2009 Aston Martin LMP1 Race at Le Mans

2009 Aston Martin LMP1 - Design View

The 2009 program is very much an evolution of Aston Martin Racing’s (AMR) efforts in GT racing over the last few years and last year as an engine supplier in the main prototype class LMP1. In its first year the collaboration between Aston Martin Racing, Lola and Charouz Racing System yielded very promising results. The V12 engined prototype could not fight for overall wins but proved throughout the season to be the fastest petrol engined car on the grid. This was partly due to the use of a production based engine, which is allowed to run with a larger restrictor. The DBR9 and ultimately DB9 sourced V12 produced as much as 50 bhp more than the bespoke racing engines.

2009 Aston Martin LMP1 - Front Side

After racing the DBR9 for four seasons, winning the GT1 class at Le Mans twice in the last two years, Aston Martin Racing decided to put all of their eggs in the LMP1 basket for 2009. It was only natural to continue in a similar vein. Although the cars are now entered by Aston Martin Racing, a large part of the funding is still supplied by Antonin Charouz and the cars are also very similar to the Lola B08/60 Aston Martin raced in 2008. There are however distinct differences to the styling to more closely resemble the Aston Martin road cars. Another major change was adopting the ever striking Gulf livery that was used for the DBR9s in 2008.

2009 Aston Martin LMP1 - Left Side

Also taking part in the test was Official Partner Team of Aston Martin Racing – Drayson Racing with their No. 87 Aston Martin Vantage GT2. Drivers Paul Drayson and Jonny Cocker used the test to benchmark the off-season improvements the team has made to the V8-powered machine. The results were encouraging as the Vantage GT2 performed well on its new Michelin tyres.

2009 Aston Martin LMP1 - On The Road

The Le Mans Series consists of five 1,000km races, the first of which is the 1,000km of Catalunya which will take place on 5 April at the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona, Spain. The other races take place at Spa in Belgium, at the new Algarve circuit in Portugal and at the Nürburgring in Germany where Aston Martin has its Test Centre facility. The series finale takes place on the team’s home turf of Silverstone in the UK.

2009 Aston Martin LMP1 - with Teams

The victory could hardly be classified as domination, but it was a victory nonetheless. As the thousand-click race wound down to its closing laps, the number 007 Aston Martin looked poised to take second place behind the Pescarolo-Judd driven by Christophe Tinseau and Jean-Christophe Boullion, until the French team’s car stalled during its final pitstop. The front-running Aston, driven by Stefan Mucke, Jan Charouz and Tomas Enge, took the lead, and with only 40 minutes of race time to go, the safety car was deployed as Tinseau closed the lead down to just 6.2 seconds. When the safety car went back into the pits with just six laps to go, the Aston’s lead over the Pescarolo was only four seconds, but that would prove enough for Aston Martin to claim its first victory in LMP1 in its first attempt, even extending its lead to fourteen seconds ahead of the Pescarolo by the finish line.