LMS: Nurburging

[Plex]

Aston secures front row lock-out

Aston Martin Racing has locked the front row of the grid for tomorrow's Nurburging 1000Km round of the Le Mans Series.

Stefan Mucke claimed pole aboard the lead Lola-Aston with only his second flying lap of the session. His 1m41.944s lap was just over one tenth of a second quicker than team-mate Darren Turner, who also set his time on his second flying lap.

Mucke explained that AMR had decided to keep all three of its cars in the pits until the closing minutes of the session in an attempt to get a clear lap for qualifying.

"We've been struggling all weekend with the tyres - it takes three laps to up them up to temperature," said the German, who was celebrating his first LMS pole of the season.

"I was much faster on my third lap in the first sector, but then there were yellows and I had to lift off."

Marcel Fassler made it three Lola-Astons in the top three places. He was half a second behind Turner in the 2008-spec Speedy Team Sebah entry.

Strakka Ginetta-Zytek driver Danny Watts edged out the championship-leading Pescarolo-Judd driven by Jean-Christophe Boullion for fourth place.

Olivier Pla came out on top in LMP1 aboard the ASM Team Ginetta-Zytek. The Portuguese, who leads the P2 points with team-mate Miguel Amaral, ended up nearly 1.2 seconds faster than Philipp Peter in the Trading Performance squad's older Zytek.

Pierre Kaffer took GT2 qualifying honours in the Hankook-Team Farnbacher Ferrari 430 GT.


Pos Cl Drivers Car Time
1. P1 Charouz/Tomas/Mucke Lola Aston Martin 1m41.944s
2. P1 Primat/Turner Lola Aston Martin 1m42.060s
3. P1 Belicchi/Fässler/Prost Lola Aston Martin 1m42.570s
4. P1 Leventis/Watts Ginetta Zytek 1m42.966s
5. P1 Boullion/Tinseau/Collard Pescarolo Judd 1m43.196s
6. P1 Ragues/Mailleux Courage-Oreca Judd 1m43.888s
7. P1 Karthikeyan/Meyrick/Zwolsman Audi 1m44.010s
8. P1 Albers/Bakkerud/Mondini Audi 1m45.446s
9. P2 Amaral/Pla Ginetta-Zytek 1m45.578s
10. P1 Ramos/Hall/Buncombe Lola Aston Martin 1m45.950s
11. P2 Ojjeh/Gosselin/Peter Zytek 1m46.708s
12. P2 Kane/Leuenberger/Pompidou Lola Judd 1m46.762s
13. P2 Bobbi/Piccini/Biagi Lola Judd 1m46.784s
14. P2 Erdos/Newton Lola Mazda 1m46.940s
15. P2 Lahaye/Ajlani Pescarolo Mazda 1m47.498s
16. P2 Francioni/Ceccato/Piccini Lola Judd 1m48.098s
17. P2 Salini/Salini/Gommendy WR Zytek 1m48.258s
18. P2 Bruneau/Sini/Vergers Radical AER 1m48.930s
19. P2 Nicolet/Hein Pescarolo Mazda 1m49.770s
20. P2 Cortes/Nieto/Jorda Lucchini Judd 1m51.848s
21. P2 Ibanez/Cavailhes/Da Rocha Courage AER 1m52.610s
22. P2 Lavaggi/Kaufmann Lavaggi AER 1m52.796s
23. P2 Schell/Thirion/Metz Courage AER 1m53.076s
24. GT1 Berville/Groppi/Dumez Saleen Ford 1m55.158s
25. GT1 Jousse/Goueslard/Clairay Chevrolet 1m55.974s
26. GT2 Simonsen/Kaffer Ferrari 1m57.982s
27. GT2 Garcia/Mansell/Melo Ferrari 1m58.098s
28. GT2 Lieb/Lietz Porsche 1m58.228s
29. GT2 Bell/Bruni Ferrari 1m58.436s
30. GT2 Narac/Pilet Porsche 1m58.924s
31. GT2 Coronel/Janis Spyker Audi 1m59.114s
32. GT2 Ehret/Farnbacher/Beltoise Ferrari 1m59.290s
33. GT2 Drayson/Cocker Aston Martin 1m59.442s
34. GT2 Hartshorne/Kutemann/Scheier Ferrari 1m59.666s
35. GT2 Montermini/Ricci/Rosa Ferrari 2m00.272s
36. GT2 Griffin/Bamford Ferrari 2m00.422s
37. GT2 Felbermayr Jr/Ried/Martins Porsche 2m01.730s
38. GT2 Basso/Plati/Tenchini Ferrari 2m02.942s

Autosport

[Plex]

Aston dominates Nurburgring 1000km

Aston Martin Racing claimed all three podium positions at the Nurburgring 1000Km after a dominant display in the penultimate round of the Le Mans Series.

Stefan Mucke, Jan Charouz and Tomas Enge claimed the victory aboard the fastest of the three AMR Lola-Aston LMP1 coupes after leading much of the way.

They ended up a minute clear of the second-placed car driven by Darren Turner and Harold Primat and two laps ahead of the third entry shared by Miguel Ramos, Stuart Hall and Chris Buncombe.

The winning car looked set for an easy victory until Charouz spun early in the fourth hour. A lead of over a minute shrunk to less than 30 seconds as a result of the spin and then Turner was able to close down and pass the Czech driver over the remainder of the stint.

Turner then had the measure of Enge, who was struggling on with the same set of tyres used by Charouz after what the team described as a "communication error". That resulted in an early stop that left Enge more than a minute behind his fellow AMR driver.

That put the leading Lola-Astons out of synch on pitstops and, although Primat early in the final hour, the positions were reversed when he made his final stop.

AMR's cause was helped by problems for the Pescarolo Sport team, whose drivers led the championship ahead of the Nurburgring weekend. The Pescarolo-Judd driven by Jean-Christophe Boullion, Christophe Tinseau and Emmanuel Collard went out early with a gearbox problem.

The LMP2 division was dominated by the ASM team's Ginetta-Zytek. Olivier Pla raced away from the class opposition and then Miguel Amaral was able to hang onto a two-lap lead. Only in the dying minutes when a front wheel arch louvre was replaced did its lead shrink to a lap.

Larbre Competition won the two-car GT1 class even though its Saleen S7R dropped nine laps off the lead after a long stop to resolve brake issues. Laurent Groppi, Roland Berville and Sebastien Dumez subsequently inherited class victory when the Luc Alphand Aventures Chevrolet Corvette encountered engine problems.

Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz won GT2 honours in the Felbermayr Proton Porsche. They took over the lead once the JMW Motorsport Ferrari driven by Rob Bell and Gianmaria Bruni lost one-minute advantage when a driveshaft failed.

AMR drivers Mucke, Charouz and Enge have now taken a seven-point lead as the LMS heads to Silverstone next month for the Autosport 1000Km.


Pos Cl Drivers Car Time
1. P1 Charouz/Enge/Mücke Lola Aston Martin 5h57m26.595s
2. P1 Primat/Turner Lola Aston Martin +1m04.856s
3. P1 Ramos/Hall/Buncombe Lola Aston Martin + 2 laps
4. P1 Karthikeyan/Meyrick/Zwolsman Audi + 2 laps
5. P1 Ragues/Mailleux Courage-Oreca Judd + 5 laps
6. P2 Amaral/Pla Ginetta-Zytek + 6 laps
7. P2 Francioni/Ceccato/Piccini Lola Judd + 8 laps
8. P2 Lahaye/Ajlani Pescarolo Mazda + 10 laps
9. P2 Nicolet/Hein Pescarolo Mazda + 11 laps
10. P2 Ojjeh/Gosselin/Peter Zytek + 12 laps
11. P2 Bobbi/Piccini/Biagi Lola Judd + 13 laps
12. P2 Kane/Leuenberger/Pompidou Lola Judd + 18 laps
13. GT2 Lieb/Lietz Porsche + 21 laps
14. P1 Coronel/Janis Spyker Audi + 22 laps
15. GT2 Ehret/Farnbacher/Beltoise Ferrari + 22 laps
16. GT2 Simonsen/Kaffer Ferrari + 23 laps
17. GT2 Narac/Pilet Porsche + 24 laps
18. GT2 Montermini/Ricci/Rosa Ferrari + 26 laps
19. GT2 Felbermayr Jr/Ried/Martins Porsche + 26 laps
20. GT2 Garcia/Mansell/Melo Ferrari + 26 laps
21. P2 Schell/Thirion/Metz Courage AER + 26 laps
22. GT2 Bell/Bruni Ferrari + 26 laps
23. GT1 Berville/Groppi/Dumez Saleen Ford + 27 laps
24. GT2 Griffin/Bamford Ferrari + 27 laps
25. GT2 Basso/Plati/Tenchini Ferrari + 29 laps
26. P2 Ibanez/Cavailhes/Rocha Courage AER + 34 laps
27. P1 Belicchi/Fässler/Prost Lola Aston Martin + 39 laps
28. GT2 Hartshorne/Kutemann/Scheier Ferrari + 53 laps
29. GT1 Jousse/Goueslard/Clairay Chevrolet + 57 laps
30. P1 Leventis/Watts Ginetta Zytek + 64 laps
31. GT2 Drayson/Cocker Aston Martin + 64 laps
32. P2 Salini/Salini/Gommendy WR Zytek + 71 laps
33. P2 Bruneau/Sini/Vergers Radical AER + 81 laps
34. P2 Cortes/Nieto/Jorda Lucchini Judd + 120 laps
35. P2 Erdos/Newton Lola Mazda + 138 laps
36. P1 Albers/Bakkerud/Mondini Audi + 155 laps
37. P1 Boullion/Tinseau/Collard Pescarolo Judd + 160 laps
38. P2 Lavaggi/Kaufmann Lavaggi AER + 174 laps

Autosport