Gulf / AMR car finishes third at Spa

Third and fifth place finishes for Gulf cars see Lola Aston Martin on top of the LMS LMP1 manufacturers’ standings after two rounds.

GULF ON THE PODIUM AT SPA

After a superb start to the season for Aston Martin Racing at Barcelona when the 007 Gulf car of Thomas Enge, Jan Charouz and Stefan Mucke took victory at the first time of asking, a charging drive from the very back of the field for 007 was rewarded with third overall at the Spa 1000kms. This was supported by a strong fifth place finish for the sister 009 car, which also had to come from the back near of the field, following an early race incident.   "All in all it was a fine weekend for Gulf, with a strong qualifying showing and a consistent challenge for honours, come the race itself. In addition more than three hundred guests were treated to fine weather, excellent hospitality at the circuit and a stirring performance on track with something to celebrate at the end of it," enthused Alain Dujean, Gulf Oil Vice-President International. "It was great to see such a strong Gulf presence at Spa and the Belgian affiliates using our race programme with Aston Martin to such good effect."   The blue and orange cars had to overcome many hurdles on their way to the finish. 007 had suffered engine problems in qualifying, and did not set a time, which resulted in the car having to start in the pit lane after the main field had passed. 009, crewed by Darren Turner, Harold Primat and Miguel Ramos also found itself running towards the rear of order after being hit from behind by one of the Pescarolos, at the exit of the first corner. Turner skilfully kept the car from spinning but a rear tyre was punctured and this meant an unscheduled pit stop at the end of only the first lap.

With fifty cars making the start the race was full of incident and the Gulf cars had to be wary of not get caught out by slower cars jostling for position as they battled their way back up the field. In fact, the 007 car was in collision with another competitor who out-braked himself - which left the car with a cracked nose section and a resulting handling imbalance - and 009 spun late on in the race, but thankfully without any damage.   The Spa 1000 Kms was punctuated by several safety car periods and the final one helped Thomas Enge in 007 to close up to the tail of the Oreca LMP1 with which it had long been battling - Enge overhauling the car with about 20 minutes of the race left, to claim the final podium spot.   The team had to maintain a fine balancing act between running as quickly as possible whatever the cost, in pursuit of a podium place and ensuring that the cars finished the race in one piece in the run-up to next months Le Mans 24 Hours. This they achieved with aplomb.   The result leaves Lola Aston Martin on 20 points - one ahead of Pescarolo and nine ahead of the factory Peugeots.

"On behalf of all of the Aston Martin Racing partners, I would like to congratulate the team on another fine performance and on maintaining their challenge for Le Mans Series honours," continued Alain Dujean. "We are already excited about Le Mans itself and very much looking forward to welcoming Gulf guests from all over the world, to an event that is incredibly special for both Aston Martin and for Gulf."   Le Mans week kicks off on June 8th with the Le Mans 24 Hours taking place on the 13th- 14th.