2009 Le Mans Series, Silverstone

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2009 Le Mans Series, Silverstone

Autosport 1000 km of Silverstone, 13th September 2009

The final round of the 2009, 5 race European Le Mans Series was held at the home of British motorsport, Silverstone during September. This was the first ever opportunity for British fans to see the Aston Martin LMP1 car running on home soil. It was especially interesting for Aston Martin enthusiasts as the marque was represented by six cars in total, three works DBR1-2 LMP1 cars, an Aston Martin powered Lola LMP1, a DBR9 in GT1 and a V8 Vantage GT2 in GT2.

2009 Le Mans Series, Silverstone

The start of the 2009 Le Mans Series at Silverstone featuring the Aston Martin LMP1 sports/racing car, the Gulf liveried DBR1/2

Car Number & Class	Car type & Chassis Number	Colour Scheme	Drivers	Team
007, LMP1	Aston Martin LMP1 DBR1-2/1	Gulf racing colours	Stefan Mucke, Jan Charouz, Tomas Enge	Aston Martin Racing
008, LMP1	Aston Martin LMP1 DBR1-2/4	Gulf racing colours	Miguel Ramos, Stuart Hall, Chris Buncombe	Aston Martin Racing Eastern Europe
009, LMP1	Aston Martin LMP1 DBR1-2/2	Gulf racing colours	Darren Turner, Harold Primat	Aston Martin Racing
13, LMP1	Lola-Aston Martin B08/60 HU01	Red and Silver	Andrea Belicchi , Marcel Fassler, Nicolas Prost	Speedy Racing Team Sebah (Rebellion Racing)
60, GT1	DBR9/109	Silver	Peter Kox, Ryan Sharpe	Gigawave Racing
87, GT2	V8 Vantage GT2/002	Metallic Green	Lord Paul Drayson, Jonny Cocker	Drayson Racing

For the Aston Martin Racing team, a good result at Silverstone could clinch the championship. The 2008 Aston Martin engined Lola LMP1, the car that the DBR1-2 was based on, also looked strong. The Gigawave DBR9 had not run competitively for almost a year before the race yet stood a reasonable chance of a class win as there were only 3 entries in GT1. The Drayson Racing V8 Vantage GT2 had already struggled to make an impact through 2009 in the LMS yet the event brought the highest practice, qualifying and race-running results ever enjoyed by the British team whilst running their Aston Martin Vantage GT2

Aston Martin LMP1 DBR1-2 007

Aston Martin LMP1 DBR1-2 008

Aston Martin LMP1 DBR1-2 009

Lola Aston Martin LMP1

Gigawave DBR9/106

Drayson Racing V8 Vantage GT2/002

With 1000 Km to travel, the 195 lap race got underway at 11.30am and was expected to last unto six hours, which gave ample opportunity for spectators to walk around the Silverstone circuit an visit every corner. This, the final race of the series was completed in 5hrs 30mins which is quicker than usual, this was partly due to the fact that there were no safety car periods in a largely incident free race.

Best Aston Martin result of the day was for Swiss team, Speedy Racing Team Sebah in the Lola Aston Martin LMP1 with a tremendous 2nd place overall. Third and fourth places were taken by the AMR 007 and 009 cars respectively. Thus Aston Martin Racing won the 2009 title, exactly 50 years after the victory of the manufacturer in the Sports Car World Championship. The Gigawave DBR9 won the GT1 class; the last time that the team ran the car before it transferred to AMR Young Driver. Sadly the Drayson Racing V8 Vantage GT2 retired with a failure within the drivetrain after 4 hours and was classified as a non finisher. Following this race and the 2009 season, the Drayson GT2 was retired from active competition.