Aston Martin has unveiled the Vantage GT3 alongside the new Vantage road car, Alfardan Luxury Motors Company said in a statement issued in Doha.
Vantage GT3 will contest world’s greatest GT series, including the FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the Fanatec GT World Challenge, it was explained.
Vantage GT3 is the first product of collaboration between Aston Martin Racing and Aston Martin Performance Technologies. Re-worked aerodynamics and revised suspension are developed to maximise performance potential in the hands of both Pro and Am racing drivers.
Vantage LMGT3 FIA World Endurance Championship contender follows the ultra-successful Vantage GTE, which scored a remarkable 52 class wins and 11 world titles between 2012 and 2023. Three new Vantage GT3s are already competing, with several more to debut over the next month in the hands of an impressive global roster of partner teams, with 30 projected by the end of 2024 season.
Timed to coincide with the international debut of the new Vantage road car, the new Vantage GT3 mirrors the latest showroom model’s intensified performance, sharpened dynamics and eye-catching style, translating those qualities into a formidable new GT racer and starting the next chapter in Aston Martin’s illustrious motorsport history.
Marco Mattiacci, global chief brand and commercial officer of Aston Martin said: “Simultaneously revealing the new Vantage and Vantage GT3 race car underlines Aston Martin’s commitment to building the world’s finest sports car, and then proving its capabilities on-track.
The Vantage GT3 is a comprehensive evolution of the ultra-successful and recently retired Vantage GTE and GT3 cars, which made their debuts in 2018. Sharing their mechanical architecture – and that of the new Vantage road car – the Vantage GT3 is built around Aston Martin’s proven bonded aluminium chassis structure and powered by its twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 engine. Boasting a dramatic, all-new nose-to-tail aerodynamic package, comprehensively revised suspension and state-of-the-art electronics, together they endow this latest-generation Aston Martin GT racer with world-beating potential.
An extensive development programme – including a gruelling 30-hour test – was completed late last year with a combination of Aston Martin’s contracted professional drivers, plus selected amateur racers. All reported the new Vantage GT3 to be a super-fast-yet-forgiving machine with no vices and a usefully wide set-up window that’s perfectly suited to the unique demands and ultra-competitive nature of top-level GT racing.
Visually the Vantage GT3 combines the striking design of the new Vantage road car with the extreme downforce-generating aerodynamics that make GT3 racing so popular with racers and fans alike. Extensive use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) achieved the desired targets for aerodynamic performance and efficiency – while remaining within the FIA’s downforce limits – and input from Aston Martin’s Design department ensured this pure function was matched by perfect form.
Amongst the most striking aspects of the Vantage GT3 is the new nose, a large one-piece clamshell made from carbon fibre. A quick-release design to facilitate rapid removal and replacement in the event of mid-race accident damage, it houses a full-width laser light, and a shorter splitter; the effect of which moves the centre of pressure rearwards to reduce pitch sensitivity and aid stability. Large louvres in the top of the front wheel arches evacuate high-pressure air to reduce lift, with an even larger stack of louvres in the rear arches allowing high pressure to escape from the rear to reduce drag.
Flying Lizard Motorsports, already a Vantage GT4 partner team, will now step up to the Vantage GT3 in the US. The machine, which has already been seen in action at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, will be fighting for victory at the Nurburgring 24 Hours, Spa-Francorchamps 24 Hours and - most iconic of all – the 24 Hours of Le Mans later this year. The Vantage GT3 will also see action in a host of national GT championships around the globe – including the Japanese Super GT Championship and British GT Championship, the statement added.
