LM24 Aston Martin to return to Le Mans ! ! !

rdjones · 7 May 2003, 15:24 (Ref:592478)

Just seen over on DSC that Aston Martin are going to return to Le Mans in 2004. They will be using the new Aston Martin DB AR1. The project has been on the cards for about 2 years or so.

But from what DSC understands an agreement was reached, some time in the last week. It is belive that that car will be developed with the help of Prodrive.

JAG · 7 May 2003, 15:42 (Ref:592492)

They also say a supercharged Vanguish will follow soon. Presumably this will be a GTS car. Can't wait.

danhx · 7 May 2003, 15:47 (Ref:592498)

The GTS class just looks better every year.

BSchneiderFan · 7 May 2003, 16:06 (Ref:592517)

Does this mean that Prodrive will stop running (and developing?) the Ferrari 550?

Project LeMans · 7 May 2003, 16:10 (Ref:592520)

The cars are owned by CARE Development and i´m sure that Prodrive will develop the F550 when Mr. Dor pays. ;-)

I think that there are a lot of other teams which can run a F550.

Graham Goodwin · 7 May 2003, 16:10 (Ref:592521)

Quote:

Originally posted by JAG
They also say a supercharged Vanguish will follow soon. Presumably this will be a GTS car. Can't wait.

Not quite JAG - Aston did look at a VAnquish but that went west some time ago - the news story talks about a supercharged 'Vantage' version of the new car.

Tim Northcutt · 7 May 2003, 16:13 (Ref:592525)

A supercharged version for the race???

Can they do that in GTS???

And why would they want to run a supercharger instead of a turbo???

IanGrohse gave me a lot of insight on why a supercharger is a bad idea for endurnace racing due to the heat build-up, even with an intercooler, and he has run supercharged and turbo cars in competition..

Fogelhund · 7 May 2003, 17:55 (Ref:592631)

Sounds interesting, and I hope that someone chooses to run this car for a full schedule of races, not just LM.

I'm not so sure that the 550's are going to have much of a shelf life. I imagine that once the Michelotto Maserati's are up and running that most teams will choose them instead, so Prodrive may have some openings in that regard. Just an opinion nothing more.

Any further word on the rumour of the Prodrive LMP Mazda, or is that likely dead?

Tim - while not enduro racing, Realtime racing ran the Supercharger on the NSX in Speed GT without any reliability issues, and nothing said about heat problems.......

Tim Northcutt · 7 May 2003, 18:21 (Ref:592663)

For 24 hours or 12 hours or 10 hours, like LM, Sebring, or Petit??

Are turbos allowed in GTS??? I haven't focused on their regs to know that answer...

rdjones · 7 May 2003, 18:36 (Ref:592673)

Quote:

Originally posted by Fogelhund
I'm not so sure that the 550's are going to have much of a shelf life. I imagine that once the Michelotto Maserati's are up and running that most teams will choose them instead, so Prodrive may have some openings in that regard. Just an opinion nothing more.

Any further word on the rumour of the Prodrive LMP Mazda, or is that likely dead?

I would agree that the 550 is at the end of it's shelf life. I think that we will more than likly see a few 575 at Le Mans next year, I belive that a few will be out in the FIA GT championship later in the year.

As for the Mazda LMP things have gone quite on that one, if it was to happen I could see it happening in 2005?

JAG · 7 May 2003, 18:40 (Ref:592680)

Porshe 911 GT2 had turbos. As did the Esprit GT2.

veeten · 7 May 2003, 18:45 (Ref:592686)

my question is, why even a Turbo/Super-charged V8 when they have a perfectly good V12 in the Vanquish. Engine size isn't a problem in either ACO/GTS or FIA GT, since both have a capacity limit around 8L.

The only area of question id development, since it's already been produced for the past couple of years.

Tim Northcutt · 7 May 2003, 20:13 (Ref:592786)

Excellent point, veeten....I thought the same thing, but got stuck on the whole "Kompressor" thing...

pirenzo · 7 May 2003, 20:15 (Ref:592788)

I think due to the packaging of the engine, it would be difficult to put a turbo in. This is GTS of course, and there is no Vanquish turbo. So it can't be run. There is however a supercharged version

JAG · 7 May 2003, 20:53 (Ref:592846)

Quote:

Originally posted by veeten
my question is, why even a Turbo/Super-charged V8 when they have a perfectly good V12 in the Vanquish. Engine size isn't a problem in either ACO/GTS or FIA GT, since both have a capacity limit around 8L.

The only area of question id development, since it's already been produced for the past couple of years.

As I understand the new Aston Martin is based on the already announced AM DBA (for the US)therefire will use the engine used in this car, rather than a purpose built car.

Also is the car GT or GTS?

C_g · 8 May 2003, 03:46 (Ref:593070)

Looks like it will be GT.

The359 · 8 May 2003, 04:11 (Ref:593073)

I believe DSC has made a mistake. The car they describe in their information is NOT the DB AR1. The DB AR1 is not suited for racing (its a roadster!), it does not have an aluminium chassis, and it does not use a V8 (it uses AM's V12). The car they are actually describing is Aston Martin's new AMV8 Vantage / "DB8", their third model line to debut in 2005 model year. The preview was shown at this year's Detroit Auto Show. This car is built on an aluminium frame and is powered by a 4.3L V8, with a "Vantage" version with supercharging coming later. This is the car I believe will be entered in LeMans.

As for GTS/GT, I would assume it'd be a GT car. The AMV8/DB8 is meant to be a "911 killer", so what better place to start killing them then LeMans?

Martin W · 8 May 2003, 12:54 (Ref:593453)

I presume Aston is still owned by Ford. If so, it's about time Ford started showing an interest in sportscar racing again. Presumably they've seen the success in marketing terms that Bentley hae gained and want a piece of the action! Let's hope Ford can divert some of the Jag F1 money to Aston Martin.

hartham · 8 May 2003, 13:22 (Ref:593499)

why not divert the Jag F1 money to a Jag LM assult?...... that's where Jag belong in my opinion

The359 · 8 May 2003, 16:07 (Ref:593661)

Ford believes that Aston Martin is their premiere brand, and would rather they be used to show off a LM car then Jaguar. Both brands have LeMans history but Aston Martin is Ford's top echelon, just like Bentley in VAG.

**Aysedasi** · 8 May 2003, 17:34 (Ref:593760)

I'm not fussed either way, Jag or Aston, it sounds like badge engineering anyway - but I'd be delighted to see either name back at Le Mans or sports car racing in general.

veeten · 8 May 2003, 18:32 (Ref:593842)

I still say the V12 is the way to go...

That Supercharged V8 is going to be a "money pit" for them to make into a endurance racer... but that's just my opinion.

**FIRE** · 8 May 2003, 19:45 (Ref:593909)

http://www.velocityjrnl.com/ip/stk/6635.html

The car looks good and with the knowlege of Prodrive it will be a winner.

rdjones · 8 May 2003, 19:54 (Ref:593921)

Quote:

Originally posted by FIRE
http://www.velocityjrnl.com/ip/stk/6635.html

The car looks good and with the knowlege of Prodrive it will be a winner.

Hopefully

Sean Crockett · 11 May 2003, 10:58 (Ref:595979)

Quote:

Originally posted by The359

As for GTS/GT, I would assume it'd be a GT car. The AMV8/DB8 is meant to be a "911 killer", so what better place to start killing them then LeMans?

Gotta agree with your logic on this, but I suspect AM/Ford will really want to be beating the Ferrari 550/575, Zonda & the new Maserati in GTS, rather than Morgan, TVR, Spyker and Porsche in GT.

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