Aston Martin's racing plans 2005

[Chris24]

Hi,

I got the opportunity to talk to Darren Turner whilst at Goodwood yesterday.

I asked him if he knew if Aston would be racing at Petit at Road Atlanta. This is what he said.

I believe that we will be running at Spa (24 Hours ?) , and a couple of US ALMS races towards the end of the season. Probably Petit Le Mans will be one of them.

So there you have it, from a drivers mouth but by no means official though.

He also said that the ambiant temperature in the car got up to 160 degrees at Le Mans. Management asked them to double stint and the drivers told them where to go shove that idea !

[Perdu]

Oh dear, thats a good 50 bhp less for the aircon now then... dammit and double dammit.

I did love the sound of the Astons too. My mates, pistonheads all, loved the noise of the 'Vettes maybe more but for me the Astons had it all day (and night) til it went pearshaped...
 

[Werner]

One in our group who is working for Ford Motor Company in my hometown (that's where all engine's for the DBR9 are made, also the one for the race cars ) told us, that Aston is on a 5-year programme, so expect to see them back at Le Mans next year. They also plan to sell the car to privateers.

Anyone has a confirmation why exactly Aston No. 58 got stranded on the track? On their website they just write about some "fuel related problems". Did Tomas Enge copy Frank Biela???

[hgb]

Yes Werner, I read on DSC that Thomas Enge did a "Frank Biela".

[bigredbus]

We were at Goodwood too yesterday. I gave him the opportunity to say it was a pickup problem but the Aston chap that we spoke to said that the was a miscalculation at the last fill.

[Nobby Diesel]

Yes, indeed. He ran out of fuel due to a filling mis calc.

This from my sister in law; an Aston team member.

[Matt Harper]

I think it's great news that Prodrive will return to ALMS later in the season, but it does beg the question, why?
ALMS is a race series. If Aston only compete in two rounds, they have no hope of any laurels, they have no overt sponsors (other than Castrol maybe) - so no strong message to transmit on behalf of others - and do FoMoCo/AML expect to sell more road cars on the back of their racing effort? It was my understanding that the waiting list for an Aston Martin is lengthy - so what, aside from an opportunity to beat GM (a massively expensive grudge match) is the rationale?
Whatever it is, I'm pleased. As said earlier, a show-down for pinks in October at Road Atlanta will be really something to look forward to you.

[Matt Harper]

extranious 'you' at the end there, sorry

[rcutler]

Yes, indeed. He ran out of fuel due to a filling mis calc.

This from my sister in law; an Aston team member.

Autosport said it was a fuel pump problem!! Do they then mean the one in the garage rather than the one on the car.

Do teams not calculate the fuel on lap by lap basis incase the consuption has increased. Certainly after Biela and my incidents I would check every time I approach a fill up.

[Chris24]

They want to show case the car in front of potential US based race teams. The long term goal is to have cars racing in the ALMS, FIA GT and ELMS series. Thats why they are going over for a few races.

[Matt Harper]

OK, that makes sense, Chris.
Remind me about this drivers cards thing. I'll be at The Pepsi 400 on Saturday. Where will I find these cards and which ones do you want?
Regards
Matt

[Chris24]

Thanks Matt,

Sometimes they have a stand with them in on the merchandise trailers, but if you have paddock access, I believe some teams have a stand with them in placed at the back door of the team truck.

Any you could get would be nice ! Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch etc. Dale Jnr, never got one of his cards yet !

Thanks again.