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LE MANS: Johnny Herbert Returns with Aston Martin
Written by: RACER Staff   http://www.racer.com
03/19/2007 - 07:00 PM
London, UK
 


The six drivers pose with Prodrive boss David Richards and team principal George Howard-Chappell. (AMR photo) » More Photos

Former 24 Hours of Le Mans overall winner Johnny Herbert will return to the endurance classic this year with the Prodrive-run factory Aston Martin team, as the British veteran returns to pro racing after nearly two seasons working with the defunct Midland team in Formula 1.

Herbert, who took the overall win in '91 with Mazda, was announced as part of Aston's six-men squad today, joining Tomas Enge, David Brabham, Peter Kox, Darren Turner and Rickard Rydell. Enge (Czech Republic), Herbert (UK) and Kox (Holland) will share the No.007 DBR9, while Brabham (Australia), Rydell (Sweden) and Turner (UK) will drive the No.009 car.

"This is a great opportunity for me to drive for Aston Martin, a manufacturer with such a name and history behind it," said Herbert,
who may also add starts in GP Masters and the new NASCAR-style Speedcar Series to his '07 schedule. "We want to go to Le Mans to win it; we are not going there to do anything else."

"We have a strong driver line-up this year," added team principal George Howard-Chappell. "Although Johnny is new to our team, he is a Le Mans veteran, no one can question his speed – he just needs to adapt to the DBR9.

"We are expecting a tough battle at Le Mans again this year, the competition within the GT1 category is strong and we have to accept that with only one race this year we are the underdogs but, as ever, we will come out fighting. The DBR9 should be competitive and I know that the team and the drivers will all give 100% so let's see if 2007 is Aston Martin's year."