Aston Martin’s new Vantage GT3 continues its hunt for glory in the world’s two most prestigious endurance racing series, as the FIA World Endurance Championship [WEC] and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship [IMSA] resume this weekend.
The WEC begins its European leg on Sunday with the 6 Hours of Imola (ITA), and an inaugural visit to one of the continent’s best-known circuits, before heading to Spa-Francorchamps (BEL) on 11 May, and then the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 15-16 June. Meanwhile IMSA heads to the world famous Long Beach street track for its first sprint race (100 minutes) of the season. A second-place finish in the brand-new LMGT3 class for the Heart of Racing (HoR), and third for D’station Racing, made Aston Martin the only one of the nine GT manufacturers present to score a WEC double podium finish at the season-opening 1812km of Qatar in March. It means both teams arrive in Italy in strong form.
Those results provided an excellent WEC debut for the new Vantage GT3, which descends from a succession of multiple world championship-winning predecessors and shares the mechanical architecture of the new ultra-luxury Vantage road car, unveiled earlier this year. Built around Aston Martin’s proven bonded aluminium chassis and powered by its fearsome twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 engine, the Vantage GT3 features all-new nose-to-tail aerodynamics, comprehensively revised suspension and state-of-the-art electronics, endowing this latest-generation Aston Martin GT racer with world-beating potential.
Aston Martin’s WEC partner teams are amid a hot streak, with HoR and D’station Racing having enjoyed a successful spell in the Middle East. The US-based HoR took its maiden podium finish with third in the last ever LMGTE Am race in Bahrain in 2023, and then went one better to begin the LMGT3 era with second in Qatar.
HoR team principal and driver Ian James (GBR) is partnered by Daniel Mancinelli (ITA), who is competing on home soil, and IMSA race winner Alex Riberas (ESP) as the trio goes in hunt of its first victory at WEC level, and also a maiden win for the new Vantage GT3; having participated in the car’s global debut in January’s Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Success is also the target for D’station Racing, which finished second in Bahrain to close the 2023 campaign and began the new season with third in Qatar. Aston Martin works driver Marco Sørensen (DEN), a three-time FIA WEC champion in the GT classes, is joined by Erwan Bastard (FRA) a French and European GT4 title-winner and by Clément Mateu (FRA), a 24 Hours of Spa class winner.
HoR has shuffled its driver line-up for the IMSA race at Long Beach, where it will run a single new Vantage GT3 in the GTD class (GTD Pro does not contest the Californian street circuit round). Joining 2022 IMSA GTD champion Roman De Angelis (CDN) will be Magnus Racing regular Spencer Pumpelly (USA). He replaces Zacharie Robichon (CDN) who is also participating in the WEC event at Imola.
Another partner team, Flying Lizard Motorsports, will make a one-off return to IMSA at Long Beach – one of its local circuits. Elias Sabo (USA) will be joined in the multiple IMSA-title winning team by Andy Lee (USA), as the team enters its brand new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in the GTD class.
D'station Racing is also on multiple duties this weekend, with team owner Satoshi Hoshino (JPN) and team principal Tomonobu Fujii (JPN) contesting the opening round of the SRO -run Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia at Sepang, in Malaysia.
Adam Carter, Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport, said: “The new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 enjoyed an encouraging start to its WEC career and there is no reason to expect it to be any less competitive in Imola than it was in Qatar. Equally, we have seen promising signs from the car in the opening races at IMSA, so we’re looking forward to seeing what Vantage can achieve on both sides of the Atlantic this weekend. I’d also like to wish Flying Lizard Motorsports good luck on its return to IMSA, and similarly D’station Racing as it embarks on its Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia campaign.”
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The Mercedes-AMG ONE has been the fastest production car on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife since October 2022 and has been unrivalled ever since. The only rival is the ONE itself. Now Mercedes AMG brand ambassador and DTM driver Maro Engel has once again significantly improved the lap time he set. With an officially measured and notarised time of 6:29.090 minutes for the 20.832-kilometre track, the hypercar with Formula 1™ technology beat its own record for production vehicles by over five seconds. This makes the Mercedes AMG ONE the first road car to beat the magic mark of 6:30 minutes. It is also the only series hybrid hypercar to date to have taken on the world's most demanding racetrack and is the undisputed leader in the super-sports-car class. In order to achieve the lofty goals they had set for themselves, meticulous preparation was necessary. In addition, the track conditions had to be ideal in order to beat the 6:30 minute target. On September 23, 2024, at 6:56 p.m., on his third timed lap, Maro Engel achieved the new record. With temperatures of 15 degrees Celsius (air) and 20 degrees Celsius (asphalt), the legendary Nordschleife was dry throughout and offered perfect grip.
Like Lewis Hamilton and George Russell on their Formula 1™ race weekends, Maro Engel also had to make the best possible use of the hybrid drive's electrical energy. This is particularly challenging, especially with a track length of more than 20 kilometres. Therefore, it is immensely important to use the right sections of the track to recuperate during braking phases and thus store energy in the batteries again.
To do this, Maro Engel utilised the AMG ONE's four-stage Energy Flow Control (EFC) system and in some cases deliberately took his foot off the accelerator a little earlier than he normally would. In technical jargon, this is known as “lift and coast”. Preliminary tests in the driving simulator in Affalterbach and on the Nordschleife itself provided the necessary insights, which the team and driver were able to optimally implement for the record lap. In accordance with the specifications of Nürburgring 1927 GmbH & Co KG, the vehicle was tested and documented by TÜV Rheinland to ensure that it was in standard condition. A notary confirmed that the record drive had been carried out correctly.
The new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 heads into this weekend’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IMSA) finale – the Petit Le Mans 10-hour race at Road Atlanta – deep in the hunt for its first major title.
The new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 has enjoyed a stellar debut season of international competition. The car recorded a historic victory in the centenary edition of the Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa in June, a first for the British ultraluxury sportscar brand in the modern GT era. It also achieved Aston Martin’s first ever Autobacs Super GT class victory in Japan in the same month. As well as this, Vantage has clinched class wins in the FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA, the Nürburgring Langstrecken Series and ADAC GT Masters through the summer.
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