Le Mans Series, August 2009, Volume 9, No. 8

The Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2R battled from the back to second in class

SNORAS Spyker Squadron took a brilliant second place in the 1000 km of the Nurburgring this afternoon. Despite starting from the back of the grid Spyker regular drivers Jarek Janis (CZE) and Tom Coronel (NLD) secured for the second time a podium place in the German Le Mans Series round.

The Aston Martin squad were dominant

The 007 Gulf liveried LMP1 car of Jan Charouz (CZ), Toma' Enge (CZ) and Stefan Mucke (DE) finished first, recording their second win of the season and fourth podium finish from four races.

Quifel ASM have one hand on the P2 Championship Trophy

Miguel Pais do Amaral and teammate, France's Olivier Pla, today won a clear victory in the 1,000 Km race at Nurburgring, at the wheel of Portugal's Quifel ASM Team Ginetta-Zytek 09S, putting them just one point away from winning the title in the LMP2 category of the Le Mans Series Championship with just one more race to go, at Silverstone on 13th September.

Aston Martin took a 1-2-3 and the Championship lead

Aston Martin Racing fully achieved its goal: the British team scored as many points as possible and could take the lead of the series thanks to today's victory. Indeed, the pre-race four-point gap could seem very hard to fill and victory was the only option today to keep the team chances alive for the title chase, and obviously, the team used the necessary resources to achieve its goal. No less than three cars raced this weekend and will race at Silverstone, the last round of the season, which shows how important the title is for Aston Martin Racing.

Nurburgring: Race Results

Nurburgring: Warm Up Times

It was all Aston Martin in qualifying

Three Lolas-Aston Martin will start from the first and second row tomorrow! The goal is clear for Aston Martin Racing this weekend: the Britons aim to secure as many points as possible in their championship chase. The team is currently second in both Drivers and Team standings, four points behind Pescarolo Sport. Had they not changed the engine after the qualifying session at Spa, the squad would only be short by two points, as the drivers of the # 007 Lola-Aston Martin climbed on the podium three times in a row, but only once on the first step.

Nurburgring: Qualifying Times

Nurburgring: Practice 3 Times

The ACO has announced the rules for 2010

In accordance with the undertakings given after this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours, and to enable manufacturers to have more time to prepare for the coming season, the ACO, today, unveils the 2010 Le Mans regulations. An update inspired by two main criteria: stability and consultation.

Nurburgring: Practice 2 Times

Nurburgring: Practice 1 Times

Nurburgring, 21 August, 2009. "The Nurburgring circuit is a pleasure to drive, I know the short version really well from my time in DTM and I tested here soon after the Le Mans 24 hour race with the Aston Martin LMP1 car.

British Racing Green returns to the Prototype ranks with Drayson Racing's new Lola Judd

LONDON - Paul, Lord Drayson and Elspeth, Lady Drayson proudly announce Drayson Racing's move to the pinnacle of motorsports; the Le Mans Prototype One (LMP1) division. Drayson Racing will debut its British built Judd V10-powered Lola B09/60 racing car - commonly known as the "Lola Coupe" - in the 12th Annual Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, 22-26 September, 2009. The move signifies Drayson Racing's serious motorsport intentions and focus on using the sport as a catalyst to advance environmental technologies.

Former F1 Champ, Nigel Mansell will race a Ginetta Zytek at Silverstone

British motor racing legend Nigel Mansell will return to the international motorsport arena next month, when he races a Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S in the Le Mans Series finale at Silverstone.

Nurburgring: Entry List

Le Mans Series Points After Round 3

Quifel-ASM GZ09S reigns supreme in LMP2 class

The Ginetta-Zytek entered by local team Quifel-ASM totally dominated the LMP2 class of the 1,000km do Algarve, which finished in the early hours of this morning. The 3.4-litre GZ09S driven by Olivier Pla and Miguel Amaral led the class virtually from start to finish and set fastest lap, having already been the quickest in qualifying and in three practice sessions. Rarely can there have been such a display of supremacy in endurance racing.

Rob Bell and Gimmi Bruni Take JMW Motorsport to their First LMS Win and the LMGT2 Championship Lead

JMW Motorsport fought with all their might after an early set back in the third round of the 2009 Le Mans Series at Portimao, Portugal to take their first ever team victory and the LMGT2 Championship lead.

The team qualified in 2nd on the grid for the 6 hour race which started at 7.15pm and ran into the early hours of the morning at the new circuit located on the Algarve.

The 007 car took second place

Portugal, 2 August, 2009. The 007 Aston Martin LMP1 car of Jan Charouz (CZ), Tomas Enge (CZ) and Stefan Mucke (DE) finished second, securing a place on the podium at the Algarve 1000 kilometres in Portugal.

The sister 009 car of Harold Primat (CH), Miguel Ramos (PT) and Darren Turner (GB) finished fifth.

Spyker had a good race until the last hour

Dutchman Tom Coronel started today's 1000 km race from the back of the grid as a result of missing the qualification yesterday. The team took their time to replace an engine that failed in the third and last free practice session and therefore missed qualifying. Although the SNORAS Spyker Squadron drivers Tom Coronel and Jarek Janis did really well in the race, less than an hour before the finish they had to give up due to an engine failure whilst running in fourth position and only 55 seconds behind the Ferrari F430 running in third.

A good race was ruined by reliability issues for RML

RML AD Group racing in Algarve 1000 kms. Several minor delays curtailed what was still RML AD Group's best result of the season in Round 3 of the Le Mans Series on Saturday night. Tommy Erdos drove a blistering opening stint to work through from 32nd on the grid to challenge for second in LMP2, but during Mike Newton's middle stint in the RML Lola Mazda the car picked up a strange vibration, and in the final stages of the race a coolant leak and electrical issues added to the time lost.

Bruno Senna and Tiago Monteiro finished on the podium ahead of their sister car in the hands of Olivier Panis and Nicolas Lapierre.

After its excellent qualifying performance, the Team ORECA-Matmut's aim was to play a leading role in the Algarve 1000kms, and the team fought at the front during the race. At the wheel of no.10, Bruno Senna and Tiago Monteiro finished third giving the ORECA 01 its first podium. In no.11, Olivier Panis and Nicolas Lapierre had the potential to win. They suffered a technical problem that cost them almost 4 laps, and then the two drivers made an incredible comeback and saw the flag in fourth place, 3 laps behind the leader.

Pescarolo took their first win since the Title winning 2006 season

The Portimao race track has all the character of an old British or American track. There are twists, turns and elevation changes everywhere, making this track alike a tarmac rollercoaster. All of the drivers heaped praise on the new circuit, and it brought us some brilliant racing.

Algarve: Race Results

Algarve: Warm Up Times

Oreca's French Team took the best time

The brand-new circuit of Algarve was only completed late last year. Blind corner entries and abrupt changes of elevation are key elements of this track so drivers who could adapt quickly were at an advantage early on.

Algarve: Qualifying Times

Algarve: Practice 2 Times

Algarve: Practice 1 Times