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Following a podium finish in the team’s first ever race at Silverstone last month, Gigawave MotorSport is looking forward to the challenge of Monza and Round 2 of the FIA GT Championship.

“We can’t sit back on our laurels, as Silverstone was just the start of what is going to be a very long and tough season,” says Steve Hagger, Team Manager of the only UK-based team in the GT1 class of the FIA Championship. “Coming third in our first full race was a huge boost to morale but our drivers, Allan Simonsen and Philipp Peter, will have their work cut out at Monza.”

The good news for Gigawave MotorSport is that at the official Monza test day back in March, the team’s Aston Martin DBR9 was the second fastest of the two-day test, clocking a best time of 1’45’’585.

“We’ve not made many tweaks to the car since Silverstone,” added Hagger. “The set-up is working so well that we feel it would be a mistake to introduce any dramatic changes. We know the DBR9 is competitive at Monza. We just have to make sure it all comes together on the day.”

The second round of the 2008 FIA GT Championship is at Monza on Sunday May 18th.

The new UK-based team, Gigawave MotorSport, made a fantastic start to its first FIA GT Championship year with a podium finish – and six Championship points – in the first round at Silverstone. Allan Simonsen and Philipp Peter both drove a faultless race to bring the team’s Aston Martin DBR9 home in third place overall – having led the race for a full 14 laps.

The outstanding result for the new British team was helped by two bold strategy decisions. Gigawave MotorSport was the only GT1 team to start on intermediate tyres in the wet conditions, and the first to switch to slicks.

“Allan Simonsen started from sixth on the grid and, for the first six or seven laps, he dropped back as the tyres came up to temperature,” explained Gigawave’s Director of Race Technologies, Nigel Stepney. “As the tyres kicked in, he started to pick up places. We then wanted to keep him out there as long as possible, so that we could switch straight to slicks at the driver change.”

“We took a gamble on the tyres,” said Allan Simonsen, “and for the first few laps, the inters were not the tyres to have – but when they came good, the car was really quick.”

By the time Simonsen came into the pits, he was leading the race. After the pit stop, Philipp Peter rejoined the race on slicks and, as the track continued to dry, gradually worked his way back through the GT1 cars and into the lead – which he held until the last few minutes of the race. After a safety car compressed the field, the final laps were an incredibly close-fought battle and Peter used his years of GT experience to bring the car home to a well-deserved third, and a place on the FIA GT podium.

“We are disappointed not to have won outright,” said Peter, “but in reality this is a fantastic achievement for a new team. The car was really well prepared but, by the end, the tyres had gone past their best.”

Team Manager Steve Hagger concluded, “I’m over the moon with the result. It’s a great achievement for a new team to finish on the podium in such a competitive category. All credit goes to the guys in the team who worked so hard over the winter to put everything together in such a short space of time.”

In the opening round of the 2008 FIA GT Championship at Silverstone on April 19th, the new UK-based team Gigawave MotorSport put in the sixth quickest time in qualifying – just 0.7sec off pole position. The Aston Martin DBR9 was qualifed by reigning Australian GT Champion Allan Simonsen, who will be sharing the drive in tomorrow’s race with Philipp Peter.

“The weather was so changeable that two minutes before we went out, we didn’t know which tyres we’d be using,” said Simonsen. “The team took a gamble and chose intermediates – which we’d never driven the car on before. It was a big gamble but it was the right gamble. The car felt good and whatever the weather brings tomorrow – rain or shine – we’ll be ready.”

Team Manager Steve Hagger added, “Allan put in a sound performance but was baulked by heavy traffic in the last two laps, so we’re delighted that he managed to qualify so well. This is the first chance the team has had to work together in competitive conditions and nothing can quite prepare you for that. For a new team, sixth on the grid is a great start.”

In what’s been dubbed the ‘supercar showdown’, some of the world’s most admired cars will compete for the Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy in the opening round of the FIA GT Championship at Silverstone this weekend (19-20 April).

The Tourist Trophy will be awarded to the winner of this, the only FIA GT round held in the UK. And only one British team is competing in the premier GT1 class – Gigawave MotorSport, running an Aston Martin DBR9.

Based in Essex, Gigawave MotorSport is making its racing debut at Silverstone and – judging by the pre-season testing – is looking highly competitive for the forthcoming season.

Sunday 20th April will see the Gigawave MotorSport Aston Martin DBR9 competing bumper-to-bumper with such prestigious marques as Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini, Porsche, Corvette and Saleen.

While the GT1 Aston Martin DBR9 is on course for success in 2008, Gigawave MotorSport has decided to withdraw its GT2 entry from the FIA GT Championship. The team had been intending to run the new Aston Martin Vantage GT2 alongside its GT1 entry.

The Gigawave MotorSport Aston Martin DBR9, which has proved so strong in pre-season testing, will continue to run as planned. The team is looking forward enormously to the beginning of the season.

Wet and dry work out for DBR9

Gigawave MotorSport’s build up to its debut season got some valuable wet weather testing at Nogaro. Heavy rain on the first day caused numerous cars to go off on the tight circuit but the Aston Martin DBR9 emerged with some quick times with the start of the Championship less than 3 weeks away.

Day two was a dryer affair, allowing the car to get back on slicks and give drivers, Allan Simonsen and Philipp Peter valuable experience of the Nogaro track which they will race later in the year.

The team and the car head to the season opener at Silverstone full of confidence following a successful pre-season, clocking highly competitive times at each test.

Team Manager Steve Hagger wasn’t too disappointed with the weather, “it was good to do some testing in the rain, it’s the first we’ve done as a team and I felt the drivers and the car handled it well.”

2008 testing in full swing

Gigawave MotorSport continued its impressive pre-season form at the official FIA GT test in Monza. The Aston Martin DBR9 was the second fastest of the two-day test clocking a best time of 1’45’’585.

Driver Philipp Peter was joined by Darren Turner, who will be the third driver at the Total 24 at Spa in round 5 of the Championship, meaning all three drivers for the season have now had valuable test time in the car.

Last week’s Aston Martin Racing Test saw Gigawave MotorSport again showing its pace with the fastest time on day 1 of the Aston Martin Racing test at Paul Ricard.

Team Manager Steve Hagger was very positive about the team’s chances. “Bringing the car up from 2005 spec to 2007 spec has improved the performance dramatically, we are lapping 2 seconds quicker than before which is putting us right up there with the main challengers. This bodes very well for the forthcoming season.”

The FIA GT Championship is moving to High Definition coverage for the 2008 season with the help of Gigawave. The announcement will see Gigawave providing the Championship with the latest fully HD On-board Camera Systems that it has been developing over the past season. Its HD D-Cam Wireless Camera Systems will provide high definition Pit Lane coverage.

This marks the natural progression in Gigawave’s continual striving to further develop its already market leading Digital On-board Systems which are used in the major international motorsport championships. The HD D-Cam is already in daily use in sports and ENG applications and has been used at such events as the FA Cup Final, Red Bull Air Race and RBS 6 Nations rugby.

SRO, the promoter of the FIA GT Championship has decided to move into HD in preparation for the competition becoming a world series in 2010, and has become one of the first major race series to go HD.

Together with Gigawave and Greenlight TV, SRO feel they have the relevant expertise to take the jump into HD and give fans the chance to witness premier sportscar racing in all its glory.

The stunning HD On-board camera footage can be seen live on the Internet at www.gt1live.tv throughout the 2008 FIA GT Championship.

Gigawave MotorSport warms up for '08 Campaign

After much hard work during the off-season, Gigawave MotorSport’s Aston Martin DBR9 was put through its paces for the first time this year at Paul Ricard in France.

The many updates and changes made to the car throughout the winter have been hugely beneficial as the DBR9 was the fastest GT1 car of the opening day of the 2 day Aston Martin Racing test, clocking an impressive 1min 53 for the 5.8km test track.

It was the first chance for the driver line-up of Philipp Peter and Allan Simonsen to work together and add their considerable experience to the set-up of the car.

Team Principal Fenton Yeulett was pleased to see the winter updates proving effective already. “Its been important for the Team to understand the aero balance and geometry changes that have been added during the off-season, we now know we are heading in the right direction and are confident of progressing on the track in our remaining tests.”