24 Hours of Le Mans

Aston Martin Extending GT1 Lead

© Planetlemans

The pace at Le Mans intensified during the night, with the Aston Martin Racing DBR9s setting their fastest times of the race so far. Car number 009 continued to lead the GT1 class in fifth position overall, with Stephane Ortelli and then Pedro Lamy at the wheel.
However there were more dramas for car 007. Tomas Enge set a stunning pace throughout his double stint, but on the lap that he was due to pit, he suffered a high-speed puncture on the approach to Indianapolis. The Czech driver skilfully controlled his DBR9 and brought it back to the pits without losing too much time.

Pedro Lamy (009): “The car was handling really well and I was able to set some fast lap times. There is a lot of dirt off the racing line, which meant that there was only one line to take; it was slippery when overtaking slower cars.”

Tomas Enge (007): “I was pushing really hard and the car was handling well. Then, on the lap that I was due to pit, I had a high-speed puncture approaching Indianapolis. I brought the car back to the pits as carefully as I could and - luckily - no other damage was done.”

DBR9 009: 1st in GT1, 5th overall, 174 laps
DBR9 007: 5th in GT1 (+ 6 laps), 10th overall, 168 laps