Young Driver AMR: Strong driver line up for 2011 GT1 World Championship

Five weeks before the lights of the FIA GT1 World Championship turn to green at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, Young Driver AMR has finalised its driver line up. The two Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin DBR9 will be driven in the ten-round GT1 World Championship by Darren Turner (GBR), Stefan Mücke (GER) and Tomáš Enge (CZE), the driver line up is completed by new signing Alex Müller (GER). Former Formula 1-test driver Darren Turner will share the #8 Aston Martin with 2009 Le Mans Series Champion Stefan Mücke, while former Formula 1-driver Tomáš Enge will race alongside GT1-hotshoe Alex Müller in the #7 Aston Martin.

“I’m very happy that we were able to sign Darren (Turner), Tomáš (Enge) and Stefan (Mücke) for a second season”, Young Driver AMR team principal Hardy Fischer says. “The record of these three top-level drivers speak for themselves. We collected a lot of experience last year and with three of our four drivers being part of our team last year, we want to use this continuity for even better results. With our new addition Alex Müller, a terrifically quick driver joins our team. Alex brings along a lot of experience with the Aston Martin DBR9 and he is a great addition for our team. The competition in this year’s GT1 World Championship will be terrific, but I’m confident that we have all the chances for good results with these four drivers.”

Preparations for the start of the second season of Young Driver AMR in the GT1 World Championship are almost completed. Both Aston Martin DBR9 are well prepared for the new season and already have trouble free shakedown under their belt, which took place last Saturday at the Paderborn Airport. During this week, cars and parts will be shipped to Abu Dhabi, were the season starts on 25th March at the epic Yas Marina Circuit.

Driver quotes:

Tomáš Enge (#7 Young Driver-Aston Martin DBR9): “We have a very strong team for our second in the GT1 World Championship. Last year, we missed our dream goal, the World Championship title, only briefly and we were the only team, which was on contention for the World Championship title until the final round. With all the experience we gathered in 2011, we will be even stronger this year. I’m happy to have Alex Müller as my new team-mate. I know Alex quite a while and also know how quick he is. I can’t wait for the season to begin.”

Alex Müller (#7 Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin DBR9): “I’m quite happy to race in this year’s GT1-World Championship with Young Driver AMR and I have to thank Hardy Fischer for giving me this chance. I’m new to the team, but I already feel very comfortable, the atmosphere in the team is great. With Tomáš being my team-mate, we are a duo capable of winning races and I expect that we will win some races. The competition will be very fierce this season, but our goal is to fight for the championship.”

Stefan Mücke (#8 Young Driver-Aston Martin DBR9): “It’s quite nice to start again in the GT1 World Championship. I will have a new team mate this year with Darren Turner. Darren and I are with Aston Martin for some years now, but we never shared one car, so I’m really looking forward to that and I’m quite sure we will be a strong team. Our goal is to finish at least within the top three of the championship. It’s now the second year of the Young Driver AMR Team in the GT1 World Championship, and we will be able to use a lot of the experience, which we collected last season. I’m really looking forward to the start of the season, the calendar offers many very interesting tracks.”

Darren Turner (#8 Young Driver Aston Martin DBR9): “The inaugural season of the GT1 World Championship last year was fantastic, we had some really great races. The team collected a lot of experience, that will make us even stronger this year. After being successful with Tomáš last season, I have a new team-mate in 2011 which is Stefan Mücke. I worked with Stefan very close last couple of years, but this is the first season we will share on car. Now I can’t wait for the season to start, the Championship delivered good competition last year and I’m sure it will be no different this year.”