March 23, 2007 – London based classic car dealer and international racing driver Gregor Fisken has been confirmed as a works Aston Martin driver for the 2007 Le Mans Series and Le Mans 24-hours. Fisken joins French squad Larbre Competition and will compete in one of the French team’s two GT1 Aston Martin DBR9s, under the Aston Martin Racing Larbre banner, with full factory support.
Larbre Competition clinched the GT1 drivers’ and teams’ championships in 2006 and have expanded to run two cars in the 6-round Le Mans Series and Le Mans 24-hours this season. Fisken joins Swiss Steve Zacchia and Belgian Gregory Franchi in the team’s second DBR9 and admitted it was a dream to be competing in a works outfit for a marque of Aston Martin’s stature.
Fisken said: “It is a phenomenal honour and a life-time dream to drive for a factory team as prestigious as Aston Martin. I greatly enjoyed racing with a works team last year at Courage and I didn’t think it could get much better, but it just has. To drive for a works Aston Martin team in the Le Mans Series has huge significance for me personally. I spent a childhood in awe of their cars watching them compete in the many classic 1000km races and of course at the Le Mans 24-hours. It’s no exaggeration to say that it is beyond my wildest dreams to have been invited to do this.”
Having spent over a decade dealing many classic Aston Martin models through his Kensington showrooms in London, the chance to sample the marque’s modern-day machinery was just too good to resist for the Scottish born Fisken.
Gregor said: “Aston Martin has such a fantastic heritage both on and off track. The DBR9 has shown just how competitive it is since its sports car racing debut in 2005 and I relish the chance to drive it this season following in the footsteps of many icons of the sport who have driven for the marque. It’s also a pleasure to be linking up with Larbre Competition. The fact that they have the factory backing of Aston Martin speaks volumes for the team and they proved how competitive they are by taking the GT1 championship last season.”
Meanwhile, Jack Leconte, Team Boss of Aston Martin Racing Larbre, was delighted to welcome Gregor on board: “Larbre Competition usually combines experienced drivers and young drivers. This season we will run with two works Aston Martin DBR9s in the Le Mans Series and Le Mans 24-hours, and very early on in our discussions with Gregor we witnessed the desire to work together for 2007. Gregor comes from LMP1, so he drove hugely competitive cars last year, but for this season he wants to face a new challenge in the GT1 category racing the famous Aston Martin. We are really pleased to welcome Gregor to the team and if the mix between experience and youth is successful we might bring some podiums in 2007.”