of the inaugural FIA GT1 World Championship race at the Yas Marina Circuit at Abu Dhabi. Christoffer Nygaard (DK) and Stefan Mücke (D) delivered an excellent performance and finished fourth after starting the race from 20th position in the grid. The result left Mücke/Nygaard just one place short of our first championship points, as the top three qualifying cars each are awarded points that count in the World Championship.

Tomas Enge (CZ) and Darren Turner (GB) in the #7 DBR9 had bad luck as starting driver Enge was hit by a competitor in the first corner and had to return his GT1-machine to the pit with a blown tyre and damaged bodywork.

At the start of the qualifying race, Stefan Mücke was almost flying in the #8 Aston. Starting in 20th position, he quickly made his way forward and was already in 8th position by lap 4. He subsequently passed two other cars and handed over the Aston Martin to teammate Christoffer Nygaard in the 6th position midway trough the 60-minute race. In the second half of the race, Nygaard showed excellent form and climped another two positions, finally finished fourth in his first ever GT1 race. The World Championship Race will begin today at 19:45 local time/ 17.45 CET/ 4.45 pm GMT.

In the short break between qualifying race and championship race Young Driver AMR mechanics are busy repairing the #7 DBR9 of Darren Turner and Tomas Enge. Actually the two Aston Martin Racing affiliated teams show their strength and team spirit as Young Drivers sister team Hexis Racing have helped the Young Driver AMR squad with a supply of spare parts for the necessary bodywork repairs.

Result qualifying race:

1. Hennerici/Zuber Corvette
2. Mutsch/Grosjean Ford GT
3. Bertolini/Bartels Maserati
4. Nygaard/Mücke YD AMR-Aston Martin DBR9
5. Heger/Margaritis Maserati