Earlier this year Aston Martin announced it would build a car to compete in the LMP1 class of the Le Mans Series to celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary of its outright win at the de la Sarthe Circuit. Aston Martin proved victorious with its newest entry at the 1000km of Catalunya, the Aston Martin LMP1’s debut race.
The two Aston Martin contenders at the Catalunya 1000 were in the top three entering the last forty minutes of the race, proving the cars are extremely strong competitors. However a spin in the 009 car, driven by Harold Primat (Swizterland), Miguel Ramos (Portugal), and Darren Turner (Great Britain), put the second crew out of contention. The 007 car, driven by Jan Charouz (Czech Republic), Tomas Enge (Czech Republic), and Stefan Mücke (Germany), went on to win the race.
The 007 car started from third on the grid and showed its speed and reliability throughout the race. Driver Stefan Mücke won the race after a safety car period that allowed him to catch up to the race leader he had been chasing since the start. Mücke passed the leader on the outside and was able to gain the lead and won by a margin of 14.8 seconds.
“This momentous victory is a fantastic reward for the many weeks and months of hard work put in by every member of the team,” commented Dave Richards, Chairman of Aston Martin. “Endurance racing is above all a team sport, and I think that we have proved this once again today.”
With Aston Martin hoping to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its outright win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with another win, the racing team looks to be in good shape after the opening race. One team notably absent from the 1000km of Catalunya was Audi Sport Team Joest and its R15 TDI’s. The Aston Martin squad has to contend with what has been a very dominant German team in recent years at the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 13/14.