ASTON’S NEW CAR
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE VANTAGE Last year’s GTE Pro winner Aston Martin returns with a new racer, but it’s been tough going so far
Last year’s GTE Pro contest at the Le Mans 24 Hours truly was a battle for the ages, as old rivals Aston Martin and Corvette went head to head in a fierce duel for the win that was resolved in dramatic style on the final lap after 40 minutes of thrilling nose-to-tail racing.
In the end, Jonny Adam managed to get the better of Jordan Taylor when the Corvette man picked up a puncture after a trip across the gravel at the second Mulsanne chicane, sealing an unforgettable class triumph alongside Darren Turner and
Daniel Serra in the venerable, old-generation Vantage GTE’S final outing at the Circuit de la Sarthe.
Now Aston Martin faces an altogether different challenge: to defend its class title with a new car.
A major 2016 upgrade for the old Vantage GTE, not to mention the category’s Balance of Performance system, helped keep it competitive, but with Porsche bringing a new car in ’17, BMW joining the party for this year and Ferrari introducing an ‘Evo’ version of its 488, it was clear something fresh was required.
Almost as soon as the dust had settled on Le Mans last year, Aston’s focus shifted to building and honing its new machine, which covered 35,000km in testing across no fewer than 14 different circuits before arriving at Spa at the start of May for the opening round of the 2018/19 WEC ‘superseason’.
Besides the visual differences, the most obvious change from the old Vantage is the engine, with the new machine now using the same base unit as its road-car brethren. That means a four-litre turbocharged V8 replaces the old 4.5-litre naturally aspirated motor, bringing it in line with Ferrari, Ford and BMW.
But the more crucial point of differentiation is a much more sophisticated aerodynamic package that, according to Adam, has made the car considerably easier to drive than its predecessor.
“It generates a lot more downforce than the previous car,” explains Adam, who shares the #97 Vantage with BMW convert Maxime Martin and former single-seater and LMP2 ace Alex Lynn. “That means more consistent lap times, and generally it brings it up to the level that the rest have in terms of that aero platform.
“Darren and I were the first to shake down the car [in August 2017] and even then you could feel the difference, without the car even being developed – the ride quality, the kerb strikes, kerb usage: all round the car is easier to drive.
“At Spa we all got out of the car feeling really fresh, and in the #97 car we all did double stints, two and a bit hours in the car. We weren’t drained at all, ready to go again.”
Turner, who moves back to the ‘Dane Train’ #95 car with Nicki Thiim and Marco Sorensen after partnering Adam in the sister machine last year, adds that being able to go aggressive on the kerbs at Spa was also a major help in being able to deliver consistent lap times over a stint.
“The area where the old car struggled was how much kerb you could take without unsettling it,” he says. “Suddenly the track opened up and we were able to take more kerbs and be more aggressive. That does make life easier, it makes it a bit more predictable, and makes it easier to commit.”
Sixth and seventh places in the GTE Pro category at Spa might not be what you’d call a dream debut, but Aston Martin Racing technical director Dan Sayers conceded the British manufacturer didn’t expect to be bang on the pace for the opener given the vagaries of the Balance of Performance system.
A glance at the speed traps from Spa immediately shows the
“You could feel the difference from the start. All round the car is easier to drive” JONNY ADAM
issue. The new Vantage’s top speed over the weekend was 165.9mph, versus 170.5mph for the class-leading Ford GT, a major handicap blasting up Eau Rouge and along the Kemmel Straight.
In those situations, all a team can do is focus on minimising errors and technical issues – which is precisely what Aston managed to do, banking valuable points in the process.
“Irrespective of what you do, you always find new issues or niggles every time you go out,” says Sayers. “But at Spa we didn’t lose any time with technical issues or in the pitlane. That was our main target and that was what we achieved.
“It was a tough weekend performance-wise, but it was something we were expecting beforehand given the [balance of] performance we were handed. All we could do was focus on execution. We came away with some sensible points despite being far off the pace.”
BOP was a particular bone of contention in the GTE Pro class at Spa, not only for Aston but also for BMW and Ferrari – the three manufacturers with new or upgraded cars, in other words.
And given the performance gulf between the BOP ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ in Belgium, it’s not hard to see why.
A new BOP has been issued for Le Mans, with weight increases and power reductions applied across the board to maintain speed differentials between the classes. But Sayers expects Aston to find itself off the pace again unless further changes are made in the run-up to the race.
“I believe they are still looking at it, but the way it’s written at the moment, I think we’d struggle again,” he admits. “It’s always difficult with new cars. Instinctively they [the rulemakers] are always slightly conservative with new cars, because you don’t want a new car to turn up and win everything.
“So I think they would be conservative whoever it was [that had a new car]; they were just a bit too conservative. For sure, now they’ve got some race data [from Spa], they will see what’s needed.”
It’s clear that the Le Mans GTE Pro class is in the midst of a golden era. A bumper crop of 17 cars makes it the largest field the category has assembled since it in effect replaced the old GT1 class in 2011, and six different manufacturers – Corvette makes its usual trip across the Atlantic to join the quintet of WEC marques – gives it variety like no other part of the grid.
Ford, as per the last two years, has four cars entered, and Porsche has doubled its car count in GTE Pro after its withdrawal from LMP1 (see below). Ferrari also has a third AF Corse 488 GTE entered this year, with Risi Competizione only racing in the Am class in association with Keating Motorsports.
Aston on the other hand, like BMW and Corvette, has only two cars, but Turner thinks having fewer entries has its benefits as well as the obvious drawbacks of numerical inferiority.
“We only had one car when we did the Nurburgring 24 Hours
against a number of manufacturers with quite a few cars on the grid,” Turner points out, referring to the fourth-place finish he and his team-mates scored in the lone Vantage GT3 last month against the hordes of Porsche, BMW and Mercedes outfits.
“The norm is two cars, and that’s fine. I don’t think it will be a big issue. If you have four cars it can be distracting and complicated with strategies, whereas it’s fairly simple for us. Both Ford and Porsche have the European WEC squad and the American squad, whereas we have one team.”
For Turner, who has been part of Aston’s set-up since it joined forces with Prodrive and introduced the DBR9 back in 2005, this year’s field will be by far the most competitive he’s raced in.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been in a class with 17,” he enthuses. “There’s no entry on the grid that’s weak – they are all works cars, works drivers. Whoever wins it this year will thoroughly deserve it.
“You can only imagine how cool it will be in the early stages of the race with 17 cars line astern – there’s going to be a massive train of GTE Pro cars going at it hammer and tongs. For the spectators and those watching on TV it should be a fantastic race to watch.”
Aston Martin took three years to win with the DBR9 and six with the old Vantage, so aiming for victory at the first time of asking with the new Vantage may seem ambitious. But Sayers is adamant that the freshness of the project can be no excuse not to aim for success in year one.
“The preparation has been meticulous,” he says. “We don’t see it as a test year or a practice year. We see it as our first opportunity to go and win it. If all the cars have equal performance, then we’re in with a shout. We’ll give it our best shot.”