before Disappointment in Germany

After showing early-race pace, the Team Modena Aston Martin DBR9 retired from Sunday's 1000km Race at the famous Nurburgring circuit in Germany, the latest round of the Le Mans Endurance Series (LMES), with a fuel problem. The team had gone into the race with their hopes high after Antonio Garcia, sharing the team's Aston Martin DBR9 with Peter Hardman and Christian Vann, had gone second quickest in the LMGT1 class in Saturday's qualifying session.

After a superb top-ten finish at the Le Mans 24-Hour race last month, the decision was made to build up the team's second car for the Nurburgring race. This led the team to test components in Saturday's two Free Practice sessions, Antonio doing the bulk of the laps during the day as they worked on suspension set-up, with Peter and Christian also gaining valuable track time.

QualifyingAntonio drove the Team Modena Aston Martin in the 20-minute qualifying session at the end of Saturday afternoon, staying in the pits till traffic eased before emerging for three quick laps of the 3.19-mile circuit. His second lap saw the rapid Spaniard set a time good enough for second in the LMGT1 class, and quickest of the Aston Martins, 19th overall on the 43-car grid.

"We had a tough morning working on some new dampers and suspension settings, but we could see then that the car was good," said Antonio. "We waited for the traffic to clear on the circuit, and then went out. I lost time on my quick lap due to a slower car, but it's always good to be moving forwards as a team, and the changes are a move in the right direction."

Race:

The race, scheduled for 195-laps, started at 11.46 local time under a blazing sun, Antonio making a good start running second in the LMGT1 class and in the top twenty overall. After 26-laps he pitted to hand over to Peter Hardman, but as Peter came onto the start finish straight to start lap 59, he suffered a fuel pressure problem, slowing the car.

Having already passed the pit-lane entrance, Peter tried to slowly bring the car back round to the pits, but was forced to stop at the side of the track - from where the Aston Martin was quickly moved by officials to a place of safety, ending the team's race.

"I came onto the pit straight and the fuel pressure dropped," explained Peter. "I eased right off to try to get round but had to stop, and they got to me very quickly to tow the car away. I was sure there was fuel in the tank and wanted to try to get the car going again, but the officials wouldn't let me and that was that."

"The car had been good in the opening laps," said Antonio. "We could do consistent times, and when I was clear of traffic we could run at the pace of the leader. We spent a lot of time on Saturday in Free Practice working on set-up and with some new dampers, so we have learnt a lot this weekend about the car. To finish in the way we did is disappointing, but we have lots of information and data to work with before the next race at Donington and we are pleased with the pace we have shown."

"We suspect the fuel pump failed," said Team Modena CEO Graham Schultz, "but it might be something as simple as a fuse, we just weren't allowed to work on the car to find out. Though the result is disappointing the team have shown they can build up a good car."