Young Driver AMR: fourth in Qualifying Race
Sunday, September 19, 2010
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
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.”
