2012 International & Single Seater News News of WRDA members who are competing in the International & Single Seater arenas

VICTORY LAURELS FOR ANDY MEYRICK AND ASTON MARTIN AT DONINGTON

Andy takes Aston Martin into the winners circle

WRDA member Andy Meyrick, who is the current FIA Historic Group C Racing Champion, showed that his driving skills have not been affected by the disasterous failure that was Aston Martin's 2011 AMR-One prototype Le Mans campaign, ironically by taking victory at the Donington Historic Festival driving the Aston Martin AMR1/05 Group C car which raced & finished in the 1989 Le Mans 24 Hour race.

In contrast to 2011 when both the works cars were embarrassingly sidelined with engine problems after less than 10 miniutes of the 24 hour race; in 1989 the AMR1/05  Aston Martin lasted the full distance, taking 11th place at the end of the 24 Hours race.

Meyrick did even better than that by taking the Aston Martin name into the winner’s circle and became the only driver to pilot both the original AMR1 and Aston Martin Racing’s 2011 AMR-One prototype, taking a solo victory in the Group C Sportscar race. The car’s long-time owner, a highly-delighted Paul Whight, was present at Donington to see his car take the chequered flag in a tightly fought race which saw Meyrick come home ahead of the Spice SE88 of Mike Donovan and Bob Berridge’s Lancia. A late safety car period closed up the field and ensured an exciting finish for competitors and fans alike.

Andy was equally pleased with the result and noted, “I had to work a bit harder for that win than I thought I’d have to! It was flat out the whole way but mega fun. The car, which was run for Paul by Damax, hasn’t been out for a while so it was the best possible return to the track for everyone. Paul was over the moon to see it doing so well.”

Having gone through a dry/wet qualifying session on Saturday, which yielded a front row starting position, Andy led the 60-minute race for all but a brief period when pit stops re-shuffled the order. He regained it from second-place finisher Mike Donovan and was never again headed during the race.

n.b The Nimrod was run in its heyday by Aston Martin and Ecurie Ecosse under the Protech banner, in the hands of names such as Brian Redman, David Sears and the late David Leslie, the AMR1/05 chassis is currently the only one of the original five built still racing in Europe.

www.andymeyrick.com

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