Aston Martin New Vantage GT3 Racer to Replace DBR9

To the delight of most motorsport fans, Aston Martin's racing division has thrown the covers off its latest creation, the all-new Vantage GT3 racer, which will be ready for competition in 2012. Based on the V12 Vantage road car, the GT3 model will take the place of the DBRS9 after a five-year long career that began in 2006 at Le Mans, and which has since seen a total of 26 chassis built cars that were raced to numerous victories in national and international series across the world.

“The DBRS9 has been a very successful GT3 racing car and, despite being more than six years old, is still competitive today,” said John Gaw, Aston Martin Racing Managing Director. “However, the competition has moved on and we needed to create a new car that combines our six years’ experience in this category with the latest race technology to continue Aston Martin’s success in GT3 for many years to come.”

Aston Martin’s latest race model is still under development with the company having set a target weight of 1250kg (2,756 pounds) and target engine performance figures in excess of 600bhp and 700Nm.

The British company said that the first prototype of the Vantage GT3 will be completed in July 2011, and will undertake an extensive test and development programme during the rest of the year. Aston Martin plans to build a first batch of 10 customer cars for the start of the 2012 season.

The new Vantage GT3 will join Aston Martin’s extensive range of race cars that includes the Vantage GT2, GT4, DBR9 GT1 and the AMR-One LMP.