Peter Qualifies Vitaphone Aston Martin for Le Mans 24 Hours
Jun 13, 2008

The Vitaphone Aston Martin DBR9 will line up ninth in class for the start of Saturday’s 76th running of the Le Mans 24 Hours, and it’s a position that satisfies all three drivers; Peter Hardman, Nick Leventis and Alexandre Negrao. Peter set the car’s fastest time late on Thursday evening, lapping the 13.6 kilometre circuit in 3:53.475. “The reality is, with a few more laps and fresh qualifying tyres, we could have found another couple of seconds, perhaps more, but we’d just fitted the new race engine and saw no need to risk pushing harder,” he said.

Competition within the GT1 category is very tight amongst the privateer teams. The two seconds that Peter predicts would have been within the car’s capabilities might have seen the #53 Aston Martin DBR9 through to sixth in class, but the Vitaphone squad has its sights set firmly on the race itself, not brief glory in qualifying. “Endurance racing is about picking a sensible pace that you, and the car, can run at lap after lap. This isn’t a flat sprint,” observes Nick Leventis, making his Le Mans 24 Hours debut this year. “My pace is increasing with every lap, but this is a long race, and I’m going to be staying well within my comfort zone. There’s no room for error here, not through sections like the Porsche Curves, so I know it’s better to maintain a conservative pace, within my limitations, and keep safe.”

Although Peter has considerable experience, and has raced in the 24 Hours before, his two co-drivers are both Le Mans ‘rookies’. “In some respects, it’s as if we’ve never been to Le Mans before, and we’re still learning,” he says. “All the other teams have run the same cars and largely the same set of drivers for several years. They all know the track very well, and they’re all going to be quick round here. By contrast, we’re all very green to this circuit and with every lap we do, we’re learning more.”

The team is, in Peter’s own words, one of the “underdogs” in what has become an intensely competitive class battle between the works Corvette and Aston Martin. That leaves the Vitaphone trio with a very realistic prospect. “We’re not racing with the factory Astons or the Corvettes – I don’t think we can expect to compete on equal terms with them, but we’re on the pace with all the rest. We’re being realists and just looking for a good finish, and if we’re still there at three on Sunday afternoon, we could be in good shape for a result. We just need to look after the car, treat it nicely, and steadily pick up the pace.”

All three drivers confirm that the Vitaphone DBR9 feels excellent and inspires their confidence, and while it may not yet have reached its full development potential by any means, they are well set up for a twenty-four hour race, and looking forward to the start on Saturday afternoon.

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© Peter Hardman 2008