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The Gigawave MotorSport DBR9 finished the 8th Round of the FIA GT Series in a solid 4th place at the French circuit of Nogaro.

Having qualified in 4th and getting a clean start, one could assume that the race was dull for the British team, however nothing could be further from the truth. Following a technical hitch in the first pit stop, a vital 12 seconds were lost, losing the team a promising 3rd place.

Dropping down to 8th following the stop, drivers Philipp Peter and Allan Simonsen were charged with fighting their way back towards the front before the 2 hour race came to a close.

The second pit stop was perfectly executed by the team and drivers. Strong and consistent lap times followed, enabling the highest finishing Aston Martin to climb back up to 4th place.

5 important points earned, moving Gigawave MotorSport up a place in the Championship standings.

Gigawave Ltd’s Director of Race Technologies, Nigel Stepney commented; “This was a race we could have won so there is an element of disappointment. We had a great strategy and the drivers followed it and managed their race in order to manage their tyres. Allan caught the front pack before their first stops because our tyres had been looked after. The technical issue at our first stop really let the strategy down but the rest of the race went like clockwork, jumping two other cars in the second stop thanks to the team doing and excellent job today, everyone works so incredibly hard in preparation for these races, we feel we deserve a win in our debut season”.

The Gigawave MotorSport DBR9 was placed on the second row of the grid for Sunday’s 8th Round of the FIA GT Championship in Nogaro, France.

Driver Allan Simonsen achieved 4th place, the highest qualifying position so far this season for the team in a tense 11 minute qualifying session, leaving the car sitting on the clean side of the start grid for tomorrows’ race.

Allan commented; “After we were 1st in this mornings practice session, I did have higher expectations from this qualifying session, I felt front row was certainly achievable. But this shows we are getting better and better, I just pray we get a clean start tomorrow so we can get out there and race following the first corner incident in Brno”.

Watch every session, including the qualifying and race, live at www.gt1live.tv.

Now settled into its new, 18,000sqft facility in the heart of Essex, Gigawave MotorSport has drawn a line under the disappointment of the team’s premature race withdrawal from the Brno round of the 2008 FIA GT Championship.

The damage sustained by its Aston Martin DBR9 race car in the first-corner impact at Brno, in the Czech Republic, did cause the Gigawave MotorSport team some very late nights in the run-up to the next, and 8th, round of the Championship. However, the DBR9 is fully restored and will be fighting for points and trophies in Nogaro, France.

The Nogaro circuit, situated at the foot of the Pyrenees, is a known factor to this young team, still in its first year of competition. The Gigawave DBR9 performed well at the pre-season test in what should be similar weather conditions to the race, due to take place this coming Sunday, 5th October.

This round will be the first in which the car was prepared in its new state-of-the-art home near Earls Colne in Essex. The building also houses the two race trucks, as well as the support vehicles. A move to such a large building was born from necessity, in order to allow Gigawave MotorSport to move in new – and expanding – directions over the next three years.

Watch every session, including the qualifying and race, live at www.gt1live.tv.

The No.10 Aston Martin DBR9 was punted out of the 7th round of the FIA GT Championship in Brno.

Gigawave MotorSport’s starting driver, Allan Simonsen, was hit in a first corner clash by another car under braking.

The disappointment of the first lap incident was apparent in the faces of the Gigawave MotorSport team and guests.

The incident itself started in the braking zone of the first corner, when one of the Aston Martins of Jetalliance came down the inside of Simonsen, sending him into a slide. Having rescued and controlled the car through the apex of turn 1, Simonsen was hit again at the front by a Saleen and again at the rear by one of the Vitaphone Maseratis.

Having posted the fastest time of the morning’s warm-up session, the letdown was all the harder to take for the team and drivers.

At 13:27, unable to repair the damage and send the car back out, the team pulled down the garage doors.

Austrian driver Philipp Peter had a frustrating qualifying session in the Gigawave MotorSport DBR9, qualifying in 5th place during the 7th round of the FIA GT Series in Brno.

The exciting Czech circuit played host to a tense qualifying session that could not quite deliver the positive expectations of the Gigawave MotorSport team.

With only 5 kg’s of success ballast on board, this weekend represents a good opportunity for the British team to shine.

The crew remains upbeat however as their DBR9 is working well on this track, one that allows plenty of overtaking opportunities.

Hopes remain high.

Sunday’s race can be viewed at www.gt1live.tv at 12.15 BST.

This weekend sees the Essex-based Gigawave MotorSport team travel out to the Czech Republic for Round 7 of the 2008 FIA GT Championship.

Brno will see the team’s DBR9 competing in the traditional two-hour Sunday race, a format which has not been seen since Oschersleben back at the start of July.

With a fantastic 3rd place at the Spa 24 Hours and two solid points-paying finishes on the streets of Bucharest, the team is now looking for its first outright win.

With only 5kg of success ballast on board for the 5.4km Brno circuit, hopes are high and the team’s chances are good. At a circuit that is undulating and punishing on the heavier cars, Gigawave MotorSport must attack this weekend with everything it has.

Driver Allan Simonsen is confident: “Although I have not raced at Brno before, I am still very positive going into this event. Bucharest was an important learning curve for us and we left there with new direction and motivation. It takes very little time to learn a new circuit and I am looking forward to maximising this weekend. Points are a must.”

Philipp Peter, Gigawave MotorSport’s other DBR9 driver, explains: “We had a very responsive car in Bucharest which will suit Brno really well because of the mix of fast and slow corners. The track has a lot of height changes, so I am pleased we have such little ballast for this race. With the team working so efficiently at the moment, I think we can afford to aim for a big result in Brno.”

Having just moved into its new state-of-the-art 18,000 sq ft facility in Earls Colne, Essex, the team has a large new trophy cabinet to fill… having outgrown the last one! So sights are set high this weekend.

Gigawave MotorSport has moved into its new, state-of-the-art home: an 18,000 square foot complex, just a short walk from its previous home on the Earls Colne Business Park. The new premises offer more room for the team’s ever-growing workforce as well as catering for its imminent expansion.

The scenic surroundings of the Essex Golf and Country Club and the Marks Hall Arboretum offer little indication that Essex’s most prominent and successful motorsport team is preparing its Aston Martin DBR9 race car here, a car competing in the FIA GT 2008 Championship.

Success on the track comes from solid foundations and a strong infrastructure off the track, and this move further cements Gigawave MotorSport’s ambitions for the future. The new premises are just one part of the team’s expansion plans over the next few years.

Gigawave MotorSport will continue to run its FIA GT project from the new site, as well as taking on some fresh and exciting motorsport challenges, including a Le Mans LMP1 project.

In addition, the Earls Colne-based company will shortly initiate large-scale investment in a groundbreaking new technology that will serve a diverse range of industries, including motorsport, automotive and aerospace, right across the globe. All this new activity will be housed in the huge modern facility.

In the high temperatures of central Bucharest on 23rd and 24th August, Gigawave MotorSport picked up FIA GT Championship points in both one-hour sprint races on the tough city circuit. After finishing Saturday’s Race 1 in seventh position and collecting one Championship point, the DBR9 fared even better on Sunday. It claimed fifth place and two more points, despite carrying 40kg in success ballast.

Following Jetalliance’s withdrawal of both its DBR9s, Gigawave MotorSport’s DBR9 was again the best-placed Aston Martin.

Driver Philipp Peter was pleased with the final results. “It was really tough out there with the heat, and starting down the grid in both races was not ideal due to the tight circuit and lack of overtaking opportunities. I’m pleased overall as we learnt from our mistakes in Race 1 and made a big improvement in Race 2. We can head to the next round in Brno with confidence.”

Team-mate Allan Simonsen felt it was important to score some points on such a challenging circuit. “We did a good driver change and I got out behind the Saleen and clawed back 20 seconds to get close to it. I was trying to pass but couldn’t do so safely because of the layout of the circuit. I’m pleased we picked up more points in such hard conditions.”

The #5 Corvette Z06 of Phoenix Carsport completed a perfect weekend for the team by winning both races.

The Gigawave on-board camera team made a huge contribution to the SRO television production, working in extreme heat to make sure that viewers could see just how tight and challenging the circuit was and to demonstrate the skill required by drivers to navigate round at such high speeds.

Gigawave MotorSport now heads to Brno in the Czech Republic for Round 7 of the FIA GT Championship, with 30 points.

Gigawave MotorSport finished Race 1 of the two one-hour sprint races in a solid 7th position claiming an important championship point in this half points paying race.

The Gigawave MotorSport DBR9 was the only Aston Martin to finish in Race 1, following the earlier withdrawal of the two Jetalliance Aston Martin DBR9’s.

Race 1 was a one-two finish for Phoenix Carsport’s Z06’s with The Maserati MC 12 of Vitaphone completing the podium line-up.

The result of this race determines the grid for Sunday’s Race 2 so another 7th place start for Gigawave MotorSport allows the team the opportunity to better today’s result and pick up yet more points.

Watch the Gigawave MotorSport #10 DBR9 live from on board every time it takes to the track this weekend on www.gt1live.tv

Gigawave MotorSport had to settle for seventh position on the grid for today’s Race 1, after the DBR9 collided with a barrier in the tight Bucharest city circuit. The crash meant that Gigawave MotorSport could not continue and lost the last five minutes of qualifying.

The team are not overly concerned with the level of damage so far and fully expect to start this afternoon’s race.

Watch the Gigawave MotorSport #10 DBR9 live from on board every time it takes to the track this weekend on www.gt1live.tv

Having landed back down to earth following their extraordinary 3rd place performance in the Total Spa 24 Hours race at the beginning of August, the Gigawave MotorSport team now head out to Romania for Round 6 of the FIA GT Championship.

The Bucharest City circuit will host the thundering GT’s who will thread through the city streets in what looks to be the hottest conditions the season has offered so far.

With the 1 hour qualifying race on the Saturday in preparation for the 1 hour Championship race on the Sunday, the drivers are presented with not only more track time, but also increased opportunity to damage their precious machinery before the all important, points paying race on Sunday.

With a 40kgs of success ballast from the Spa outing making this track even more of a challenge, Allan Simonsen explains;

“Qualifying is so important at a track like this, overtaking in the races is going to be tougher than on a circuit like Monza or Spa so where we start on the grid is key. I have not raced here before so I have been watching some of the on board footage from last years race and I am pretty confident in learning the layout fast. I am used to racing on street circuits following my time in Australia so I feel more than ready.”

Gigawave MotorSport’s other driver; Philipp Peter says; “I really love street circuits and although I have not raced at Bucharest before, I am excited about hitting the track as I have a lot of experience and success on circuits such as this one. The 40kg weight will cause us a slight issue but that is what it is supposed to do!”

Watch the Gigawave MotorSport #10 DBR9 live from on board every time it takes to the track this weekend on www.gt1live.tv

The triumphant Gigawave MotorSport Aston Martin DBR9 returned home with a very special cargo of silverware that it claimed from its third place finish at the Total Spa 24 Hour race.

The Essex based team, competing in only its fifth race, and its first endurance event, finished on the podium for the third time this season and collected twelve championship points, moving it up to 4th place overall.

Drivers Allan Simonsen, Philipp Peter, Darren Turner and Andy Thompson collected a trophy each from the Total Spa 24 event and also the FIA GT Championship of which this was Round 5.

The team will now rebuild the battle-scarred DBR9 in time for Round 6 of the FIA GT Championship later this month. There will be two one-hour sprint races through the streets of Bucharest, Romania on the 23rd and 24th August.

UK-based Gigawave MotorSport has clinched a podium finish in one of the toughest races in the world, the Total Spa 24 Hours. The Gigawave MotorSport DBR9 finished third overall in what was the young team’s fifth ever race, the only Aston Martin to complete the 24-hour endurance event around the legendary Spa circuit.

Double points were on offer for the race and Gigawave MotorSport collected 12, moving the team up to 27 points overall in the 2008 FIA GT Championship. Driver Allan Simonsen felt that this result will be a huge boost for the second half of the season. “There were some exciting battles at the start and we all had a great time. The points will really go a long way to keeping the team in the Championship fight.”

Le Mans GT1 class Champion and Gigawave MotorSport driver Darren Turner was amazed by how well the team had coped, “There were a lot of late nights in preparation for the race and I don’t know how they all stayed awake. The drivers made no mistakes, nor were there any in the pit stops, which is fantastic for such a young team.”

Philipp Peter praised the team for its great start in professional motorsport. “We’ve had three podiums in our first five races; it’s unbelievable, I’m so proud of everyone.”

Official spare driver Andy Thompson enjoyed the experience even though he didn’t get the call to jump into the car. “The event is just huge. I drove a few laps in the Thursday night practice and was astounded by how well the car responded on this circuit.”

Gigawave MotorSport climbed to third position in the sixth hour, where the team remained until the end – a full nine laps ahead of fourth-placed JMB Racing. It was a Vitaphone Racing one-two finish overall, with the #1 Maserati MC12 taking the chequered flag and its #2 car finishing second.

In what was a gruelling event for drivers, car and team, Gigawave MotorSport completed 570 laps of the 7.004km circuit, with 26 pit stops made.

Gigawave MotorSport’s drivers put the Aston Martin DBR9 in 9th position on the grid for the Total Spa 24 Hour race this coming weekend.

9th position suits the team perfectly for their strategy as the race is all about lasting the 24 long hours and is not won on the first lap.

The team members have been working tirelessly on the car since Tuesday in preparation for this vital double points race and will continue to do so right up until the start on Saturday afternoon where the weight will then fall upon the shoulders of the three Gigawave MotorSport drivers; Allan Simonsen, Darren Turner and Philipp Peter. Young Scot, Andy Thompson is in reserve for the team.

All of the drivers have been setting consistently fast times and have a combined mixture of confidence, reservation and anticipation for the start of the race on Saturday afternoon.

This, Gigawave MotorSport’s first 24 Hour race sees the team field one of the grid’s most experienced and exciting driver combination.

Thursday saw the first day of practice and pre-qualifying sessions for Gigawave MotorSport Aston Martin DBR9. With over 5 and half hours of running throughout the day and night, the Essex based team were given plenty of opportunity to iron out any issues that could prove so costly in a 24 hour endurance race.

All 4 drivers had to take part in the final session late on Thursday evening, which saw the team take a provisional 5th place. Final qualifying will take place this Friday afternoon and will decide the grid for Saturday’s race which starts at 1500 BST.

Gigawave MotorSport onboard footage of the Total Spa 24 Hours race can be viewed live at www.gt1live.tv.