Oreca Win, Aston Martin Are Champions

13 September 2009

Oliver Panis and Nicolas Lapierre achieved the best possible preparation for the Petit Le Mans after winning a tense Autosport 1000km of Silverstone for Team Oreca Matmut AIM.

A dramatic final stint saw the Oreca car lose 30 seconds after they were forced to change the nose, before the leading Speedy Racing Lola was also forced to pit for repairs, allowing Olivier Panis to complete a dramatic comeback.

Meanwhile, Aston Martin secured the drivers’s and team’s titles with the 007 car coming home in 4th place. They were under threat in the early stages as Jean Cristophe Boullion charged from the back of the grid to lead by the end of the first hour in the no 16 Pescarolo, until gearbox problems dropped them down the field.

Speed Racing took the LMP2 class victory ahead of RML, who were involved in a hard fought battle for second with Team WFR until an electrcal problem saw the no. 45 Zytek drop down the order and hand third to the no. 24 OAK Racing Pescarolo.

The Aston Martin of Gigawave Motorsport was the pick of the small GT1 field, taking a comfortable victory ahead of newly crowned champions, Alphand Aventures, and Larbre Competition.

JMW Motorsport did all the could to win the GT2 title, taking the class victory from the no. 85 Spyker and the no. 84 Team Modena Ferrari. However, despite a very steady race with several problems, the no. 77 Felbermayr Proton Porsche of Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz came home in 8th position, securing the single point they needed to guarantee the championship.

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