3 Hours
6 Hours
9 Hours
12 Hours
15 Hours
18 Hours
21 Hours
009 Retires
24 Hours
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3 Hours
The three factory Aston Martin LMP1 cars have ended the first three hours of the 77th Le Mans 24 Hours in fifth, sixth and 25th places respectively. With evening drawing in, Tomas Enge occupies fifth place in 007, Jos Verstappen is sixth in 008 and Peter Kox is 25th in 009.
Stefan Mucke started the race at 3pm in 007 from eighth place and stayed in the car for a triple stint, despite extremely warm temperatures at the start of the race. The German driver made excellent progress, stopping only for fuel and tyres as scheduled before handing over to Tomas Enge at 5:20pm. The car encountered no problems apart from a minor glitch with the radio.
Darren Turner started the race for 008 from ninth on the grid and shadowed his team mate for the early stages, handing over to former Grand Prix driver Jos Verstappen at 5:12pm after an impressive triple stint. "I think this has been the longest time I've ever spent in the car in one go," said Turner. "I really enjoyed it, although the handling isn't quite the way I would want it. On the whole though the car is feeling very good and I think we've shown promising pace. Physically it's been quite tough and I've got a few aches and pains now, but it's nothing I can't cope with. It was good to take the start of the race: our priority was strictly to keep out of trouble and luckily we were able to pull away well from the cars behind us, so this wasn't an issue."
However the opening stages of the race were not quite as straightforward for the 009 car, which had to come in for an alternator change at just under the hour mark. This is quite a complicated process that involves removing the car's bodywork, costing the crew plenty of time in the pits. Once the repairs were complete, Peter Kox took over from Harold Primat -- who had started the race.
The car was also handed a stop and go penalty just before 5pm, obliging Kox -- who was 43rd at the time -- to come into the pits and switch off the engine for one minute before re-starting. The penalty was as a result of work that had taken place on the car whilst it was on the grid, to repair an electrical problem immediately before the start. Although the Aston Martin mechanics did an excellent job to fix the problem with just seconds to spare before the start, the crew could not escape a penalty.
While the race has barely begun, there have already been several incidents and accidents at the front of the field, ensuring that the 77th Le Mans 24 Hours is living up to its reputation as the ultimate test of drivers and teams.
The Vantage GT2 of Drayson Racing is currently eighth in class after a strong opening to the race.
6 Hours
Aston Martin has continued to build on the solid progress made during the first three hours of the Le Mans 24 Hours. After six hours of racing -- a quarter distance -- the 008 and 007 cars are running in a comfortable fourth and seventh places. The 009 car has been affected by further problems and is consequently 46th but still running.
Anthony Davidson is undertaking his first Le Mans stint with Aston Martin Racing in the 008 car, having taken over from Jos Verstappen who drove a triple stint to maintain the fifth position he had inherited from his team mate Darren Turner. Verstappen's drive was particularly impressive as the Dutchman was climbing a steep learning curve. "This was actually the longest consecutive period of time I have ever spent in the Aston Martin LMP1 car," he said. "During my triple stint I probably doubled the seat time I have had in the car so far. I really enjoyed it: towards the end of my stint my tyres went off, but this is normal with the track conditions and temperature. It was a nice comfortable drive to ease myself in."
For much of Verstappen's stint, he was running in close formation with Tomas Enge -- who took over the 007 car from his team mate Stefan Mucke in the third hour of the race. "I'm pleased with my stint," said the Czech driver. "We found a good balance between going quickly and driving safely, which means that we have a good race pace as we can follow the cars in front without losing too much time. But there is such a long way to go that there is no point in predicting too much at the moment. For now, I'm very happy."
After completing his stint, Enge gave the car to his compatriot Jan Charouz -- who lost a bit of time with a flat tyre just after 8:30pm, dropping the car down to seventh. The tyre was swiftly changed by the Aston Martin pit crew and the car is still lapping strongly as evening falls. Stefan Mucke, who took the start, is scheduled to take over the car again next.
Stuart Hall's stint in the 009 car got off to a fraught start when he had to bring the car in to have a water leak dealt with, losing around 15 minutes in the pits. He subsequently had to pit again to hand over to Harold Primat, who was delayed when the car had difficulty re-starting. Hall took over from Peter Kox, who drove a long middle stint.
"As we say back home in Holland, I don't think we have anything to shame ourselves with," commented Kox. "It's just a pity that we've encountered these problems. To do well at Le Mans you always need a clean run, but although that possibility is gone for us now, we are still enjoying driving the car and we are going to keep on pushing to the end."
The Drayson Racing Vantage GT2 continues to enjoy a strong run with 12th place in class. Englishman Jonny Cocker is currently driving.
9 Hours
As midnight approached at Le Mans, the number 007 Aston Martin held a top-five place, in the hands of German driver Stefan Mucke. Previously Jan Charouz completed a long triple stint, in night-time conditions that were dry and warm.
The 007 car has encountered no major problems so far, enabling it to lead the petrol class two laps clear of the next-quickest car. Furthermore, it is ahead of four of the diesel cars. The only glitch it has experienced is a minor problem with headlights shortly before midnight. Running at a competitive pace, the 007 car is still in touch with the factory diesel cars ahead, even though they enjoy a considerable performance advantage.
However, the number 008 Aston Martin, which had previously been running in fifth place and ran as high as third earlier in the race, encountered a setback at around 10pm when Darren Turner had an impact with a GT1 car. The consequent damage caused a heavy vibration, which resulted in several visits to the pits to assess and repair the problems. The front-left suspension upright was changed, which went some way towards curing the vibration.
Following the upright change, Turner re-joined in 12th place and was able to continue lapping at a competitive pace. He was due to be replaced by Jos Verstappen just after midnight.
After encountering some electrical and water leak problems earlier in the race, the 009 Aston Martin made up 16 places over three hours during a triple stint with Harold Primat at the wheel. The 009 car enjoyed a trouble free run in Primat's hands. As scheduled Primat handed over to Peter Kox just before midnight.
The Drayson Racing Vantage GT2 currently occupies 13th place in class after a consistent run, with Jonny Cocker currently at the wheel.
12 Hours
Following 12 hours and approximately 2750 kilometres of racing at Le Mans
, Aston Martin has reached the halfway point of its first participation in the endurance classic with an LMP1 car. Jan Charouz currently occupies fifth place overall in the 007 car, having taken over from Tomas Enge at around 2:30am.
Enge maintained a strong fifth position throughout his stint, which was problem-free. "Actually, I wasn't as happy with this stint as I was with my first stint," explained Enge. "I seemed to get a lot more traffic this time round for some reason, and when this happens it is really difficult to find a consistent rhythm. Towards the end of my stint I also began to lose grip: I'm not sure why. But generally speaking I have to be happy: the car has been really good and reliable, so we are right up there."
Conditions remain dry and comparatively warm, although some rain could fall later on Sunday morning, potentially bringing the 77th Le Mans 24 Hours to a dramatic finale.
Following some repairs to fix earlier accident damage, Jos Verstappen took over the 008 car shortly after midnight. However, one of his first tasks was to serve a five-minute drive-through penalty that was handed to the team as the result of an earlier collision that caused the accident damage. After serving the penalty, Verstappen set some rapid lap times before handing over to Anthony Davidson.
"Of course a penalty like this feels like hours rather than minutes when you are actually there," said Verstappen. "But afterwards I really enjoyed myself. The main thing about this car is that it feels very comfortable, which makes it easy to drive quickly. It's a pity our car had the problem with the collision as I think we could have been in the same position as the 007 car or maybe ahead of it, but that's racing. There's still an extremely long way to go so let's see what happens."
The 009 crew is now reduced to two members -- Peter Kox and Harold Primat -- after the race stewards decided to exclude Stuart Hall for his part in a crash with an LMP2 car earlier.
"After that incident, the stewards have decided to exclude me from the meeting," said Hall. "So I won't be driving the car again this weekend. I made a mistake and I'm sorry. Everyone I've spoken to says that the penalty is a little harsh but there's nothing I can do. I'm gutted."
The 009 crew had other problems to worry about as well. At 2:20am the car stopped out on the circuit while Harold Primat was driving, and it reached its pit box 10 minutes later. The water pump controller was changed in 15 minutes and Peter Kox took over the driving. However he lost electrical power just one lap afterwards and had to return to the pits for further attention.
The Drayson Racing Vantage GT2 continues to make progress, with Scottish driver Marino Franchitti currently holding 11th place in class.
15 Hours
The 007 Aston Martin LMP1 car, currently driven by Germany's Stefan Mucke, is up to fourth overall as morning breaks over Le Mans, following a 45-minute safety car period.
The safety car came out as the result of an accident on one of the first corners of the circuit shortly after 4am. The accident also deposited a trail of oil on the track, making conditions even more treacherous in the early morning light.
Jan Charouz completed a long night stint before handing over to Mucke, reporting no incidents. "It was all fine," he said. "I was quite happy with the pace we could do, without even pushing too hard. Of course I was very concentrated in order not to make any mistakes but actually it was no problem. I don't mind driving at night at all; in fact I like it."
Anthony Davidson worked his way back up to 10th in 008, before handing the car to Darren Turner in the early hours of the morning. Turner commented: "We had a good stint and tried out some new soft tyres, which worked well. There was a lot of oil on the track though, and that made it really difficult to judge the level of grip available."
The 009 car was driven by Peter Kox throughout the early morning stints, who reported no major problems apart from a lack of grip and visibility due to the oil. The car is currently 16th in the LMP1 class. The Drayson Racing Vantage GT2 maintains 13th in class.
18 Hours
Six hours now remain of this year's Le Mans 24 Hours -- the equivalent of a complete Le Mans Series race -- but the 007 Aston Martin LMP1 car is maintaining a strong fourth place after a trouble-free night. Tomas Enge is currently in the lead Aston Martin and he commented: "I don't actually like to say it because maybe it brings bad luck but I have been really impressed by the reliability of the car so far. We are in a good position because we have had a clean run, but now the objective is clear: we have to continue like this to the finish. There is a long way left to go."
In fact, there is still a quarter of the race to run -- and the outside possibility of some rain as well, which would provide the closing stages of the 77th Le Mans 24 Hours with some additional drama.
While the 007 car has run with no problems, the 008 car had two unscheduled pit stops at around 7:45am and 8.45am after Jos Verstappen took over from Darren Turner. The first stop rectified a gearbox issue whilst the second stop fixed a problem with the brakes caused by the earlier gearbox issue. Verstappen re-joined the race in 14th overall. "From what I can see so far, this car has a lot of potential," he said, before getting in. "I think without problems we have the pace to go near the front. Unfortunately that hasn't been the case but this should not take anything away from the speed of the car."
The 009 car is currently being driven by Harold Primat, who occupies 26th place overall. The 009 car encountered no mechanical problems during the morning stint.
21 Hours
As the Le Mans 24 Hours moves into its final three hours, the 007 Aston Martin LMP1 car is holding fourth place and has set a good pace to close the gap to the third-placed diesel car.
Tomas Enge is currently in the lead Aston Martin with Stefan Mucke due to take over just after midday. The 007 is the fastest petrol car on track setting a best lap time of 3:26.632 and is also the highest-placed petrol car overall -- with a four-lap cushion over its nearest rival.
The 008 car has recovered from its earlier dramas and Anthony Davidson is currently at the wheel in 13th place overall. Rain is still an outside threat although current conditions are warm and sunny.
Harald Primat, who has been given the all clear from the medical team following his accident in the 009 Aston Martin in the 18th hour, said: "I am a bit stiff and I will take it easy for the next couple of days but I am fine. I had an alarm on the dash for the cooling system and then I experienced some heat in the cockpit so I radioed the team to let them know. I think that there may have been a water leak but we won't know for sure until the team analyses the data.
"It was a shame for Peter and I, we were moving up the field after our earlier problems and we are both frustrated at not finishing. At Le Mans what you want first is to finish but sometimes you have a car which has most of the trouble in the team and unfortunately at this race it was our car.
"I have mixed feelings, it would have been great to bring all three cars home but if the 007 car finishes in the top four, as the best petrol car and beating several of the diesel cars then this is a great result for the team."
The 77th Le Mans 24 Hours is due to finish at 3pm local time.
009 Retires
The Aston Martin Racing 009 car of Stuart Hall (GB), Peter Kox (NL) and Harold Primat (CH) has retired during the 18th hour of this year's Le Mans 24 Hours.
The car spun off and hit a barrier at turn 17, the entry to the famous Porsche curves, whilst Primat was driving.
Primat, who was uninjured, said: "It was a shock but I feel absolutely fine. I am not exactly sure what happened, but together with the team we are trying to work it out."
With just over five hours of the Le Mans 24 Hours remaining, Aston Martin's lead car is the 007 entry crewed by Jan Charouz (CZ), Tomas Enge (CZ) and Stefan Mucke (DE), which is currently running in fourth place.
24 Hours
Le Mans, 14 June, 2009. 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 Mucke (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.
Mucke 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."
Mucke 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.
"I'm absolutely delighted by this result," he said. "The performance gap shows that there are still effectively two classes in the LMP1 category -- diesel and petrol -- but we said from the very beginning that our objective was to be quickest in the petrol class and so I am very pleased that we have managed to achieve this. Compared to last year our performance gap to the diesels is a bit smaller but the rules still do not allow us to compete on equal terms."
The 008 crew completed 342 laps, with all the drivers delighted to get to the finish of this epic race. Anthony Davidson set the car's qualifying time on Thursday and impressed the team with his abilities and feedback throughout the weekend. "It's been an absolutely great experience," said the Englishman. "I've been really impressed with the performance we've shown here and I hope we've surprised a few people with our speed. It's been fantastic to be part of the Aston Martin team and I think between us all we've put on a great show. We ran as high as third overall and I think had we experienced no problems, then we could have challenged for the podium."
Darren Turner finished the race for the 008 crew, having proved instrumental in hauling the car back up the leaderboard after it lost time overnight. Turner, a two-time Le Mans winner in GT1 with Aston Martin, said: "We're really pleased to get to the finish, although at the same time we're disappointed that we had a few problems. The important thing though is that this has been a tremendous result for the team after all the hard work everyone has put in, particularly the 007 crew who did such a great job."
Former Grand Prix driver Jos Verstappen, who spent 10 years in Formula 1, did not put a foot wrong on what was his LMP1 debut and only his second Le Mans, following his win in the LMP2 class last year. "I've had a fantastic time," said the Dutchman. "Before this race I had very little experience of the car, and during my first stints alone I practically doubled my seat time in it. As the race went on I got to know it better and our pace improved. I felt comfortable in the car straight away: given the small amount of preparation we all had I think everyone has done an amazing job."
The 009 crew was reduced to two drivers after Stuart Hall was disqualified on Saturday evening for his part in a collision with an LMP2 car at the Ford chicane. Beforehand, the young Englishman had impressed on his debut with Aston Martin Racing.
Hall commented: "I'm very sorry for the incident that led to my disqualification, but I'm very grateful for the opportunity to drive for Aston Martin Racing. The professionalism of the team has been second to none, and the end result for the 007 car is well-deserved."
Peter Kox was drafted into this year's squad at the last minute, but is nonetheless a familiar face at Aston Martin, having driven for the team on several occasions in the past. "It was great to be back," he said. "We obviously had a tough race with our car, but when things go well there is plenty of potential as the result for 007 shows."
Harold Primat luckily emerged with no injuries after his accident on Sunday, having shouldered the burden of all the driving with Kox since Saturday night.
"It was a shame for Peter and I as we were moving up the field after our earlier problems and we were both frustrated not to finish," concluded Primat. "At Le Mans you sometimes have bad luck, and this was just one of those occasions. However, the team result with the 007 car is the most important thing."
David Richards, Chairman of Aston Martin, commented: "I'm absolutely delighted. We came to Le Mans with modest expectations and we've exceeded all of them. Once again, Aston Martin has punched well above its weight and it's a fantastic achievement from everyone involved. Now we have to ask ourselves some serious questions about where we go from here."
Dr Ulrich Bez, Chief Executive Officer of Aston Martin, added: "In the same month that we launch the new V12 Vantage and DBS Volante, it is fitting that the same 6.0 litre V12 heart powers our LMP1 cars to such an outstanding Le Mans debut. I am thrilled for the whole team."