- Vantage GT3 Set to Compete in Premier GT Racing Series Worldwide, Including FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and Fanatec GT World Challenge
Timed to coincide with the international debut of the new Vantage road car, the spectacular new Vantage GT3 mirrored 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.
Speaking of the exciting new GT racer, 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.
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“It also signaled a closer relationship between our road and race programs, with Aston Martin Racing benefiting from the exceptional pool of talent, experience, and knowledge forged in Formula 1® and found throughout Aston Martin Performance Technologies.
“The result was a truly state-of-the-art GT racer; one that clearly shared its DNA with the latest Vantage road car, yet was perfectly evolved to suit the latest GT3 regulations.
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“Descended from a succession of multiple world championship-winning predecessors, the new Vantage GT3 proved irresistible to an impressive international roster of leading GT racing teams. Hungry for victory and poised to build upon Aston Martin’s extraordinary track record, the world’s greatest endurance races were firmly in the Vantage GT3’s sights.”
The Vantage GT3 was 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 was built around Aston Martin’s proven bonded aluminum chassis structure and powered by its fearsome twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 engine. Boasting a dramatic, all-new nose-to-tail aerodynamic package, comprehensively revised suspension, and state-of-the-art electronics, together they endowed this latest-generation Aston Martin GT racer with world-beating potential.
Full Aston Martin Vantage 3 Specifications here
Built to comply with all FIA GT3 class regulations, including the new-for-2024 LMGT3 category, the new Vantage GT3 was a truly global competitor. One that battled for honors in the world’s most competitive GT series, including the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship (IMSA), Fanatec GT World Challenge, European Le Mans Series (ELMS), and the Nürburgring Langstrecken Serie (NLS).
The Vantage GT3 was the first product of the pioneering collaboration between Aston Martin Racing (AMR) and Aston Martin Performance Technologies (AMPT), as Adam Carter, Aston Martin’s Head of Endurance Motorsport, explained: “The new GT3 was our first opportunity to use AMPT to play a role in leveraging the capabilities, attitude, and methodologies of all of Aston Martin’s various nerve centers, which we’ve then combined with the unrivaled GT program management expertise of AMR. The GT racing program served as a development lab that led to an increasing transfer of knowledge and approach into future Aston Martin road cars.”
Developed to a strict set of objectives set by AMPT and implemented by AMR, the new Vantage GT3 upgrades centered upon addressing some of the old car’s more challenging handling characteristics with the aim of making the new GT3 as drivable as possible for both professional and amateur drivers alike.
An extensive development program – including a grueling 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.
As the lead engineer on the GT3 program, Aston Martin Racing’s Head of Performance Gustavo Betelli was charged with ensuring the Vantage GT3 delivered the desired combination of ultimate pace and approachability. Finding that sweet spot while staying within the FIA’s tightly prescribed and strictly policed Balance of Performance (BoP) regulations was key to hitting AMPT’s transformative objectives: “The focus on the new Vantage GT3 was to increase its performance window and make something that would work at any circuit, on any tire, and with any driver. We also had to work to the new regulations, so this required additional changes.
“These new generation GT3 cars are more dependent than ever on aerodynamic downforce, so we wanted to make the car more stable under braking. The old car would dive a lot under braking, so we had to try and control the pitch with the rear suspension set-up. But this meant it was stiff, which made it quite snappy and, also over-worked the tires. Working heavily on damper tuning, we have found a much better balance with the new car so we can generate the downforce without compromising the suspension set-up. The result is much-improved progression and greater stability in all conditions. It also works its tires much more evenly, so teams have more options on strategy. The feedback from drivers who’ve tested it has been overwhelmingly positive. Especially the amateur racers, who have been able to achieve lap times that are much closer to the Pros. Now we need to go racing!”.
Visually, the Vantage GT3 combined 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.
The result was a truly breath-taking machine. One that combined the muscular and unmistakable design language of the Vantage road car with the awesome aggression and poise of a purebred racer. Amongst the most striking aspects of the Vantage GT3 was the new nose. Not only did the road car’s new wider grille aperture look fabulous, but it afforded AMR the opportunity to increase the volume of ducted cooling air to the brakes, which now gave drivers more consistent performance.
The nose itself was a large one-piece clamshell made from carbon fiber. A quick-release design to facilitate rapid removal and replacement in the event of mid-race accident damage, it housed a full-width laser light, and a shorter splitter; the effect of which moved the center of pressure rearwards to reduce pitch sensitivity and aid stability. Large louvers in the top of the front wheel arches evacuated high-pressure air to reduce lift, with an even larger stack of louvers in the rear arches allowing high pressure to escape from the rear to reduce drag.
Thanks to its widespread eligibility, the new Vantage GT3 was the weapon of choice for an impressive and ever-growing worldwide roster of Aston Martin Racing partner teams. This saw long-standing AMR partners Heart of Racing and D’station Racing joined by newcomers such as Germany’s Walkenhorst Motorsport and Belgian team ComToYou Racing. Flying Lizard Motorsports, already a Vantage GT4 partner team, stepped up to the Vantage GT3 in the US. It was projected that as many as 30 Vantage GT3s would be actively racing by the end of the 2024 season.
This immediate popularity was the best possible endorsement for the AMR-built machine, which had already been
