One year on from Aston Martin’s first victory in the GT1 class in 2007 – which was the first Le Mans win since the company triumphed overall in 1959 – the 009 DBR9 of David Brabham, Antonio Garcia and Darren Turner has claimed another GT1 win at the La Sarthe circuit. Just like last year, the 009 car – this time resplendent in the iconic Gulf livery – took the class victory at Le Mans, for sports cars based closely on their road-going equivalents.
The race was one of the closest in history, in all the classes. The 009 car took the lead within the first three hours of the endurance classic, but it was shadowed constantly by its Corvette rival. Intermittent rain and safety car periods made the duel closer still: at one point halfway through the race 009 and its pursuer were separated by less than four seconds. Even at the finish, the two cars were less than five minutes apart – having covered more than 4,500 kilometres.
The suspense remained right up until the end of an epic race. More rain fell within an hour of the finish at 3pm on Sunday, making every decision crucial. A wrong tyre choice, or the smallest mistake from any of the drivers, would have cost the coveted victory.
As it was, all the drivers as well as the car were flawless throughout the 24 hours. Brabham, Garcia and Turner represented the perfect blend of youth and experience, each bringing their own area of expertise to the challenges of the 14-kilometre circuit.
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