Young Driver AMR: Second round of the 2011 GT1 World Championship in Belgium

The GT1 World Championship starts this weekend into the European season. The former Formula 1-track in Zolder will host the Belgian round of the 2011 GT1 World Championship. After the great season opener at Abu Dhabi, where the two Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin DBR9 of Stefan Mücke (GER)/ Darren Turner (GBR) and Alex Müller (GER)/ Tomas Enge (CZE) finished fifth and sixth, the Young Driver AMR-drivers want to fill up their point-score in Belgium.

The GT1 World Championship visits Zolder for the first time. In the past, the FIA GT-Championship, predecessor of the GT1-World Championship, was a frequent visitor to the track near to the German border. For the Aston Martin DBR9, the Belgium track has always been a good terrain, therefore the Young Driver AMR-team travels optimistic to Zolder. „We showed at the first race of the season in Abu Dhabi that we have a very good speed“, Young Driver AMR team principal Hardy Fischer says. „Considering this, we aim for an even better result then in the last round. Also the track should suit our car much better then the track in Abu Dhabi. We scored good points at Abu Dhabi and didn’t have penalty weight in the car. That gives us an excellent foundation for a good result at Zolder.”

One of the „Young Drivers“ is especially exited about the Zolder round: Zolder is the home track of Alex Müller. Although Müller is German, his hometown is less then two hours away from the circuit. „I expect many friends from my hometown coming to Zolder and cheer for Young Driver, that will definitely give me some extra motivation“, Müller says.

Driver quotes before the race:

Alex Müller (#7 Young Driver-Aston Martin DBR9): „Zolder is my home track, I could almost sleep in my own bed. I like to drive there, not only because it’s near to my home, it should also suit our Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin DBR9 quite well. In the past, the Aston Martin was always a very quick car at Zolder. Usually the Aston Martin likes quick tracks with fast and flowing corners, the real opposite of the narrow Zolder track. But somehow, the Aston Martin is always quick there.“

Tomáš Enge (#7 Young Driver-Aston Martin DBR9): „Zolder is an interesting circuit, I started my racing career there. During the Winter 1995/1996, I drove thousands of kilometres there, when I tested Formula cars. Since then, I have only occasionally visited Zolder. After the performance and the speed we showed at Abu Dhabi, I hope that we carried over our speed to the second round. In the past, the Aston Martin was always quick at Zolder, but we have to be careful. Since the car raced there last time, the rules have changed, and we don’t know yet how that will influence the performance of the car.”

Stefan Mücke (#8 Young Driver-Aston Martin DBR9): „I really like to race at Zolder, the track should suit the car. The technical configuration of the Aston Martin DBR9 will be a little bit different as it raced there in the past and I expect a really strong competition. But I suppose that in terms of speed, we will be as quick as in Abu Dhabi. The track suits Darren and me very well. After we missed to score a podium result in the first round, our aim is to finish on the podium at Zolder.”

Darren Turner (#8 Young Driver-Aston Martin DBR9): „I’m looking forward to race at Zolder and to score some good points there. If everything goes well during the two races, I suppose we can archive an even better result then in Abu Dhabi. I like to come to Zolder, the races there are always very entertaining. The track is very narrow, but is a lot of fun with all these chicanes and our car should be reasonable competitive there.“