Aston Martins graced the Le Mans circuit for the first time in ages at the weekend, and they didn't disappoint.
The green machines looked the business on the track, and I can tell you that the two Aston Martin Racing-run DBR9s are in good shape for the 24 Hours, which gets underway next week.
The trip to Le Mans was long, but enjoyable, as my team-mate picked me up and we headed down to Le Mans in his car. He drove all the way and I can confirm that he is a very good driver on the road, as well as the race track. I am sure the locals in Banbury have got it all wrong.
I was so looking forward to driving on the Mulsanne Straight again, as well as pushing the DBR9 around the track at full speed. The car has been in great shape in the last two races and expectations were high for the pre-race test. We have done a lot of development since Sebring and
Silverstone, and the performance on the track showed that all the work was well worth it.
Straight out of the box, the car had a great balance and we could go straight into our programme without too much fuss. It wasn't long before we were setting the pace and things stayed that way right through to the end of the day.
Our big threat for the race didn't show what they could do, as they seemed to be happy going around in 3min 55secs lap times. This makes sense to us as the ACO want to see the GT1 cars only go as fast as the lap time the 'Vettes were doing. It seems that, if in the race we go faster than the set lap time, then penalties will be put on the car next year. Our interpretation was that we could go fast in the Pre-Q session, so we did. The 'Vettes decided that they wanted the other option. Confused? I am, so let's move on.
I am sure that, as the race starts, you will see the competition develop into a real Aston versus 'Vette battle. The Ferraris will also not far behind, as the 550 Maranellos are still quick at Le Mans. It promises to be a good race.
