Ferry_vO
Retired SOH Administrator
"Paul Ricard, 9 March 2009. Following weeks of intense preparation Aston Martin Racing ran its new LMP1 cars for the first time at the Le Mans Series test held at the Paul Ricard Circuit in France on 8/9 March.
Car numbers 007 and 009 resplendent in their Gulf Oil International orange and blue livery took to the French circuit on Sunday morning. All six of the team’s drivers, Jan Charouz (CZ), Tomas Enge (CZ), Stefan Mücke (DE), Harold Primat (CH), Miguel Ramos (PT) and Darren Turner (GB) got an opportunity to test the new cars.
The team was encouraged by the performance and reliability over the course of the test and encountered no significant issues despite the cars having barely turned a wheel prior to the start of the test.
The team suffered a setback on the afternoon of day one when the 007 car suffered an accident with Czech driver Tomas Enge at the wheel. Although the car sustained heavy damage, Enge walked away uninjured from the accident." Photo's here: http://www.pitlane-vision.com/index...rtin-dans-le-rail&catid=42:gazette&Itemid=119
No diesel in this one, but an Aston Martin 6.0 litre V12 with over 700 hp.
The 3 Astons will compete against four Peugeot 908's (Three factory and one by Pescarolo), three factory entered Audi R15 TDi's and two private (Kolles) entered Audi R10 TDi's (Last year's winner); last years Lola B08/60 with Aston Martin engine will also be entered by a private owner.
Looks like Le Mans will be very interesting to watch this year!
