2005

[Nordic]

It seems that prodrive have been contracted to build a GTS Aston Martin to compete at Le Mans in 2005.
After proving that the 550 is more than just a Footballers posing wagon, we should all hope for the best in 2005.
More proof that the GTS class is going to be the realm of the works teams, leaving the LMPs to the smaller teams, this is no bad thing in my view and relish the chance to see a DB7s, corvettes, 575, Vipers etc racing.

[hgb]

Autosport: "DB9 deal with Prodrive to break cover"  

Aston's Project 212 cracks on in the 1963 Le Mans test  

Aston Martin and Prodrive have sealed a deal to build a DB9
Le Mans car, according to this week's Motorsport News.
Aston is said to be on the verge of announcing the new
project which should see Cosworth V12-powered, Prodrive-
built, DB9s on the grid for the 2005 Le Mans 24 Hours.
The car would run in the GTS class - which was won this year
at La Sarthe by a Prodrive-built Ferrari 550 Maranello.
Opposition by 2005 is likely to include Ferrari, Maserati and
Chevrolet. The first of the 6-litre V12-powered DB9 road cars
are due to be delivered to their new owners in the first half
of 2004. Aston Martin last raced in the Le Mans 24 Hours
with its AMR 1 Group C car in 1989.

Link: http://www.autosport.com/newsitem.asp?id=25379&s=15  

[gibberish]

Excellent news.  Even more reason to be there in 2005

[Steve Pyro]

More proof that the GTS class is going to be the realm of the works teams, leaving the LMPs to the smaller teams, this is no bad thing in my view and relish the chance to see a DB7s, corvettes, 575, Vipers etc racing.

Excellent news.  It harkens back to the mid 90's and the McLaren F1.  It will be great to see more sports cars racing that look like their road going brothers.

[mgmark]

Fantastic news - just a shame we have to wait until 2005....

[Robbo SPS]

Fantastic news - just a shame we have to wait until 2005....

Will there not be another WET 1000 kms in November  

[Steve Pyro]

Will there not be another WET 1000 kms in November  

I believe it was a one-off

[Robbo SPS]

Oh well they may start testing in the ELMS series .

[enzo]

Good news alright but i reckon that the factory teams are using the gts class as a cheaper way of exposure than the lmp's as the euro/american car industry is struggling at the moment just look at fords losses and vw problems lately. so all you doing is get a racing company al la prodrive/cosworth etc to develop the car for you less work less money !!!!
i'd say if the car industry as a whole picks up the factory teams will start coming back into lmp class aswell might be a few years though!!!!

[mgmark]

Go back to the real roots of Le Mans and you could probably buy a road version of just about every car that competed up until the mid-60's, because the race cars were generally modified road cars.   The LMPs have developed from the late 60's onwards, where race cars were produced in sufficient numbers to homologate them; subsequently, you get the true one-offs that led to LMP and the odd quirk like the 962 racing in the GT class ('94?).  So, whilst the LMPs are great, at least the GT classes are cars that have some passing resemblance to ones that run on the road.   It's a nice mix when it has a good balance.

[Robbo SPS]

Good news alright but i reckon that the factory teams are using the gts class as a cheaper way of exposure than the lmp's as the euro/american car industry is struggling at the moment just look at fords losses and vw problems lately. so all you doing is get a racing company al la prodrive/cosworth etc to develop the car for you less work less money !!!!
i'd say if the car industry as a whole picks up the factory teams will start coming back into lmp class aswell might be a few years though!!!!

enzo , if you read some of the press , every car manufacter in America  and Europe , every year , in huge debt , losing millions. Only Toyota and honda make money ?

Its a tax dodge.

I like the mix as it is at the moment. Too many factory LMP's and it could be another F1 syndrome....Boring...All you would then do is drink all weekend.  

[Fax]

Enzo,
I certainly wouldn't suggest for a second that the GTS cars are a cheaper way to racing than the LMP classes.  If you look at the sort of technology (read..money) that goes into the Vettes & 550's they're every bit as trick and expensive as any of the LMP cars on the grid with the possible exception of the Audi's.  I think the factories see silhouette racing as the way to go right now.  Sportscar racing has always been cyclical in this way.  The Porsche 917 & 908's and Ferrari 512 & 312's and Matra's of the late sixties and early seventies gave way to Porsche 935's & Lancia Beta's in the mid-late seventies.  They ruled the roost until the intro of Group C which then gave way back to GT cars in the mid-ninties.  Get my point.
Alot of manufacturers are looking at the enormous success of NASCAR racing here in the US which is very much a silhouette formula, and seeing that as the way to go.
John

[mgmark]

Fully agree with you on the technology - look at the carbon fibre propshaft for a 550 and it is a work of art - spun/wound filament fibre, weighs a few pounds and takes humungous amounts of horsepower/torque - neither cheap nor mass-produced!

[Rhino]

The first carbon propshafts that appeared on the panoz were reputed to cost £30,000 each

[Andy]

i wouldnt want to be the panoz driver who goes to the pits if i was at fault to say ive snapped the prop. bugger!