The Aston Martin 009 LMP1 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.
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.
Harold Primat: “It was another exciting race and, as I said in my previous press release, we knew that we had progressed but we also knew that our diesel rivals would be hard to chase and that our strategy would have to be based on consistency, reliability and, of course, speed. The result is that George Howard-Chappell and the entire team has provided Adrian, Stefan and I those three important parameters to allow us to reach the podium. I am very pleased with our second place finish. We were the quickest petrol car in the field and from a personal perspective I am also satisfied with my lap times. They were where they should be and I managed to increase the gap and keep our competitor in third place.
“Last month in Sebring, we finished third behind a Le Mans-winning car and yesterday second behind another Le Mans winning team. So far, we are moving in the right direction and we will continue working hard in order to prepare for Le Mans properly.
“The next race in Long Beach this coming weekend will give us another opportunity to continue our development programme and Adrian and I are looking forward to this.
“I’d like to take this opportunity to once more thank the team for their hard work during the winter, all our partners for their trust and support and my team mates for the results we have achieved so far.”
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.”