Drayson
Team Modena
Michelin
Brembo
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Drayson
LE MANS, FRANCE- Paul Drayson has fought his entire life to make his dream of racing to the finish in the 24 Hours of Le Mans come true. That dream was to be realised at 15:00 today with the fall of the chequered flag. However, an electrical malfunction would cause the car to shutdown at the end of the Mulsanne Straight with only two hours and five minutes remaining in the 77th Running of the 24 Heures du Mans. That would bring the curtain down on Drayson Racing's first attempt at Le Mans but did little to diminish the enthusiasm that the programme has for the legendary event. The No. 87 Drayson Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT2 was classified 11th after 21 hours of racing. While the Official Partner Team of Aston Martin Racing (AMR) finished short of its objective; drivers Paul Drayson (London/Gloucestershire, UK), Jonny Cocker (Guisborough, Yorks, UK) and Marino Franchitti (London/Edinburgh, UK) drove spectacular races in the team's Le Mans debut and showed the true spirit of Le Mans in the process.
The Banbury, UK-based team ran as high as seventh during the event. Despite the highest level of preparation, two electrical maladies would conspire to drop the car outside of the top-10 in its premiere. The first obstacle came when an alternator failed at 03:30 causing an excruciating one hour and 20 minute pit stop to replace the non-functioning component. Once back on track, the Dale White (Bozeman, MT, USA)-managed team began a concerted effort to gain time through strategy and smart driving. The attack on the 13.629 Km/8.468 mile-long Circuit de la Sarthe would see results as the trio worked themselves back into the top-10 just moments before it all went wrong.
Travelling down the Mulsanne Straight at full throttle five minutes until 13:00, Cocker suddenly found himself with no power. He coasted to the edge of the track where the event rookie but veteran sports car ace worked, via mobile phone, with the team back in the paddock for two hours in attempts to fix the V8 enough to return to the pit lane. It was not to be however and Team Manager White signed the official paperwork to "abandon" the car on course at approximately 14:30.
In the course of the 24 hours, chassis number 002 covered more distance (3706 Km/2303 miles) than chassis 001 - used exclusively in 2008 - did the whole of last season's eight races (3,400 Km/2,113 miles). The ongoing development by the team's engineering staff - headed by White and Graham Moore (Oxfordshire, UK) - AMR and the efforts of the Rob Boakes-led crew have shown more as the season has gone on. The combination of the Vantage chassis and Michelin tyres made handling changes a preference, not a need throughout the event. All told the team's momentum is growing exponentially.
Quotes
Lady Drayson, Owner/CEO: "There is nothing like the atmosphere here at Le Mans. Whereas we were obviously disappointed not to have taken chequered flag, just to have got this far and done this well the first ever time, really, it is a very positive thing. I know the next question from Paul will be 'can we do it again?' I am waiting for that one."
Paul Drayson, Driver/Owner: "I am really pleased with what we achieved this weekend. The drivers didn't make a single mistake and we ran with great pace. Dale and the team did a superb job and the race lived up to its fearsome reputation. Having now climbed the mountain that is the Le Mans 24 Hours, I can tell you the view is worth the effort. I'm happy with 11th-place in the world's greatest race."
Jonny Cocker, Driver: "Massively disappointed obviously to not finish the race; especially after coming so far. It is an incredible event. It is just disappointing not to finish the race." About the incident: "I was going full throttle and then there was no power in the car. Then it basically switched itself off. I coasted as far as I could. We lost radio comms and everything. That was all we could do. We tried everything we knew to do. In communicating with Graham [Moore, engineer] back in the pits by phone I just wanted to be concise and do all I could. I just wanted to make sure we got everything done exactly as it needed to be done. We did but it didn't make any difference unfortunately."
Marino Franchitti, Driver: "The event as a whole has just been fantastic with Drayson Racing. The car and the team were so well prepared for it. Everything was smooth running. We had a couple issues in the race but planning meant we got through them with the least amount of time off track. Paul, Jonny and myself, we all drove basically a perfect race. We kept the car off the curbs, drove very conservatively but with good pace. There wasn't a mark on the car. Obviously, just at the end of the day there is disappointment because we were so close to the finish. I am just delighted with the opportunity that I've had here that Paul and Elspeth have given me with Drayson Racing. I couldn't have been with a better team. It was just a real pleasure and honour to share with Paul and Jonny and everybody. There was great team spirit. I just wish we would have gotten to the end and gotten the finish that everyone deserves."
Dale White, Team Manager: "We're obviously disappointed. You feel gutted. Truth is, I am very proud of how this team performed and that is just how they performed; as a team. Our best pit stop of the season was the last stop we performed here. Everyone is coming together. No one would have ever imagined we would have been here a year ago and we were running in the top-10 with two hours to go. I am really satisfied with that."
Team Modena
Team Modena continued their superb 100% finishing record in the Le Mans 24-Hours race when their Ferrari 430 GT came home seventh in the LM GT2 class and 27th overall of the 54 starters this afternoon at the classic French endurance race. The car could have finished much higher if it had not been twice hit by other cars during the night, losing time on both occasions, but Leo Mansell brought the car over the line at 15.00 local time to complete 314-laps of hard racing and the team's fourth consecutive finish.
Not only did Leo, having shared the Ferrari with Roman Rusinov and Pierre Ehret, take the chequered flag, but the Briton also timed his pace in the final laps perfectly and crossed the line right behind the winners - Team Modena's red Ferrari in the TV pictures that were beamed around the world. The hard-working pit crew had prepared a car that performed perfectly all race in only its third event, and also carried out 28 pit stops during an event that saw the car cover 4,279.5km.
"The secret to Le Mans is in the preparation," said Team Principal Graham Schultz, "and you can only get that from a great team. We have one of the best teams there is and we have finished four out of four here, a fantastic performance from the guys in the crew and in the car."
"It's our fourth start and fourth finish in a row," said Sporting Director Rik Bryan. "It wasn't a straightforward race but mechanically the car was perfect, we were unfortunate in having a couple of collisions at the hands of others cars which lost a lot of time and set us back each time we rising up the classification."
"I think we have a great team," said Team Manager Hans Muelhbauer, who orchestrated each pit stop. "You can rely on them whatever difficulties we have, and in this race we had the accidents to deal with. To come seventh in such a competitive category all I can say is - great team, great drivers."
All three drivers pushed hard race long, with Pierre, on his Team Modena debut taking the start and bringing the car safely through the early laps which at Le Mans can be run at sprint race pace. Leo had completed his first Le Mans race laps early on Saturday evening, with Roman taking the car over from him for the late evening run.
From then on the drivers were in a set rotation with the team's first dramas taking place in the night, Leo being hit by a car when being lapped and having to crawl round with a puncture, before Roman was hit from behind at three in the morning and had to be pulled out the Dunlop Curve gravel bed, losing six laps.
From then on the drivers were on a recovery charge, bringing the car back up the LM GT2 class order to take seventh in a tightly competitive category which featured 17 starters. With almost a quarter of a million spectators in the circuit, Leo brought the car across the finish line a minute after 3pm, finishing his first, and Team Modena's fourth Le Mans 24-Hour race.
"It's a great achievement just to finish here," said Leo, "and I think seventh is not a bad result all things considered. If we had not had a couple of the problems we could maybe have been on the podium, but all things considered the guys did a great job, as did Pierre and Roman, and the car ran perfectly.
"It worked out really well at the end and I crossed the line with the leaders, I am not sure how happy they will be about it but it was good for us and a brilliant way to finish!"
"I had the big crash with the prototype in the night," said Roman after his final turn behind the wheel, "and maybe we could have finished a few positions better. The car was reliable and it was hot and very long race!"
Michelin
Michelin hit the top prize in all four categories and won the 24 Hours of Le Mans race For the 12th consecutive year!
LA SARTHE, FRANCE (June 15, 2009) - Peugeot won the 77th edition of the race by achieving a double victory: its 908 HDI FAP # 9 and # 8 won the first place in the LMP1 category. The race's front-runner Audi ended on the podium's third step with its # 1.
Michelin also won the other three categories.
In LMP2, the Team Essex celebrated a double victory on Porsche RS Spyder by winning both this category and the Michelin Green X Challenge. In LMGT1, the Corvette Racing team's Corvette 63 was the winner. In the LMGT2 category, the Risi Competizione team's F430 GT Ferrari climbed the podium's first step.
MICHELIN tires' performance proved efficient and consistent. In addition, MICHELIN tires' endurance allowed the winners to break the record in terms of distance traveled. In fact, many teams overwhelmingly chose the "medium" MICHELIN tire, which contributed to this feat.
Matthieu Bonardel, director of Michelin's four-wheel racing, commented: "Our objective was to help our partners go four consecutive runs with the same set of tires if they chose to do so. We quickly accomplished this objective during the race, covering five runs in a row with the Signature team, which achieved its best timing on the last lap! Let me tell you that this global performance went far beyond our expectations and even allowed us to further differentiate ourselves from the competition in GT2. It was the same thing with the rain tire, which covered three consecutive runs with a level of performance far better than that of 2008."
On the road or on the track, Michelin demonstrates once again that its tires offer the best performance in grip, mileage and energy efficiency.
Find out more about the race
. Everything went like a charm for Peugeot Sport. After 16 years, Peugeot won thanks to its 908 # 9 with Marc Gene, Alexander Wurz and David Brabham, which ran 382 laps - one additional lap compared to the previous year. During the qualifying phase on Thursday, Stephane Sarrazin on Peugeot's 908 # 8 achieved the best time, allowing the manufacturer to run in pole position. In the morning, Peugeot sustained its 908 # 9 and # 8 on the front line. They managed their head-start very well and won at the finish line.
. The race started very fast. Peugeot dominated the whole race thanks to its four running cars, including the one with the Pescarolo Sport team.
. There were numerous accidents during the race, including a collision between Peugeot's # 7 and # 17.
. Audi's # 2 made a brutal exit by hitting a wall. Audi's # 1 underwent repeated problems despite the skills of Tom Kristensen, Allan McNisch and Dindo Capello.
Brembo
LE MANS, France, June 14, 2009 - Motorsports, like all sports, loves to quote numbers and statistics. Like the 77th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans this past weekend without any rain. Or 8: the number of times Audi Sport has been the overall winner of the classic race on the legendary 8.5-mile Circuit de la Sarthe west of Paris. Or 3: the number of years that the French Peugeot 908 diesels have challenged the German Audis for the top podium step.
But the winning number this weekend was NINE, in more ways the one. Nine was the number of Peugeot factory drivers, all with F1 experience. Nine was the number of the winning Peugeot LMP1 prototype piloted by David Brabham, Marc Gene and Alexander Wurz who bested the #8 pole-sitting Peugeot of Sebastien Bourdais, Franck Montagny and Stephane Sarrazin and the #1 Audi R15 of Dindo Capello, 8-time winner Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish, last year's overall champions.
For Brembo, the world leader in brake technology, this was the Italian manufacturer's ninth overall crown in ten years, along with numerous class victories. Brembo supplied over two thirds (37) of the 55-car field for Le Mans this year, including all 12 of the Aston Martins, Audis and Peugeots competing.
Another interesting number is 16: the number of years since Peugeot's last victory at Le Mans, coincidentally at the hands of Sir Jack Brabham's oldest son Geoff. With his overall victory this year, Sir Jack's youngest son, affectionately known as Brabs, won his third- straight class victory at Le Mans on Brembos. The past two years, Brabs was the GT1 class winner with Aston Martin upsetting the dominant Corvette factory team.
Whether four-wheel or two, open-wheel, prototype or GT, since Brembo began racing with Ferrari in 1975, the Italian manufacturer of high-performance braking systems has won more world championships at more great venues like Le Mans, Daytona, Sebring, Monaco and Baja than any other competitor.
Racing teams and manufacturers such as Aston Martin, Audi, Corvette, Ferrari, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz AMG and Lamborghini, who demand the best, turn to the experts in braking technology and performance: Brembo. The strong support and trusted relationships that Brembo has with more than 30 original equipment manufacturers and hundreds of championship-winning race teams in F1, WRC, NASCAR, IndyCar and sports cars, is based on the fact that Brembo is the industry benchmark. There is no other company or product line on the market that can match Brembo's level of technology and performance.
Brembo, headquartered in Italy with plants in 14 countries, is a world leader and design innovator of high-performance braking systems. It supplies brake systems to the most prestigious brands of passenger cars and motorcycles worldwide. Brembo has also proven leadership in motorsports with its products winning more than 200 world championships. For more information visit us at www.brembo.com/US or contact Brembo North America.
Brembo is the owner of Brembo, Breco, Marchesini and Sabelt and operates through AP Racing.