Drayson Racing Expects the Unexpected at Sebring

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Drayson Racing has been preparing throughout the winter for what it knows to expect at the 57th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida on 21 March: a punishing, bone jarring, physically and mentally draining 12 hours of sports car racing. The Paul and Elspeth Drayson-owned operation has explored every likelihood and endeavoured to ready its No. 007 Aston Martin Vantage GT2 for almost any eventuality. However, it is the unexpected that can play the difference between the team's first American Le Mans Series podium finish and a disappointing flight back to the United Kingdom for drivers Paul Drayson (London/Gloucestershire, UK), Jonny Cocker (Guisborough, Yorks, UK) and Rob Bell (St. Helens, England). For 2009, the Official Partner Team of Aston Martin Racing has brought in experience to help it overcome the unexpected.

Motorsports rewards experience. First-hand knowledge of what has come before will payoff with results. In 2008, Paul Drayson, Minister of State for Science and Innovation for the UK, and Cocker arrived in Sebring, Fla. with a new car, a new team on a track they only knew by legend. However, one year later, Drayson Racing has made the move to make experience the centre of its 2009 assault on the GT2 class crown at the American Le Mans Series' season- opening event. The effort arrives at the Sebring International Raceway with a sorted Aston Martin Vantage GT2, former Sebring class winning team manager Dale White (Bozeman, MT., USA) overseeing a veteran crew, two-time defending Le Mans Series GT2 champion Rob Bell driving and Michelin tyres. All eyes are focused on reaching the chequered flag.

The centre of the team's experience comes from White who made his first appearance, as a driver and manager, at Sebring in 1998. As an owner, White captured the GT2 class victory in 2005 after podium finishes in '03 and '04. Overall, White's efforts have won every major endurance event included the 24 Hours of Le Mans ('03. '04), Petit Le Mans ('05, '06) and the Rolex 24 At Daytona ('01).

Every lap turned is valuable at Sebring. Adding to the level of experience, Bell came to Sebring and earned a hard-fought 7th in GT2 after leading the early stages of last year's contest. Drayson and Cocker also made their driving debuts at Sebring last March scoring 15th after an accident removed them from the running. Michelin's domination of each class podium for over ten years adds valued experience while many of the new team members at Drayson Racing have class victories in the world's great endurance races already on their resumes.

While every endurance race demands a level of expertise, few are more serious than lapping the 3.7- mile, 17-turn Sebring circuit for 12 hours. Sebring is often described as more torturous than the world's most famous sports car race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, despite lasting half the time. In anticipation of the strains the former WWII airfield - which comprises the bulk of the Sebring track - will have on man and machine, Drayson Racing has undergone exhaustive preparation of the V8-powered, front-engined British sports car. A season of lessons as well as a recent two-day Le Mans Series test at the Paul Ricard Circuit in France has pointed Aston Martin Racing (AMR) engineers, manager White and crew chief Ted Higgins to a series of changes to chassis, suspension, engine and gearbox since the car's debut appearance in April, 2008.

Drivers Drayson, Cocker and Bell have also put emphasis on physical and mental preparation. Each has continued, or increased, their regular fitness regime in order to be physically strong and mentally sharp over the course of their multiple, hour-long driving stints in the heat, dirt and bumps of Sebring.

Paul Drayson has pioneered "green", environmental causes in motorsports since the start of his career. As such, the Vantage GT2 is the very first GT car to be designed at the outset in a bio-ethanol fuelled specification. Having successfully competed in 2008 running the latest 'Second Generation' cellulosic E85 Bio-Ethanol fuel, the team will again fuel the Aston Martin V8 with E85 at the 12 Hours of Sebring. Among the 2008 achievements, Drayson finished second in the inaugural Green Challenge at the Petit Le Mans highlighting the team's efforts to advance environmentally responsible automotive technologies. Drayson Racing has again placed equal importance on winning the Michelin® Green X® Challenge Award at Sebring as it has on taking its first international race victory.