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THE GREAT RACE BECKONS...
THE GREAT RACE BECKONS...
Gulf 007 & 009 cars are fastest petrol qualifiers for 2010 Le Mans
The Gulf-sponsored 007 and 009 Aston Martin Racing LMP1 cars maintained their positions throughout Thursday’s final qualifying sessions, to remain the fastest petrol engined cars for the 78th running of the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours.
Conditions on track slowly improved over the course of the day, after the huge downpours that marked the afternoon in the Le Mans area. By the end of the evening session, it might have been possible to improve the times slightly from Wednesday night but with their qualifying positions not under threat the team used the time to concentrate on their race settings.
“With the drying conditions we had today, the grip was variable and there was no point in taking any risks,” said Stefan Mücke, who set the quickest time in 007. “We were all able to take advantage of the situation to get in some running time in these conditions, in case this is what we experience in the race. But mostly the session allowed us to complete some set-up work and run through some more preparations. Our aim was to be the quickest petrol car and I’m very happy that we’ve achieved this objective so far.”
Darren Turner, who qualified the 009 car, was also pleased by the work the team carried out. “It was very slippery when I first got in this evening, particularly around the Porsche Curves,” he said. “It got a little bit better as more cars dried the track out, but the most important thing was that everyone had more time in the car so that we were able to focus on the race. We really needed the mileage and so it’s great to have as much time as possible in the car in a wide range of conditions.”
With no track activity during Friday, attention switches to the town of Le Mans itself, which will host the annual Drivers’ Parade. Gulf, through French and Belgian distributor, Caroil SA, is sponsoring this year’s parade, which is expected to attract some 150,000 spectators. This gives them the chance to see the drivers up close while they tour the streets of the town centre in the back of beautiful classic convertible cars.
Gulf brand and marketing manager, Sam Cork comments, “The build up to the race is always a fascinating experience. Despite the fact that the cars don’t run today the circuit is still incredibly busy. We expect our official licensees, Dakota, Hackett and the ACO to be doing great business in Gulf branded merchandise today. We will also see a strong Gulf presence at the parade this afternoon and I’m eagerly anticipating an exciting race weekend.”
Posted on 09/06/2010 by Colm Hamrogue