Young Driver AMR: Silverstone Preview

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

This coming weekend the FIA GT1 World Championship series is in Great Britain for its European premiere at Silverstone (GB). From the heat and sand of the Arabian Desert the Young Driver AMR team and the drivers Stefan Mücke (Berlin) / Christoffer Nygaard (DK) and Darren Turner (GB) / Tomas Enge (CZ) are now on the green island of Britain. The second round of the FIA GT1 World Championship is at the newly renovated circuit around one hour north of London. The FIA GT1 World Championship starts with the race of the “Tourist Trophy” which is the first international racing series on the new Arena Circuit at Silverstone. The prestigious “Tourist Trophy” is the oldest trophy in international motorsport and the British Automobile Association RAC has awarded it since 1905.
For the Young Driver AMR car Aston Martin DBR9 the British championship round is a “home game”, as the 600-hp GT1 cars are made by Aston Martin Racing in Banbury around 30 minutes drive from Silverstone. But not only is the Aston Martin on home territory, because for both drivers of the # 7 car – Darren Turner and Tomas Enge – the British Championship Round is also a “home game”. The former Formula 1 test driver Turner lives in Banbury and our Le Mans Series champion Tomas Enge also lives in the area around the “Home of British Motor Racing”.
The preparation for first World Championship race on European soil has felt like a race before the race. Because of flight cancellations due to the volcanic ash the Young Driver AMR team returned four days later than planned from Abu Dhabi. So to prepare the two DBR9’s in the best way possible, the team boss Hardy Fisher choose the send both vehicles directly to the headquarters of Aston Martin Racing in Banbury, where they will both be prepped for an spectacular Silverstone weekend.
“After the late flight back home due to the volcanic ash, Young Driver AMR collected the cars in Luxembourg on Saturday and both vehicles were sent directly to England,” said team boss Hardy Fischer. “At Aston Martin Racing, we can prepare our vehicles for the race in the best possible way. We showed our potential at the premiere in Abu Dhabi with the fourth place in the Qualifier Race. Our vehicles seem ready and I am very optimistic, that we will have good results at Silverstone.”
Darren Turner is especially happy to have a “home” race and also to try out the Aston Martin DBR9 at the new Arena Circuit: “Silverstone has a completely different track layout than Abu Dhabi. Silverstone is one of the fastest on the calendar including lots of fast corners. There we can take advantage of the excellent aerodynamics of our DBR9. After the season opener in Abu Dhabi we now need to wait for FIAs decisions on the “Balance of Performance”, to see how our car is classified for the second race at Silverstone ”
Silverstone is not only home for the Aston Martin DBR9s and two of our drivers. It’s also the venue of past success for both car and drivers. The Aston Martin DBR9 won the “Tourist Trophy” here in 2005 – in its very first race in Europe. And a second win followed in 2008. Both Stefan Mücke and Tomas Enge drove had one of their greatest successes here last year at 1000km Silverstone Race as they won in the Lola-Aston Martin of Aston Martin Racing, while securing the drivers’ title of the Le Mans Series.
Schedule GT1 World Championship Silverstone: (All times local time – GMT)
Friday 30 April
09:40 to 11:00 – FIA GT1 World Championship – Free Practice
11:10 to 11:50 – GT4 European Cup – Free Practice
14:40 to 16:00 – FIA GT1 World Championship – Pre-qualifying
Saturday, May 1
10:45 to 11:45 – FIA GT1 World Championship – Qualifying
17:15 to 18:15 – FIA GT1 World Championship – Qualifying Race
Sunday, May 2
09:30 to 10:00 – FIA GT1 World Championship – Warm Up
11:00 to 11:30 – Pit Walk and Autograph Session
12:15 15:15 to 16:15 – FIA GT1 World Championship – Championship Race
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