Aston Martin Racing’s DBR9s continued in their chase of the race leader as the 2005 Proximus 24 Hours of Spa entered the early hours of Sunday morning, with car number 28 in second place.
As the quest for the lead continued to provide a captivating spectacle, in car 28, Darren Turner, who took over from David Brabham, maintained efforts to catch the leading Maserati as the race reached the nine hour point.
David Brabham, who completed his second stint of the race shortly before midnight, said of his earlier battle from seventh on the grid to the front of the field: “We had an interesting time with the changing conditions. The Michelin tyre was a great help at the beginning.”
Talking about his first drive of the race, Darren Turner added: “It was damp to begin with, I had to be pretty cautious for the first half of my opening stint and after my pit stop the track was starting to get better. I was struggling with the brake balance a little at the start as it had been set for wet weather conditions during David’s (Brabham) run in the car.”
Meanwhile, the progress of DBR9 number 29 was temporarily hampered by a pedal box problem, which saw the car return to the pits for essential work. Aston Martin Racing Team Principal, George Howard-Chappell explained: “We had a pedal box problem which left the front brakes on lightly.” The efforts of the Aston Martin Racing mechanics saw the car return to track 18 laps down and set about making up lost time.
Marc Goossens replaced Peter Kox in car 29 shortly after midnight and despite the earlier setback, the Belgium driver, who is making his fourth consecutive appearance at the Spa-Francorchamps was optimistic: “Obviously Peter had a problem, but the team have worked hard to fix it.
“I’m looking forward to getting back out in the car. It took me a while to gain confidence in my first double stint as I was running on slicks in wet conditions.
“It’s dark now, but that shouldn’t be a problem – I like driving at night and I know the circuit well.”