At the end of my last D-Brief column, I left you wondering just exactly what the Le Mans deal I had signed was - and why I was 'well excited' about it. Well, now I can tell all....
This June, I will be back at the wheel of an Aston Martin - but, before you say 'tell us something new', it will be one of the works DBR9s fielded by Aston Martin Racing, and the line-up this year looks superb.
Getting the chance to rejoin AMR came about a bit by chance. I had done my ALMS deal with Highcroft and was at the
Autosport Awards, where I bumped into George Howard-Chappell, who heads up the AMR operation. I asked, casually, if they were doing Le Mans and, when he replied that they might be, I - casually again - told him I was available. That seemed to surprise him, but we kept in contact and it kind of went from there. A deal was done very quickly.
It feels fantastic to be back with AMR. When I was with them a couple of years ago, it was such a great programme, working with Aston Martin and the guys at Prodrive, and we achieved a lot. However, Le Mans remains unfinished business for all concerned and we want to go back there this year and take the fight to Corvette.
Even though I am only just rejoining the programme, I believe 2007 presents a realistic opportunity to beat the 'Vettes. I went up to Prodrive just before I left for Sebring and, while I was talking to George and the boys, I got a very strong sense of the amount of progress they felt they had made over the winter. For the first time in a fairly long time, the team has had a decent development budget to sort the car and feel confident that it will be strong at Le Mans. The DBR9 has always been strong there, it's just that a couple of things have let it down towards the end of the race. The speed has always been there too, so it's other areas that the team has been working on and, for sure, the car will be a strong package.
