New Aston Martin Vantage launched for 2018

Aston Martin Racing has today revealed the new Vantage GTE model which will compete in the LMGTE class in the 2018-19 FIA World Endurance Championship Super Season. 

The new car replaces Aston Martin’s most successful competition car of all-time, the V8 Vantage GTE, which last weekend signed off with GT Am Championship success in Bahrain.

The new Vantage GTE echoes the road car’s core design and dynamic capabilities – the production version also revealed to the world. Designed and engineered in-house at Aston Martin Racing’s headquarters in Banbury, the project is led by Technical Director Dan Sayers, who also guided the design and development of the current V8 Vantage GTE – the car credited with 37 of the team’s 51 international race victories, including two 24 Hours of Le Mans class wins.

Aston Martin Racing has already carried out more than 13,000 km of testing, working hard to optimise the drivability and performance of the base Mercedes-AMG 4.0-litre turbocharged V8 engine that has been developed for use in the Vantage GTE.

New faces in the driver line up for 2018

With a new car to develop, Aston Martin Racing has kept its highly experienced and successful driver line-up. This year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans GTE Pro class winners Darren Turner and Jonny Adam have been retained, as have the Danish duo and 2016 FIA WEC GTE Pro world champions, Nicki Thiim and Marco Sørensen. In addition, AMR has recruited ex-GP2 race winner and a face familiar in LMP2, Alex Lynn. Further driver announcements will be made in due course.

John Gaw, Managing Director, Aston Martin Racing said, “It’s terrific to be involved in this exciting new chapter for Aston Martin Racing. The increasingly tough competition in the GTE class and the prospect of two visits to Le Mans and a return to Sebring within the 2018/19 super-season is thoroughly tantalising. 

“To conduct the development process of this car so closely with Aston Martin’s design and engineering teams was essential for both road and race car to retain the same underlying DNA. We believe the Vantage GTE will bring further success worldwide to Aston Martin Racing in the coming years”.