07 April 2009 - 00:00
Barca’s fastest
Bring on Le Mans. Aston Martin's LMP1 car took the chequered flag in the first round of the Le Mans series in Barcelona this weekend, laying down a marker for the big race in June, when AM is expected to fight it out with Audi and Peugeot for overall victory.
First off, neither Audi nor Peugeot were competing in Barcelona: both manufacturers pulled out of the European LMS series to focus on just the big races this year. Audi's R15, remember, edged out Peugeot's 908 in the 12 Hours of Sebring last month.
But, as the drummers' mantra goes, you can only beat what's in front of you. The 007 car (how cool is that?) driven by Stefan Mucke, Jan Charouz and Tomas Enge, dramatically edged out the Pescaro-Judd when Christophe Tinseau stalled at the final pitstop, allowing the Aston to take victory by 14 seconds.
The second Aston - the 009 car - looked set to sneak third spot until Miguel Ramos span with just a handful of laps to go, allowing Bruno Senna's Courage-Oreca to take the final place on the podium.
The result was perhaps not the domination that Aston had hoped for, but there's plenty of time before Le Mans. Will the plucky Brits be strong enough to wrestle the crown away from Audi and Peugeot? Who's your money on?
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I think they'll be in the top 3, but it may have to wait until next year before global conquest takes place. Unless the Gulf colours at Le Mans act as a good luck charm...
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^^ The Bentley Speed 8 was mostly made of Audi parts, so it's not really the same.
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I still think that Audi are going to dominate Le Mans, and I'm a self confessed Aston Martin fan! Sorry, but Diesel is dominating Petrol wherever the two compete against each other, so why should that trend not continue?
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As Mikeado said the Speed 8 was more Audi than anything else. I'd like to see either Audi or Aston take it this year; just so I can see all the dejected French fans leaving the circuit again! I'd love it to be Aston, but if I were to be forced to bet on it, I'm sorry to say I'd put my money on Audi...
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Cmoon Aston Martin .... Prove everybody is wrong and win this LeMans Good Luck Aston ..
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Thank you aston. Good job keep it up. Audi is scared now i bet
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YEYA, TOO BAD U CANT WATCH IT IN AMERICA, ANY SUGESTIONS?????????
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COME ON Aston Martin teach the germans and the french what we can in motorsport. I swear the Gulf Aston Martin DBR9's were number 007 and 009 so were the orignial green aston martin DBR9s. I would love to see the Aston Martin LMP1 in the green I prefered the green to the gulf colours
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Lloydy commented on this article
07 April 2009
I think they can do it. If bentley suceeded, Aston Martin has such a good chance. They have GOT to beat the frenchies at peugeot. It would be so embarrasing otherwise. Can't wait! Bring on Le Mans!
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