Young Driver AMR aims for podium in Portugal

Young Driver AMR aims for podium in Portugal
GT1-World Championship travels all the way down to Portugal

Paderborn, 03.05.2011 [GT1 World Championship]

The GT1-World Championship travels all the way down to Portugal this weekend for the third round of the season in Portimão at the Algarve coast. After a good performance in the first two rounds and the first podium finish of the season in the last race in Belgium, Young Driver AMR hopes for more podium joy in Portugal. Alex Müller (GER) and Tomas Enge (CZE) aim for their second consecutive podium finish in the #7 Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin DBR9, while Stefan Mücke (GER) and Darren Turner (GBR) want to execute their brilliant speed into a good amount of championship points. With the German round of the GT1-World Championship at the Sachsenring scheduled only seven days later, the Portugal event is the start of a very busy week for Young Driver AMR.

„We showed a good speed in the two opening rounds of the championship in Abu Dhabi and Zolder, on two very different tracks“, Young Driver AMR team principal Hardy Fischer says. „So I see no reason why we shouldn’t be quick in Portugal. Last year, we were running in second position, when we had some tires issues. I hope that we will have two trouble free races in Portugal. Alex and Tomas showed a very good performance at Zolder and Darren and Stefan had one of the quickest cars in the opening two rounds, but had bad luck in the race. I hope our Aston Martin will have two trouble free races, then we have a good chance for further improvement in the championship rankings.“

During the first visit of the GT1 World Championship in Portimão last year, Young Driver AMR was en route to a podium finish, when tire issues prevented Darren Turner und Tomas Enge from scoring a top result. Due to the earlier date of the event and the cooler ambient temperatures, it’s expected that this will not be an issue like last year.

Once the Portuguese round is finished, the Young Driver AMR team will busy load the trucks and head to back to Germany for the „home race“ of Young Driver AMR. The scenic Sachsenring near Chemnitz will host the GT1 World Championship for the first time only seven days after the Portugal event.

Driver quotes before the race:

Alex Müller (#7 Young Driver-Aston Martin DBR9): „Portimão will certainly be a very hot race. The track is amazing, it’s a bit like the Nordschleife in Germany and I’m always very happy to race at Portimão. Tire wear will be an issue there, the key for a success in the race is to have a consistent tire performance. I expect that we will have a good speed there. A podium finish is our goal.“

Tomáš Enge (#7 Young Driver-Aston Martin DBR9): „Our Aston Martin showed a very good performance in the first two races of the season, so I see no point why we shouldn’t be competitive in Portimão. Before the Zolder event I would have been cautious to say something like this, but we were on the pace there and so I expect us to be on the pace also for the remaining tracks this season. But nevertheless it will be hard, although it will be not as warm as last year due to the earlier date. This will be helpful for the tire performance and also help our aero. I don’t expect a drop in the tire performance like we had last year, because this season we have two sets of tires more for the free practise, that helps our tire strategy for the two races.“

Stefan Mücke (#8 Young Driver-Aston Martin DBR9): „Portimão is a great track, though one which not necessarily favours the Aston Martin. The track is very hard on tires and the key will be to find a set up, which is consistent and not hard on tires. Considering the performance we had in the two opening rounds, a podium finish will not be easy, but should be possible.“

Darren Turner (#8 Young Driver-Aston Martin DBR9): „I’m really looking forward to Portimão, it’s a very challenging circuit and I love this track. Last year we were ok in Portugal and this season we were ok in the first rounds, so I’m quite optimistic for Portimão. In the first two round of the championship, we had a good pace. If we will have a weekend without any issue, I’m confident we can grab a big bag of points.“

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Two pictures for editorial use in the attachment, copyright Markus Berns

Follow GT1 World:

Both races and the qualifying are streamed live in the internet with English commentary at www.gt1world.com/gt1tv

Timetable Zolder:
(all times local, MESZ = local time -1h)

Friday 6. May
09:30 - 10:50 FIA GT1 World Championship Free Practice
14:25 - 15:45 FIA GT1 World Championship Pre-Qualifying

Saturday 7. May
11:15 - 12:15 FIA GT1 World Championship Qualifying
17:15 - 18:15 FIA GT1 World Championship Qualifying Race

Sunday 8. May
09:00 - 09:30 FIA GT1 World Championship Warm Up
15:15 - 16:15 FIA GT1 World Championship Championship Race

Young Driver is on Twitter

Follow all the action @YoungDriverAMR

Schedule GT1-World 2011

24. – 25. March Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi (VAE)
08. – 10. April Zolder (B)
06. – 08. May Algarve, Portimão (P)
13. – 15. May Sachsenring (D)
03. – 05. June Silverstone Supercar 2011 (GB)
01. – 03. July Navarra (E)
15. – 17. July HTTT Paul Ricard, Le Castellet (F)
02. – 04. September Ordos (CN)
21. – 23. Oktober Curitiba (BR)
05. – 06. November San Luis (ARG)

About Young Driver AMR

Young Driver AMR was founded by Hardy Fischer and his friend and long-time associate Jan Struve in late 2009 and is representing Aston Martin as one of only two teams in the FIA GT1 World Championship with two Aston Martin DBR9. The abbreviation AMR in the team name stands for Aston Martin Racing, Young Driver AMR is the only official German partner team of Aston Martin Racing. Young Driver AMR is a sister-team of Fischer Racing and based in Paderborn. In it’s first racing season 2010, Young Driver AMR took three victories in the FIA GT1 World Championship and finished on the class podium in it’s first ever outing in the legendary 24 hours of Le Mans in France.

Info: Young Driver AMR Media.

Muller homing in on points

After an eventful opening round in Abu Dhabi, the Young Driver AMR squad go in search of further points at Zolder.

In the past, the FIA GT Championship, predecessor of GT1 World, was a frequent visitor to the track near to the German border.

For the Aston Martin DBR9, the Belgium track has been a happy hunting ground. One of the team members particularly looking forward to the challenge of Zolder is Alex Muller, who pilots the No.7 car.

The German considers it a home track given that his hometown is less than two hours away. "I expect many friends from my hometown coming to Zolder and cheering for Young Driver, that will definitely give me some extra motivation," he said.

"Zolder is my home track, I could almost sleep in my own bed. I like to drive there, not only because it’s near to my home, it should also suit our car quite well. In the past, the Aston Martin was always a very quick car at Zolder.

"Usually the Aston Martin likes quick tracks with fast and flowing corners, the opposite of the narrow Zolder track. But somehow, the Aston Martin is always quick there.“ Muller's driving partner Tomas Enge began his career at the Belgium track. "During the winter of 1995-1996, I drove thousands of kilometres there, when I tested Formula cars," he said.

"Since then, I have only occasionally visited Zolder. After the performance and the speed we showed at Abu Dhabi, I hope that we carried over our speed to the second round.

"In the past, the Aston Martin was always quick at Zolder, but we have to be careful. Since the car raced there last time, the rules have changed, and we don’t know yet how that will influence the performance of the car.”

Meanwhile, Stefan Mucke, who shares the No.8 car with Darren Turner, is looking forward to the challenge. "I really like to race at Zolder, the track should suit the car. The technical configuration of the Aston Martin DBR9 will be a little bit different as it raced there in the past and I expect a really strong competition.

"But I suppose that in terms of speed, we will be as quick as in Abu Dhabi. The track suits Darren and me very well. After we failed to score a podium result in the first round, our aim is to finish on the podium at Zolder.” Turner also believes the Aston Martin will adapt well. "I’m looking forward to scoring some good points there," he said. "If everything goes well during the two races, I suppose we can achieve an even better result than in Abu Dhabi. I like to come to Zolder, the races there are always very entertaining.

"The track is very narrow, but is a lot of fun with all these chicanes and our car should be reasonably competitive there.“

Foto / Info: FIA GT Championship/ Media