That’s the thing really – the key to three guys working together over the course of a Le Mans weekend means you want the best from each of your team-mates, and the fact that we all like each other and get on really well means we are always pushing each other in a good way. You want them to do well because it’s going to reflect well on your overall result, and I think the package that we’ve got this year between the three of us is very good.
Q:
You spoke about the Corvettes before – do you see them as being your main rivals again this year, or do you think anyone else will be able to get in on the GT1 mix too?
DT:
Corvette are always going to be the main rivals – it’s a great battle that’s been going on many years, and it sort of tos-and-fros from either side. I think realistically they are going to be the main team out there to try and beat, and certainly from last year to this year they will have done a lot of development over the winter.
The difference is obviously that we won at Le Mans last year and as a team we haven’t raced the car since. It’s all-or-nothing, a one-race championship for us, whereas they’ve been doing the American Le Mans Series so they’re very race-fresh. We’ve got to get back up-to-speed for the race weekend and make sure we’re firing on all twelve cylinders, and that’s not just from the drivers’ point-of-view but also the engineers, the mechanics, the tyre guys – all these guys have to get back into the groove when we get down to Le Mans.
Q:
Having won the race in class last year, do you feel more pressure in 2008 going in as the defending champions, compared to the underdogs which AMR has been for the past few years..?
DT:
I think yes, the truth is that is the case. Beforehand it’s always been us trying to chase Corvette down and take their crown, and now we’ve got it and the benchmark is us. It’s up to Corvette to raise their game and find the speed, and without a doubt they have. They proved very fast in the LMS championship last weekend in Monza, and I’m sure the works team is very fast as well. It’s a different approach this year, and it should be quite interesting.
Q:
Not only did you win the GT1 class last year, but you also finished a superb fifth overall. How tough is it going to be to repeat that in June?
DT:
Very; the competition in GT1 is very strong. It’s very much like the front end of LMP1 – they’re the two most competitive classes at Le Mans, and it’s going to be very hard. We’ve got to really be on the button from the word ‘go’. Look at last year’s result – car 009 had the least amount of time in the pits of any of the starters, none of the drivers made a mistake on the circuit and we all did quick lap times all the way through the race, and we still only won by three minutes. If we make one single mistake then it’s going to be a problem.
![Aston Martin Racing star Darren Turner [pic credit: Aston Martin Racing]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/434013.jpg)
