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Podium for Aston Martin at Sebring

 

Sebring 20 March 2010. The Aston Martin 007 was the fastest petrol car across the line, finishing third overall in the opening round of the American Le Mans Series: the 12 Hours of Sebring.

 

Drivers Adrian Fernández (MX), Stefan Mücke (DE) and Harold Primat (CH) were consistent throughout as was the production-based Aston Martin V12-powered LMP1 car, which once again proved its reliability and durability.

 

In a largely uneventful race dominated by the diesel powered cars, Aston Martin finished the race in the same position as it started 12 hours earlier.

 

The Lowe’s sponsored Aston Martin faultlessly completed 364 laps of the 3.7 mile Sebring International Raceway covering a total of 1,347 miles.

 

The Aston Martin Racing team achieved the best result possible with an immaculate performance by all involved echoing 2009’s result at the Le Mans 24 hour race.

 

The legendary Sebring circuit has provided an invaluable test for the car and the team now turn their thoughts to the eight hour Le Mans Series race at Paul Ricard in France on 11 April 2010. The team will then return to the USA in April for the second round of the American Le Mans Series at Long Beach on 17 April 2010.

 

Team Quotes:Aston Martin Chairman, David Richards: “Another immaculate performance by George and his team in finishing here as fastest petrol car and a great start to the season.”

 

Team Principal, George Howard-Chappell: “I’m very pleased; it’s the best we could have expected if all front running cars were reliable - which they were. We wanted to be the fastest petrol car at Sebring and it’s excellent preparation for Le Mans, having a completely clean run with no issues at all. The Michelin tyres were fantastic as usual so happy all round.”

 

Adrian Fernandez (MX): “It was a fantastic race for the team and a great start for me in my debut with Aston Martin. The team and the other drivers did a superb job in what was a very tough race. It bodes well for the car because if it can handle 12 hours of Sebring, then it will do well in the 24 hours of Le Mans.”

 

Stefan Mücke (DE): “We had no problems although it was tough racing here during the night. We did the very best that we could and the car was reliable as expected so I’m very happy.”

 

Harold Primat (CH): “The race has been really good. We obviously had some tough competition; we knew the diesels would be strong so I think we have achieved the best result we could. The team did a brilliant job capitalising on the car’s reliability and I am pleased with the outcome.”

Pos.     Car      Class                         Drivers                                  Car                Laps         Best Lap

1           07         P1                Gene/Wurz/Davidson             Peugeot 908 HDI       367         1:45.704

2           08         P1               Lamy/Bourdais/Minassian        Peugeot 908 HDI       367        1:44.972

3         007         P1               Mücke/Primat/Fernández         Aston Martin LMP1    364          1:46.234

4             6         P2                 Pickett/Graf/Maassen            Porsche RS Spyder   353          1:49.043

5             1         P2          Brabham/Pagenaud/Franchitti        HPD ARX-01c          349          1:47.669

 

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