Le Castellet, 11 April 2010. The Aston Martin 009 LMP1 has crossed the line in second after a faultless eight hour race. As the second successive podium result for the Aston Martin Racing factory team this year, it once again proves the exceptional pace, reliability and durability of the marque’s cars.

 

Drivers Adrian Fernández (MX), Stefan Mücke (DE) and Harold Primat (CH) drove competitively throughout, driving the production-based Aston Martin V12-powered LMP1 consistently as the fastest car on the circuit behind the first placed diesel. Completing 261 laps and therefore 1,511 km competitively in eight hours, chassis DBR1-2/2 performed immaculately.

 

Early in the race, Mücke was forced into the pits due to a puncture but second place was held for the remaining six hours. 40 minutes before the chequered flag, another puncture brought Fernandez back into the pits for a tyre change, but the 009 had a concrete lead over third position.

 

Aston Martin Racing official partner Team Signature Plus finished in sixth place with their 008 LMP1 car, again with a faultless run in their debut race. The Vantage GT2 of JMW Motorsport did not finish but showed exceptional qualifying and race pace for their first outing boding well for their future programme.

 

The High Tech Test Track at Paul Ricard has provided the team with a good indication as to how the car will perform at Le Mans and the crew will be flying directly to California to contest the next race in the American Le Mans Series: Long Beach next weekend on Saturday 17 April 2010.

 

Team quotes: Aston Martin Chairman, David Richards: “Yet another faultless performance by the team consolidating Aston Martin as the leading petrol car in the Le Mans Series. This result bodes very well for the Le Mans 24 Hours in June.”

 

Team Principal, George Howard-Chappell: “I’m very pleased with the result; we were clearly not going to beat the factory diesels unless they had a problem, so second is very satisfying. All the drivers and the team did a terrific job, we had one or two little issues to deal with but all went smoothly.”

 

Adrian Fernandez (MX): “I had a good final stint, but suffered a vibration at the back of the car towards the end but we took advantage of the gap we had built up during the race, so it didn’t pose a problem. The crew were brilliant and I have great team mates in Harold and Stefan. It’s a whole joint effort so it‘s nice to get these results.”

 

Stefan Mücke (DE): “I had a clear second stint, we just had to change the front left tyre during the pit stop where there was a flat spot from braking. My lap times were good and it is useful preparation for Le Mans as the setup is similar.”

 

Harold Primat (CH): “I didn’t experience any issues in my stint. I’m pleased with my lap times as we were able to increase the gap between us and the third placed car. Stefan and Adrian did a great job too. This helps us prepare for Le Mans by getting the reliability in the car and the team have done a great job with very few issues.”