Fifty years on from Aston Martin’s victory in the 1959 Le Mans 24 Hours, the team has exceeded all expectations by finishing an excellent fourth overall in this year’s race, having been quickest of the petrol runners from start to finish.
As expected, the diesel-powered cars enjoyed a margin of superiority, but Aston Martin Racing fulfilled its mission of being the first petrol car home, having also been the quickest of the petrol cars during qualifying on Thursday night.
Despite the Aston Martin LMP1 car being new for this year, with the Le Mans programme only confirmed six months ago, the fourth-placed 007 car – crewed by Jan Charouz (CZ), Tomas Enge (CZ) and Stefan Mücke (DE) – exhibited perfect mechanical reliability, with only a puncture and a minor issue with the headlights getting in the way of its serene progress to the chequered flag.
Mücke qualified the 007 car in eighth place for the start of the 77th Le Mans 24 Hours, which took place at 3pm on Saturday. This was in spite of extremely limited dry running before qualifying, as the six-hour long free practice session on Wednesday was hit by heavy rain. When it came to the race, ambient temperatures were extremely warm, taking their toll on cars and drivers.
The 007 car ran in close formation with its sister 008 car – crewed by Anthony Davidson (GB), Darren Turner (GB) and Jos Verstappen (NL) – for the first half of the race. Davidson, a former Grand Prix driver, qualified the 008 car ninth and at one point on Saturday evening climbed as high as third in the overall race standings.
Unfortunately the 008 car lost time at around 10pm when it was in collision with a GT1 car during an overtaking manoeuvre at Tertre Rouge. The effect of this was to damage the suspension and floor, which necessitated several visits to the pits to repair. Furthermore, the crew was handed a five-minute stop-and-go penalty in relation to the incident, which was taken in the early hours of Sunday morning. Afterwards, 008 was amongst the quickest petrol-powered cars in the race, but it subsequently lost time with mechanical problems relating to the gearbox and brakes. It was eventually classified 13th, having followed the 007 car across the line on Sunday in a spectacular formation finish.
The 009 car, crewed by Stuart Hall (GB), Peter Kox (NL), and Harold Primat (CH) did not make the end of the race as Primat had an accident in the 18th hour that brought out the safety car but left him uninjured. Kox had qualified the car in 17th place on Thursday night, setting his fastest lap on his final timed run.
Tomas Enge took the finish for the 007 crew after 373 laps and 5084 kilometres, watched by an estimated crowd of over 250,000 people. The Czech driver commented: “I have to say how impressed I have been with the reliability of the car. We had no real problems at all from start to finish, which is an amazing achievement for such a tough race. I’d like to thank the entire team for making this result possible, which certainly exceeds our expectations. This is always going to be one of the best memories of my career.”
His compatriot Jan Charouz bounced back from an accident in qualifying on Thursday night that damaged the 007 car heavily. Thanks to some excellent work from the Aston Martin Racing mechanics, the car went on to finish just off a podium place in the race. Charouz said: “The accident in qualifying certainly wasn’t the best way for me to start the Le Mans 24 Hours but that is all forgotten now. Conditions during the race were extremely tough, with several incidents and safety car periods, but we managed to get through it thanks to some excellent team work. We may not have won ourselves on this occasion, but I hope that we paid a good tribute to the drivers who won for Aston Martin back in 1959.”
Mücke took the start of the race for the 007 crew and turned in a fault-free performance throughout the 24 Hours, despite feeling unwell on Sunday. The German driver’s renowned blend of speed and consistency resulted in the car making rapid progress back up the order after a puncture on Saturday evening dropped it down to seventh.
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