► Covers come off AMR Vantage GTE
► Set for 2018 WEC season
► More than 530bhp from V8
Shortly after the production Aston Martin Vantage was revealed, the British company pulled the wraps off its hardcore racecar for the 2018 WEC season – the Vantage GTE.
At the 2018 Geneva motor show, the car was revealed to the public for the first time, lining up alongside the equally wild Valkyrie AMR Pro super-hypercar, new Lagonda Vision Concept and a handful of Aston’s latest production models – namely the new DB11 Volante.
Read our guide to the 2018 Goodwood Festival of Speed here
It was a show stand full of confidence for its future, be it production cars or racers, with a buzzing crowd around all of the models on display.
Now you’ve finished ogling it, this beastly new track car is heading for the 2018 World Endurance Championship in Spa in May.
Aston prepared early by undertaking 13,000km of testing, including a 30-hour session.
As the name suggests, the new Vantage will be competing in the GTE Pro segment of the WEC season, and has a hard act to follow after its V8 Vantage GTE predecessor.
Tell me more about these insane looks
The whole thing has been designed in parallel with the road car, in-house at Aston Martin Racing’s HQ in Banbury. The chassis is based on the aluminium frame from the road car, while the carbonfibre body is a mad amplification of the regular Vantage’s curves.
As you’d expect from a fire-breathing GTE racer, details include a jutting front splitter, enormous bonnet air vents and a rear wing so big you could sleep on it. The ‘wow’ factor comes from the truly gargantuan carbonfibre rear splitter that sticks out more than a foot from the back of the car.
Gimme some performance specs!
Gladly. The GTE uses the 4.0-litre turbocharged V8 from the new Vantage road car (and a whole host of Mercs, too), with power rated at more than 530bhp and more than 516lb ft of torque. Drive is sent to the rear wheels via an Alcon multi-plate racing clutch, Xtrac six-speed sequential ‘box, carbonfibre propshaft and limited-slip diff.
It should handle, too. Along with the huge amount of downforce from all of those fins, wings and dive planes, the Vantage GTE uses Öhlins suspension and wears lightweight forged magnesium alloys wrapped in bespoke Michelin rubber.
Who will be racing in it?
Last years AMR drivers Darren Turner and Jonny Adam have been kept, as have Nicki Thiim and Marco Sørensen. Formula E racer and F1 test driver Alex Lynn has been hired.
When can I see it in real life?
The first leg of the 2018 WEC season is the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in May 2018.
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