Historic 1,2,3 for Gulf

On a histric day for the AMR team, Gulf records a first ever win at the iconic Nurburgring track

Victory gives 007 LMS championship lead
The three Gulf-liveried Aston Martin Racing (AMR) LMP1 cars left all of the competition trailing in their wake in today's ADAC 1000km of Nürburgring.
In an historic race, which saw the first ever all blue and orange podium in a Le Mans Series event, the 007 car of Stefan Mücke, Thomas Enge and Jan Charouz came home first, closely followed by the 009 car of Darren Turner and Harold Primat, with Miguel Ramos, Chris Buncombe and Stuart Hall bringing 009 home in third.
The retirement of the number 16 Pescarolo, an hour into the race, also means that the 007 car and its crew have regained the lead in the Le Mans Series standings for both Teams and Drivers, with one race left to run.   007 and 009 made good advantage of starting first and second on the grid to head the field from the start and the cars ran one and two throughout, never looking like their lead was going to be threatened. 007 was the front runner for the majority of the race, with the exception of a short period after a pit stop, but the pace of both cars was extremely close throughout. 009 gradually made its way up through the LMP1 field to third place with around eighty of the 195 laps remaining and then maintained its position to the flag, so that the cars ran home 1-2-3 for a clean sweep of the victory podium.   The result marks the team's best achievement yet in the Le Mans Series says AMR Team Principal, George Howard-Chappell: "Absolutely brilliant! I couldn't have dreamt of a one, two, three. The result is a real tribute to the team, the drivers and the whole organisation. All round it is just fantastic and the flags will definitely be flying at the Aston Martin Racing headquarters in the UK tomorrow morning."
The victory was also a further landmark for Gulf in Motorsport, as it marked the first ever win for Gulf in the famous Nürburgring 1000kms in its long and successful endurance racing history.   "This has been a truly superb weekend for Gulf and Aston Martin Racing," enthused Gulf Oil International brand and marketing manager, Sam Cork. "It is an historic day for both concerns as today is Gulf's maiden win in this renowned event and it is also the fiftieth anniversary of Aston Martin's win. We would like to wish everyone at AMR our heartiest congratulations on an absolutely incredible achievement and I'm already excitedly looking forward to the championship showdown at Silverstone."   The Le Mans Series finale takes place at Silverstone, UK on 13 September 2009. The 007 Gulf-liveried Aston Martin Racing LMP1 car will start the final round of the 2009 Le Mans Series at its home race, with a seven point lead in the Teams Championship.