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Aston Martin Racing
Hackett is proud to be the Official Clothing Partner of the Aston Martin Racing, winners of the 2009 Le Mans Series.
Hackett has sponsored Aston Martin Racing since 2005, the longest continual sponsor for the team. The season always clamaxes at the world famous 24 Heures du Mans and this year was no exception. Here are our Sponsorship Manager, Neil Bugler's thoughts on this year's race.
Le Mans 2010
Sixth time in and I still get excited about Le Mans! I never tire of showing Le Mans virgins the spectacle that is the ultimate in Sports car racing...and the Aston Martin hospitality of course, it wouldn’t quite be the same without that.
A mixed up selection of competition winners from the FT & Hackett, Wholesale customers and some Press made up this year’s posse and as we made our way onto the Eurostar to Lille and then onto Le Mans polite conversation with said posse revealed that one of the guys had been to Le Mans over 35 times! He revealed later that this was the best time...probably down to the Aston hospitality more than my ability to host, though his enthusiasm for ‘higher and lower’ card game might suggest otherwise.
Arrival at the spectacular Chateau (our accommodation for the weekend) never disappoints before making our way to the traditional Aston BBQ at a sister chateau nestled in the Brittany countryside. We park the minibus one space away from the sign declaring “Car Park, Astons only” (always a nice touch) and duly march in to the welcoming arms of Aston hospitality. A few glasses of the team champagne, Pommery, later and the band are actually starting to sound pretty good...it must be time to leave or I might start dancing in a ‘dad styley’.
A quick Continental breakfast and we are on our way to the track scheduled to arrive for elevenses, little did we know that we would just about arrive in time for a late lunch. A massive pile up in front of us on an the already crowded roads and some dodgy directions conspired against us, but we eventually found our way in via Arnage, Mulsanne and Arnage, again!, after more than two and a half hours on the minibus. The first beer didn’t touch the sides, swiftly followed by another.
Looking round I could see the guests standing with their collective mouths a gape, standing on the legendary platform in the Aston hospitality that sits proudly above the track, before the final straight, basking in the sunshine...I think the bus journey is a far away thought now.
This year for the first time I was entrusted to get involved in all things Twitter and Facebook, now you might think I’m a bit long in the tooth for this, but I actually quite enjoyed it and when I got back to HQ I found out Hackett Twitter followers had increased by 10%...quite an increas, so I'm told.
Having seen the race start from our traditional spot high in the grandstand, we now had to make our way back to Aston to watch the footy (England v USA). A completely disheartening 90 minutes followed, before we switched back to watching some real English icons, in the form of the Aston Martins making their way up the field in the race.
The dusk and ensuing darkness, for me, are the best times to take in the magic of Le Mans as the cars settle into a high-paced rhythm, with the prospect of another 6 or 7 hours of night racing before the dawn, in front of empty stands with only a few hardcore fans ‘going through the night’ watching the race unfold.
The football had taken its toll on the guests and I and we elected to return to the Chateau to rest our weary heads in the hope that when we returned the Astons would still be going round and Rob Green’s fumblings had all been a dream. Alas not, regarding Mr Green, but the Astons had been going really well and were in the dizzying prospect of landing a podium against the ever dominant Peugeots and Audis (8 in the race) in 4th place.
...but with only 50 minutes to go the engine of the leading Aston went up in a puff of smoke and all that hard work accounted for not much, reminding me a little of 2006 & 7 where the DBR9’s also suffered very late disappointments, they went on to win their class in 2008, so who knows...for 2011?
In a slightly dejected state as a result of this, or was it hangover haze, we all made our way back to old Blighty, reflecting on the highs and lows of a great weekend whilst nodding off on the Eurostar...there were those of us who managed to find our way to the bar carriage for one last hurrah vowing to return next year while at the same time assuring ourselves how England were going to put it all right against Algeria later in the week...!
The Hackett Aston Martin Racing range of clothes and accessories make ideal gifts for any motor racing, Le Mans enthusiast or lucky Aston Martin owner.
To find out more about Aston Martin Racing visit www.astonmartinracing.com.
For more information about Le Mans please go to the official website www.lemans.org.
