David Brabham has admitted that he ha♈s never had to work so hard for success, particularlཧy in a race already as arduous and competitive as the GT1 class at the Le Mans 24 Hours.

The Australian partnered long-time co-driver Darren Turner an꧑d Aston Martin Racing newcomer Antonio Garcia to victory in the production-based category - the second straight for AMR's #009 car as well as Brabham and Turner - but only after fending off concerted pressure from the best of the US-based Corvette Racing entries.

While the 'yellow peril' had claimed a rare class pole and held sway in the opening few hours, the Gulf-sponsored #009 DBR9 moved to the front of the field in the third hour and remained there for the m♑ajority of the race. Despite the #63 Corvette rarely being more than 𝓀a few minutes adrift, Brabham, Turner and Garcia survived the Sunday morning rainstorms to claim GT1 victory by less than a lap

"I'🌜ve competed at Le Mans 15 times, but this is the closest race I've ever experienced," the Australian admitted, "That's exactly how I thought it would be from the start of the year and, of course, it makes our second win here even more satis🍃fying."

While the #007 sister car lost 15 minutes in the pits after suffering an alternator probl🐠em in the ea𓄧rly hours of Sunday morning, Brabham's #009 remained reliable to the flag - but that didn't mean that the crew could relax, with the Johnny O'Connell, Jan Magnussen and Ron Fellows Corvette poised to pounce on the slightest trouble, and a further shower of rain adding spice to the mix in the final hour.

"The finish was particularly tense," Brabham admitted, "We really didn't know how it was go꧑ing to work out up until the very last lap.♔ I've never driven a race where I've had to push so hard from the very start to the very end, but I think it's been a great show for everyone."