The Aston Martin Vantage has forged quite the reputation for itself over the years as a GT racer. The 2017 GTE victory at Le Mans was one for the sportscar racing ages, and anyone lucky enough to watch the old V12 GT3 in action won’t have forgotten it in a hurry. According to Aston Martin, Vantages of one description or another achieved 52 class victories and 11 world titles between 2012 and 2023. So this new GT3 has a lot to live up to.
It’ll have the best chance of success by being eligible for championships across the globe. Fans will see this Vantage in the FIA World Endurance Championship (in the new LMGT3 spec), Fanatec GT World Challenge, European Le Mans Series and Nurburgring Langstrecken Series (NLS). It’s already been racing, in fact, at last month’s Rolex Daytona 24 Hour as part of the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship. Whichever GT racing series you watch, there’s more than likely going to be a Vantage in it; the trio that were racing in Florida could grow to as many as 30 active racers by the end of this year.
Like the road car, the new GT3 Vantage represents a heavy evolution of the model first introduced in 2018. The main objective for this update was to make the Aston more approachable, giving all those who get behind the wheel the best chance possible of consistent fast lapping. The first product of a collaboration between Aston Martin Racing and Aston Martin Performance Technologies, the Vantage has had both aero and suspension significantly revised. Which the actual motorsport engineer can explain better than us wannabes ever could: “These new generation GT3 cars are more dependent than ever on aerodynamic downforce, so we wanted to make the car more stable under braking. The old car would dive a lot under braking, so we had to try and control the pitch with the rear suspension set-up. But this meant it was stiff, which made it quite snappy and also over-worked the tyres. Working heavily on damper tuning, we have found a much better balance with the new car so we can generate the downforce without compromising the suspension set-up. The result is much-improved progression and greater stability in all conditions.” That’s the view of Gustavo Betelii, AMR’s Head of Performance - quite some job title. Now the GT3 works its tyres more evenly, there will be more strategy options open to teams.
The dramatic new look serves a purpose, too (beyond encouraging people to go look at a Vantage road car, of course). Aerodynamic performance is said to be better than ever before thanks to the introduction of a shorter splitter at the front (moving the center of pressure rearwards, benefitting stability), the louvres in the front arches to reduce lift and an even larger stack on the rear ones to reduce drag. The new front end means the brakes now enjoy improved cooling and therefore more consistent performance. Should that fresh face get biffed during a race, it’s a one-piece clamshell that can be replaced easily.
The 4.0-litre V8 is carried over, now said to be ‘repositioned to optimise mass distribution.’ It gets bespoke Borg Warner turbos, an Akrapovic exhaust and is dry sumped, of course. The transmission is a six-speed Xtrac sequential, brakes are from Alcon and the dampers are five-way adjustable. Various rules and regulations will stipulate final performance and weight, though Aston quotes a dry homologated base weight of 1,265kg.
Marco Mattiacci, Aston’s Global Chief Brand and Commercial Officer, added: “Descended from a succession of multiple world championship-winning predecessors, the new Vantage GT3 is proving irresistible to an impressive international roster of leading GT racing teams. Hungry for victory and poised to build upon Aston Martin’s extraordinary track record, the world’s greatest endurance races are firmly in the Vantage GT3’s sights.” They’re going for it alright. Following on from Daytona, expect to see the new Aston Martin at Spa, Silverstone, the Nurburgring and, of course, Le Mans over the coming months. And that’s just Europe, with Vantages set for races across the globe during 2024. Don’t be surprised if that roster of victories is added to soon.
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