Young Driver AMR: Second chapter in GT1 World

Finally the waiting comes to an end: The GT1 World Championship starts this weekend at Abu Dhabi (VAE). Young Driver AMR is well prepared for the second season in the World Championship and enters the season opener at the amazing Yas Marina Circuit with two Aston Martin DBR9. The two V12-engine powered Aston Martin will be driven by Tomáš Enge (CZE)/ Alex Müller (GER) and Stefan Mücke (GER)/ Darren Turner (GBR).

One year ago, the inaugural race of the GT1 World Championship was also the premiere race for Young Driver AMR. With one season under their belt, the team builds on their experience in the second season on the GT1 World Championship. „We are really looking forward to the first race at Abu Dhabi“, team principal Hardy Fischer says. „During the last month, we prepared both cars meticulous for the new season, using all the experience we collected during our first season with the Aston Martin DBR9. We are very well prepared for the new season and our goal for the first race will be to collect some good points.“

The season opener in the United Arab Emirates will be a compact two-day event. Unlike usual GT1 race weekends, the Qualifying Race and the Championship Race will be held on Saturday. Special excitement is added to the Championship Race, as it will be held under floodlights after the sunset. This year, also a shorter version of the Yas Marina Circuit will be used, which will add even more excitement and action to the race. Not only racing in the darkness will create a special atmosphere, also the paddock will certainly differ to usual events. The GT1 World Championship will be held together with the Abu Dhabi Yacht Show, which takes place at the marina in the paddock area and will sample some of the world’s most exclusive super yachts.

On the sporting side of the GT1 World Championship, there are some minor modifications in the sporting regulation for the 2011 season. During the free practise, more tires are now available, which will help the drivers in finding the right set-up. For the Qualifying Race, more points are awarded, but also now penalty weight.

The two Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin DBR9 will sport a slightly different design this season with orange (#8 car of Mücke/Turner) and dark grey (#7 car of Enge/Müller) highlights. „We are really pleased that we found some great new corporate partners in recent months“, Hardy Fischer says. „This is of course also reflected in the design of our cars.” New corporate partners of Young Driver AMR are ski manufacturer Zai (www.zai.ch), sportswear company Kjus (www-kjus.com), Edmiston Luxury Yacht Charter (www.edmiston.com), Malts of Scotland (www.malts-of-scotland.com) and also the Yas island Rotana Abu Dhabi Hotel (www.rotana.com). The partnership with Union Engineering (www.union.dk) and Zegg watches & Jewellery (www.zegg.ch) has been extended to its second season in 2011.

Driver quotes before the first race:

Tomáš Enge (#7 Young Driver-Aston Martin DBR9): „I’m really happy to compete this year again in the GT1 World Championship with Young Driver AMR. We are really good prepared for our second season. The team did a good job in preparing our racecars during the very short off-season. This year I will have a new teammate, Alex Müller, and I’m really looking forward to share the car with him. Last year we had a really good season. I hope this season with one-year experience under our belt and with Alex, we can do even better. Abu Dhabi is certainly not an Aston Martin-track, but this year, we will use a shorter version of the track and not the Grand-Prix-Version. This should suit us a bit better. The competition this year seams to be at least as strong as last season, with some very big names on the entry list. But we will built on our experience and the most important thing for the first race is to score some good points.”

Alex Müller (#7 Young Driver-Aston Martin DBR9): „I’m really looking forward to my first race with Young Driver AMR. I know the track already from last season, when I was with another team. But as I drove another car last season, I quite don’t know yet what to expect with the Aston Martin at Abu Dhabi. The first race will be very interesting, there are some new driver and team/car combinations, which are hard to judge. But we will start relaxed into the new season and don’t set ourselves under too much pressure. The season will be very long, and our main objective for Abu Dhabi is to score some good points.“

Stefan Mücke (#8 Young Driver-Aston Martin DBR9): „Finally the season starts, I can’t wait to get back in the car. As the last season ended very late and cars had to be shipped very early to Abu Dhabi, there was no off-season testing for us. So everybody likes to be back on track again. After last year we know that Abu Dhabi is a very difficult track for our type of car, but together with my new teammate Darren Turner, we will make the best of it. There is a great atmosphere at Abu Dhabi, with the amazing facility and the race at night. The track offers many tight corners, you have to drive very precious. From a drivers perspective, the track is what we call technical. My aim is to finish the Championship Race on the podium. I know that will be a very tough job, but if we have a good Qualifying and Qualifying Race, I’m quite optimistic we can reach this goal.“

Darren Turner (#8 Young Driver-Aston Martin DBR9): „Since last years season-finale in Argentina I have not driven the car, so it’s really time to start racing again. This season I’m driving with Stefan Mücke for the first time. We are both driving for Aston Martin couple of seasons now, but we haven’t shared a car up to now. Last season, Abu Dhabi wasn’t really successful for us, but I expect that we will perform much better this year and get some points. I’m really looking forward to Abu Dhabi, not only because it’s the start of the season and I really love the facility there, but we will also have some nice weather and really warm temperatures.”