Aston Martin Racing returned to endurance racing this year, with the all-new V8 Vantage GTE. It takes part in the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship, and the first race took place on the 17th of March at Sebring, Florida, USA.
The GTE is revised from the original GT2 racer, built to comply with new regulations. Every panel of the GTE, excluding the roof is made from lightweight carbon fibre, and features advanced aerodynamic packages. The car weighs only 1195kg containing a monocoque reinforced with aerospace specification steel roll cage.
Compared to its road legal counterpart, the V8 Vantage, the GTE has a string of technical changes made to its cylinder heads, connecting rods, valves and camshafts. A racing exhaust system has been added to significantly boost performance. Power is through a rear-mounted six-speed semi-automatic sequential transmission and competition clutch.
Chairman of Aston Martin Lagonda David Richards said it is great to return to Aston Martin’s core motorsport activity. He claims the base for Aston Martin was formed with the return to competition racing when the DBR9 GT1-racer was launched in 2004. Likewise it was in GT racing they achieved famous victories at Le Mans in 2007 and 2008.
He believes competing in the GTE class, will offer close fights and exciting spectacles. He also commented how the fans can relate to seeing many premium sports car manufactures competing with great sounding cars based on their production models.
Besides racing at Le Mans, Aston Martin also hosts the Aston Martin Racing Festival, which will feature a 45-minute race at the Circuit de la Sarthe, for all owners of Aston GT competition cars on the weekend of the 80th Le Mans 24 Hours.
Painted in iconic Gulf colours, the new car made its debut at the 60th anniversary edition of the 12 Hours of Sebring.
