New Aston Martin Vantage GTE spied testing

With some rather big shoes to fill, the new Vantage GTE gets up and running

We've seen rather a lot of Aston Martin's 'Second Century' design language now, enough to broadly understand how the look will be translated across the range. One thing we haven't had a chance to judge though, is how well the more angular styling is suited to taking racecar form. From the present Vantage GT4, to the Le Mans winning GTE, Aston's sleek road car designs have always looked even better on track. But now we have our first glimpse of what's to come and the signs are good. Very good.

This new video, shot at Rockingham, shows an early test of the 2018 Vantage GTE. Proportionally it still looks to be one of the best cars on the grid, and with a new front end reminiscent of a scaled down Vulcan and the unbeatable GTE combination of giant wing and even giant-er diffuser at the rear, all the signs are positive style-wise. Even the wing mirrors look incredible!

Looks alone won't be enough when it takes over from the current car for next year's FIA World Endurance Championship though. Under the bonnet it's expected to feature a turbocharged AMG V8, similar to the engine which will likely feature in the new Vantage road car. All we can say for certain about that at present is that it still sounds the part. We'll have full details when both cars are launched at the end of this year, although with the FIA's Balance of Performance test taking place later this month, we may have more information even sooner than that.

And don't forget, should you want to see the Vantage GTE, and all its competitors, in action you can register your interest in the 2018 PistonHeads Le Mans campsites here!

Watch the video here