Castellet, 9 April 2010. Three Aston Martins will contest the 8 Hours of Castellet this weekend, 10-11 April at the opening round of the Le Mans Series.

 

The Aston Martin Racing 009 LMP1 car will be driven by Adrian Fernández (MX), Stefan Mücke (DE) and Harold Primat (CH), while Signature Racing’s LMP1 Aston Martin will be driven by Pierre Ragues (FRA), Franck Mailleux (FRA) and Vanina Ickx (BEL). In the GT2 class, JMW Motorsport will compete a Vantage GT2 with drivers Darren turner (GBR) and Robert Bell (GBR).

 

Official Aston Martin Racing Teams Signature Racing and JMW motorsport will be racing their new Aston Martins competitively for the first time at the inaugural eight-hour race at the Paul Ricard circuit in France. It is an important warm-up for all the three teams who will be contesting the Le Mans 24 Hours, which takes place from 12-13 June.

 

Paul Ricard will always have a very special place in Aston Martin Racing’s history, as in March 2009 it was where the team’s LMP1 car ran for the first time. More recently, Aston Martin Racing took part in the pre-season Le Mans Series test there last month, together with Aston Martin’s Official Partner teams. The circuit was also a test venue for Aston Martin when it campaigned the DBR9 to GT1 class victory at Le Mans in 2007 and 2008. Although it can be arranged into 167 different possible configurations, the most famous part of the Le Castellet track is its 1.8-kilometre Mistral straight, making it the perfect place for Aston Martin Racing to prepare for the flat-out demands of the Mulsanne straight at Le Mans.

 

The 8 Heures du Castellet will get underway at 11:00 (CET) on Sunday 11th April 2010. Live timing will be available from www.lemans-series.com  and live race coverage with Radio Le Mans at www.radiolemans.com.

 

8 Heures du Castellet Timetable

 

Friday 9th April

 

12.40-13.40          Free Practice 1

16.10-17.10          Free Practice 2

 

Saturday 10th April

09.45-10.45          Free Practice 3

13.40-14.00          Qualifying

 

Sunday 11th April

08.20-08.40          Warm Up

11.00-19.00          Race