Qualifying Report

It was a dry session with all drivers conscious of making sure they completed their mandatory three laps in the thirty minutes allocated.

The early pace was set by Aston Martin Racing with Red Bull F1 team principal Christian Horner at the wheel closely followed by the Generation AMR entry of Mark Poole and Vantage Racing’s Tom Black.

As the tyres came up to temperature and driver confidence increased the times began to fall seeing a number of different changes for the top spot. As the cars started to pit for driver changes it was Horner still with provisional pole position.

Mark Poole handed over the driving duties to Richard Abra in the Generation AMR number 8 car who instantly made an impression setting some fantastic lap times and taking the provisional pole.

Alan Bonner who took over the Vantage racing number 24 car from Tom Black then found even more pace and took the provisional pole with Richard Abra second and Christian Horner lying third.

Owen Mildenhall in the Aston Martin Lagonda entry was putting in some impressive times fighting for the front row as well. Bonner then pitted to preserve the car for the race allowing Richard Abra to put a fantastic lap together setting the fastest time seen in the session, which he then managed to hold onto till the end of qualifying.

Qualifying Result:

1. 8 Mark Poole/Richard Abra - Generation AMR - 1:00.692
2. 24 Tom Black/Alan Bonner - Vantage racing - 1:00.820
3. 1 David Richards/Christian Horner - Aston Martin Racing - 1:01.168
4. 77 Marek Reichman/Owen Mildenhall - Aston Martin Lagonda 1:01.43
5. 12 Karsten le Blanc - Nick Mee Racing - 1:01.822
6. 91 Chris Kemp/Les Goble - Stratton Motorsport - 1:02.260
7. 47 Stuart Patterson/Paul Bartley/Mark Walker - Stratton Motorsport - 1:02.386
8. 7 Mike Brown/Paul Cripps - MB Racing - 1:02.470
9. 23 Gaurav Burman/Matt Cummings - Elephant Racing - 1.02.887
10. 3 Alan Hudd/Chris Scragg - Saudade Racing - 1:03.706
11. 22 Pierre Mantello - Stratton Motorsport - 1.03.892
12. 5 Desmond Smail/Julian Reddyhough - Mardi Gras - 1:03.892
13. 56 Richard Taffinder/Tim Eakin - Ultimate Speed - 1:04.358

Silverstone Race Report

Mark Poole started the race in the Generation AMR GT4 car, leading the pack round on the green flag lap, this was only Marks second ever race so to start on pole was a nerve racking experience, he did a fantastic job holding perfect pace as the thirteen cars approached the line, the lights went out and Mark led the pack into turn one but was passed by Tom Black and Christian Horner later in the first lap.

A really good dice for the lead then ensued with Black positioning his car perfectly to hold the lead. There were battles all through the pack with some really close racing taking place.

Horner continued to pressure Black for the lead but Black was making his GT4 Vantage as wide as possible, Horner finally managed to find a way passed on lap 8 but this lead was only held for three laps as Black re took the lead which he held all the way up to the pit stops.

Mark Poole then managed to pass Christian Horner on lap 12 as Horner’s tyres started to go off.

Poole was the first of the leaders to pit, pitting on lap 34. Next to pit was the then current leader Tom Black who pitted three laps later on lap 37. Horner now took the lead and managed to find some more pace as the balance of the car started to improve.

At half distance Horner led from Karsten Le Blanc in the Nicholas Mee number 12 car with the brand new number 22 Stratton entry of Pierre Mantello in third. Horner’s pit stop came on lap 52 where he handed over the driving duties to Aston Martin Chairman David Richards.

After all the pit stops had taken place it was Richard Abra driving the number 8 car now leading the race with Alan Bonner in second and David Richards in third. On lap 62 Richards lost two places firstly to Karsten le Blanc and then to Owen Mildenhall in the fast charging Aston Martin Lagonda number 77 entry.

Mildenhall now looked to chase down Le Blanc’s third position which he did on lap 66 managing to pass Le Blanc into Brooklands. The podium positions started to take place with Abra still leading from Bonner and Mildenhall in third.

The only other real fight left to sort out was for fifth position with Les Goble driving the Stratton number 91 car chasing down David Richards, Goble managing to pass Richards, who was now really struggling on very worn tyres, on lap 75. The checkered flag came out on lap 83 for Richard Abra and Mark Poole to claim victory in their first ever Aston Martin GT4 Challenge race.

Race Result

1. 8 Mark Poole/Richard Abra - Generation AMR - 83 Laps
2. 24 Tom Black/Alan Bonner - Vantage racing - 83 Laps
3. 77 Marek Reichman/Owen Mildenhall - Aston Martin Lagonda 83 Laps
4. 12 Karsten le Blanc - Nick Mee Racing - 83 Lpas
5. 91 Chris Kemp/Les Goble - Stratton Motor Company - 82 Laps
6. 1 David Richards/Christian Horner - Aston Martin Racing - 82 Laps
7. 7 Mike Brown/Paul Cripps - MB Racing - 81 Laps
8. 3 Alan Hudd/Chris Scragg - Saudade Racing - 81 Laps
9. 23 Gaurav Burman/Matt Cummings - Elephant Racing - 80 Laps
10. 5 Desmond Smail/Julian Reddyhough - Mardi Gras - 78 Laps
11. 47 Stuart Patterson/Paul Bartley/Mark Walker - Stratton - 77 Laps
12. 56 Richard Taffinder/Tim Eakin - Ultimate Speed - 76 Laps

DNF

22 Pierre Mantello - Stratton Motor Company - 65 Laps

Darren Turner is taking on a new challenge this year by competing in the Nürburgring 24 Hours in June. The famous race, held on the daunting Nordschleife, nicknamed the ‘Green Hell’, is one of the toughest events Darren has taken on, not least as he now needs to learn the 33 left-hand and 40 right-hand turns that make up each lap.

Darren will race an Aston Martin V8 Vantage, alongside Chris Porritt and Marc Hacking. In line with the regulations for rookies he has to take part in two VLN races prior to the 24-hour race. His first race was earlier today and the other takes place at the end of May.

“I had an awesome time,” said Darren after today’s race. “I got in after Chris for a six lap run and spent the first lap being careful not to get tangled up with anyone. Lap two was better as I was starting to get an idea of what was around each corner. I was really getting into the swing of things by lap three but then there were lots of yellow flags so I had to back off.”

Ultimately the No.118 Aston Martin didn’t finish the race as Marc Hacking had contact and was stranded out on the track but the weekend provided enough of a taste of what Darren has coming his way in the Nürburgring 24 Hours.

“I absolutely loved it,” he said. “I’ve never been in a race where over 180 cars take the start and it takes nine minutes to do one lap! I’ve also really enjoyed spending time with the guys from Gaydon.”

Described as the most beautiful and the most difficult race track in the world, it was Jackie Stewart who said that the Nürburgring is “the circuit on which every driver just wants to win, once”.

“The Nürburgring 24 Hours is a race that I want to tick off my list,” continued Darren. “It’s great to do the two races beforehand so I can start to learn the track. It’s not easy though; it’s the biggest track in the world and there is a lot to learn. I’ve had a good practice in the simulator though and I’ll be doing a lot more of that before the big race in June.”

Darren Turner

The first 2011 International GT Open race will take place in Italy this weekend at the legendary Imola circuit. This year it will be followed by eight events on the best European tracks where top racing teams will fight for victory with the most prestigious GT cars.

In the extremely competitive GTS category the Villois Team will campaign the Aston Martin DBRS9 GT3 #15 driven by Italian drivers Lancieri and Wiser who will attempt
to take the driver championship.

The Vantage GT2 schedule is still in question. The decision has been taken not to enter it at race one with a 2011 debut at Magny Coursa a distinct possibility.

All the race weekend will be streamed live on www.gtsport.es at page ‘time keeping
live’. On TV you can follow the race on the Italian cable/satellite channel Nuvolari (144).
Last year successful cooperation between Villois Racing and Primocanalesport led to the
decision to broadcast the full season live with the commentary of two well known motorsport experts, Giuseppe Sciortino and Roberto Cinquanta. To enjoy this experience you can tune on the Sky satellite channel Primocanalesport 595.


Friday:
Practice 1 10.20 - 11.20
Practice 2 14.20 - 15.20

Saturday:
Qualify 1 09.35 - 09.55
Qualify 2 12.00 - 12.20
Pro-Am Race 15.00 (Live TV)

Sunday: GT Race 12.50 (Live TV)
(Central European Times)

With two seasons of GT4 racing under its belt, Nicholas Mee Racing – winner of the inaugural, 2009 Aston Martin Racing GT4 Challenge – will be gunning for the title again this year.

NMR’s regular drivers Karsten le Blanc and Christiaen van Lanschot, along with Dan De Zille Butler, rejoining the team after a successful debut at the Silverstone 24 Hours in 2010, will be contesting all rounds of the championship in the team’s updated, 2011-spec V8 Vantage GT4.

NMR is also delighted to confirm that it has renewed its major partnership with Talent Works International. The deal will see the Talent Works logo on the bonnet and doors of the NMR car during 2011.

The company plans to use its association with NMR to raise the profile and awareness of its fast growing business and entertain key clients and new business prospects at race meetings during the year. Talent Works’ MD Neil Purcell said “In 2010 we successfully partnered NMR for their assault on the Silverstone 24hr race and we were delighted both with the exposure it generated for us and the positive reaction of our guests at the event. We now look forward to continuing this relationship and winning many races together!”

This year’s nine round Aston Martin Racing-organised GT4 Challenge will be held over seven weekends between April and September and is open to Aston Martin N24 and GT4 cars. Races are between 90 and 180 minutes in length, with re-fuelling plus driver and tyre changes.

Drivers entered for round 1 of the 2011 Challenge at Silverstone on 30th April include Aston Martin’s Director of Design Marek Reichmann, Aston Martin’s Chairman and Prodrive boss David Richards, and Christian Horner, Team Principal of the Red Bull Racing F1 team.

Looking forward to the series, which will visit many iconic circuits including Silverstone, Donington Park, Spa Francorchamps and Dijon, NMR’s Team Principal Nicholas Mee said “Having sadly lost our Chief Engineer Craig Dawson to cancer earlier this year the whole team is especially motivated
to compete strongly for the Challenge. We’ll certainly have our work cut out, but I can’t wait for the season to get underway”

Aston Martin Racing has made the decision not to contest the 1000km of Spa Francorchamps on 7th May, but instead to focus on the ongoing AMR-One testing and development programme.

The ground up developed AMR-One, Aston Martin’s new LMP1 prototype racer which features a new turbo-charged direct injection 2.0 litre straight six petrol engine experienced difficulties at the Le Mans test with the engine plasma cylinder lining. The ambitious project which is still in its early stages of a three year plan began in September last year.

David Richards, Aston Martin Racing Chairman said: “We could go to the Spa 1000km race in May, but this race meeting will set an agenda for us that doesn’t allow us to achieve what we need to accomplish. We need to complete our testing at our own pace including engine, aero and long distance tests."

The beautiful Aston Martin LMP1 entered by Kronos Racing in cooperation with the team Marc VDS participated last Sunday, as scheduled, to the official Test Day ahead of the Le Mans 24 Hours. Maxime Martin has passed with no problems the mandatory « rookie test », the first objective of the all-Belgian team.

Once the track dried after the early morning storms, Vanina Ickx, who knows the car for having raced with it last year, took the task of doing an installation lap, before leaving the wheel to Maxime Martin, who had to perform the ten timed laps mandatory for every rookie before being accepted to take the start in the June race. Maxime performed the task in three runs, spaced by the mid-day break and a safetycar period at the beginning of the afternoon.

The young Belgian did extremely well in his first appearance on the 24-hours circuit and at the wheel of a LMP1 car, constantly improving his lap times and taking no risks at all. After 15 laps, he was 11th in the time sheets, demonstrating great adaptation skills. Unfortunately, shortly after that, the test day was over for the Belgian squad, following the detection of a small leak in the fuel tank. For obvious safety reasons, the Aston Martin # 22 was brought back to the pits, preventing Vanina Ickx and Bas Leinders to do more mileage.

"It was a fantastic experience", commented an elated Martin. "The 24-hours track is fast and not wide, but the car has a lot of downforce and impressive braking. It took me a little while to adjust before finding the right pace, and was very cautious in traffic, in order to avoid any problem in the middle of cars running at very different speeds. The idea of taking to the 24 Hours with such a competitive car looks still like a dream to me..."

A dream that will become reality if the status of first reserve becomes a confirmed entry, something that entails the withdrawal of one single entry in either LMP classes. According to ACO sources, this could still take a couple of weeks, and the definitive confirmation could happen just after the 1000 Km of Spa.

"In a very short time and thanks with the excellent synergy with the Marc VDS team, we have achieved to demonstrate the seriousness of our approach", underlines Marc Van Dalen, team director of Kronos Racing. "The car wasn’t in a perfect state and there has been too little time for a thorough rebuilding, so we were not in a position to fully exploit the opportunity of the test day, but the most important thing was to prove our commitment to the project of doing Le Mans with a 100% Belgian outfit. Maxime has achieved the rookie test with great professionalism and he has proved the potential of the car. We will now focus on preparing the 24-hour race the best we can, even if we still don’t have full certainty about our entry. The car is going to be reshaped by Aston Martin in the UK, in order to be sure its performance and reliability levels are what they should be. I want to thank our partners, Orbello Racing and Michelin, for their support, as well as the entire Marc VDS team, which has been able to acquaint itself effectively with such a sophisticated machine in a very tight time-frame. This is extremely encouraging for the future and we’ll do our utmost to be up to the standards of Belgium’s tradition in this legendary race."

After a difficult qualifying session Jan Joris Verheul gave the Rhesus racing Aston Martin team their first pole of the season.

The sprint went well with Jan Joris Verheul finishing second behind the Lotus Evora of Stefano D'Aste. Just before the race, the team decided to register for the National Championship and thus Jan Joris Verheul finished second in both the European and in the National standings on the second spot.
Despite a good start I could only challeng the Lotus for 7 laps, then I had to really let go" said Jan Joris Verheul his first GT4 race with Rhesus. "Then Chris popped the Ginetta in a gap that was not there and we got together damaging the car. I therefore had a lot of trouble keeping the car on the track for the last few laps"

Dennis Retera started the second sprint race start from the fifth spot, thanks to a great start, he soon moved up two places but he could not hold this position. Dennis ended his race in the same place as it had begun and was not happy with is performance.

In the main race Rhesus started from the third on the grid with Dennis taking the honour of the first stint. With a great start right away Dennis moved up a place and maintained his position until the pit stops where he handed over to Verheul but after the stop the tyres so rapidly that the Rhesus driver could not improve further than a well-deserved third place in both the European and national stage.

Rhesus racing

Elsewhere the Barwell-engineered Beechdean Aston scores a podium in round 1 of British GT (27 April 2011)

The Barwell Motorsport Belgian GT squad was back in action last weekend, for round two of the Belcar Endurance Championship – a race of 125 minutes around Zolder. We kicked off the season in fine style first time out at Zolder with a third place podium result for the Petronas-Barwell Racing entry, but the Aston Martin DBRS9 is not well suited to Zolder’s tight chicanes and we knew it was going to be tough to repeat that result. With the front-running pace in Belcar getting hotter and hotter and none of our rivals suffering any mechanical problems, we were thus happy to come away with fifth place and keep drivers Tim Verbergt and Jeffrey Van Hooydonk up in third spot in the championship standings. This puts them well placed as we head off to Spa for the next round in June, a track which is a happy hunting ground for the Aston Martin DBRS9.

We also had an interest in two other cars running in two other different locations over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, with the Barwell-engineered Beechdean Aston DBRS9 GT3 contesting the British GT opener at Oulton Park, and the Gulf AMR Middle East Aston Martin Vantage GT2 (which is co-prepared by Barwell technicians) attending the official Le Mans 24 Hour test day. Barwell MD, Mark Lemmer, had provided the engineering and set-up plan to Beechdean in advance of Oulton, but then had to miss the qualifying day there as he was on Belcar duty at Zolder. However, with Zolder’s race finished by Sunday evening he was then able to hot-foot it back to Blighty, and get up to Cheshire for first thing on Monday to join the Beechdean squad for the Bank Holiday race day at Oulton! Mark then enjoyed running the car to a great third place for Beechdean’s Andrew Howard and Jonny Adam in the British GT season-opener. Barwell’s Engineering Director, Chris Weeden, meanwhile was at Le Mans looking after the Vantage GT2 for Sunday’s official test day. The Gulf AMR Middle East team’s Aston ran well during the test and recorded the fourth fastest time in the GTE Amateur class, ahead of the Team Jota Aston.

During last Friday’s free practice sessions at Zolder the Barwell engineers and drivers worked on further fine-tuning of the set up and performance of the Petronas/Aston Martin Brussels-backed DBRS9. This hard work paid off during Saturday’s official qualifying sessions, when Jeffrey Van Hooydonk hooked up a great lap to post a 1m31.1s time – a full 0.4s quicker than last time out on new Michelin tyres. This looked good enough to give us third position on the grid until a last-ditch effort by Anthony Kumpen in the Mercedes shaded our time by a mere 4/100ths of a second! Fourth was still a mighty effort at Zolder, however, and put us ahead of both of the WRT Racing Audis. As a measure of the high level of competitiveness of Belcar this year, two weeks ago our time would have put us on the front row of the grid, but the fastest two cars were now recording 1m30.3s laps – only a second slower than the FIA World GT1 Championship pack!

The outside of the grid is not an easy place to start at Zolder, and Jeffrey had to fight hard with the Verbist/Ide Audi as they ran side-by-side through the first two corners of the 125-minute race. The Audi just had the momentum to squeeze past, however, and demoted our Aston to fifth spot. Van Hooydonk was then the meat in an Audi sandwich as he also had the Longin/Maassen car breathing down his neck, but he comfortably had the pace to hold his ground whilst also keeping the pressure on Verbist in front. After 10 laps the Verbist/Ide Audi blinked first and made a mistake which allowed Jeffrey back up to fourth, and he was then able to start to eke out a small margin over the WRT team-mates. This set the pattern for our race, as we would continue to battle with the two Audis both on the track and in the pit lane over the course of the next two hours.

Jeffrey drove an absolutely stunning stint in the blistering heat, with his only issue being that he had to turn the car’s traction control system off as it was causing a slight misfire when switched on. Despite this he strung together lap after lap in the mid 1m33s bracket to stay ahead of the Audis before our first scheduled pit stop after 55 minutes. During the first round of pit visits (every car has to make a mandatory two stops) the leading Ford GT3 dropped back after it was taken over by a slower ‘gentleman’ driver – the only one in the top seven cars – but we got jumped by both Audis which had taken on less fuel. The net result of this was that we were now lying in fifth place with Tim Verbergt at the wheel, at the half way stage of the race.

The Barwell pit stop had included a full four-wheel change, which was completed with our usual speed and efficiency, although this time with a subtle ‘difference’ – Unfortunately on race day morning the No.1 mechanic and regular wheel changer on the car, Mike Brown, had been taken ill with a stomach bug and was unable to join the crew. To prove the strength in depth of our squad, he was replaced as a wheel changer by none other than team principal, Mark Lemmer, who had to leave his post on the pit wall (where he calls the race strategy), run across the pit lane and grab a wheel gun to change the right side wheels! However Mark was well drilled in this procedure, as he often takes part in the crew’s wheel change practice competitions back at the Barwell base.

Although the faster Audi pairing of Longin/Maassen in third place was able to move out of our reach during the middle phase of the race, Tim was able to keep the Verbist/Ide machine in his sights. Without any retirements amongst the leaders, the focus of our race was now this fight over fourth place, as we also had no threat from behind with the GPR Racing Aston DBRS9 dropping back over a minute away from us. When Tim came in to the pits to hand back the reins to Jeffrey there was a little over half an hour remaining, and we had a 15-second deficit to the fourth-placed Audi. To try and help Jeffrey take the fight to the Verbist/Ide car we fitted a new pair of front tyres on (as planned), as we were concerned that the existing fronts could lose significant performance in the heat over a long stint. The penalty for this was an extra eight seconds in the pits, which we would comfortably get back in track time. The Audi, however, is easier on its tyres and they didn’t change any at their final stop, but Verbist could still match Jeffrey’s pace during the closing stages of the race and thus keep hold of the Audi’s fourth place.

NEXT RACES:

BELCAR
SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS JUNE 17/18

BRITISH GT
SNETTERTON MAY 14/15

LE MANS SERIES
SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS MAY 7/8

The newly formed Gulf AMR Middle East racing team, which is making its debut at the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans in the GTE-Am category, completed a full day’s testing programme on Easter Sunday at the one official practice day available to competitors in preparation for the main event on 11-12 June.

On a 14-kilometre track mostly comprised of public roads, drivers Fabien Giroix, Roald Goethe and Mike Wainwright completed over 700 kilometres of trouble-free running. An unexpected puncture towards the end of the first four hours of practice caused the only slight delay to proceedings for the David Price-managed team.

With exceptionally warm weather reigning over the western part of Europe, thunderstorms and isolated showers had been predicted for Sunday's eight-hour test. Instead, however, a short shower mid morning over one third of the track was the only disruption, and competitors benefited from a freshly-washed track after a heavy thunderstorm on Saturday night.

Drivers who haven't raced at Le Mans before, or in the past three years, are required to complete a minimum of 10 laps to be eligible for the practice sessions in June. All three Gulf AMR Middle East drivers, with the patronage of team partner Gulf Oil International, familiarised themselves thoroughly with the track, completed their mandatory laps and additionally worked with Aston Martin Racing to assess a new aerodynamic package for Le Mans on the Aston Martin Vantage GT2.

Professional driver and proven endurance winner, Fabien Giroix, who last competed at Le Mans in a McLaren GTR, commented: “I’m very happy with the day. We have been able to prepare our gentlemen drivers in the best way possible to race here. They ran a lot of laps, we had no problems and they did good times, and we know the car set up is good for the race. It was a good day!”

Although new to the 24-hour event – the jewel in sports car racing’s crown – Dubai-based Roald Goethe was able to profit from participation in the 2010 Le Mans Classic to gain track knowledge. He was unlucky to be behind the wheel for both the puncture and a damp track in the morning, but delighted with the overall experience. “It’s a day with a happy ending. The morning was a bit tricky in the damp as I am not the most experienced driver, and the puncture didn’t help as it limited seat time in the morning. During the afternoon everything fell into place and it was great fun. We are looking forward immensely to being back for the race.”

Mike Wainwright has been racing for just a year but acquitted himself with the results and performance of a far more experienced driver, methodically improving his lap times each time he took to the track. He said afterwards, “I enjoyed it very much; it was a good experience. The track wasn’t as technically difficult as I was expecting, and I think the biggest challenge will probably be working out the braking points at Arnage and Indianapolis. The Porsche Curves were easier than I expected – you’ve just got to have the confidence to go through them quickly and cleanly. We’ve had a good guiding hand from Fabien, and can now work with the data to improve over the coming weeks.”

Gulf AMR Middle East now heads to the equally iconic Spa-Franchorchamps track in Belgium for the second round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, the 1000 Km of Spa on Saturday 7 May.

Beechdean Motorsport collected their first podium of the season in the opening round of the British GT Championship at Oulton Park with Andrew Howard and Jonathan Adam finishing third in their Aston Martin DBRS9.

After losing 5th place at the start to the Trackspeed Porsche of Gregor Fisken Andrew Howard kept pace with the lead group and gained on the No2 Porsche before handing over to Jonathan Adam at pit stops.

Jonathan was immediately up to speed and closed on the Porsche now driven by Tim Bridgman who was himself embroiled in a battle for 3rd with the Jones brother's Mercedes AMG SLS. The trio were nose to tail until Bridgman went off allowing Adam to move up to 4th position and start chasing down the Mercedes and subsequently passing the silver car two laps later. Jonathan then managed to see off the challenge from Allan Simonsen in the Rosso Verde Ferrari 430 Scuderia to claim the final place on the podium.



The celebrations were short lived, as the Aston Martin engine let go in a cloud of smoke as the Scott crossed the line meaning the team would take no further part in the weekends action.

“The car was getting slower in a straight line and the noise from the engine was getting worse,” said Adam. “Then as I crossed the line, it just let go in a cloud of smoke. That’s disappointing for us, but at the same time, it’s great to start the year on the podium as there are circuits coming up that will be better suited to the car.”

The British GT championship resumes 5th May at Snetterton where Beechdean will be joind by two more Aston Martins. 22GT with their DBRS9 in GT3B and Secure Racing with the Vantage GT4.

JT

Official Aston Martin Racing partner team, Jota Sport AMR, are delighted to announce that Chris Buncombe, LMP2 class winner at Le Mans in 2007 and former Aston Martin Racing factory driver, will complete the British squad's driver line up for this year's edition of the famous 24 hour race.

32-year old Buncombe will join current Aston Martin Racing factory driver, Sam Hancock, and Le Mans debutant, Simon Dolan, in Jota Sport's Aston Martin V8 Vantage. The trio will compete head-to-head against the cream of the world's GT racing crop in the prestigious GTE Pro class.

London-based Buncombe, who drove for the official Aston Martin Racing factory team in 2009 aboard the stunning Gulf-liveried LMP1, had his first taste of the car yesterday in a brief shakedown, and will now travel with the team to Le Mans this weekend for Sunday's official test day.

Chris Buncombe: “I’m really pleased and excited to be joining Jota Sport AMR for my return to Le Mans and to be able to continue my association with the Aston Martin brand. It will be my first time back at the race since winning the LMP2 Class in the 24 Hours in 2007 so I have many happy memories there! It’s also great to be driving with Sam and Simon, I’m sure we will make a great team.”

Sam Hignett, Team Principal and Co-owner: "We're thrilled that Chris is joining us. Le Mans is such a challenging race that having a proven winner who knows how to get the car to the flag will be a tremendous help. We've all known one another for quite some time now as well which should allow Chris to slot pretty effortlessly into the team. He's got a slightly tough break with his first proper test of the car being at Le Mans this weekend, so we'll not be expecting too much of him, but thereafter I've no doubt he'll be a great addition to the ranks."

Following the test this weekend, the team head to Spa for Round 2 of the Le Mans Series on 7th May, before heading back to Le Mans for the start of "Le Vingte Quatre Heures" on 11th June.

The first meeting of the season was held at Zandvoort, Holland on 21st – 25th April 2011, with Generation AMR, in partnership with the Hardinge Group and The Spa Hotel,

Royal Tunbridge Wells, competing against 16 other GT4 cars as well as 6 more GT4 cars entered in the Dutch GT4 Championship. This was the first opportunity for the James and Ant to compete against some of the best drivers and teams in Europe, with world class drivers such as Jeroen Bleekemolen (Le Mans Prototype driver) and Stefano D’Aste (former World Touring Car driver), so the team was under no misapprehension that this would be a tough opening weekend.

Free Practice
Zandvoort is a circuit that is notorious for low grip and it didn’t fail to deliver. With the sun shining and temperatures reaching 26˚C, the team found that 3 areas of the track were like driving on ice, thanks to the sand that blows onto the circuit from the surrounding dunes. The original set-up planned for the weekend had to be rapidly adapted and the team worked hard to find a suitable engineering solution that gave the drivers the balance of high and low speed performance. Out on circuit, the other marques were showing just how much, or how little in many cases, they could cope with the challenging conditions. With manufacturers such as BMW, Chevrolet, Corvette, Lotus, and Maserati represented, it soon became clear which car and driver combinations were going to be at the front of the field. Nevertheless, Generation AMR worked on every aspect of their performance and closed the gap with the competition during the 2 sessions; when it came the time for qualifying, the team was justifiably in a positive mood that top 6 positions out of a field of 23 were more than achievable.

Qualifying
Just before qualifying, a historic single seat race car dropped oil all the way round the circuit, with some of it being left on critical braking points and the racing line. The circuit worked hard to clean the track but a long delay was inevitable. Ant Scragg started qualifying first, as the team had already decided that he would drive in the first race of the season on the Saturday. When the session started, Generation AMR went out on track first, to assess the levels of grip and start on a strategic run that would put us in with a chance of a front row slot. But with so many cars trying to qualify in just 15 minutes and with the cars so evenly matched, Ant found that every attempt to get a fast lap in was hindered by cars blocking the ideal line as they too tried to get a fast time in – even though they should have moved aside for our faster car. Halfway through the session, another car had a mechanical failure resulting in even more oil being dropped, so the red flags came out and the car returned to the pit lane, with just 6 minutes left on the clock. Ant went back out and tried once more to get a clean lap in, but was blocked by a Porsche that would not give way and so the session ended with Ant only able to make P14 out of the 23 cars that qualified. The team knew that we had more pace than the performance showed, so focus shifted onto getting a better result in Q2 and trying some different tactics to avoid the traffic

Q2 started well, with James bringing the car up to speed quickly and we started on a fast lap, only to once again be blocked. However, James pushed on and we soon found ourselves in the top ten. The session would not go cleanly though, as an accident elsewhere on track saw our efforts thwarted, as the red flags once again came out and James returned to the pits with 8 minutes to go. When the session resumed, James went all out to push us further up the grid but some stunning times from a couple of cars left us assessing where they had got the speed from and how we could close the gap. In the end James ended in a credible P8 for race 2 and we had learnt some of the tricks teams were using out on track to gain a legal advantage.

Race 1
Saturday dawned on a new day, with the team having worked hard the previous evening to change the settings on the car to further close the gap to the competition. With high temperatures resulting in heavy tyre wear, the team felt that the set-up we had chosen would best favour the conditions when it came time to push, and push hard! The great thing about the Aston Martin Lagonda brand is its ability to draw admiration from all corners of the paddock. The Hardinge Group and Spa Hotel liveried car was immaculately prepared as ever and we were swamped by photographers wanting to snap the outside and inside of the car all day. Fans and other teams alike admired the graceful lines of the car and its racing pedigree, with talk in the paddock being about the fear that we were going to bring a few surprises to the party! Ant started Race 1 well and was soon making his way past the competition and staying out of trouble – which was more than could be said for some as one competitor’s race only lasted 8 seconds! Ant pushed on throughout the race and each lap he took time out of the cars immediately in front of him, then lining them up for the pass. The car performed faultlessly and Ant drove brilliantly against drivers with far more experience, which was rewarded by a P9 finish, but we were P6 in the European Cup – first points in the bag!

Race 2
With the team having benefitted from a rest day on Easter Sunday, the Monday race day was a
hectic affair with a 25 minute race and the big one of the weekend, a 50 minute race with both drivers in the afternoon. Once again, Generation AMR had prepared the Hardinge Group/Spa Hotel car perfectly and so James drove round for the start of his race brimming with confidence. The race started well with James keeping pace with the front runners and positioning himself for the second half of the race when we knew we could be stronger. An accident early on brought out the safety car and James joined the “snake” in P7. On the restart, he timed it perfectly and pushed on hard to take 6th place before coming up against our fellow Aston Martin team, Rhesus Racing – previous winners of the championship. But their best efforts proved to be not enough and James overtook them to take P5 on the road – could we be on for a podium? Despite his best efforts, James ran out of time in the 25 minute sprint race and the team decided to save the tyres for the longer race, asking him to slow down a little and secure a fine finish of P4 in the European Cup. A great result that had our competitors on edge, particularly after our disappointing qualifying runs meant they thought we were off the pace!

Race 3
With the car cleaned and prepared for the final race, the whole team took to the grid where we were joined by hundreds of sponsors’ guests for the 20 minute grid walk. Basking in sunshine, the Hardinge Group/Spa Hotel car looked beautiful, once again drawing lots of interest from the public, business people and the photographers. Starting from P8 again, Ant warmed the car up well on the formation lap and pushed hard from the start, which saw him in a great battle with the Maserati GT4 car. As they headed into Turn 1 at the start of Lap 2, it looked like Ant had the edge and was going to make the pass stick, but luck was not on our side. Just ahead of Ant, a Ginetta driver had pushed a BMW into a spin, which resulted in Ant coming round the corner to find the Maserati on the right and a car sideways in front of him blocking the track. A split second decision was required and he rapidly took avoiding action to the left. Sadly this meant playing with a gravel trap and Ant almost made it through before the gravel sucked the car down and he was stuck. Thanks to the format of the European Cup, we are able to receive assistance without penalty, but in the process we dropped 2 laps to the front runners by the time Ant was dragged out of the gravel and he got back to the pits. A sprint look around the car told us that there was no damage and Ant sprinted back out to re-join the race. He pushed harder and harder each lap and soon he caught the back of the field and began the process of un-lapping himself. We watched the timing screens intently, analysing each sector and lap, encouraging Ant to push even harder as he was matching the pace of the cars at the front and taking big bites out of cars as he muscled his way through the traffic. The team performed a perfect pitstop and James rejoined the race in P18, still 2 laps down on the leaders but with no extra time lost in the pitlane. After Ant’s strong drive, James continued the trend and pushed all the way to the end of the race, with his performance getting better and better each lap. In the end, the team were left to ponder on what might have been, but happy with the pace of the car and the fact that Ant had avoided what could have been a very serious accident.

Summary
Whilst the total number of points from the weekend was disappointing, the team learnt a number of things about competing in Europe against world class drivers and the potential to get even more out of the Aston Martin Vantage GT4 race car. We developed our pace throughout the weekend on a tricky circuit and had shown that we could challenge for podium places. Our strategies have developed and we look forward to the next meeting knowing that when we go to Silverstone we will be on home turf, with a strong car and a great team attitude that we know will see us further up in qualifying and pushing hard every second of every race.
The season may have started, but it is far from over!

IT security has become the first business community in the world to have its own motorsport team. Led by monitoring technology company Dtex Systems, and supported by AlgoSec, the market leader in network security policy management, Secure Racing has been launched to raise awareness that security technologies have a critical role to play beyond the office environment. The team hopes to inspire the industry to come together and be part of a shared challenge – to enable the information security industry to be represented at the world famous Le Mans 24hrs race by 2015. Secure Racing is offering an open invitation to anyone involved in information security to join the team and be part of the adventure.

“IT security plays a critical role in some of the most exciting and challenging environments in the world, explains Dtex’s UK MD Mohan Koo. “Motorsport is a perfect demonstration – it’s an environment where the margin for error is so small that keeping any competitive advantage within the team is critical. It’s a perfect example of where data security is paramount for achieving success outside the corporate world. We established Secure Racing to highlight that IT security is about much more than firewalls and anti-virus. It’s an enabling technology for success in dynamic, exciting and precision environments.”

“Subsequent to the 2007 Ferrari-McLaren F1 data leakage scandal information security has become a key focus within many sectors including motorsport. This has resulted in information security and technology companies becoming increasingly invested in motorsport both on and off the track. For many companies, the costs associated with motor racing present a barrier to entry so we created Secure Racing to offer a way for any information security business, no matter how big or small, to get involved and share in the thrill of racing.” Paul Clark, Regional Director at AlgoSec.

Secure Racing’s car will be driven by ex-Porsche Club, Britcar 24 hour and GT3 Challenge racer Peter Erceg and talented youngster Chris Holmes. Erceg, who is the Director of IT Security for Everything, Everywhere, one of the UKs leading mobile operators, brings to the team a wealth of racing experience including placing 1st in class in the inaugural Porsche GB GT3 Challenge in 2010 and a 3rd in class in the 2007 24 hours of Silverstone. 24 year old Chris Holmes, from Leeds, comes to Secure Racing after competing in the British Caterham Superlight Championship, Formula BMW, Formula Renault, and British Formula 4 which saw Chris take 8 race wins from 11 starts, 2 podiums, and 6 new lap records (Vice Champion).

For more information on Secure Racing follow us on twitter @secureracing or check out the website www.secureracing.org

Secure Racing

A mere week after the opening round of the Belcar Endurance Championship at Circuit Zolder, the GPR Aston Martin Racing team headed off for the Monza park to compete in the now already renowned Blancpain Endurance Series, a competition with as its highpoint the 24 Hours of Spa being held at the end of July. On Italian soil the Aston Martin DBRS9 bearing the colours of Aston Martin Antwerp-Michiels, Creaset, HYT and Gulf was in the hands of Ludovic Sougnez, back on the international scene, Eddy Renard and Christian Kelders.

And straightaway the Belgian team were taken in by the atmosphere of this Blancpain series and its immediate success ... "This is truly a great championship, and competing in it we find ourselves amongst the top players, Pino Sperlinga explained. An extra hour of free practice might not have gone amiss on this track we're discovering, but everyone is in the same boat. On top of that there's a friendly atmosphere amongst the various teams."

Not having tested previously on the Monza circuit, the GPR AMR took full advantage of the two hours of free practice on the Saturday, but also the qualifying sessions in order to prepare the Aston Martin DBRS9 for the three hour long race on the Sunday. « We were somewhat lacking in mileage to hope for any brilliant results during the official session, but as we soon noticed that delay was immediately reduced once the start had been given, Eddy Renard commented. I clocked up my best personal lap time during my race stint. Our climb up through the pack was quite spectacular and even though we just missed out on a podium place in Pro-Am, our 7th place overall undoubtedly reveals the potential of this Aston."

Apart from a few annoyances with the brakes, the DBRS9 driven by Sougnez, Renard and Kelders ran like clockwork during the entire 180 minutes, where others fell by the wayside due to lack of reliability ... « I believe that by finishing the race at Monza, where we only discovered the track's subtleties during a mere two days, in 7th place overall and 4th in the Pro-Am and coming out as the top Aston Martin, we can be truly satisfied with this great start, is how Ludovic Sougnez summed up the race. The latter took the first stint, and having started from 22nd place on the grid he drove a splendid race to bring the car up into the top 10 overall in just one hour. We need to continue concentrating on the work, and with that in mind we will be at Zolder this coming Thursday to carry on with the car's development. But I feel really at home with this team and in this brand new Blancpain Endurance Series. It looks promising ... "

We should also mention that at Monza, GPR Aston Martin Racing had entered a Vantage GT4 for the Italian pair Sanguiolo, De Pasquale, as also the Swiss driver Vernet. Although still awaiting the 2011 evolutions this car still took the chequered flag in 5th place in the GT4 class, definitely another promising start.

The sprint of the beginning of this season now follows on for the Pino Sperlinga outfit, which will be travelling back from Italy to head for the Belgian Limburg, where the second round of the Belcar takes place this coming weekend, within the framework of the prestigious World Touring Car Championship (WTCC). This time around the race is over two hours, and the Aston Martin GPR AMR, to be driven by Henri Moser and Michaël Schmetz, has every intention of aiming for an overall podium place.

The Muscle Milk Aston Martin Racing team took the streets of Long Beach by storm on Saturday and scored its fourth victory - third overall - in the American Le Mans Series, on its home turf.

The team which is based in Benicia, California was looking to bounce back from a difficult season opening race in Sebring a few weeks ago and they did it in the best possible way. Not only did they win but they also nearly lapped the entire field.

Lucas Luhr, who was starting the race in second place aboard the Muscle Milk Aston Martin Racing LMP1 car, took over first place from Chris Dyson in Turn 5 on the opening lap.

From that point on, the team never looked back.

Even with a full course caution that slowed the race for 10 laps and a scare with a Flying Lizard car, Luhr was able to build a gap of over 30 seconds before heading down pit lane to hand off the Aston Martin to Klaus Graf on lap 44, about one hour in to the two-hour event.

The only lap the team didn't lead of the 83 completed was the one on which they stopped for fuel, a driver change and a set of new Michelin tires, but the Muscle Milk squad quickly took over the top of the charts once again when it was Dyson's turn to pit.

Following the pit stops by the LMP1 cars, Muscle Milk Aston Martin Racing had extended its lead to 44.5 seconds on their class rivals.

As the race wound down, Graf continued to increase the gap and was only seconds away from lapping the field at one point. However, the lead crossing the finish line was reduced due to a full course caution that came out with just under eight minutes to go and which forced the race to finish under yellow.

The win was a fifth one for Graf, a 32nd for Luhr and the team's first with its Aston Martin LMP1 coupe.

Additionally, Muscle Milk Aston Martin Racing took home the honors in the prototype category of the Michelin Green X Challenge, an award given to the team that demonstrates the best overall performance and fuel efficiency with the least environmental impact.

With today's win, the Muscle Milk team closes the gap to 26 points in the LMP1 championship race to the first place team.

You can catch all the action from Long Beach Sunday, April 17 at 5:00 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

The Muscle Milk crew will be back in action in two weeks time with its IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge car and driver Mark Bullitt at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah from April 29 to May 1. The ALMS group will return to competition at Lime Rock Park in July.

Muscle Milk Quotes:

Klaus Graf, driver Muscle Milk Aston Martin Racing
"It was a perfect day for Muscle Milk Aston Martin Racing and a great performance all around. Lucas laid the groundwork getting by the Dyson car early and then the race unfolded well for us. The guys did an awesome job on the pit stop as well, which allowed us to gain even more time.
"After a few laps in my stint they asked me to start saving fuel and that's what I tried to do. It's not always easy, you're managing traffic, trying to do a decent lap time and saving fuel all at the same time. It can be a little nerve-wracking because it's easy to lose your attention. But it all worked out and in the end we just brought it home.
"I'm very happy for the guys, the team, especially for John Ogden from Aston Martin as well as our partners Michelin and Aston Martin. Sebring didn't go quite the way we wanted to so to win the Long Beach Grand Prix, and for me it's the first time, I'm quite happy."

Lucas Luhr, driver Muscle Milk Aston Martin Racing

"I'm really thankful that Greg and Penny Pickett let me do this race in Long Beach and I'm happy that I could give something back to the team with a win. I had a good stint, in the beginning I was able to overtake Dyson in Turn 5 and then start building a gap. You never know what can happen on a street circuit so to have a nice gap is always good.
"I'm also happy for the crew. They worked so hard at Sebring and we just had tough luck with the fire and a DNF, so it's great to give the guys something back, they really deserve it. Big thanks to them for preparing the car so well. Also, thank you to Klaus who did a good job at the end. It's always very easy to lose focus when you have such a big lead and he had to save fuel. It might have looked easy from the outside but for sure it was not. Overall I'm just very pleased with the weekend.
"(About the close call with the #45 Flying Lizard car) That was a moment! I think Patrick Long was in the Lizard car, I'm not sure what happened but he hit the wall in Turn 9 and he had a broken suspension, so I tried to get around him but I saw him coming towards me because he wasn't in control of his own car anymore because of the suspension damage. As I wanted to go around him, I saw him coming and I had to brake and he went in front of me and slowed down so I nearly hit him. It was a bit of a late afternoon wake up call!"

The battle for pole position on the streets of Long Beach was an exciting one, but the outcome saw Muscle Milk Aston Martin Racing place second on the grid for Saturday's American Le Mans Series race.

Klaus Graf, who was aboard the Muscle Milk Aston Martin LMP1 car, was in a heated on-track fight with Guy Smith from Dyson Racing as both drivers exchanged pole position numerous times throughout the 15 minute qualifying session.

Smith was the first to set a fast lap that placed him atop the charts, right up until Graf took over that spot by more than half a second.

That was only the beginning though, as Smith and Graf both switched positions two more times before the Dyson Racing driver registered a blistering lap which ended up being just over four tenths of a second quicker than the German's best lap time of one minute 14.453 seconds.

Graf was however at a disadvantage coming into qualifying. He had only been able to do a handful of laps in the one and only practice session early Friday morning due to an issue with the car that cost him and the team valuable track time.

Despite the limited time in the Muscle Milk Aston Martin on the streets of Long Beach, Graf was pushing hard to better the pole setting lap of Smith in the final minutes of the session.

While we will never know, if it hadn't been for a small lock up of the wheels on his final lap - that caused the car to gently brush the wall and give it it's first real scratch - the outcome could have been different.

The final battle of the weekend goes green Saturday at 4:30 p.m. PT and will be streamed live on ESPN3.com starting at 4:15 p.m. PT.

The American Le Mans Series at Long Beach race will be broadcast on tape-delay, Sunday, April 17 at 5:00 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

Muscle Milk Quotes:

Klaus Graf, driver Muscle Milk Aston Martin Racing
"It was very exciting. Obviously we missed a bit of practice time in the morning and considering that I'm very pleased. We went a lot faster than we did this morning and even if we're restricted from what this car was doing speed wise last year, we're still going really fast and that's very, very promising. Hats off to the guys, once again they did a great job.
"I think we have an awesome car for tomorrow and I look forward to the battle. The weather is great and what a beautiful weekend to go racing at Long Beach.
"(About his final attempt) It's so hard here to find the right brake pressure and to balance that perfectly. I was pushing really hard and over pressured the brakes a little bit so the rear stepped out and I lightly touched the wall. I don't know if it would have been good enough to beat Guy (Smith) but you try as hard as you can."

Lucas Luhr, driver Muscle Milk Aston Martin Racing

"It was very good going out this morning. The circuit was really dirty and very slippery in the beginning but still Long Beach is one of my favorite racing circuits dirty or not! We did some good running in the beginning but then we had some issues with the car and lost a lot of track time there, unfortunately.
"Klaus did a really good job in qualifying. From my point of view he was really on it. He even had a slight 'kiss' with the wall on the left rear and that is just right for a street circuit.
"We are starting on the front row which is good and I look forward to starting the race tomorrow. I think we have a good racecar and strategy so we should be in good shape for the race."

Image: ALMS

Join Luigi Basile of Prodrive giving a talk around the Aston Martin Racing Vantage being run by Gulf AMR Middle East in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup



Gulf AMR Middle East
www.gulfamr.ae
www.facebook.com/Gulfamrme
www.twitter.com/gulfamrme

Aston Martin Racing announces today, the new Vantage GT3 race car based on the V12 Vantage road car, which will be ready for competition in 2012.

The Vantage GT3 will replace the DBRS9, launched in 2006 at Le Mans, and which has since seen 26 chassis built and raced to multiple victories in national and international series across the world most recently winning in the Australian GT at Mount Panorama in October last year and achieving a podium finish at Zolder last week. The new Vantage GT3 joins the Vantage GT2, GT4, DBR9 GT1 and the AMR-One LMP1 to create the largest and most comprehensive range of Aston Martin race cars to date.

Designed to FIA regulations, the Vantage GT3 will be built around the Vantage aluminium VH architecture with a lightweight dry-sumped 6.0 litre V12 engine, based on the V12 Vantage road car. The new car will have a race semi-automatic paddle shift Xtrac gearbox and the latest race-developed ABS and traction control systems, optimised for the Vantage GT3.

John Gaw, Aston Martin Racing Managing Director added: “The DBRS9 has been a very successful GT3 racing car and, despite being more than six years old, is still competitive today.

“However, the competition has moved on and we needed to create a new car that combines our six years’ experience in this category with the latest race technology to continue Aston Martin’s success in GT3 for many years to come.”

Aston Martin Racing has set a target weight of 1250kg and target engine performance figures of more than 600bhp and 700Nm. The first car will be completed in July 2011 and will undertake an extensive test and development programme during the rest of the year. Ten customer cars will then be built ready for delivery for the start of the 2012 season.

Barwell Motorsport kicked off the 2011 race season in fine style at the weekend, with a fighting 3rd place podium finish in the opening round of the Belgian Belcar Endurance Championship at Zolder. The team’s Aston Martin DBRS9, run under the banner of Petronas-Barwell Racing and driven by Tim Verbergt and Jeffrey Van Hooydonk, was in the hunt for a top three finish throughout the race despite a clutch problem. The Barwell-run Aston then claimed the final podium slot in the final 20 minutes of the three hour encounter, much to the delight of new team partners, Petronas Lubricants Belgium and Aston Martin Brussels. It also marked the fifth podium finish in a row for Barwell Motorsport, continuing the run started in September last year in British GT, Britcar GT and Spanish GT events.

This result was just desserts for the hard-working Barwell engineers and crew, who had only received the new 2011 Aston Martin Racing aero bodywork upgrades just days before the start of the race meeting. We thus only had the one hour free practice session on Friday to work on the set-up of the new-look DBRS9 and try to optimise its performance, before Saturday’s qualifying sessions. By qualifying we were reasonably satisfied with the work we had done, and the stopwatch proved that the upgrades have been a step forward for the DBRS9, which is one of the very original GT3 designs and now entering its sixth season of competition!

Even with the upgrades we know that we are facing a tough battle against the ‘new age’ GT3 machines from Audi, Ford, Porsche and Mercedes in the highly competitive Belcar GT3 field, and to heighten the challenge further Zolder is not a track that plays to the ‘high-downforce’ strengths of the big V12 6-litre Aston. Jeffrey Van Hooydonk then caught everyone by surprise (including us!), however, when he hauled the 600bhp beast around in 1m31.5s to take provisional pole position after the first qualifying session! This was 1.5 seconds quicker than we had ever been at Zolder, and all the more impressive given that this year’s Michelin Belcar tyre is a harder compound than we had used in previous years. With the second 30-minute session still to come, though, we were expecting a big challenge to this from the German marques. With a very good time in the bag we chose to focus on the race set up during second qualifying, rather than chase a slight improvement on our single lap qualifying time. Unfortunately we did get bumped by the Audi of Maassen/Longin, the Merc of Kumpen/K.Wauters and the Porsche of Soulet/Goossens, but still ended up 4th and only half a second shy of the pole time, which is as close as we have been at Zolder.

Tim Verbergt took the start of Sunday’s 3-hour race (with three mandatory pit stops to be carried out), but as is quite common around the tight confines of the Zolder track there was a lot of nudging and jostling for position going on as the field blasted down the start/finish straight. Tim got a couple of knocks from the cars around him during the first lap, one being a pretty hard whack in the driver’s side door and he also received another in the left rear. This caused him quite a big ‘moment’ and as he lost momentum both the Audi of Verbist/Ide and the Ford GT of Palttala/Kuismanen slipped past. Verbergt was soon back up to fifth spot when the Ford hit problems early on and pitted, and he then became embroiled in a close tussle with the rival Aston Martin DBRS9 of Moser/Schmetz. This lasted for many laps, with the Moser-driven machine seeming to have an advantage under braking which raised our suspicions that it was running the ‘sprint’ spec front brake pads (as opposed to the ‘endurance’ ones on our car), and thus we would be expecting it to run into braking difficulties later in the race. Tim thus didn’t lose time fighting Moser and settled back into sixth spot, concentrating on getting into a good rhythm to complete his stint after the first lap argy-bargy and worrying knock in the side.

Our first pit stop at 45 minutes went absolutely like clockwork, with a re-fuel, change of all four tyres and Jeff replacing Tim at the wheel. Soon sixth place became fifth as the Verbist/Ide Audi hit trouble, and Jeff set about chasing the other Aston which now had Schmetz at the controls. With Schmetz being slightly slower than Moser, Jeff was able to close on him a little bit lap by lap, and the inter-Aston Martin battle started to intensify! As he closed to within pouncing distance from his prey, however, Jeff radioed in to say that he had lost the operation of the clutch and was having to shift down through the gears without using it. This was not only hampering his lap times a little bit, but also presented us with a problem at the pit stops in terms of the car departing from its stationary position. Despite all of this, Jeff drove an excellent stint (posting a best lap time only 3/10ths of a second slower than the race winner) and brought the car in for our second scheduled stop just after the 90 minute mark.

The solution for the pit stop was for the driver to select neutral, fire the engine up and then the rules allowed us to push him away from the pit stop position for a few yards until the car was rolling and he could bang it into first gear. Without the clutch it is quite hard for a fully strapped in driver to select neutral on the sequential gear lever, however, and thus after re-fuelling and changing tyres (once again carried out with ruthless efficiency by the Barwell crew) one of our guys had to open the door of the car and help Tim physically get the lever into the neutral position. This all cost us quite a few precious seconds, but with the Moser/Schmetz machine suffering its own time delays in their stop, we still came out ahead and moved up to fourth place as the race entered its second half.

Again our attentions were immediately focused on the tussle over who would come out as top Aston Martin, as we were beginning to lose sight of the top three runners who had been setting a very hot pace in the first hour and then pulled further ahead by not having to take on board so

much fuel at the stops (due to enjoying better fuel consumption). However our pace was still
good enough that a small problem for the Porsche, Audi or Merc ahead could put us in a
position to threaten the German top three lock-out. Back in the battle of the British 6-litre V12s, Moser was again able to close on Tim and soon there was virtually an eight-wheel 12-litre V24 DBRS9 running on the track, as our rival was all but glued to the bumper of the Petronas-Barwell car for three laps! We stuck to our belief that they would soon encounter some brake issues, and again Tim didn’t resist the pass from Moser but concentrated on his own stint where he also had to get used to not being able to use the clutch. He soon got to grips with the problem and set some very good lap times during his second stint, during which he was able to keep the Moser-driven Aston in his sights and thus set Jeff up very well to take fourth spot back during his final race run.

With 40 minutes remaining Tim came in for the final scheduled stop, where we would fuel the car to finish the race and just change the front tyres. Jeff hopped in and this time we had the re-start routine finely tuned, as the car was returned to the fray with minimum fuss. After our stop we looked up the pit lane and saw the Moser/Schmetz Aston (which had pitted before us) still sitting outside its garage and receiving some serious attention from its mechanics. It remained there for a few more laps, apparently having suffered from brake problems....

With the Aston Martin ‘Challenge’ now over, Jeff was able to concentrate on keeping up a good pace in fourth spot and looking after the car for the final 40 minutes, as the fifth-placed Ford GT was two laps back and not a threat and the Mercedes of Kumpen/K.Wauters in third was too far ahead for him to catch purely on pace. With just over 20 minutes to go, however, the Merc was in the pits for an unscheduled visit and all eyes from the Petronas-Barwell camp were trained on their pit area. It didn’t stay in long enough for Jeff to pass it on the track, though, but there was still a chance that they had a problem that could allow us to close. We didn’t have to wait long for the answer to this, as half way round its next lap the TV screens showed the Mercedes SLS parked by the side of the track with only three wheels still attached. Jeff thus assumed third position, and with it the Barwell podium run was kept alive!

The Belgian round of the FIA GT1 World Championship was a tough scrap, and HEXIS AMR had to call on all its race craft to score good results. There were several spectacular crashes, and some of the overtaking manoeuvres would not have been out of place on a fairground dodgems’ rink! The No.4 Aston Martin DB9 of Andrea Piccini and Christian Hohenadel took over from its sister car to keep the colours of HEXIS AMR flying. The Italo-German pairing was forced to retire when leading the qualification race. They then fought their way from tenth on the grid to the second step of the podium in the championship event. The Abu Dhabi winners, Clivio Piccione and Stef Dusseldorp, did a great job coping with the 30-kg ballast and bagged the points for sixth place in both races. These results have helped HEXIS AMR to double its lead in the FIA GT1 World Championship for Teams, and its four musketeers are in the top three in the drivers’ ratings.

Despite a broken gearbox in prequalifying practice, Christian Hohenadel, the reigning European FIA GT3 Champion, set a superb fourth-quickest time in Q1. His team-mate, former FIA GT Championship runner-up Andrea Piccini, put the team in Q3 for the first time this season, and Christian put on a final spurt to give no. 4 sixth place on the grid for the qualifying race. Piccini avoided the chaos at the start and finished his first stint in sixth place. Once again the French squad carried out a stunning pit stop, the best of the field, sending Christian out in the lead. He held on to first place until just over two laps from the flag. Basseng in his Lamborghini tried to go round the Aston on the outside in the chicane leading onto the pit straight: the two cars made contact under braking and the DB9’s suspension broke. So an uphill task awaited the team on Sunday as Hohenadel had to start from tenth place on the grid. He managed to avoid becoming involved in another crash, and was running in ninth place when the safety car neutralized the race for a good ten minutes - so no overtaking. Once again the HEXIS AMR guys took full advantage of the tyre and driver changes to pull back seven positions, and Piccini rounded off their good work by consolidating his second place as he inched away from Tomas Enge in the Young Driver AMR Aston.

After its Abu Dhabi victory, the no. 3 Aston Martin had to carry 30 kilos of ballast - the fruit of success as it were! Despite this handicap it set good times throughout the weekend thanks to efficient work by the technical team – except in qualifying! Clivio Piccini having his first taste of the circuit did not manage to get the best out of his tyres and made a small mistake at the end of Q1. He paid cash for his error given the tiny gaps between the protagonists in this very exciting world championship. In the qualifying race, no. 3 started from fifteenth place on the grid and fought its way up to sixth. Andrea Piccini and Stef Dusseldorp finished in the same place in the championship event despite a technical problem during their pit stop – for once! They are lying second in the FIA GT1 World Championship for Drivers just in front of their team-mates.

Overall, the team was satisfied with its performance in the second round of the world championship. “Globally speaking, the weekend went off well without too much damage to the two cars,” smiled team manager, Philippe Dumas. “We made a few small mistakes, notably during Clivio and Stef’s pit stop on Sunday. Humanly it was almost perfect but the air nozzle came out which prevented us from gaining places as we’ve got used to doing. It proves that we have to continue working as every detail counts. I’m delighted to see how quick our four drivers – and our cars – are, which boosts our confidence. On no. 3 we managed to adapt the setup to cope with the thirty kilos of ballast. We ran on worn tyres to prepare for the race during the prequalifying session. Getting into Q3 is a step forward in relation to Abu Dhabi. Only the All Inkl Munich Motorsport Lamborghinis were quicker than us at Zolder, but they must have found a special tweak to dominate the other Lamborghinis to such an extent, which have very good drivers. Now, there’s no question of relaxing as we want to make our debut in endurance a real success.”

The Blancpain Endurance Series kicks off this weekend (16-17 April) at Monza. The HEXIS AMR GT3 Aston Martin DBRS9s of Makowiecki-Moser-Vannelet and Clairay-Mena-Rodrigues will be up against tough opposition: 37 cars including 30 GT3s make up a field with names like Ferrari, Porsche, Ford, Lamborghini, Corvette and Audi.

The third round of the FIA GT1 World Championship will take place in Portimao (Portugal) on 7-8 May.

FIA GT1 World Championship – Teams provisional standings :
1. Hexis AMR (FRA) 69 pts
2. All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport (DEU) 50 pts
3. Young Driver AMR (DEU) 47 pts
4. JR Motorsports (GBR) 33 pts
5. Marc VDS Racing Team (BEL) 23 pts
6. Swiss Racing Team (CHE) 22 pts

Young Driver AMR collected the first podium of the season in the Championship Race of the second round of the GT1 World Championship in Zolder/Belgium. Alex Müller (GER) and Tomas Enge (CZE) finished third in their Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin DBR9, while Stefan Mücke (GER) and Darren Turner (GBR) filled up their point score with a seventh place.

Alex Müller had an almost trouble free start into the Championship Race and was racing in a strong third place until the mandatory driver change halfway though the race. After Tomas Enge took over the Aston Martin DBR9 for the second part of the race from Müller, he maintained third position despite heavy pressure from his pursuers and finally secured the first 2011 podium finish for Young Driver AMR.

Stefan Mücke and Darren Turner had an even more challenging job, as they had to start from back of the grid, after Mücke was victim of a first corner incident in Saturday’s Qualifying Race. Turner and Mücke steadily fought their way up forward and finally finished in a strong seventh position.

Young Driver AMR moved up to third position in the team championship with the strong result in Belgium, Alex Müller and Tomas Enge are fourth in the drivers championship, Stefan Mücke and Darren Turner are ninth.


Driver quotes after the race:



Tomáš Enge (#7 Young Driver-Aston Martin DBR9): “It was not an easy race today. I was really afraid that my tires could have a huge drop in performance until the end of the race. Fortunately, that did not happen, and the tires worked well until the end of the race. Our pit stop was really good today. We lost one place, but I could gain another position on my out lap, so we were still running in third place. The podium finish is a great result for the whole team, they once again did a very good job. With the third place finish in both the Qualifying Race and Championship Race, it was a good weekend for us as we collected many points.”

Alex Müller (#7 Young Driver-Aston Martin DBR9): “At the start I had a light contact and it was very tight going trough the first corner. But luckily everything went well and apart from the first lap, I had a clean race. With two third places this weekend, we scored more important championship points. It’s crucial for the championship to score constant points. For the next round in Portugal our car is not too heavy in terms a success penalty weight and we will aim for another podium there.”

Stefan Mücke (#8 Young Driver-Aston Martin DBR9): „The race today was very hard. After the incident yesterday, Darren had to start from the back. When I took over the car from Darren, I could pass two cars. But then things were difficult, as I had a huge drop in the tire performance early in the race. I had to defend my position, but also attacked the car in front of me and due to that, I couldn’t save my tires and I lost tire performance earlier then expected. Considering we had to start from the back, seventh place means really good points.”

Darren Turner (#8 Young Driver-Aston Martin DBR9): „The start of the race was very chaotic, but I was able to find a way through the first lap without any damage to our car. Then there was an incident between a Nissan and Ford and I gained two places, but then there came a Safety Car and I handed the car to Stefan. He then had a really good run and in the strong competition in the GT1 World Championship, it’s important to score some points.”

Hardy Fischer (team principal): “I’m quite happy with the podium finish of Alex and Tomas and also seventh place of Darren and Stefan is good, as they started from the back. It was a shame that Darren and Stefan had to start from the back, after Stefan was victim of a contact in the Qualifying Race yesterday. They drove a really strong race, but deserved an even better finish. The last weeks were very stressful for the whole team, with a lot of races, preparation and travelling for everybody, I’m quite happy everybody stands behind our team and does a very good job. That we scored points with both cars today is a testament of a good team work. Until the next race in Portugal we have fortunately now a little bit more time and can work on some things to be even better prepared for the next race.”

Young Driver AMR will start from a good third place into the Championship Race of the Belgian round of the GT1 World Championship at Zolder. Alex Müller (GER) and Tomas Enge (CZE) finished third in Saturday’s Qualifying Race in the Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin DBR9. Stefan Mücke (GER) and Darren Turner had bad luck in the second Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin, when Mücke was hit by a Lamborghini in the first corner and had subsequently to retire from the race.

A start incident robbed Young Driver AMR the chance for a possible win in the Qualifying Race. Stefan Mücke started from second position into the Qualifying Race and was already in front after the first corner, when the Lamborghini, which started from Pole Position, hit hard on the left rear wheel, which caused Mücke to spin. Luckily, Mücke survived the spun without further damage to the car, but in the third lap the suspension broke as a result to the first lap incident.

Tomas Enge started from fourth into race and had to drive through the gravel to avoid damage to the car after the first lap incident, but still managed to stay in fourth place. In the latter part of the race, Alex kept the fourth place and gained one position in the final minutes of the race, finishing third.

In tomorrow’s Championship Race, Alex Müller and Tomas Enge will start from the second row of the grid in third Position, Stefan Mücke and Darren Turner had not only the bad luck to be victims of the starting incident, but as a result of the DNF, they have to start from the back of the grid into the Championship Race.

Driver quotes after the race:

Tomáš Enge (#7 Young Driver-Aston Martin DBR9): “I was really lucky to survive the first corner incident almost trouble free. I was hit by a Nissan and thought the race was over, but I was able to continue the race. The car was the really fast, but as everybody could see it was quite difficult to overtake today. But the third place is a great result and a very good starting position for the Championship Race.”

Alex Müller (#7 Young Driver-Aston Martin DBR9): “When Tomas gave me the car, he already told me that the steering wheel is not in the correct position after the first lap incident. I had some bad understeer due to that and struggled a bit when I followed the car in front of me very close. Hopefully we will have abetter start in the Championship Race tomorrow, but third place is solid foundation for the race tomorrow."

Stefan Mücke (#8 Young Driver-Aston Martin DBR9): „Nicky Pastorelli in the Lamborghini hit my left rear tire quite badly at the start. Immediately I noted that there was something not ok with the car and after three laps the suspension broke as result to the contact. It is really a shame, tomorrow it will be a really hard to job when we have to start from the back of the grid."

Darren Turner (#8 Young Driver-Aston Martin DBR9): „We have to start from the back into the Championship Race, that will not be an easy job. But we had a similar situation in Abu Dhabi and finished with a good result, so I hope the same for tomorrow.”

Hardy Fischer (team principal): “The incident in the first corner was a shame, that prevented us to score an even better result today. But I’m not too unhappy with the third place. That is a excellent result and gives all chances for tomorrow.”

Image GT1 World

Vanina Ickx, Maxime Martin and Bas Leinders to drive the Lola Aston Martin with the cooperation of Marc VDS Racing Team

Last January, Kronos Racing, the Belgian team known around the world for its many successes in rallying, announced the launch of its new Le Mans 24 Hours program and applied for an entry to the most prestigious endurance race in the world. It was also revealed at that time that Kronos' debut in La Sarthe would be with a Lola Aston Martin LMP1 and that Vanina Ickx was the first designated driver.


Today, Kronos Racing announces that another Belgian stalwart squad, Marc VDS Racing Team, is joining forces to bring an all-Belgian team to the 2011 Le Mans 24 Hours. As a first step, both parties will cooperate to participate in the official test day scheduled on 24 April, with GT racer Maxime Martin and former F.1 driver Bas Leinders sharing the wheel of the Lola Aston Martin with Vanina Ickx.


Marc Van Dalen, Co-manager of Kronos Racing :

"Our presence at the test day has been made possible by the passion that animates Marc VDS Racing Team. Vanina, Maxime and Bas form an experienced trio and we are delighted to bring a 100% Belgian outfit to the Le Mans test day".


Marc van der Straten-Ponthoz, CEO of Marc VDS Racing Team :

"It's a real pleasure to be part of this project and to be associated with such a reputed team as Kronos Racing. We are proud that our two drivers have been chosen to be along Vanina in this wonderful venture".


Jean-Pierre Mondron, Co-manager of Kronos Racing :

"We thank the ACO for their trust and support. We are hopeful that the Lola Aston Martin, which belongs to Orbello Racing, will be able to compete in the 24 Hours in June with this same driver line-up. Our first objective now is to work hard to give Vanina, Maxime and Bas everything they need to do well on 24 April and to ensure the test day will be successful for the team".

Young Driver AMR will start for the second time a row from a front-row starting position into the Qualifying Race. During Qualifying for the second round of the GT1 World Championship at Zolder, the two Young Driver AMR were always in the top positions. Alex Müller/Tomas Enge were second fastest, Stefan Mücke/Darren Turner third fastest.

In the first segment of the three-parted-knock-out-qualifying, both Aston Martin DBR9 easily made it to the Q2 round. Alex Müller was second, while Darren Turner was fifth. In the Q2, Tomas Enge and Stefan Mücke scored a fine Young Driver AMR-double, when Enge was fastest and Mücke was second. In the final Q3-round, Alex Müller only briefly missed the Pole Position and was second place, while Darren Turner was third quickest. Due to an incident in Pre-Qualifying, the #7 car of Müller/Enge will be set back three places of the grid for the Qualifying Race and will start from fifth position. This promoted the #8 car of Mücke/Turner to second position, resulting in the second first row start for the white/orange Aston Martin DBR9 in a row.

„I had a small mistake in my fastest lap, but we showed that we are very competitive here“, Alex Müller. „We had a very good long run on old tires yesterday, so I’m really confident for the race.“

„As expected, the car is very good on this track“, Tomas Enge said. „The team did a really good job, positions two and three are a very good team effort.”

„We prepared the car very good, it performs here really well,“ Stefan Mücke said. „We are really quick over one lap, now we have to carry over that performance over to the race.“