Aston Martin Racing has announced that it’ll be entering a V8 Vantage in the GTE Pro category of the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship.
Painted in Gulf blue and orange, the car’s driver line-up has been confirmed as Adrian Fernandez, Stefan Mücke and Darren Turner. The plan is to contest all eight rounds of the WEC, which commences with the 12 Hours of Sebring on the 17th of March.
For the third race - June’s Le Mans 24 Hours - a second Vantage is going to be run, but its drivers have yet to be named. In preparation for the season’s premier event the team also intends to compete in the Long Beach and Laguna Seca rounds of the American Le Mans Series.
The V8 Vantage GTE is a development of the Vantage GT2. Although the engine can trace its origins back to the one used in the road-going V8 Vantage, the usual gearbox is replaced with a six-speed, semi-automatic, sequential transmission that has its own oil and air cooling system.
Similarly, the basic suspension layout is unchanged but the springs and wishbones are bespoke, while adjustable Koni dampers are fitted. Stopping is taken care of by a Brembo braking system that features six-piston calipers up front and four-piston items for the rear wheels.
The body is based around the production V8 Vantage’s bonded aluminium structure. However, for the race car, all of the panels apart from the roof are made from carbon fibre in place of the usual mixture of aluminium, magnesium alloy, composites and steel. Naturally a steel roll cage is installed, as is an aerodynamic package that comprises a rear wing, front splitter, flat floor and rear diffuser.
Commenting on the new venture, Aston Martin Lagonda Chairman David Richards said: “It’s great to be returning to our core motorsport activity; production-based GT racing. It formed the basis for Aston Martin’s return to competition when the DBR9 GT1 racer was launched in 2004, and it was in GT racing that we achieved our famous victories at Le Mans in 2007 and 2008.
“The GT category is also now the most competitive class in world sports car racing and with the new FIA World Endurance Championship the GTE class will, I believe, offer the closest fought and most exciting spectacle. We will see many premium sports car brands competing with great sounding racing cars based on their production models, which all the fans can relate to.”
Darren Turner added: “I’m excited about this programme as it’s our opportunity to take Aston Martin back to the top of the world of GT racing. The Vantage GTE is a great car; she’s coming along nicely now and we’re ready to take on what we expect will be tough competition.
“The FIA World Endurance Championship calendar looks good to me, especially as I’ve already won in an Aston Martin at half of the tracks: Sebring, Silverstone, Interlagos and of course at Le Mans. We are going to Sebring next month with a brand new car, but that’s exactly what we did with the DBR9 back in 2005 and we won that race. I’m not promising we can repeat that but we’ll certainly try!”
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| Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE. Scroll down for more images and a video. |
Painted in Gulf blue and orange, the car’s driver line-up has been confirmed as Adrian Fernandez, Stefan Mücke and Darren Turner. The plan is to contest all eight rounds of the WEC, which commences with the 12 Hours of Sebring on the 17th of March.
For the third race - June’s Le Mans 24 Hours - a second Vantage is going to be run, but its drivers have yet to be named. In preparation for the season’s premier event the team also intends to compete in the Long Beach and Laguna Seca rounds of the American Le Mans Series.
The V8 Vantage GTE is a development of the Vantage GT2. Although the engine can trace its origins back to the one used in the road-going V8 Vantage, the usual gearbox is replaced with a six-speed, semi-automatic, sequential transmission that has its own oil and air cooling system.
Similarly, the basic suspension layout is unchanged but the springs and wishbones are bespoke, while adjustable Koni dampers are fitted. Stopping is taken care of by a Brembo braking system that features six-piston calipers up front and four-piston items for the rear wheels.
The body is based around the production V8 Vantage’s bonded aluminium structure. However, for the race car, all of the panels apart from the roof are made from carbon fibre in place of the usual mixture of aluminium, magnesium alloy, composites and steel. Naturally a steel roll cage is installed, as is an aerodynamic package that comprises a rear wing, front splitter, flat floor and rear diffuser.
Commenting on the new venture, Aston Martin Lagonda Chairman David Richards said: “It’s great to be returning to our core motorsport activity; production-based GT racing. It formed the basis for Aston Martin’s return to competition when the DBR9 GT1 racer was launched in 2004, and it was in GT racing that we achieved our famous victories at Le Mans in 2007 and 2008.
“The GT category is also now the most competitive class in world sports car racing and with the new FIA World Endurance Championship the GTE class will, I believe, offer the closest fought and most exciting spectacle. We will see many premium sports car brands competing with great sounding racing cars based on their production models, which all the fans can relate to.”
Darren Turner added: “I’m excited about this programme as it’s our opportunity to take Aston Martin back to the top of the world of GT racing. The Vantage GTE is a great car; she’s coming along nicely now and we’re ready to take on what we expect will be tough competition.
“The FIA World Endurance Championship calendar looks good to me, especially as I’ve already won in an Aston Martin at half of the tracks: Sebring, Silverstone, Interlagos and of course at Le Mans. We are going to Sebring next month with a brand new car, but that’s exactly what we did with the DBR9 back in 2005 and we won that race. I’m not promising we can repeat that but we’ll certainly try!”
Related posts:
2012 Audi R8 LMS Ultra
2012 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
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