On the Way to Le Mans
10th June 2007
The biggest racing event in Europe will take place on the 16th and 17th of
June 2007 in Le Mans (France). More than 300,000 people will find their way to
the 24hours of Le Mans.
Last time that Jamie has been to Le Mans as a driver was in 2004 when he finished
2nd overall with the closest gap between 1st and 2nd in 30 years of the race
history. Jamie drove for Audi UK Team Veloqx that time in the Audi R8 and
will never forget how close he was to winning this race outright. The year
before (2003) he already won the title in the GTS class (now called GT1 class)
with the Veloqx Prodrive team driving a Ferrari 550 Maranello. And now he
is on his way to Le Mans again. This time driving for Aston Martin Racing
BMS as a Pirelli works driver in the GT1 class driving an Aston Martin DBR9.
The official test for the 24h Le Mans was last weekend (3rd June). Jamie and
his team were quite happy with the performance of the car and the team gained
a lot of useful information for the race week.
Jamie: “I haven’t driven Le Mans for two years though this will
be my 5th Le Mans 24hours. I was here last year as a commentator for Motors
TV but since then the circuit has changed again. I like the circuit and even
with little changes it is still one of my favourite race tracks in the world.
During the test day the car felt really good and the Pirelli tyres were working
very well, I am so looking forward to Saturday the 16th of June at 3pm when
the race starts. I am sharing the car with Fabio Babini who is also my team
mate in the FIA GT Championship this year and the third driver Matteo Malucelli
who drives for BMS in the GT2 class in the FIA GT.”
The circuit in Le Mans is 13.65km (8.476 miles) long and 55 cars driven by
the worlds’ best known endurance drivers will fight for fast times and
the win of the legendary 24 Heures du Mans. The competition in the GT1 class
this season is very strong. 15 cars are entered in the GT1 category and five
different manufactures are represented, Aston Martin, Corvette, Ferrari, Lamborghini
and Saleen.
Jamie: “The whole circuit is brilliant because it is a high speed circuit.
The most challenging parts of the circuit are Indianapolis and the Porsche
curves because they are the fastest corners of the circuit. Also another challenge
will be driving in the dark at night because of the different speeds of all
different classes. The entire event is great and enthused thousands of people
at the circuit and at home watching the race on TV. I will be driving car no
100 and I hope many race fans will watch the race and keep their fingers crossed
for me to get a good result in the 24 Heures du Mans 2007”.
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