Works Lola-Aston Martin sixth in final Intercontinental Le Mans Cup race in China

18 Nov 2011

Given its strong performance of third place in the penultimate round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup in America last month, Aston Martin Racing was hopeful of a similar result in China for the final race.

Despite having qualified only third fastest of the petrol-fuelled LMP1 sports-prototypes, and seventh overall, for the Six Hours of Zhuhai on November the 13th, the team remained optimistic; as at Road Atlanta’s Petit Le Mans, the Lola-Aston Martin B09/60, retrospectively renamed the Aston Martin DBR-2, this time driven by Stefan Mucke/Andy Meyrick/Harold Primat, had again been outpaced by the Nicholas Prost/Neel Jani Rebellion Lola B10/60-Toyota and the OAK Pescarolo 01-Judd of Olivier Pla/Alexandre Premat. Unsurprisingly, ahead on the grid were the four diesel-fuelled cars, with the Anthony Davidson/Sebastien Bourdais Peugeot 908 HDi in pole position ahead of the sister car of Franck Montagny/Stephane Sarrazin and the Audi R18 TDIs of Allan McNish/Tom Kristensen and Timo Bernard/Marcel Fassler, in third and fourth places respectively. In the GTE-Am class the Gulf AMR Middle East Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2 of Fabien Giroix/Roland Goethe qualified fifth of six runners.

As the much faster diesel-fuelled runners inevitably fought for the lead at the front, the 6.0 litre V12 cylinder DBR1-2 lost a position in the early stages. Mucke/Meyrick/Primat regained the place after the Audi R18TDI of McNish/Kristensen retired from the race but ultimately the Aston Martin had to settle for sixth position at the flag and third fastest petrol-fuelled car, one lap behind the Rebellion Lola B10/60-Toyota and three laps in arrears to the OAK Pescarolo 01-Judd which finished in fourth and fifth positions respectively; the latter were seven and nine laps behind the winning Davidson/Bourdais Peugeot 908 HDi, itself ahead of the sister car of Montagny/Sarrazin and the Kristensen/Fassler Audi R18 TDI, once again highlighting the disparity in performance between diesel and petrol-fuelled LMP1 runners. Further back, the V8 Vantage GT2 of Giroix/Goethe maintained its qualifying form by finishing fifth in class.

"We had hopes of winning the petrol category this weekend” commented Aston Martin Racing Team Principal Howard-Chappell, “but ultimately our car wasn't suited to the nature of the Zhuhai circuit. We know that the DBR1-2 and our drivers are capable of winning elsewhere, though”.
Despite its now aging design, the Lola-Aston Martin BO9/60 has performed well during its limited 2011 season, results including victory in the Laguna Seca round of the American Le Mans Series.