HEXIS AMR’s weekend got off to a difficult start in the two categories in which the team’s cars were entered on the magnificent Portimao circuit in the south of Portugal. But it finished on a high note with two encouraging results! The cars’ performance in qualifying for the FIA GT1 World Championship was disappointing as the results failed to meet the team’s expectations, and it was the same story in the qualifying race. In the main event, Mako/Clairay stormed up though the field to sixth place scoring precious points. In the European FIA GT3 Championship, Mako again sliced his way up through the field on Sunday to see the flag in fifth place with the help of an on-form Manu Rodrigues, which helped the team to put the double retirement in race 1 behind it.

FIA GT1 World Championship: the best Aston Martin in the race

In Portimao, for the fourth time in seven rounds of this enthralling world championship, the no. 9 Aston Martin entered by HEXIS AMR led the four DBR9s home. To achieve this feat, the team had to fight tooth and nail. Yann Clairay and Frédéric Makowiecki started from fourteenth place on the grid for the qualifying race, in which they finished tenth despite poor road holding caused by a defective damper. But they had to do it all over again on Sunday as an engine change dropped them back five places on the grid for the main event. The two Frenchmen took the fight to their rivals and finished sixth after a few breath-taking passing manoeuvres!

Jonathan Hirschi and Clivio Piccione, the Nürburgring heroes who scored an excellent fourth place on the legendary German circuit, their best result of the season to date, were less fortunate in the Algarve. The no. 10 HEXIS AMR Aston Martin qualified in twentieth position and on Saturday the duo made a great start of the race. In 40 minutes, Piccione and then Hirschi pulled back 15 places helped by a good pit stop and got up into fifth. Unfortunately, it all went wrong in the closing stages as the car’s performance suddenly tailed off, and the drivers from Switzerland and Monaco saw the flag in sixteenth place in the qualifying event. The use of worn tyres is the reason for this sudden tumble down the time sheets, as the team wanted to keep two new sets for the championship race. However, the expected advantage did not materialise on Sunday, and no.10 was unable to extract itself from the middle of the pack and had to make do with thirteenth.

Philippe Dumas, team manager: “We were expecting a difficult weekend as the Aston Martin isn’t really at home on bumpy circuits. The rain at the start of free practice did not help things in view of qualifying. The blue car (no.9), which had to carry 10 kilos ballast after its Nürburgring result, did not get beyond Q1. Clivio put in a brilliant drive in the qualifying race, but Jonathan’s tyres were shot towards the end and he lost a lot of ground. Yann Clairay still needs more time to get used to the car to extract the best from the tyres over two laps and the red Aston (no. 10) didn’t make it into Q3. If you take into account the broken damper and the five-place penalty because of the engine change, Sunday’s race was a huge challenge especially with the two cars in fifteenth and sixteenth places on the grid! Jonathan and Clivio were not able to make headway and we’ll have to try and analyse what happened. Fred and Yann drove a blinder to fight their way up to sixth place, again with the help of the team who set the third-quickest time for a driver and tyre change. I’m also pleased with our bullet-proof reliability. We can finish the season on a high note and help Fred Mako to get into the top three in the world rankings! “

The last three races represent unexplored territory for the team starting with the brand-new Navarra circuit in Spain on 23rd – 24th November, followed by the South American tour end of November/beginning of December.


European FIA GT3 Championship: Manu and Mako’s frenetic fado!

HEXIS AMR fought back in the Algarve after the two frustrating meetings at Jarama and Paul Ricard. The first day’s running in Portimao did not go off all that well, either. The two Aston Martin DBRS9s were well down the time sheets in qualifying and they both retired in race 1. Luckily, the stunning drive on Sunday morning by the Franco/Franco-Portuguese duo Fred Mako / Manu Rodrigues put the team back in their rightful place. Fred started the race in eleventh place and had to fight hard in the hotly-contested mid-field group to hoist the no. 1 into the top 10 when it was time for driver changes. Rodrigues used a mixture of skill and aggression to overtake several cars and he saw the flag in fifth place.

Thomas Accary’s spin at the start of the race dashed all hopes of a comeback for no. 2, which was then given two penalties. Luc Paillard knew that a points’ finish was beyond his reach, but he still set some excellent times in what was a lonely race for the HEXIS AMR driver.

Philippe Dumas, team manager: “The performance level has gone up a few notches in this championship with the arrival of new cars. We’re finding it more and more difficult to compete with them, especially as the Aston Martins are the oldest cars in the field. We’re really up against it but we have to accept the situation as it is. Our fifth place today is almost as good as a victory!”

As in 2009, the Zolder circuit will host the final round of the European FIA GT3 Championship on 9th/10th October.

Young Driver AMR finished in the Top-10 at the seventh round of the GT1-Worldchampionship at Portimão in Portugal. Darren Turner and Tomas Enge were racing in a promising second position in their Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin DBR9 midway trough the race, but struggled with tire performance in the final minutes of the 60-minute race and ultimately finished tenth. Pedro Lamy and Stefan Mücke saw the chequered flag one place behind their teammates in the second Young Driver ANR-Aston Martin DBR9.

Darren Turner started fourth and took third place after the first corner. The 36-year old Brit stayed in third place until the driver change, and the quickest pit stop of the entire race brought Tomas Enge out in second position for the second part of the race. Unfortunately Enge struggled with tire performance. As the tires wore off intensively during his stint, the former Formula One-driver from the Czech Republic couldn’t defend his position and dropped back to tenth position at the end of the race.

Stefan Mücke also had a great start from 15th position and climbed as high as eight in a strong opening stint, before handing the Aston Martin over to Pedro Lamy. The Portuguese sports car-ace found himself under big pressure from a group of competitors in the second half of the race, but maintained the eight position. Due to a spun late in race, Lamy lost eight place and finally finished in eleventh position.

Driver quotes after the Qualifying Race:

Stefan Mücke (#8 Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin DBR9): “At the start a made contact with a competitor and got heavy understeer. I don’t know yet if something broke in the car, which caused the understeer, we have to find out after the race. Due to that I had to be really careful, especially on the brake, but was still able to make up some positions. I could not get everything out of the car, otherwise I would have been able to make up some more positions and close the gap to the leading group. Pedro then put in some good lap times at the beginning of his stint, but then struggled with tire performance.”

Pedro Lamy (#8 Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin DBR9): “My race was not so good. I struggled with the tires and it was not really easy. I couldn’t save the tires, as there was a big group behind me, which made a lot of pressure. Some lap before the finish I lost the grip when I defended my position and unfortunately spun.”

Tomas Enge (#7 Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin DBR9): “We had to pay the price today for our victory in the last race at the Nürburgring. Due to that, we had 40kg success ballast in the car, which made life not very easy in my stint. I drove with used tires that maybe had a little bit too much laps on it and I had a really big tire drop at the end. If the tire performance drops, you can control it until a certain point, but if you are once over that point, it is really hard and you can’t do anything. That was what happened today. We learned a lot this weekend about tire wear and tire strategy and will be better prepared for the next round. We still learn a lot and I guess this was a learning lesson today.”

Darren Turner (#7 Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin DBR9): “My start was not good, but my first corner was. I was able to move up to third. The race was better then expected, as we knew we would struggle here with the tires and our success ballast in the car, I didn’t even expected to finish in tenth position. For the next race we are rid of the success ballast and will attack again!”

The Aston Martin Vantage GT2 of Villois Racing took a wonderful maiden win on British soil: Max Wiser and Lucas Guerrero won a closely-fought, superb and unpredictable race that saw the three title contenders got out of contention for top positions. The Kessel Ferrari of Philipp Peter-Michal Broniszewski came in second and EdilCris Ferrari of Raffaele Giammaria-Enrico Toccacelo third.

In the GTS class, British teams swept the floor, with the Mtech Ferrari of Duncan Cameron-Matt Griffin winning from the RPM Ford of Peter Bamford-Alex Mortimer and championship leading Luxury Ferrari of Dayraut-Ortelli.

Poleman Mullen is fastest at the start, ahead of Kaffer, Narac, Giammaria, Peter, Wiser, Dayraut, Frezza and Roda. Narac loses two positions when he goes wide in one corner, just to regain his position shortly after. The Frenchman is in good form and he will animate the superb fight at the top with Kaffer and Mullen, who will be passed by both in lap 14.

The CRS Ferrari is losing pace because of its tires and gets overtaken in lap 19 by Giammaria and Peter. Wiser is about to do the same at Pilgrim’s but there is contact and Mullen spins losing many positions. In the meantime, Roda’s race ends in the gravel after contact with team-mate Gruber (who’ll get a drive-through), and the saftey-car has to go out shortly before the driver changes, as the Kessel Ferrari of Frezza (at that time second in GTS behind Dayraut) catches fire.

Strangely, during the safety-car period, Narac crashes into Kaffer and has to retire. At the restart, Kaffer seems in trouble with the gearbox, getting passed by Giammaria and Peter, in close fight for first.

After the driver change is Asch on the Trackspeed Porsche leading ahead of the Viper of Scott, Guerrero, Broniszewski and Toccacelo, but the two British cars have done the pit stop during the safety-car and get penalized with one lap, which leaves the field clear for the Aston GT2’s first victory, while Matt Griffin (Mtech Ferrari) wins the final all-British duel in GTS in front of RPM’s Ford of Alex Mortimer.

The last race of the Portuguese GT4 European Cup meeting produced some fabulous racing. The three championship contenders had a fair and straight battle for victory, with Michael Mallock winning, Meijer finishing in second and securing his 2010 GT4 European cup title and Matt Nicoll-Jones finishing in third. Mallock and Nicoll-Jones are now separated by one little point and will fight it out during the last round, in Magny-Cours, France, for second in the standings. Rhesus racing is GT4 European Cup team champion for 2010.

Qualifying

Paul Meijer stated after qualifying that his double pole position for the 9th and 10th race of the season, this weekend in Portimao, is a big step towards the 2010 GT4 European Cup title. The Dutchman was quickest in both qualifying sessions and will start ahead of his main rivals in the races on Saturday.

The grey Rhesus Racing Aston Martin was already quickest in both free practice sessions on Friday morning and noon and no one could stop the Dutch Aston on the Portuguese track on Friday evening.??With Nissan in second and third for the opening race on Saturday, both Michael Mallock and Matt Nicoll-Jones will have a serious task during the 40-minute race. Jordan Tresson and Lucas Ordonez secured a strong 2-3 for RJN Nissan, the best qualifying result for the team so far this season. Matt-Nicoll Jones (IMS Ginetta G50) and Michael Mallock (RS Williams Aston Martin) finished in fourth and fifth. ??In the second session Mallock set second best, followed by Ordonez, Nicoll-Jones and Tresson. ??In Supersports, Gianni Giudici and Marco Fumagalli secured a 1-2 for Scuderia Giudici Lotus in both sessions, of course in the Lotus 2Eleven.

Quotes:

Paul Meijer: “I’m very happy, this result is very important. It’s always better to start up front, as you are more likely to stay out of trouble during the opening stages of the race. I really want this title!”

Michael Mallock: “We had a little incident this morning and I missed most of the free practice, which is of course far from ideal for the set-up.”

Race 1

With his fourth win of the season, Paul Meijer had come already very close to the fourth GT4 European Cup title in the history of the GT championship. The Dutch championship leader won the opening race of the Portuguese GT4 weekend, also his ninth consecutive podium of the season. Matt Nicoll-Jones came home second in his IMS Ginetta and Jordan Tresson scored his maiden podium onboard of a Nissan 370Z. The young French RJN Nissan driver won the Playstation GT Academy 2010 and made some impressive steps forward since his debut in Silverstone last April.

Paul Meijer took the lead right from the start, but the Dutch driver never could play on safe. The Nissan boys, Matt Nicoll-Jones, the second Rhesus Racing Aston and Meijer’s nearest championship rival, Michael Mallock stayed on his tail during the opening stages of the 40-minute competition. ?
Bad luck struck Michael Mallock when a broken gearbox dropped him into last position, ruining his last championship hopes. Lucas Ordonez also lost a possible podium after a stop & go due to a too short pitstop.

Meanwhile up front, Meijer was still leading, with the IMS Ginetta in second and Tresson’s RJN Nissan in third. This order remained unchanged through to the finish, while Lucas Ordonez and Supersport winner Gianni Giudici completed the top-5. The battle in Supersport was really thrilling, with less than a second separating the top-3.

Marco Fumagalli finished in second, also driving a Lotus 2Eleven, while Athanasios Ladas and Kevin Veltman were third in the KTM.

Quotes:

Paul Meijer: “It was a difficult race, the other guys stayed close, especially in the opening stages of the race. I felt that my tyres were suffering from the heat and I had to be careful by the end of the race. But naturally I’m delighted with my win, the first since Spa!”


Race 2

Paul Meijer missed his start, but fought his way back into first, but Michael Mallock was really keen on winning this last Portuguese race, after the gearbox of his Astong had ruined hischances in the first race earlier. Mallock kept the pressure on Meijer and managed to get by five laps from the chequered flag. Meijer knew that he had to keep second in order to win the championship and did so by less than 2 tenths of a second.

Behind the top-3, Lucas Ordonez and Jordan Tresson gave Nissan a fourth and fifth spot, while Humaid Al Masssood scored a fine sixth.

Athanasios Ladas and Kevin Veltman scored a great win for KTM in Supersport, with Lotus drivers Giudici and Fumagalli coming home in second and third. Gianni Giudici is leading the championship.

The last round of the GT4 European Cup is to be held on the 16th and 17th of October in Magny-Cours.

Quotes:

Paul Meijer: “It was a difficult race, but winning the championship is so great. I’m really very delighted and we’re going to have a great party. I missed my start and even made a little mistake later in the race, but the result is there!”

Michael Mallock: “It was a great race, a fair battle and a superb win. Thanks to all the boys of RS Williams, because what they did in between both races was just fantastic!”

Darren Turner and Tomas Enge drove from 10th to fourth.

Young Driver AMR finished in a great fourth position in the Qualifying Race of the seventh round of the GT1-World Championship in Portimão/Portugal. Darren Turner and Tomas Enge performed a strong race in their Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin DBR9. Starting from tenth of the grid, the winners of the last round at the Nürburgring managed to finish fourth. Pedro Lamy and Stefan Mücke finish 15th in the second Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin DBR9.

Tomas Enge gained two positions directly in the first lap of the Qualifying Race, which turned out to be one of the most entertaining races of this season. When the former Formula One driver from the Czech Republic handed over the Aston Martin DBR9 to Darren Turner halfway through the race, a great work by the Young Driver AMR-pit crew brought Turner out in sixth place. The 36-year old Brit then overtook another Aston Martin and a Maserati and saw the chequered flag in fourth position.

Pedro Lamy and Stefan Mücke had bad luck at the start of the Qualifying Race. In the first lap, the front bonnet of the DBR9 came loose, Lamy was forced into the pit to fix the bonnet. The Portuguese and teammate Stefan Mücke then drove a strong race and threw really quick laptimes, but finish in 15th position due to the extra pit stop in the first lap.

According to the result of the Qualifying Race, Turner and Enge will start from the second row of the grid into Sunday’s Championship Race, Lamy/Mücke will start from 15th position. Young Drivers AMR enjoys the support of the “Buddha Beach Puerto Banus” (www.buddhabeachbanus.com ) this weekend, both Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin DBR9 are proudly sporting the golden Buddha Beach logo in Portimão.

Driver quotes after the Qualifying Race:

Stefan Mücke (#8 Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin DBR9): “We found a bug in the set up after the Qualifying, during the race our car was really strong and was exactly as it has to be. We had all chances for a really strong finish, but unfortunately Pedro had the problem the bonnet in the first lap. We lost 39 second due to that. At the end, we finished 20 second behind our sister car, so that showed what would have been possible today.”

Pedro Lamy (#8 Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin DBR9): “In the first lap, the bonnet came loose. I could not see anything, so I had to pit. After that the car was really good, but I was at the back of the field due to the early stop and had a quite lonely race. But that’s racing, we are looking now forward to the Championship Race.”

Tomas Enge (#7 Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin DBR9): „I was really happy to survive the start. I don’t hit anybody and nobody hit me. It was quite entertaining and I could gain a few positions. Fourth place is now a really good starting position for the Championship Race, considering we have 40kg success ballast in the car, as we won the last race. I didn’t expect to run in a position like this before this weekend.”

Darren Turner (#7 Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin DBR9): „Tomas did a very good stint and at the pit stop, our pit crew again performed a perfect stop. They brought us out in sixth position, after that I was able to overtake two cars until the finish. Fourth is much more then expected, so we are in a really good position to fight for good points in the Championship Race.”

Three weeks after the brilliant weekend for Young Driver AMR at the Nürburgring, where the German team took the Pole Position as well as victories in the Qualifying and also in the Championship Race, the FIA GT1 World Championship is set for the next round. The seventh round of the GT1 World Championship will take place this weekend at Portimão on the Algarve coast. After the first victory for Young Driver AMR in the last round, Darren Turner (GB) und Tomas Enge (CZ) are currently third in the championship in the #7 Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin DBR9 and want to improve their position in the championship hunt. Stefan Mücke (D) will have a new teammate in the #8 Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin DBR9 at the Portuguese round as Christoffer Nygaard (DK) will miss the Portuguese round due to family commitments, former Formula 1 driver and sportscar ace Pedro Lamy will jump in for Nygaard.

The trip to Portugal is the longest on-road journey for Young Driver AMR in this year´s championship. At 3000km the distance between the team base in Paderborn and the track near to Faro is the longest tour of the season for the Young Driver AMR truckies. The trucks with the two Aston Martin DBR9 left the team base last Saturday to make sure the cars arrived in time in Portugal and to make the long journey worthwhile for the team, Turner/Enge want to close the gap to the championship leader at Portimão. But as a result of the victory in the last round, they will have to race with an extra 40kg “success ballast” at the scenic Portimão track which has lots of elevation changes, situated in the backcountry of the Algarve coast.

The #8 Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin DBR9 starts with a new driver line up in Portugal. Christoffer Nygaard will miss the Portuguese round for family commitments. “Christoffer asked us to skip the next round and of course we accepted his request“, Young Driver AMR boss Hardy Fischer explains. “We are very sorry that Christoffer can’t be with us this weekend and we really hope he will be back for the next round.“ Sportscar-ace Pedro Lamy, a former factory driver of Aston Martin Racing, will step in for Nygaard. The 38-year old Portuguese will start on home ground in his first GT1 World Championship race, but he has already driven the Aston Martin DBR9 in more than 20 races. „Pedro Lamy is incredible experienced in all kinds of sportscars and being a Portuguese, he also knows the track“, says Hardy Fischer.

In the seventh round of the GT1-World Championship, Young Driver AMR will not only fight for honours in the drivers championship, but also for second place in the team championship. The German team is currently third in team standings, only four points behind the second placed team.

Driver quotes:

Stefan Mücke (#8 Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin DBR9): “I don’t know the track in a GT-car, this will be a new experience for me. But I raced there last year in an LMP1-car, so I know what to expect. The most important thing at Portimão will be to have a good tire strategy, because the track is very aggressive on tires. The track is very angular, the straights are very short. That stresses the tires really hard, you have to look really careful after your tires.“

Tomas Enge (#7 Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin DBR9): “Portimão will be quite interesting for us. After the victory at the Nürburgring we have 40 kilos success ballast in the car. With the additional weight, I don’t think we will run at the front in Portugal. But you never know what happens during the races. The most important thing of the weekend is the Championship Race, and as we saw in the last races, many things can happen until that. So you have to be focused on the Championship Race, that is what counts. The track itself is not one of my favourite circuits, but the track has a nice topography and some very interesting elevation changes.“

Darren Turner (#7 Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin DBR9): „I really like the track, for a new built track it has a enormous character, it’s fun to race there. We will have to carry 40 kilos success ballast around that track, but this always reminds you were not too bad in the last race. It’s not so bad that we have the extra kilos in our car at Portimão, because I think it’s not an Aston Martin-track and we also expect the temperatures to be very warm. So it’s better to have the kilos onboard there, then at any other track.“

JMW Motorsport ended the 2010 Le Mans Series on the podium in front of their home crowd at Silverstone this weekend. The British team, featuring drivers Rob Bell and Darren Turner, took 3rd place in the six-hour race, to score their best result of the season.

From the onset of the weekend things were looking promising for the British team with strong showing in the free practice sessions. However, it was in qualifying that they really threw down the gauntlet with Rob taking the GT2 class pole position, the first time the Aston Martin Vantage GT2 had been on pole in the history of the series. As official development partners to Aston Martin for the Vantage, the pole position clearly marked the excellent progression JMW Motorsport had made since taking on the car at the start of 2010.

Rob started the race and made a great getaway. Getting into a good momentum, the team dropped one place to the AF Corse Ferrari in heavy traffic but soon regained the lead after the first set of pitstops. Both Darren and Rob had strong stints throughout the six-hour race, leading the class for the majority of the event. Whilst the team knew fuel consumption would require a ‘splash and dash’ towards the end which may cost the lead, it was to be a stop and go penalty within the last section of the race that was to drop them to 3rd position. Whilst the reasoning of the penalty will be long debated, the team still celebrated a memorable and richly deserved 3rd place finish.

"This was without doubt one of the best weekends I have had since starting in GT racing," said Jim McWhirter, JMW Motorsport’s Team Principal. "The team were confident that we could give a good account of ourselves after Algarve and Hungary, but pole was a real pleasure and brought huge smiles on everyone’s faces in the garage. The car was prepared perfectly, in fact it looked like a new car. Rob and Darren were relaxed and confident all through the sessions and our Dunlop tyres performed beautifully. We were in the mix the whole race and were the only threat to the Ferraris – a mistaken call for a stop and go robbed us of a secure second place and without a splash and dash it would have been a close call for the win.

"I take great pride in the team’s achievements and wish to thank Dunlop, AJ Power and all our sponsors for their support in 2010. We would also like to send out special thanks to our wonderful supporters".

"I am extremely proud of all the team this weekend" added Team Manager, Tim Sugden. "The car was prepared brilliantly, the drivers drove fearlessly, and our pitstops were consistently the best in the pitlane. Overall, it is a great reward for everyone to run at the front and end the season on the podium".

JMW Motorsport’s Chief Mechanic Named Mechanic Of The Weekend.
There were further accolades for the JMW Motorsport team when their Chief Mechanic, Davey Nicholas was presented with the Mechanic of the Weekend award. Sponsored by dreamcarhire.com, Davey will enjoy a day of driving luxury cars in the Cotswold taking him from under the bonnet to behind the wheel!

"I can’t quite believe this. I am very determined and committed to my job, as I always want us to win, but for me to get this prize is fantastic," said Davey. "I’ve never driven an Aston Martin before, so it will be very exciting to be able to get behind the wheel of that, as well as some other very tasty machinery!".

"This is a very well deserved reward for Dave’s leadership and dedication to his job," said JMW Motorsport’s Chief Engineer Steve Bunkhall. "He put so much effort into the preparation for this weekend and that was a big contribution to our success".

Jota Sport will compete in LMP1 in 2012 and 2013 with the brand new Aston Martin Racing prototype following the marque's confirmation that it will produce a brand new car to meet the category’s latest regulations as laid out by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO).

The British squad, which became an Aston Martin Racing Official Partner Team earlier this year, will continue with its plans to race an Aston Martin Vantage in the GT Endurance Pro category of either the Le Mans Series or Intercontinental Le Mans Cup in 2011 before adding the LMP1 programme for the 2012 and 2013 seasons. The team will also seek an entry from the ACO to the Le Mans 24 Hours for its GT2 car next year and for the new open cockpit, petrol-powered LMP1 prototype in 2012 and 2013.

Confirmed drivers for the programme thus far include the team's co-owner, Simon Dolan, and Aston Martin Racing factory driver Sam Hancock, who will be loaned to Jota Sport for the majority of the programme.

Simon Dolan, co-owner/driver, Jota Sport AMR: "Having started our new relationship with Aston Martin Racing on a high with GT4 class victory in the Spa 24 Hours recently, we're really happy to have such an exciting multi-year programme confirmed so early. That's a very rare luxury at this level of motorsport and I've no doubt that it will lay some strong foundations for the development of the team."

Sam Hignett, Team Principal, Jota Sport AMR: “We’re extremely proud to be an Aston Martin Racing Official Partner team and thrilled that Aston Martin Racing has confirmed its plans to design a new LMP1 prototype to meet next year’s regulations. The team is really looking forward to racing the Vantage GT2 next year and now to have the opportunity to add the LMP1 programme from 2012, taking Jota back to its roots, is incredibly exciting news.”

Pierre Ragues ended this afternoon’s 1000kms of Silverstone in a hard-charging sixth place, crucially obtaining enough points for the Signature Plus team to end the 2010 season as championship runners-up.

The result ensured the French squad concluded their second season in endurance racing as the top petrol-powered team with their Dunlop-shod Aston Martin Lola package. The top six result also guaranteed Pierre his highest ever placing in the drivers’ table, ending up equal fourth with his co-drivers Franck Mailleux and Vanina Ickx; a great result for the team’s sophomore LMS season.

The afternoon’s dry race was in stark contrast to the intermittent rain showers that had hit the team’s race preparations on Friday and Saturday. Silverstone once again played host to the season finale but the new, extended configuration of the high-speed track placed a greater emphasis than usual on track time, something that was hard to come by for Signature.

Right from the opening free practice session on Friday, the rain has caused chaos with Signature enduring a number of off-track excursions, thankfully with little damage to the car. Pierre’s on-track time was minimal as a result of the setbacks and the French driver headed into today’s race with around 12 laps to his credit.

Although conditions were not ideal during Saturday morning, the qualifying session remained dry and allowed the team’s first clear runs of the weekend. In the circumstances, and suffering from traffic, Franck Mailleux did an extremely solid job to take a top ten starting position, just a few tenths-of-a-second from the top six.

Vanina was given starting duties for the race and got the 008 Aston Martin up to seventh place before handing over to Pierre. He reported difficulties with oversteer on heavy fuel, almost certainly a result of the team’s lack of practice laps, but he nonetheless enjoyed a competitive double stint and consolidated position before handing over to Franck Mailleux. Pierre was given the honour of bringing the car with a solid final run, taking the chequered flag in sixth and bringing Signature’s 2010 season to a highly positive conclusion, which culminated in the team earning their automatic place at next year’s Le Mans 24 Hours race.

Pierre Ragues said: “We knew it was going to be a tough afternoon because of how our preparations were affected by the rain but I think we pulled together as a team today and got a very good result in the circumstances. We have finished the season in second place in the team’s championship and I am fourth in the drivers, which is a great end to our year. We had a good race in spite of the lack of running in practice. I had a few oversteer issues in my first double stint but it was much better at the end of the race. To end the season in the top six is really positive and I think it is a fantastic achievement for a team in just their second full season of Le Mans Series racing. We have made big improvements with the technical support of Aston Martin and Dunlop this year and taken some great class podiums, something that greatly contributed to our final championship positions. I’d like to say a big thank you to the entire Signature team for their hard work this season and to my personal sponsors Group Auto Union.”

Franck Mailleux said: “It has been a difficult weekend but one from which we can draw many positives after a top six finish. The result means that Signature holds the runners-up position in the team championship, a brilliant result. I am also pleased with my fourth place in the drivers table, especially with how close we came to finishing even higher up. For my second season in Le Mans Series, that is a great achievement and I feel capable of even more. It was a good race today apart from a small spin at the end of my run, but we were affected quite a lot by the wet conditions in practice. We have become regular competitors at the front of the field this year which is even more special with a petrol-powered car. Aston Martin and Dunlop have given us great support and I think we have all demonstrated a fantastic teamwork this season. From such professional work comes good results and we will look back on this season positively. My sponsors Sojasun have once again been fantastic to me this year and we shared in some special podium results which I am very proud of.”

Signature Plus Team Principal Philippe Sinault: “I’d like to extend my thanks to the whole team and to our wonderful drivers for this result. Today is not so much about taking sixth in a thrilling Silverstone race but more for our second place in the teams’ championship. Signature, Aston Martin and Dunlop are 2010 Vice Champions. We have proven to be a formidable and competitive package. I’m thrilled with and immensely proud of our performances this year.”

The two HEXIS AMR Aston Martin DBR9s emulated their Spa performance a month earlier by scoring points in the FIA GT1 World Championship on the Nürburgring circuit, and edging closer to the podium. No. 10 driven by Clivio Piccione and Jonathan Hirschi finished fourth after their fifth place in the qualifying race. The young guns were involved in a no-holds-barred battle that led to some very spectacular scraps and thrilling overtaking manoeuvres. The spectators present at the foot of the Eifel Massif and those in front of their TV screens had no time to be bored. Fred Makowiecki and new boy, Yann Clairay, also had a good race, bagging seventh place after a sensational climb back up through the field due to their early retirement in Saturday's race.

Besides the drivers' skills and the right technical choices, the fantastic job done in the pits by the squad also played a major part in obtaining these good results that have propelled HEXIS AMR from sixth to fourth place in the world rankings! The whole team's morale is at an all-time high as the important Portimao round approaches. In Portugal, the Aston Martin DBRS9 GT3s will join their bigger sisters from the GT1 category as the European Championship restarts. So it is just the right moment to take stock of the situation with the French team's managers, Philippe Dumas and Clément Mateu, and the Hexis Group CEO, Michel Mateu, HEXIS AMR's no. 1 fan!

Philippe Dumas (team manager): "How many French teams are there in the three FIA World Championships on circuits apart from Renault in F1 and ourselves?"

"In GT1, we're continuing to progress. We now have two reliable and stable driver line-ups and we're becoming a force to be reckoned with. The four drivers all did a great job at the Nürburgring, and I've got every confidence in them for the last four rounds. We stayed on on Monday after the race for a test session, which is important in the context of a world championship where the overall level of the drivers is incredibly high as we saw in qualifying and in the battles in the race. The test went off very well even if we'd have preferred a dry track. Given the end-of-season calendar (Portugal, Spain, Brazil and Argentina) we probably won't have much rain. We've got as many technical shortcomings in the wet as in the dry. If we manage to overcome our issues in the dry we can look forward to a great end to the season. We saw some thrilling closely-fought races at the Nürburgring, but I don't think it's necessary to make contact with your rivals to overtake. It just costs too much money and it's not worthy of a world championship with FIA status. I'd also like to remind everybody about something important. The GT1 World Championship has enormous potential that should be relayed by the media and above all, television. I don't find it normal that our French weekly ?bible' gives it only two pages. I'd also like our Federation to give us more support as we're the only French team racing at this level. How many others are there in the other FIA World Championships? We're working very hard to build the future of our team in the medium term. We need more clarity about what's going to happen, but our aim is to continue next year in the FIA GT1 World Championship with our two Aston Martin DBR9s with victory as our ultimate objective. In parallel, we'd like to become involved with a manufacturer in the development of a new GT3. Those are two great perspectives. Concerning GT3, don't forget that we're the reigning European Champions. This year hasn't been easy, but we've still got two meetings left and we'll do our very best. Portimao is the circuit on which we were the most competitive in 2009 as we've done a lot of testing there. But it's paradoxical as we lost the drivers' title and probably the double there due to technical issues. A few podiums would do us a power of good!"

Clément Mateu (chief development engineer) "We have to continue in the same vein"

"The whole team's doing a great job. We're on the pace but things can become difficult very quickly. The blue Aston Martin's result (no. 10) at the Nürburgring is important for the young guns (Jonathan Hirschi and Clivio Piccione) for their confidence in themselves and in the car. We can finish in the top three in the championship, but we can also fall back as the level is incredibly high so we have to continue in the same vein. But it's really great when everything falls into place, and your heart starts beating like a drum, as was the case this weekend in Germany!"

Michel Mateu (CEO Hexis Group): "Passion and work are irreplaceable"

"Fred Mako did a really great job by bagging the fastest time in Q1 and the two young drivers didn't do too badly either in both practice and the warm-up. Yann got to grips with the Aston, which isn't an easy beast to tame, very quickly. Unfortunately, it all went wrong for him at the start of the qualifying race, which dropped the no. 9 car back to the second-last row. But Fred's comeback thrilled us all, and for the young guns in the no. 10 it was a gladiator battle to hold on to fourth place. It was very hairy out there! They came out of it well as they were up against some pretty experienced drivers. We must take off our hats to the team of mechanics who dominated their rivals during the pit stops. It was an incredible feat and they really put their heart into it. That's what enabled Jonathan to rejoin in second place, but he was on cold tyres so he wasn't able to close the door. If he'd fought back he'd surely have gone off but he used his intelligence like Yann in the other car. I'm a very happy president to see our colours shining like they did today in fourth place in the world championship. I'd also like to congratulate Philippe Dumas; it's really incredible what he manages to do with the means at his disposals, which are far smaller than the investment made by some of the other teams, so it just goes to show that money isn't everything. But work and passion can't be replaced. Concerning the championship, I'm delighted to see that Stéphane Ratel managed to persuade Jean Todt to come here: it's a positive point. I think that the people involved are increasingly interested, as shown by the announcement of the arrival of new manufacturers."

In its last race of 2010, Aston Martin Racing has finished the Autosport 1000km top of the petrol contenders with 009 finishing in fourth place at the hands of Sam Hancock (GB) and Stefan Mücke (DE). Aston Martin has consistently been the fastest petrol car throughout this year.

The 007 car of Adrian Fernandez (MX), Harold Primat (CH) and Andy Meyrick (GB) suffered a multitude of bad luck including a puncture and damage to the clutch after an early spin as the result of contact with another car, but it was a spin into the gravel that ended the Gulf liveried DBR1-2’s final outing.

The 009 car ran faultlessly throughout the race after qualifying in sixth the day before. Juan Barazi unfortunately did not drive due to ill health so Stefan Mücke completed two double stints never leaving the race pace.

Aston Martin Racing’s official partner teams Signature Racing in LMP1 and JMW Motorsport in the GT2 class both had successful races. The JMW Vantage driven by Rob Bell (GB) and Darren Turner (GB) after leading most of the race was demoted to third in class at the chequered flag due to an earlier stop and go penalty. Pierre Ragues (FR), Franck Mailleux (FR) and Vanina Ickx (BE) of Signature Racing finished in sixth position after a faultless race meaning that they take second overall in the Le Mans Series.

Aston Martin Racing Team Principal, George Howard-Chappell said: “An incredibly strong performance, as we have come to expect, from Stefan Mücke today. As a result it was the best we could have achieved today against the diesels. Disappointed to lose the 007 car but that is sometimes how things work out.
“I am really pleased to see a podium for the GT2 car, and it showed race winning pace all the way through; it was unfortunate that they received the penalty, but congratulations to JMW, Rob and Darren for such a strong performance. It really does show the potential performance in the car.

“We are sad to see the end of an era with the V12 LMP1 car in our hands – it is a fantastic looking machine with a fabulous sound and has always been a crowd favourite, but we look forward to coming back with our exciting programme next year.”

Mücke said: “I was a long time in the car with two double stints so feeling quite tired now! We got the maximum out of the car being the fastest petrol, but unfortunately not a podium because the diesels were too strong. The team did a great job giving me a perfect car and I had fun today.”

Hancock said: “We have had a faultless race, and Stefan has been stellar throughout having done two double stints mistake free. We have had a good reliable car; I came to Silverstone with a sense of unfinished business from Le Mans and we achieved the best we can, so I’m really happy with fourth. It’s a good end to the year.”

Fernandez said: “I wasn’t at my best this weekend after suffering from a virus which hasn’t helped. This is a new track for me and qualifying didn’t go well causing us to start from the back. This year has been good, and I am happy with my performance – I’ve had great team partners in Stefan and Harold and we can build from here.”

Meyrick said: “It’s been a very enjoyable experience being here with Aston Martin Racing but obviously the result is a disappointment for everyone on the team. Fourth place for 009 has lifted the spirits of the guys and, without any mishaps to the diesels, that’s likely to be the best any of the petrol-engined cars can do. They narrowly missed out on a podium but the result is good for them.”

Aston Martin Racing qualified today in dry conditions in the LMP1 class ahead of the final Le Mans Series race tomorrow. The 009 car of Juan Barazi (DK), Sam Hancock (GB) and Stefan Mücke (DE) managed to qualify sixth after a lap fraught with traffic in the hands of Mücke.

The 007 car of Adrian Fernandez (MX), Andy Meyrick (GB) and Harold Primat (CH) will start at the back of the grid due to a steering rack problem which was partially down to a spin into the barrier in this morning’s free practice.

The 008 Signature Racing LMP1 car will start from ninth in the hands of Pierre Ragues (FR), Franck Mailleux (FR) and Vanina Ickx (BE) and the JMW Racing Vantage will start from pole in the GT2 class with Rob Bell (GB) and Darren Turner (GB).

Mücke said: “It’s nice to be back in the Aston Martin, we didn’t run so much in free practice; but I am pleased it was dry during the qualifying. I really enjoyed the drive, but was somewhat unlucky with traffic.

“There is much more potential to come from the car – we couldn’t use that today but I look forward to using it tomorrow.”

George Howard-Chappell, Team Principal for Aston Martin Racing said: “It was unfortunate that the 007 car had a small problem, but it was running well beforehand and will be ready to make up the positions tomorrow.

“Stefan did a good job this afternoon and we look forward to tomorrow to extract the best from both cars. My congratulations got to JMW Motorsport for their fantastic qualifying result today.”

The Autosport 1000km race will start at 11.55 GMT tomorrow with a rolling start followed by 170 laps and six hours of tough competition.

Aston Martin will return to the legendary Le Mans 24 Hour race in 2011 with a new LMP1 race car designed to compete for top honours.

The new Gulf Oil liveried car is being designed from the ground up with an Aston Martin open cockpit monocoque chassis and a new purpose-designed race engine.

Under the new Automobile Club De L’Ouest (ACO) technical regulations for 2011, Aston Martin now believes it has the opportunity to compete for top honours at the 24 Hour race against tough competition including the diesel-engined competitors. As with all Aston Martins, the new LMP1 will be petrol-powered and designed to make the best use of the ACO’s stringent regulations.

Aston Martin Chairman, David Richards said: “Having won the GT category twice at Le Mans in 2007 and 2008 and the Le Mans Series outright in 2009, we still want to achieve our ultimate goal of winning the 24 Hour race overall to bring the title back to Britain.

“In recent years, it has been impossible for petrol cars to compete on equal terms with the diesels. However, we now have assurances from the ACO that, with the adoption of the 2011 regulations, they will properly balance the performance of these new cars. Under these circumstances we have been prepared to develop Aston Martin’s first purpose-built racing chassis and engine for more than 50 years.

“Even with this new car, it will still be a ‘David and Goliath’ fight against the massive resources of our competitors, but we have become accustomed to this and relish the challenge.”

Work on the new chassis and engine has been progressing for several months at Aston Martin Racing’s headquarters in Banbury, UK and the first of a limited number of six cars will run in early 2011.

Dr. Ulrich Bez, CEO of Aston Martin said: “Racing is a fundamental part of Aston Martin’s heritage and Le Mans is the race that every true sports car maker aspires to win. While every aspect of this new LMP1 car has been built purely for racing, we also remain committed to developing race-winning GT cars based on our road cars. We are the only manufacturer to offer a race car for every category from GT1 to GT4.”

Aston Martin’s first and only outright victory at Le Mans was in 1959 with the DBR1 of Roy Salvadori and Carroll Shelby. Aston Martin Racing has been at the pinnacle of endurance racing since it was founded in 2004 with multiple factory and customer wins across the globe including two GT1 class victories at Le Mans in 2007 and 2008, and an overall Le Mans series win in 2009.

Signature Plus have their sights set firmly on the podium as the 2010 Le Mans Series championship draws to a conclusion at the new-look Silverstone circuit in the UK this weekend.

The Silverstone 1000km race marks the culmination of Signature's debut season as an Official Aston Martin Racing Team and the end of their second season participating in endurance racing. It has been a positive season for the team, who has been able to showcase racing talent on a competitive stage and to achieve successful results in Signature's first season with Aston Martin and Dunlop tyres.

Signature Plus already has two podiums to their name in 2010, including an outright podium result from Portugal in July and third place in the LMP1 class at the 1000kms of Hungaroring in August. These results see the teams drivers lying in third place in the drivers' championship just two points from second place. Signature Plus has a realistic chance of winning the team championship title in Silverstone with just a two point deficit from the current leaders ahead of Silverstone.

Silverstone has undergone a notable facelift since last year's Le Mans Series event with the addition of the new Arena section extending the lap from 5.141km to just under 6km in length. The new portion of track has been designed with spectator viewing as top priority and has already received favourable reviews from the Formula 1, MotoGP and Superbike championships that have already raced around the new layout.

The changes mean that most drivers will have to acquaint themselves with the new track configuration, which includes new names such as Farm Curve, The Loop and Village, joining better known names like Luffield, Maggots, Becketts and Stowe. The initial practice sessions will therefore be a useful opportunity for drivers to find the optimum line through the new Arena section, while understanding the impact on car set-up and tyre performance throughout the extended lap.

Quick Q+A with Franck Mailleux

Franck, how do you feel heading into this final event of the year?
"I can't believe we are already at the final race of the season. It seems like yesterday that we were heading to Paul Ricard for the first ever test with the Aston Martin. Looking at the progress that we have made through the year, I am very excited to go to Silverstone where we will try to target our best team performance of the season. We were unlucky in Hungary a few weeks ago but we were still able to claim our second LMP1 podium in a row, so I would very much like to make it a hat-trick in Silverstone and to end the season in style. We are all motivated and ready to push hard to try and chase the team championship title and second place in the drivers' championship."

What do you think of the new Silverstone layout?
"Like most drivers, I have not raced at the new-look Silverstone track but I have seen the changes from other races and I think it will be an interesting challenge. Silverstone has always been one of the best tracks in the world, high speed and technically demanding, and the Arena section looks to add to that spectacle. I am looking forward to trying it out. We will of course have to work closely together with Aston Martin and Dunlop to evaluate the best set-up and tyre choice for the new track, but this is a normal routine for practice sessions and I am sure that we will once again find the best solution possible."

Quick Q+A with Pierre Ragues

Pierre, do you think the team is able to continue its run of podium results?
"That is absolutely the aim. We have made great progress during the last two events in Portugal and Hungary, and I think our on-track performances have reflected that. We are reaching the end of our debut season with Aston Martin and Dunlop and I think we have experienced a positive upward curve. We have gelled together nicely and have moved forwards in every area since our first test together back in March. I hope Silverstone will be the highlight of the season to help us push for the teams' title and to help us in our battle for second place in the drivers' championship."

What do you think of the new Silverstone layout?
"I love racing at Silverstone and the new track layout, from what I have seen on paper and from other races, appears to add fresh and interesting challenges. It was my first time racing an LMP1 car around Silverstone last year and I really enjoyed it, so I looking forward to this year's event. It is a demanding track and everybody will have a bit of learning to do in practice so the first sessions will be important in laying the foundations for the rest of the weekend. All the guys in Signature, at Aston Martin and at Dunlop have done a great job this year so I'm hopeful of a good result for all of us."