A nice bit of news for any of you who collect diecast models of Anthony’s race cars… Spark have released a 1:43 scale model of the #008 Gulf Racing Aston Martin LMP1 that Anthony drove at this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours with Darren Turner and Jos Verstappen.
It’s a resin kit – which basically means it may not be every bit as gorgeous as some of Minichamps finest work – but don’t worry; Spark have an excellent reputation so you can expect it to be a classy piece of work nonetheless.
Spark’s catalogue number for this is SPK1457.

Anthony and his team-mates Michael Krumm (GER), and Darren Turner (GB), drove the all-new Nissan GT-R to third place in the GT1 category at the fiercely demanding Spa 24 Hours, 25 – 26 July, in Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium.

Built to the 2010 FIA GT1 technical regulations, and taking part in selected rounds of the 2009 Championship as part of its development year, the NISSAN Motorsports-entered #35 NISSAN GT-R qualified an impressive 8th position on the grid and finished 13th overall, 3rd in the GT1 class – having run in 4th and 5th place for a full five hours during the night. The car’s 13th position meant it was the highest-placed car running to the 2010 FIA GT1 specification. Had it not been for the drivetrain problems at around 6.30am, which cost the team more than 15 places and at least one and a half hours in the pits to replace the necessary components, an overall podium finish would have been a real possibility. But once the car was back out on track at around 8.15am, the NISSAN GT-R continued to perform strongly, pulling itself back up the running order from 19th to 13th place.

Other than this one technical problem, the entire 24-hour race ran smoothly for the NISSAN GT-R, with neither the drivers, nor the team, making a single mistake. While losing an overall podium finish was a little disappointing, the team was delighted to have finished a 24-hour race at the car’s first attempt. For 2009, NISSAN MOTORSPORTS INTERNATIONAL (NISMO) appointed Gigawave MotorSport as its development and team partner, to assist in the development and homologation of the NISSAN GT-R for FIA GT1 in 2010, its launch season as a World Championship.

Anthony commented after the race:

“It’s never easy running a new car for 24 hours and the team has done an outstanding job to get it to the finish. Aside from one technical issue, everything ran like clockwork. I’ve really enjoyed being here, racing with the NISMO and Gigawave MotorSport team, and my team-mates have been fantastic. We really gelled. As for the car, reliability seems good. The NISSAN GT-R’s engine, in particular, has proven to be extremely robust. All three drivers have given it death over the weekend and it’s hung on in there!”

Anthony will join the Gigawave Team at the historic Spa 24 Hours race this weekend, racing in the iconic Nissan GT-R.  Anthony was able to test the Nissan GT-R in Portugal in June, and is looking forward to joining the team for the challenge of the classic endurance event, alongside Darren Turner (GB) and Michael Krumm (Germany).

“I am looking forward to this years Spa 24 Hours race, driving the new Nissan GT-R with the Gigawave / NISSAN Motorsport Team. Endurance racing of this length offers an interesting challenge for everyone involved, and it will be good to get back behind the wheel – particularly as Spa has always been a circuit I enjoy.”

The GT-R has completed over 10,000 kms’ of testing since its shakedown in December 2008, including its pair of appearances in the FIA GT Championship, and is now fully prepared for its biggest challenge of the current season. The new car’s outings in the European-based GT championship are a precursor to a full assault on the series next season.