What's the news?
Earlier today we brought you full details of the 2018 Aston Martin Vantage sports coupe, and now it's time to reveal the racing version, the Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTE. Developed in parallel with the road car, the new racer takes over the reins from the company's most successful competition car of all time, with two class wins at Le Mans under its belt, along with 34 other international victories. The new GTE car will begin competition at Spa in 2018, but has already undergone some 13,000 kilometres of testing, including a 30-hour endurance run.
Exterior
The racing version of Aston's Vantage shares a lot with the road car, as World Endurance Championship (WEC) rules dictate, but it's even more aggressive looking thanks to a comprehensive aerodynamic package that includes an insanely long rear diffuser, deep front splitter and large rear wing. The body panels are all carbon fibre, there's a full-length flat floor and 18-inch TWS wheels made from forged magnesium, wearing Michelin race tyres. The regulated dry weight is 1,245kg.
Interior
It's a bit more bare inside than the regular Vantage road car... However, the integrated roll cage appears to make some concession to allowing quick access and egress. There's a RaceTech safety seat, a dinky and removable carbon fibre steering wheel, Schroth six-point safety harness, Cosworth driver display and even a rear view camera system with Bosch collision avoidance radar. Driver comfort is taken control of by air conditioning and an electrically operated drink dispenser.
Mechanicals
While the Vantage GTE is closely related to the new Aston road car, its suspension is unique, featuring Öhlins adjustable dampers and adjustable anti-roll bars front and rear. Braking is provided by Alcon, as is the multi-plate clutch. That's part of a transmission that includes an Xtrac six-speed sequential gearbox and a mechanical limited slip rear differential.
Power comes from the same twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 Mercedes-AMG engine as the road car, though Aston quotes a power figure 'greater than' 540hp, with torque in excess of 700Nm. It features bespoke BorgWarner turbochargers, an Akrapovič inconel exhaust system and dry sump lubrication.
Anything else?
The driver line-up for 2018 is largely unchanged. This year's Le Mans 24 Hours 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. Aston Martin has added ex-GP2 race winner and now Formula E racer Alex Lynn.
Aston Martin Racing Technical Director, Dan Sayers, said: "Designing and developing this new car has been an extremely satisfying process. We've collaborated closely with the Aston Martin's Gaydon headquarters to develop the road and race cars in parallel. Attention to detail has been a priority at every step of this process and we've made big improvements in each area of the car. We've spent every second optimising the design right until the build of our test car, which has paid dividends during our current testing schedule. This project has been one of the most intensive but also rewarding of my career so far".