Young Driver AMR: Perfect Qualifying in Beijing

The first day of the penultimate round of the GT1 World Championship in Beijing ended very successful for Young Driver AMR. After a promising free practise, both Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin DBR9 were among the quickest cars in the Qualifying session. Stefan Mücke (GER) and Darren Turner (GBR)  secured a front row starting position and will start from second position of the grid. Alex Müller (GER) and Tomas Enge (CZE) will start in the Gulf liveried DBR9 one spot behind from third position into Saturdays Qualifying Race.

The schedule is tight at the inaugural GT1 World Championship race in Beijing, as the whole event at the Goldenport Track near the Beijing international airport takes place on only two days. For Young Driver AMR, things on the tiny and twisty, 2,4 km short track went very well. Both Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin didn’t have any problems to make it into the final third Qualifying session of the three-parted qualifying, held in the evening of the first day of the event. Stefan Mücke even set the quickest time in the Q1 session. In Q2 and in Q3, Mücke/Turner and Müller/Enge finished in second and third position, meaning both Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin will start from the first two rows.

“I’m very happy with the result, I couldn’t ask for more”, Hardy Fischer, Young Driver AMR-team principal, said. “We are somehow much faster then expected on this track. Both cars are running perfect so far, now we hope for a good result in the two races on Saturday.”

Ford-GT driver Maxime Martin took the Pole Position, only 0,097 seconds ahead of Stefan Mücke.

Young Driver AMR is currently fourth in the team championship of the GT1 World Championship. Stefan Mücke/Darren Turner are fourth in the drivers championship, while Alex Müller and Tomas Enge are eight.

Driver quotes after the Qualifying:

Alex Müller (#7 Young Driver-Aston Martin DBR9): “Until now it’s really going well for us here in Beijing. The track is not very quick, but fluent, and that helps us here. We overcame the problems we had at the last weekend and the car is running fine. It will be very interesting tomorrow in the races, as it might be raining.”

Tomáš Enge (#7 Young Driver-Aston Martin DBR9): “It’s not a bad start into the event in Beijing. The track is slippery and bumpy, but for some reasons, it suits our car. And also the engine is running fine again. We made good progress today and with starting from the second row, we couldn’t ask for more.”

Stefan Mücke (#8 Young Driver-Aston Martin DBR9): “The Qualifying 1 has been very difficult, as we had two red flags. Surprisingly, the track is not as bad as expected for us. It was a very positive first day here, we are very satisfied with the front row starting position. I made a small mistake on my fastest lap in Q3, but considering we also have 20kg of success ballast on board, it’s very good.”

Darren Turner (#8 Young Driver-Aston Martin DBR9): “Second and third on the grid is a great result for the team. In the beginning of Q2, I tried something new in terms of driving style. But couldn’t make it work and returned to my old driving style. I set the second quickest time in Q2 and used only one set of tires, which is pretty important for our race strategy. It might be raining tomorrow, which will make things very difficult. The track is difficult in the dry, so it will be really hard when it rains. But the event has been good for us so far and I hope we can carry that momentum.”