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FAST, FURIOUS FIGHT AT LIME ROCK
09/07/2007
In yesterday's sixth round of the American Le Mans Series at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut, Darren was fast, Tomas Enge was furious and the fight between the leading GT2 cars was a non-stop, on-track battle from which none of the leading Ferrari 430 GTs emerged victorious. Turner and his Czech team mate finished the race in 7th place in class after being delayed by repairs to accident damage incurred after contact by Enge with two other Ferraris.
"It was great to be back with the team," said Darren after yesterday's 2 hour 45 minute race on the 1.54 mile track. "I really enjoyed my time with them at Salt Lake, not least because of our victory there, but that seems a long time ago now as I've had two touring car meetings and Le Mans with Aston Martin since then.
"I had forgotten how difficult this little Lime Rock circuit is," he continued. "Practice went pretty well and we were the quickest GT2 car, but then we got heavy rain just before final practice and qualifying and the officials cancelled the qualifying session. Tomas' time from the morning meant we started the race from pole, and I was down to take the green flag this time around.
"In the end it proved to be a race of what could have been, although I did feel that I got on top of the car and was really in tune with it. To start with we were a little unlucky off the line as the left lane was a little slow and it allowed Melo [in the #62 Risi Ferrari] to have the inside line for turn one. The two of us pulled away from the rest of the pack and we had great pace but the traffic played a key part."
Indeed, in the early going, Darren was running so quickly that he set the fastest GT2 class race lap and set a new track record for the class at Lime Rock Park with a time of 53.045 seconds.
Darren's race wasn't completely trouble-free – "I got caught up with a slower Porsche as I was trying to lap him and the resulting 'off' lost us about 15 seconds, though luckily there was no damage to the car apart from a bit of scuffed paintwork. The good thing was that we then got a safety car period towards the end of my stint, closing the gap back up so that when Tomas got in the car he was right on the tail of [Melo's team mate] Salo. It didn't take him long to get into the lead and, at that point, I really thought we were on for a second win but, unfortunately, that wasn't to be."
The Briton's woes were, however, nothing compared to those of the Czech. Contact with several other cars, severe front end damage and a subsequent stop/go penalty all contributed to lengthy delays and a disappointing end result.
Darren now shifts his focus back towards the British Touring Car Championship and next weekend's Donington event, with the aim of continuing his excellent record of qualifying on the first or second row - a feat he has achieved at all five previous race weekends so far this season.
Darren, 34, lives near Banbury in Oxfordshire. Successful in many different categories of motorsport, his most notable and high profile victories have been at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and in the British Touring Car Championship. He's a firm favourite with teams, fans, and media alike from around the world.
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