Gulf Wins in Japan

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The Gulf sponsored Aston Martin Racing LMP1 car secures a win in the second Asian Le Mans Series in Japan last weekend at the Okayama circuit

VICTORY IN JAPAN FOR GULF AND ASTON MARTIN RACING
The Gulf-sponsored Aston Martin Racing team (AMR) closed out their ultra-successful 2009 season as they started it, by winning - this time in Japan, in the second of the two Asian Le Mans Series races. After a fourth place finish in Saturday's opening Asian Le Mans Series race, the 007 Aston Martin LMP1 ran faultlessly throughout Sunday's three-hour encounter. Excellent performances from drivers Stefan Mücke (DE) and Harold Primat (CH) coupled with perfect pit work from the Aston Martin Racing crew saw the race go exactly to plan for the Gulf-sponsored team. In fact, the blue and orange 007 Gulf car came incredibly close to taking victory in both of the weekend's three-hour Asian Le Mans Series races at the Okayama circuit, denied only by an "eleventh hour" piece of cruel luck in Saturday's race.

SATURDAY - RACE 1
Having qualified fourth, Stefan Mücke drove 007 through to the front of the field and the car held the lead for the vast majority of the race. Despite the first three cars running within a few seconds of each other throughout, the Gulf car's lead did not appear to be under threat and a win looked on the cards, until cracked louvers on the front wings of the car required Mücke to stop for repair in the final minutes of the race. He returned to the race in third place and en-route to a podium finish, when officials notified the team that the louvers must be mechanically fixed to the car - and not taped in place, as they had been - so 007 returned to the pits again. The team changed the whole front nose in record time and Mücke ended the race as he started, in fourth.

SUNDAY - RACE 2
In a repeat performance of race one, Stefan Mücke started in fourth place in dry sunny conditions. He set about hunting down the front-runners with an impressive display of skill and speed, taking second and then first to lead the race by lap 15. The German driver built up an impressive twenty second lead before pitting to hand over to Harold Primat just before the one hour mark. Primat built the lead to almost 40 seconds before pitting to return the car to Mücke with just over an hour of the race remaining. Mücke retained the lead for the tense final hour, stopping briefly for a splash of fuel eight minutes before the end of the race but still retaining a lead that he held on to take a superb third victory of the season for himself, for Gulf and for Aston Martin Racing.

Team Principal, George Howard-Chappell said: "Full credit to race engineer Dave Wilcock and the rest of the team for flawless work this weekend and I'd like to thank our sponsors and tyre partner Michelin. It has been a pleasure coming to Japan; the whole team has been made to feel very welcome. It's a great way to finish the season." 2009 Le Mans Series Champion, Stefan Mücke described his run to victory in Japan. "The car was brilliant to drive and the Michelin tyres were perfect. The team made some minor changes to the set-up last night and it was as if someone flicked a switch and everything just came together. During my first stint the car got better and better each lap and the tyres gave me the confidence to overtake and get out in the lead. Harold did a great job in the middle of the race and then I took over for the final stage. The car was a pleasure today and I am very happy with the win." "Our heartiest congratulations go to Stefan, Harold and all at Aston Martin Racing on another superb result," enthused Gulf Oil International Brand and Marketing Manager Sam Cork. "The team have again given Gulf, its distributor and guests in Japan - and indeed our global network - something to celebrate - at the end of what has been another landmark year in Gulf's long history in motorsport. Through Gulf's motorsport programme we continue to build an ever stronger global platform for the brand and I would like to thank everyone at Aston Martin Racing for their help, again this year, in making this happen."

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