Team Modena holds on for eighth.

The Team Modena Aston Martin DBR9 survived all that was thrown at it through the Le Mans 24 Hours to claim fourth in class and eighth overall on its debut appearance at the French classic.

Running under the Russian Age Racing entry, the car - crewed by Team Ireland A1GP mechanics - ran strongly but had to overcome a variety of technical problems during the second half of the marathon event before just missing out on joining the winning factory Corvette and one of the works Aston Martin teams on the GT1 podium.

After a steady start, the all-black car rose to third in GT1, and seventh place overall, during the night, only for dawn to bring a series of problems, starting with a puncture that caused race debutant Nelson Piquet Jr to limp back to the pits. That, however, proved to be a minor inconvenience, as the car lost sixth gear with Antonio Garcia at the wheel and, from around 8am onwards, ran only as far as fifth gear using a revised engine map.

Further issues included faulty cool-suit equipment, which the mechanics worked hard to repair in order to keep the drivers in good condition during their long stints, while Piquet also had an unscheduled stop when a piece of debris became caught under the throttle pedal.

Senior driver David Brabham, meanwhile, kept putting in the times to keep the car in touch with the class podium which had looked set to be dominated by the works Corvettes and Astons before the race began.

"It's a terrific result, considering how little time we had to prepare for the event and pull the team together," the Australian admitted afterwards, "We also had quite a few problems in practice and qualifying, so to run for the full 24 hours and secure a credible result is very rewarding.

"It was very hot this weekend, and physically as tough as ever, but it's great for everyone in the team to come away with a result."

Issues aside, the car ran strongly in the hands of each driver while the pit crew - headed by team manager Dave O'Neill, engineer Nick Potter and technical director Sergio Rinland - worked to keep the car running and the pit-stops as fluid as possible.

"I think the team did a fantastic job, not only all weekend but in the build up to the race," team owner Rik Bryan commented, "The drivers did everything that was asked of them and, in Nelson, Antonio and David, we had a great combination of youth and experience. It seems to have paid off well and the pit crew worked superbly. The result is a real credit to them."