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This year marks the 50th Anniversary of Aston Martin’s win at Le Mans. Aston Martin is gunning for the top spot once again with its new LMP1 class Le Mans car that debuted at the Paul Ricard Test Track earlier this week.
The two new Aston Martin LMP1 cars ran for the first time today at the Paul Ricard Test Track in France. The track played host to twenty-six other Le Mans cars and 3500 spectators as the track was opened to the public for the first time in ten years. The track was open for testing before the Le Mans Series begins April 5.Overall, the team was impressed by the car’s first day of testing as it had barely turned a wheel before it hit the track. The team suffered a setback when Czech driver Tomas Enge had an accident and cut the testing short. “It’s a credit to the team that both of ours cars have run so reliably after such an intense and tiring build period. For a first test with brand new cars we have run very successfully,” said Team Principal, George Howard-Chappell. “Obviously the accident set us back to a degree but as always we will recover and we will be in Barcelona with two race-ready cars. I am pleased that the new drivers are getting to grips with the car and are integrating well with the team and the ‘old hands’ are also performing well.”The new Aston Martin LMP1 cars have a full carbon fiber monocoque chasis with steel spaceframe support for the engine and gearbox. They are powered by a V-12 derived from the DB9. The engine displaces 6.0-liters- same as in the DB9- and puts out over 650 hp and 550 lb-ft of torque. Power is transferred to the ground via a six-speed sequential gearbox with a triple-plate carbon clutch and 15-inch wide rear tires. Similar to Formula One cars, the Aston Martin LMP1 cars’ ECU and data system can instantaneously transmit car data back to the engineers in the pits to be analyzed. Unlike Formula One cars though, the car cannot receive information while in motion.Look for the cars sporting the orange and blue Gulf Oil livery numbered 007 and 009 when the Le Mans season begins on April 5 in Barcelona, Spain. Also look for the cars in the 24-Hours of Le Mans that takes place on June 13 and 14.