So the 2018 Le Mans 24 Hours is very nearly upon us. We thought no-one was more excited than us, but apparently Aston Martin are beside themselves. Only a certain kind of internal fervour causes a manufacturer to press its tongue firmly into its cheek and then pay a professional film crew to record the results. We won't spoil the video, although suffice it to say it includes former special forces instructors, a kidnap, interrogation and professional racing drivers acting.
It's all easy to forgive though because Aston has undeniably good reason to be sniffing the office marker pens. Last year, after all, was the scene of a remarkable penultimate lap victory in the GTE Pro category, and this year the firm's racing team fields an all-new car, based on the latest Vantage road car.
The new Mercedes V8-powered GTE has already made its debut at Spa, with both the #95 car driven by Nicki Thiim, Marco Sørensen and three-time Le Mans winner Darren Turner, and the #97 machine of Maxime Martin, Alex Lynn and Jonny Adam finishing in the points. That followed the 35,000km of testing aimed at the V8-powered car over the winter.
Now it's time for the Circuit de la Sarthe and the most famous endurance face of them all. An accident on test day has already resulted in rebuilding of the 'DaneTrain' in just six days so the pit crew will certainly feel like it's been over an assault course - and not the made-up one Turner and co amble around below either...
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