This year marks the return of Aston Martin Racing to to international GT motorsport in the FIA World Endurance Championship. This Golf-livered racing V8 Vantage will hit the track in the e GTE Pro category of the eight round series, which spans three continents. At the third round of the championship, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Aston Martin Racing will field a second works Vantage GTE.
The Vantage GTE is based on the GT2 car, with changes being made to the engine, gearbox and suspention. The driver lineup has been confirmed to include Darren Turner (GBR), Stefan Mücke (D) and Adrian Fernandez (MX).
Aston Martin Lagonda Chairman David Richards shared his enthusiasm for the new project: “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.”
Aston Martin Lagonda Chairman David Richards shared his enthusiasm for the new project: “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.”