European Le Mans

Nurburgring: Charouz Racing preview

Charouz and Mucke look forward to Nurburgring The long break since the last race, May's Spa Francorchamps, has come to an end as the Le Mans Series again picks up speed. The fourth event takes place at Germany's Nurburgring, which has a long ...

Published: Aug 15, 2008, 2:06 PM

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Charouz and Mucke look forward to Nurburgring

The long break since the last race, May's Spa Francorchamps, has come to an end as the Le Mans Series again picks up speed. The fourth event takes place at Germany's Nurburgring, which has a long tradition of 1,000- kilometer races. Not to be left out among the 49 starting racers is Charouz Racing System with its tried-and-tested team of Jan Charouz and Stefan Mucke. Fans can look forward to one change in the team - the two will head out in a completely new LMP1 prototype powered by Aston Martin.

Over the break, Aston Martin Racing - which develops and prepares the car for the Czech team - have built a new car up around a new chassis. The elegant car in the top LMS category will see its premiere over the weekend on the racetrack in the foothills of the Eifel mountains. Jan and Stefan tested the vehicle on Tuesday at the French Circuit of Dijon, and the test drives went off without any problems. Now, the drivers can't wait for their first free practice at the Nurburgring, which will feature 32 sports prototypes divided evenly between the LMP1 and LMP2 categories.

Interesting facts/history

The 1,000-kilometer race at the Nurburgring (www.1000km-nuerburgring.de) has a unique tradition. It was first held on the famous Northern Loop in 1953, when it was won by Formula 1 champions Giuseppe Farina and Alberto Ascari, whose Ferrari managed the thousand kilometres in 8:20:44 hours. Last year's winners achieved a time of 6:01:13. The German race has always been one of the trimmings of the World Championships in Racing, including the golden era of group C. The Le Mans Series has been held under the Nurburg castle since 2004.

Stefan Mucke: "I am looking forward to racing on my domestic track, not just because it is the only race before a German audience and my best fans, but also because I like the Nurburgring as a racing course. I have completed countless races on it and have wonderful memories of last year's Le Mans Series, where Jan, Alex Yoong and I captured fourth place. As always, our goal is to be the best car with a petrol engine, and I think that we have a good chance of making the podium, as we have already managed once this year in Barcelona. I have two races behind me in the Czech championships in a Mercedes AMG DTM C-Klasse. Last weekend in Most, we won the three-hour race with the Charouz Racing System team, so I am in a good mood going into the next LMS battle."

Jan Charouz: "The break has been too long; my hands are starting to itch. In this time, I have been training a lot and generally focusing on overall preparations. I have great memories of the Nurburgring from last year's Le Mans Series. In the next-to-last of 195 laps, I passed Japan's Nakano and managed to get our team into fourth place despite the fact that the stewards forced us to start at the rear, in fiftieth place. Tuesday's test of the new prototype in Dijon went off without a hitch, but because it kept raining we weren't able to try it out on a dry track."

George Howard-Chappell, Technical Director of Aston Martin Racing:"It has been quite a long break since LMS race and 24h Le Mans and it is good to back in a competitive environment with the LMP1 car. We have made some small developments and changes since Le Mans and we are looking forward to seeing how we perform against the opposition here."

-credit: crs

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