|
|
|
GULF TEAMS GEAR UP FOR SECOND HALF OF 2011
Gulf Oil International’s motorsport partner, Aston Martin Racing has announced that it will now run a two-pronged LMP1 programme for the rest of the 2011 season.
Following an independent evaluation of the AMR-One, which confirmed the car’s potential with further development, Aston Martin Racing has decided to continue to focus on this development of the AMR-One away from direct competition for the remainder of 2011.
In the Le Mans Series and American Le Mans Series the team will now compete once more with the tried and tested Aston Martin DBR1-2 that brought the team success over the past two seasons. The programme will comprise four races for the rest of the year, starting at the Silverstone 1000km in September and followed by ALMS races at Laguna Seca and Petit Le Mans, as well as the Asian Le Mans Series round in China.
The team is now rebuilding a DBR1-2 chassis, which will continue to run in its familiar Gulf livery and will test the car in August. The DBR1-2 features Aston Martin’s famous 6.0 litre V12 engine housed in a closed cockpit car.The driver line-up for the single car entry will include experienced factory drivers; Adrian Fernandez (MX) and Harold Primat (CH).
The Aston Martin Racing team is now completing a detailed analysis of the car to finalise its development programme. The AMR-One will return to competition once the team feels the car is ready.
Alain Dujean, Gulf Oil Vice President International, puts the Aston Martin Racing decision into context, “The AMR-One is an ambitious longer term project which, as is well documented, only came into being late last year. This has meant that Aston Martin Racing have had to develop the car in public, which has been far from ideal and it makes sense therefore to allow AMR to carry on this development behind closed doors until the car is competitive. We understand that in motorsport things do not always go perfectly but we have faith in the partnership that has achieved so much together in the past. Going forward we want to reassure and remind all of our stakeholders that Gulf’s core values include both Courage and Endurance and that these challenges will push us forward to achieve even more in the future.”
Gulf Oil Dragracing see red in Finland
The Gulf Oil – Grand Prix Originals Top Fuel Bike team arrived at this year’s FHRA Nitro Nationals at Alastaro, in Finland, to be confronted by tropical weather at the northernmost outpost on the UEM Drag Racing tour. Hot and humid conditions turned the track into a slick and tricky prospect, when it wasn’t drowning under the rain from the huge electrical storms that curtailed qualifying on the Friday and Saturday evenings.
Points leader Ian King qualified second with a 6.626 @ 212 mph pass that had the Gulf Oil/Grand Prix Originals backed rider rolling off and on the throttle in order to overcome a seriously tricky track surface
However, in a shock quarter-final run, King went out, starting before he shouid have and incurring an uncharacteristic red light. The Gulf rider however, still heads the championship by some margin and is looking forward to the next event at Gardermoen in Norway on 5th-7th August.
ILMC/LMS Imola – 3 Gulf cars start, 3 Gulf Cars Finish.
The Gulf Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT2 car could not, unfortunately, be repaired in time to race at Imola, after the car’s huge accident at Le Mans while fighting for honours in the GTE-AM category. So it was left for OAK Racing, - who run in Gulf livery thanks to Gulf distributor CAROIL – to carry the blue and orange standard at Imola’s Le Mans Series and Intercontinental Le Mans Cup round.
All three OAK Racing prototypes made it to the finish of the 6 Hours of Imola, as the team continued to build on the progress demonstrated in earlier rounds.
This was especially true of the #15 LMP1 OAK-Pescarolo – the squad’s only premier class entry in Italy - which recaptured its Sebring-form in qualifying, lapping just two seconds shy of the Le Mans 24 Hours-winning, diesel-powered #2 Audi, to line up first of the petrol-powered runners, in fifth.
Come the race, electrical issues ended its hopes of mounting a concerted challenge and the car finished eighth in class.
In LMP2, the #35 Gulf liveried car showed glimpses of the OAK-Pescarolo’s pace and the team’s second #49 LMP2 prototype, proved a podium contender throughout.
Alexandre Prémat produced some magnificent overtaking manoeuvres during his opening stint in the 49 car, to climb from eighth to second. Unfortunately, two punctures and a power steering issue eventually saw the car take the chequered flag a creditable fifth in class.
“The Italian round again confirmed the OAK-Pescarolos’ performance and it will be fascinating to see how the open, Gulf liveried, OAK prototypes compare to the AMR’s returning closed-cockpit DBR1-2 when battle recommences at Silverstone in September,” remarked Gulf Oil International Brand and Marketing Manager, Sam Cork. “It will also hopefully see the Le Mans Series return of the Gulf Racing Aston Martin Vantage and, with potentially five Gulf cars in action, Silverstone should really be something to look forward to.”