After a barely noticeable introduction at Daytona, the new Aston is officially introduced.
Without any warning, Aston Martin put the new Vantage GT3 on the road before it was officially announced without telling anyone. This release is now official. Aston not only gave us a lot of information about the new road version of the Vantage, but also information about the race car.
In summary, the Vantage GT3 is an ordinary Vantage that has been heavily modified to compete in endurance racing. It has a roll cage fitted to its bonded aluminum chassis, carbon fiber body panels and a host of other changes to make it suitable for track use.
All machines in the GT3 class start their lives as real production vehicles, and the new Vantage is no different. The cars in the class are all unique, but despite the variety, they have very similar performance. According to the regulations, the Aston has the same basic engine as the production car but is tuned to produce 500 to 600 horsepower. The weight of all cars in the GT3 class must likewise be between 1,200 kg and 1,300 kg.
The old Vantage GT3 was a popular customer race car and Aston reckons the new one will be no different. The automaker expects 30 cars to compete on tracks around the world by the end of the 2024 season. One reason for this is that Aston already has a large customer team using its car, and it also suits many different series.
Despite the success of the formula, the company stated that the previous car had some "challenging" handling characteristics and these have been corrected in the new model. Following an extensive development programme, feedback from drivers has been positive; the car was described as having "no faults whatsoever" and being very forgiving.
If you want to see the Vantage GT3 in action, you'll have plenty of opportunities. In addition to competing in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship in the USA, it will also compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) and the Nürburgring Langstrecken Series (NLS).
Source: https://www.motor1.com/news/708008/aston-martin-new-vantage-gt3/
