Young Driver AMR: Home win for Aston Martin

The British round of the GT1 World Championship at Silverstone had a great start for Young Driver AMR with a victory in the Qualifying Race. Alex Müller (GER) and Tomas Enge (CZE) took their first common victory in the Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin DBR9 on Saturday and will start into Sunday’s Championship Race from the Pole Position. On the downside, Darren Turner (GBR) and Stefan Mücke (GER) in the second Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin DBR9 had bad luck, when Turner was taken out of the race on the first lap.

Once again a brilliant pit stop made the difference and brought a brilliant victory in the Qualifying Race for Young Driver. Starting driver Alex Müller, who started from third of the grid, gained one position in the first lap and kept the leading Nissan under pressure until the mandatory driver change halfway through the race. An ultra-quick pit stop of the Young Driver AMR-pit crew brought Tomas Enge then into the lead. Enge controlled the race, built a comfortable six-second in the second part of the race and eventually secured the first victory of the season for Young Driver AMR.

Darren Turner and Stefan Mücke in the second Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin DBR9 had bad luck on the home track of Aston Martin. Turner started fourth and was running fourth, when he was spun around by a Nissan in the fourth corner. Another Nissan clipped the back of the Aston Martin, which caused major damage to the back and forced Turner to retire from his home race.

“Again, I have some mixed emotions about this race”, Young Driver team principal Hardy Fischer said. “Alex and Tomas took a great victory, they had a very consistent car today. Our pit crew did an amazing job and performed a super quick pit stop. Now we have a huge job to do with the damaged No. 8 car. I hope that we will have both cars in the point ranks in the Championship Race.”

Driver quotes after the race:

Alex Müller (#7 Young Driver-Aston Martin DBR9): “I had a great start and could move to second. But then I was stuck behind the leading Nissan, which is a massive car, and I got everytime problems with my aero, when I came too near. I then decided to save the car and the tires, in order to give Tomas a perfect car for the second part of the race. Our pit crew then did a hell of a job in the pits, the pit stop was just phenomenal. Without that great pit stop, we wouldn’t have won the race.”

Tomáš Enge (#7 Young Driver-Aston Martin DBR9): “We won the race today in the pits with a real quick pit stop. The victory gives us an excellent starting position for the Championship Race. I had a good lead and didn’t need push so hard at the end of the race. But it was not easy in the car, although it might look so.”

Stefan Mücke (#8 Young Driver-Aston Martin DBR9):
“We have to start from the back of the grid into the Championship Race, that will be a very hard job. But I already did that two times this year, so I now what to expect. Even with that starting position, a decent result will be possible, if I have a good start and I good first lap. I hope we will grab some points in the Championship Race.”

Darren Turner (#8 Young Driver-Aston Martin DBR9): „I’m really disappointed about the race today. Especially as we had a really good car and were capable of a podium, even with the success weight we have in the car this weekend. In the first corner, I had contact with a Corvette, but that was no problem. Then a Nissan spun my car around and another Nissan ribbed the back of my car, that was our race then. I have some mixed emotions, as I’m disappointed about my race, but happy for the victory of our sister car.“