Wednesday 23rd December 2009

Aston DBR9s Line Up For GT1 In 2010

Aston to battle Nissan, Ford, Lamborghini, Maserati and Chevy in revamped World Championship

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The Aston Martin DBR9 will be raced by two teams in the new FIA GT1 World Championship in 2010, assuming their entries are rubber-stamped by the organisers.

According to Aston Martin Racing, teams Hexis AMR and Young Driver AMR have both applied for entry, and each plan to run two Aston Martin DBR9s in the championship. The entries have been accepted but are subject to final approval by the FIA and the confirmed entry list will be issued in January. Presumably the announcement implies the FIA technical waiver being sought by Aston for theDB9R has been granted, but we've not quite managed to confirm that yet.

Cars from six manufacturers are expected to line up on the GT1 grid next year, the others being the Nissan GT-R, Ford GT, Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-4, GM Corvette and Maserati MC12. Each manufacturer will be represented by two independent teams running two identical cars each.

With 10 events on four continents, organisers hope that the new championship will capture the hearts and attention of motorsport fans around the globe.

The calendar for the inaugural season of the FIA GT1 World Championship as approved by the World Motor Sport Council is:

03 Apr Abu Dhabi Yas Marina
02 May UK Silverstone
23 May Czech Republic Brno
04 Jul France* Paul Ricard
01 Aug Belgium Spa-Francorchamps
29 Aug Germany Nürburgring
19 Sep Portugal Portimao
07 Nov South Africa* Durban
28 Nov Brazil Interlagos
05 Dec Argentina San Luis
*Subject to the ASN confirmation

The announcement of the new World Championship will see a change to the existing structure with GT1, GT2, and GT3 classes split into three distinct championships.

The FIA GT1 World Championship is for independent teams and professional drivers, the FIA GT2 European Championship is for independent teams and pro-am driver crews, and the FIA GT3 European Championship is for independent teams and non-professional drivers.

[MrTappets]

From the title of the article i thought for a second that there was a new model called the DBR9S. I assume you mean DBR9s?

[Chris-R]

MrTappets said:

From the title of the article i thought for a second that there was a new model called the DBR9S. I assume you mean DBR9s?

Yes, our internet machine capitalises text in headlines and we can't do much about it - sorry for disappointing you about the forthcoming 'S' model!

[zebedee]

As opposed to the DBRS9 which does actually exist! There'll be a 9S along in a minute, and I bet it will look just like every Aston since the DB7, seeing as they all have so far.

[AllNines]

zebedee said:

As opposed to the DBRS9 which does actually exist! There'll be a 9S along in a minute, and I bet it will look just like every Aston since the DB7, seeing as they all have so far.

Fabulous, you mean?

[chevronb37]

Great to see the career of the DBR9 continuing, but I can't help feeling a certain regret that they're having to change existing cars. These will be phenomenally valuable in years to come and having them butchered won't help their provenance. Reminds me of those chaps a few years back put Judd GV4 engines in Ferrari 333SPs.

Anyway, Silverstone in May will be awesome no matter what. Can't wait.

[Daniel1]

imagine turning upto McDonalds in that

[jayfish]

Daniel1 said:

imagine turning upto McDonalds in that

You'd never be able to fit 2 big macs, fries and drinks through the little slot in the side windows...

[AJS-]

I saw the DB9s at Spa in 2005 and then Silverstone in 2006. For my money they are mankinds finest creation bar none. Great to see them back. Now I can watch GT again!