FIGHTING TO THE FINISH

FIGHTING TO THE FINISH

·     007 takes a hard-earned top six finish.
 
·     Heartbreak retirement for 009 in final hour from fourth.
 
·     Gulf celebrates a memorable 2010 Le Mans 24 Hours.

The 78th running of the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours proved to be another unforgettable one for Gulf. The Gulf sponsored 007 and 009 Aston Martin Racing (AMR) LMP1 cars were the class of the petrol runners and eventually brought home a deserved top six finish, while the town and circuit of Le Mans were awash with the blue and orange colours of the brand.
 
From the first practice on Wednesday throughout qualifying and all of the way through the race, the Gulf-sponsored Aston Martin Racing LMP1 cars had proved to be the fastest of the petrol engined cars.
 
After the race commenced, on what was thankfully a dry circuit, 007 and 009 ran together for much of the opening few hours, establishing a growing advantage over the rest of the petrol engined field and taking the fight to the diesel Audis and Peugeots.
 
The AMR cars were consistent and quick, steadily picking up places as many of the diesel cars faltered. In the 17th hour, the 009 Gulf car of Darren Turner, Juan Barazi and Sam Hancock took over the role as number one petrol runner after the 007 car had been forced into the pits for more than an hour with a gearbox problem.


For much of the latter part of this year’s Le Mans, it looked like a repeat of last year’s amazing fourth place was the likely outcome of the race. Frustratingly, with less than one hour of the twenty four left to run, an engine problem forced 009 into retirement. “So near and yet so far, ” as driver Darren Turner summed up.
 
007 was one of those to benefit from 009’s retirement with Adrian Fernandez, Harold Primat and Stefan Mücke bringing the car home to a fine sixth place at the finish and, in the process, besting all of the Peugeot diesel cars.
 
David Richards, Chairman of Aston Martin said: “All in all this weekend was a success; we set out to prove that we were the fastest petrol entry here and whilst the result wasn’t quite what we were looking for, we certainly proved the performance of the Aston Martins.
 
Gulf brand and marketing manager, Sam Cork sums up the weekend, “My congratulations go to everyone at Aston Martin Racing. The team has once again made it a memorable and special weekend for Gulf. I am obviously disappointed for them, that they lost fourth place so late in the day but with the incredible strength in depth of the diesel entry, a sixth place finish is a fine achievement. I know that it comes as a result of an incredible amount of hard work.
 
“Le Mans 2010 has been another exceptional event for Gulf. Our presence undoubtedly gets stronger each year, with the brand ever more visible. The link between Gulf and the passion of endurance motorsport is something that remains strong in the general publics mind and constantly sets the brand apart from other leading oil brands.”
 
AMR is now in preparation for its race programme for the second half of 2010, which will be announced in the near future.