Aston Martin - V8 Vantage - Sales Brochure - 2005 - 2005 (2)

ASTON MARTIN VANTAGE GT2 ASTON MARTIN RACING HAS DRAWN ON YEARS OF COMPETITION AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL TO PRODUCE THE VANTAGE GT2 A RACING PEDIGREE On 20 March 2005 the number 58 Aston Martin DBR9 of Darren Turner, David Brabham and Stephane Ortelli, took the chequered flag at the 12 Hours of Sebring in Florida. It was a famous victory for the Aston Martin Racing team and the DBR9 on their competition debuts and heralded the beginning of a new era for Aston Martin in motorsport. The GT1 specification DBR9 was soon accompanied by the GT3 DBRS9, both based on the acclaimed Aston Martin DB9 road car, but designed to FIA GT3 regulations for competition in national and international race series. In 2007 the Vantage N24, the first competition car based on Aston Martin’s new V8 Vantage, joined the racing stable. Now Aston Martin Racing has used all its experience in developing the GT1, GT3 and GT4 cars to produce the Vantage GT2, making it the only manufacturer to offer cars in every class of GT racing. The Vantage GT2 has undergone extensive test and development by the works team in the hands of Aston Martin Racing driver, Darren Turner. It is hand-built by Aston Martin Racing, a partnership formed between Aston Martin and world-leading motorsport specialist, Prodrive, and is finished to Aston Martin’s exacting standards. The Vantage GT2 is also the first car Aston Martin Racing has designed specifically with bio-fuels in mind. Using the experience gained in converting a DBRS9 to run on bio-ethanol for competition in the British GT Championship, the Vantage GT2 is the first GT car designed specifically to a bio-ethanol specification for racing in championships, including the American Le Mans Series. The car conforms to the latest FIA and ACO GT2 regulations and is available for private teams to compete in international race series including: FIA GT Championship; 24 Hours of Le Mans; European Le Mans Series; American Le Mans Series; Japanese Le Mans Series; International GT Open Series; French GT Championship; Italian GT Championship; and the Spanish GT Championship. THE VANTAGE GT2 IS A V8 VANTAGE AT ITS CORE A GREAT FOUNDATION At the heart of the Vantage GT2 is the Aston Martin V8 Vantage. This critically acclaimed road car was launched in 2005, having undergone the most extensive test programme of any Aston Martin, with more than 1.5 million kilometres, including 18,000 kilometres of desert driving at 50oC in Dubai; cold weather testing at -30oC in Sweden; and 60,000 kilometres of maximum speed testing at Italy’s Nardo track. Aston Martin’s unique bonded aluminium structure gives the road car class leading strength and rigidity. This exact same chassis is retained in the Vantage GT2, with the addition of an Aston Martin Racing designed steel roll cage to further enhance the torsional rigidity of the platform. The front mid-mounted V8 engine and rear mid-mounted transmission create optimum front to rear weight distribution, while a dry sump lubrication system contributes to a low centre of gravity, making the V8 Vantage the perfect foundation for a successful GT car. DESIGNED FOR INTERNATIONAL RACING The Vantage GT2 is the latest addition to the range of Aston Martin Racing cars. The Vantage GT2 has been specifically designed to compete in championships running to either FIA or ACO GT2 regulations and is the very first GT car to be designed at the outset in a bio-ethanol fuelled specification. Aston Martin Racing engineers designed the Vantage GT2 with two principles in mind. First and foremost, the car had to be competitive on the track, but it also had to be competitively priced and cost-effective to run. Under the bonnet, the engine is based on the standard 4.3 litre Aston Martin V8 retaining the road car’s cylinder block, heads and crankshaft, but using competition components, including cylinder heads, connecting rods, valves, camshafts and a racing exhaust system. The engine capacity is increased to 4.5 litres and uses a dry sump lubrication system allowing the engine to be positioned low in the chassis, for an optimised centre of gravity. Like in the road car, the transmission is mid rear mounted, but with a six-speed sequential transmission with a ‘flat shift’ and competition clutch. The transmission also has a dedicated oil cooling system and air ventilation. The bonded aluminium structure is taken directly from the V8 Vantage road car. Into this Aston Martin Racing integrates an aerospace specification steel roll cage, built to FIA standards. With the exception of the roof, the bodywork is manufactured from lightweight carbon fibre and features an advanced aerodynamic package with carbon fibre splitter, flat floor and diffuser, and a carbon fibre rear wing designed using computational fluid dynamics. These and other weight reductions ensure the car meets its minimum weight of 1,150 kg (FIA regulations), 1,175 kg (ACO regulations). Brembo six-piston racing brakes are fitted front and rear. The Vantage GT2 retains the road car’s double wishbone suspension layout at the front and rear, but with bespoke wishbones and coil springs over Koni adjustable aluminium bodied dampers. COMPETITIVE ON TRACK COST EFFECTIVE TO RUN VANTAGE GT2 SPECIFICATION BODY & CHASSIS SUSPENSION · Bonded aluminium chassis from the V8 Vantage road car · Aston Martin Racing manufactured aerospace specification steel roll cage built to FIA regulations · Carbon fibre bodywork: bonnet, wings, doors, tailgate, front and rear bumpers, sills, rear quarters · Aerodynamic package: carbon fibre front splitter, flat floor, rear diffuser, CFD designed rear wing · Double wishbones front and rear · Coil springs over Koni adjustable dampers · Front and rear suspension adjustable for corner weights, ride heights, toe and camber settings ENGINE TRANSMISSION · 4.5 litre V8 in 90 degree configuration with all aluminium cylinder block and heads. Mid front-mounted · Four valves per cylinder · Dry sump lubrication · Racing exhaust system · Pectel SQ6 engine management · Mid rear mounted trans axle · Six speed sequential transmission with straight cut dog engagement gears and a flat shift · Air and oil cooled · Competition clutch · Limited slip differential ELECTRICAL SYSTEM BRAKES · Full military specification loom manufactured by Aston Martin Racing · Pi data system · Six piston Brembo calipers front and rear WEIGHT WHEELS & TYRES · Forged aluminium centre lock BBS wheels Front - 10.75” x 18” Rear - 11” x 18” · FIA regulations - 1,150 kg · ACO regulations - 1,175 kg A CENTURY OF HERITAGE GIVES ASTON MARTIN AN UNRIVALLED CHARACTER ASTON MARTIN HERITAGE Aston Martin is one of the world’s most distinguished sports car manufacturers. For nearly a century it has been producing exclusive, hand-crafted cars. In that time only some 40,000 Aston Martins have been built and 80 per cent are still in use; cherished, driven and raced by enthusiastic owners around the world. The founders of the company, Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford, had a clear vision: to create sports cars with a distinctive character; cars built to a high standard that were exhilarating to drive and own; cars with power, beauty and soul. These values remain true today and can been found in the Vantage GT2. In 1947, Aston Martin was acquired by industrialist, David Brown, and soon after he launched the first in a series of new DB-badged classics. His period of ownership saw Aston Martin win Le Mans in 1959 with the DBR1 and secure victory in that year’s World Sportscar championship. Aston Martin would not mount the top step of the podium at this classic 24 hour race again until 2007, this time with the DBR9. From the 1960s Aston Martin became intrinsically linked with James Bond, as first the DB5, then the Vantage, the Vanquish and, most recently, the DBS in ‘Casino Royale’, became the British special agent’s car of choice. Today Aston Martin builds some of the most evocative sports cars in the world at its state of the art facility in the UK, which uses the latest design and manufacturing processes to create the V8 Vantage, the DB9 and the DBS. SEPARATED BY 50 YEARS, UNITED IN VICTORY ASTON MARTIN RACING PEDIGREE Aston Martin’s international racing debut was at the 1923 French Grand Prix, but it was not until industrialist David Brown acquired the company in 1947 that a new era of racing was ushered in, with a series of high-powered DB-badged sports and racing cars. As well as winning the 1957 Belgian Grand Prix and 1958 Goodwood Tourist Trophy, the team clinched the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1959 with Roy Salvadori and Carroll Shelby. Following that famous victory, there was no factory Aston Martin presence for more than 40 years, when in 2004, Aston Martin and Prodrive formed Aston Martin Racing to lead the marque in a successful return to sports car racing. Prodrive is one of the most successful motorsport businesses in the world, winning six World Rally titles with Subaru, five British Touring Car Championships with BMW, Alfa Romeo and Ford, and the GTS class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2003 with a privately entered Ferrari 550. In 2007, the Aston Martin Racing partnership would bring Prodrive its second class win at Le Mans with the DBR9, just over two years after the car’s winning debut at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2005. Aston Martin Racing has also supplied the DBR9 to private teams who have won sports car series including the FIA GT Championship and Le Mans Series. In 2005, Aston Martin Racing developed the DBRS9, also based on the DB9 road car, but built to FIA GT3 regulations. Like the DBR9, this car competed in the hands of private teams in international and national sports car series including the FIA GT3 Championship; the American Le Mans Series and the British GT3 Championship, giving Barwell the teams’ cup in 2007. The Vantage GT2 is the latest car to join the Aston Martin Racing stable. GULF AND ASTON MARTIN RACING HAVE FORMED ONE OF THE MOST ICONIC PARTNERSHIPS IN WORLD MOTORSPORT CONTACT Aston Martin Racing Banbury Oxfordshire OX16 3ER England T F E W +44 (0) 1295 754004 +44 (0) 1295 271188 [email protected] www.astonmartinracing.com IMPORTANT NOTICE Aston Martin Racing has made every effort to ensure that the information in this document is accurate at the time of going to press. This document should not be used as a final guide to the latest specification and therefore does not constitute an offer for sale.