Paderborn, 03.07.2011 - Young Driver AMR experienced a tough Championship Race in the third round of the GT1 World Championship in Navarra/Spain. Stefan Mücke (GER) and Darren Turner (GBR) were en route to a top-five finish with the Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin DBR9, when a drive train problem ended their race early. Tomas Enge (CZE) and Alex Müller (GER) also had bad luck and finished in 13th place after a drive trough penalty and puncture in the first half of the race.
The Spanish round of the GT1 World Championship was the toughest round for Young Driver AMR of the season so far. It was known that the track in the Navarra region in the north of Spain wasn’t the best track for the Aston Martin DBR9. But despite that, Young Driver AMR showed a good speed in the Qualifying and the Championship Race and could have grabbed some good amount of points. Darren Turner started from 12th of the grid, after a five-place grid penalty was applied on the Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin due to an incident in the last round in England. Turner made steady progress in the race and gave the car to Stefan Mücke in 10th position halfway to the race. A quick pit stop of the Young Driver AMR-pit crew brought Mücke out in a great sixth position. But only two laps later a problem with the driveshaft brought Mücke´s race to an early end.
Also Alex Müller and Tomas Enge had a challenging race. Enge was penalised with a drive-trough-penalty after a contact with a Nissan in the second corner right after the start and also suffered a puncture shortly afterwards. Due to the two incidents, the No. 7 Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin DBR9 lost a lap and Müller brought the car to the finish in 13th position.
“It was much better then expected today with the car of Darren and Stefan running in sixth position after the pit stop”, team principal Hardy Fischer said after the race. “We gained four positions with a good pit stop, but then had a technical issue. For the No 7. car, all chances of a good position were lost after the drive-trough-penalty and the puncture. But we will keep fighting and will attack again after a short break in the next round in France in two weeks. In France we will once again give our best and hope for better luck.”