Young Driver AMR: Fourth in qualifying race
Saturday, May 01, 2010
The #7 Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin DBR9 of Darren Turner (GB) and Tomas Enge (CZ) finished fourth in today’s qualifying race in Silverstone and gave Young Driver AMR a good starting position for Sunday’s Championship Race. Stefan Mücke and Christoffer Nygaard in the #8 Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin had back luck, when Nygaard was hit by a competitor at the start of the race which caused a blown tire.
Although Darren Turner and Tomas Enge were faced with two major setbacks in form of a drive trough and a stop & go penalty, the British/Czech Duo finished in a very good fourth position. Enge started from the pole position in the first round of the GT1 World Championship on European soil, and held a clear lead. But when the former Formula One driver drove into the pits for the mandatory driver change, he crossed the white line of the pit entry and was subsequently penalised with a stop and go penalty.
When Darren Turner served the penalty, he made the same mistake as his teammate, resulting in a stop & go penalty. After serving the penalty Turner dropped to seventh, but showed an impressive speed in the final minutes of the race. He drove the quickest lap of the race and passed three competitors and eventually finished fourth.
“Unfortunately Tomas and I made the same mistake. Tomas drove a very strong stint and our pace was really good, so we are really confident for the Champions Race”, Darren Turner said.
The race of Christoffer Nygaard and Stefan Mücke was a short one, when Nygaards Aston Martin was hit in the first corner by a competitor, which caused a blown tire. Nygaard had to pit and subsequently retired from the race.
Result Qualifying Race:
1. Makowiecki/Accary Hexis-Aston Martin
2. Hirschi/Piccione Hexis-Aston Martin
3. Bartels/Bertolini Vitaphone-Maserati
4. Darren Turner/Tomas Enge Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin
5. Hughes/Campbell-Walter Sumo Power-Nissan
6. Kox/Haase Reiter-Lamborghini
PR