Scrutineering Conversations - Part 15
Factory Fellows 2 - Aston Martin
Darren Turner
“It’s great to be here, and better still to be in an LMP1 car.
“We’ve had a couple of LMS races to get things nailed down and for me to adapt to running in the class, dealing with traffic in a very different way than in GT1, all of that.
“GT1 was great, the cars were wonderful and it was a great thing to get wins and podiums here and elsewhere with the DBR9. I really enjoyed it, the DBR9 was a very special car indeed; good to drive, very cool, very good looking and with a massive following.”
So what about your team-mates in the #008 car?
“There is no doubt about their speed; both have proved themselves to be blindingly fast.
“The biggest adaptation is for Anthony (Davidson), he’s had very little sportscar experience and, he would admit himself, is a bit out of racing practice. He’s a real pro though and will adapt super-quickly.
“The car itself is running very well. I’m not saying that we’re in good shape enough to stick with the diesels, but if anyone has a problem ahead you can be sure we’ll be right there.
“As for being involved in this effort – Fantastic!
“The combination of it being an Aston Martin, the 50th anniversary of the win here, the Gulf livery and, lets face it, the sound of the thing, means we’ll be carrying the support of a massive number of people. When I won in GT1 I couldn’t believe the number of Aston flags there were in the crowd; and that’s going to be bigger still this year I reckon.”
Stuart Hall
“I absolutely can’t wait. Everyone in the team is right up for this one – to take the fight to the foreigners!
“We’ll give it a real go against the diesels but I’m sure they have a performance advantage still. It’s possible though that they could get too hooked into their own battle and some of the egos that inevitably get tied up in that, and take their eye off us – that would be a mistake!
“I had my first time in the car at Algarve and then had about three hours in the car over the day at Monza – the squad is gelling very well indeed. I have raced against Harold and with him too (at Creation) and it’s fantastic to have Peter Kox on board as well. The odd thing is that between the three of us we have the best finishing record here of all the Aston boys – I finished fourth with Rollcentre of course, Peter has had a third place (for BMW) and Harold has finished seventh.”
Stefan Mucke and Jan Charouz
SM “We’re racing under the Czech flag but we’re very much part of the AMR effort.
 “From what we saw at Spa I think we are going to see the diesels running around three seconds a lap faster. It will certainly be tougher here than last year – our approach is to not even look at the diesels.”
JC “Our strategy is no mistakes, no tech problems and be good in the pits – that’s the only way to keep ahead of the pack and stay in any sort of touch with the diesels.”SM “We have a car that’s good on tyres and I think we can perhaps stretch them to three stints in the night.
“What we don’t yet know is what the Orecas and Pescarolo can do. They were very good at Spa but this is a different test for them; they have good drivers though and good technical support too – they will be a good challenge.”
JC “In the petrol cars it is very tough, very close, closer than in 2008; definitely a 24 hour sprint in prospect.”
SM “And that will be good for the whole race.” Peter Kox
“This happened very late and only for a sad reason; the Lamborghini’s withdrawal. I’d have loved to have raced the car here - we might not have beaten the corvettes but I think we’d have been sure to have been the best of the rest.
“I got a call on the Tuesday, was at the workshop on Friday and by the Monday I was at the Monza test, so have had time in the car.
“I have run well in the GT1 classes here since my overall podium with BMW, but this is certainly my best chance of an overall result since then.”
Anthony Davidson
“I’ve been here in the Ferrari 550 before, of course, but that was in 2003 and it was a very different car.
“When Honda looked to be going away from F1 I was, of course, looking around for other possibilities – there are very few opportunities in F1 just now and no testing possibilities of course.
“I had a good relationship with Prodrive and in mid-January I was on the phone to them. I’d tested the 908, had a taste of LMP1 and liked it - it suited my driving style and as soon as I heard that there were to be three cars, wanted to be a part of it.
“Reliability is the key here and I have two very good team-mates who both know the circuit and the way that this event goes.
“As for the car, the speed is there for sure and I can use my testing experience to help the team and Michelin. You can ALWAYS find time with tyres!”
Jos Verstappen
“I am very pleased to be a part of this – I like the team and the car very much. The car is nice to drive, very comfortable.
“There’s a lot of talk about whether we can stay with the diesels; the reality is that nobody yet knows – I think they will be quicker but we’ll be giving it our very best shot.
“I’m particularly pleased to be with Anthony and Darren - we will make up a good crew together; again, that is really important for this race.” GG |
