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GULF AT LE MANS 2011 – FIGHTING TO THE FINISH
GULF AT LE MANS 2011 – FIGHTING TO THE FINISH
Le Mans, 12TH June 2011.
The 79th Le Mans 24 Hours marked a further step forward in Gulf’s motorsport programme, despite mixed fortunes on track.
“Le Mans, this year, seems almost to be “Gulf Village”. The coverage the brand has been incredible,” enthuses Gulf Oil International Brand and Marketing manager, Sam Cork. “Our Gulf distributors, who have come here from around the world, have been astonished by the level of visibility Gulf enjoys at Le Mans – and not just at the circuit. Obviously having seven cars in the race is quite something, but with the fantastic exposure on the race posters, the Drivers’ Parade and the merchandising outlets selling massive amounts of Gulf gear, we are clearly building something special here.”
RACE
ASTON MARTIN RACING
The weather looked set fair for start of the 2011 race, but for the Gulf sponsored AMR-One Aston Martins misfortune was already clouding the horizon as both cars ran into what turned out to be insurmountable trouble only a handful of laps into the race. A failure of the water-pump drive led the 007 car to lock-up and spin. During the same lap, 009, at the hands of Adrian Fernandez experienced an identical problem and was unable to return to the pits. It subsequently retired.
The Aston Martin Racing crew worked hard to get the 007 AMR-One, shared by Darren Turner, Stefan Mücke and Christian Klien back into the race. With the pulley replaced, Stefan was sent out to start his first stint in the race. Unfortunately, he returned to the pits after one lap – damage sustained in the earlier incident proving to be terminal.
OAK RACING
The fourth podium finish in a row at Le Mans for the Gulf supported OAK-Pescarolos looked possible until the very end of the race. Their LMP1 cars both ran into problems relatively early on, but their number 49 car driven by Shinji Nakano, Jan Charouz and Nicolas de Crem came back up through the field to run a strong fourth in LMP2. Frustratingly, a suspension problem with minutes to go, meant the car had to run an extremely slow final lap to be sure of finishing. This meant that it finished fifth in the LMP2 category, two places ahead of its sister 35 car. With Le Mans being a round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, the points gained by OAK Racing will be valuable in helping maintain the team’s challenge for series honours.
GULF RACING
In GT, Gulf Racing – entered for Le Mans as Gulf AMR Middle East – starred in the GTE AM category until an extremely heavy accident in the early hours of the morning ended their race. The number 60 Aston Martin Vantage GT2 of Roald Goethe, Fabien Giroix and Mike Wainwright ran in the top three in this category for Gentleman for almost all of its race, and often led. The accident was so serious that driver, Mike Wainwright was hospitalised, but fortunately his condition is not serious and hopefully Mike will be fit to return for the next race at Imola.
“Obviously we are all so disappointed for our partners. Aston Martin Racing have worked so incredibly hard in the lead up to the Le Mans race and Gulf Racing put in such a fine performance and really showed a great spirit throughout,” commented Gulf Oil Vice President International, Alain Dujean. “I am sure both teams will only grow stronger over the season and will hopefully be back here – in force - next year.
“Congratulations of course go to OAK Racing on their achievements at Le Mans this year. Their presence throughout has been extremely strong and they brought both LMP2 cars home to a good finish. They have really done a great job flying Gulf’s colours and we are enjoying working with them.”
Aston Martin Racing will continue to develop the AMR-One over the 2011 season and there is now a break in racing with the next scheduled race for the AMR-One being at the Silverstone Le Mans Series event in September. Gulf Racing and the OAK Racing Team should both be in action at the next round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup at Imola in July.