Team Modena took their first Le Mans Series win at Donington Park, East Midlands, this weekend with a dramatic last gasp victory in the LMGT1 class of the competitive series. With just three laps to go in the six-hour, 1000km? race, Spaniard Antonio Garcia swept into the class lead in the UK-based team?s Aston Martin DBR9 he shared with Briton Peter Hardman to take a superb win and sixth overall in the 39-car field.
After setting the pace in Saturday?s Free Practice session, the team were disappointed to be only fifth quickest in class, and 25th overall, in the 20-minute qualifying session. A problem with the tyre pressures on the Aston Martin prevented Antonio showing the pace the team had displayed all day, but even so the car was just half a second slower than the pole setter.
Sunday's race saw Antonio move up to fourth in the opening laps, and then work his way through to second in the LMGT1 class by the time of his first pit stop after 40-laps. Antonio stayed in the car and moved into the class lead on lap 52, staying clear, despite a brief Safety Car period, till he pitted after 79 laps to hand over to Peter.
Peter lost ground early on with a throttle problem, and pitted on lap 118 for fuel while third in the class, and handed the car back to Antonio after 157-laps of the 2.5-mile circuit second in LMGT1. Antonio made his final pit stop of the race on lap 195 still in second, and emerged fifty seconds behind the leader.
As the laps wound down Antonio looked to be in trouble as he spun into a gravel bed, but he kept the car moving and suddenly started to lap many seconds faster than the leader. He reduced the deficit down to just ten seconds with five laps remaining, and then swept past his rival with three laps to go to put the Team Modena car ahead and on course for a memorable victory at their home round.
I enjoyed the first two hours, said Antonio after the 233-lap race, it was just a shame our tyre pressure problems from qualifying meant we were starting only fifth in the class. I was able to get past cars and the Aston Martin was strong in the last third of each stint.
I had a gearbox problem in the final hour which made me spin, but I managed to go across the gravel trap in first gear, then pushed hard to chase the Corvette. We keep improving the car and we were competitive today - the finish was tight, but it's good to win.
Antonio was great, said Peter, driving two double stints is hard work. No race like this is ever straightforward, and I had to spin to avoid another car on one occasion. It's nice to give the team their first win right here at their home round.
Team co-owner Rik Bryan summed up the team's reaction: I'm delighted that we have recorded our first LMS victory here at home and in such a close finish. Antonio was in storming form right at the end, and Peter put in a strong middle stint to put us in a good position. My thanks go to so many people, including my partner in the team Graham Schultz, Sergio Rinland, Kerry Adams, Hans Muhlbauer and all the guys. Hopefully this will be the first of many wins for the team!
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