Aston Martin to build a LMP1 Competitor for 2009 Lemans Series

Posted Today 07:30 AM by Andrew Peterson Category: Motorsports, Aston Martin

The 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans marks Aston Martin’s 50th anniversary of its outright win. In order to celebrate, Aston Martin will field two Works LMP1 class cars in an attempt to win the event again. Aston Martin has successfully fielded DBR9s in the GT1 class for the last two years, but taking on the prototype cars will be a massive undertaking. To develop the LMP1 car for competition during the 2009 Le Mans Series, Aston Martin’s Works team has decided not to field any GT1 cars. Aston Martin will, however, continue to support any of its official sponsors and customers at the races. Similar to other race series, the 2009 Le Mans Series sees the introduction of new regulations aimed at leveling the performance of diesel and gasoline powered LMP1 vehicles. This made the category more appealing for Aston Martin as it will be powered by the same production-based gasoline V-12 found in its GT1 class cars. It is also the same engine found in the Charouz Racing System Lola that set a new lap record for gasoline powered cars at La Sarthe. The 2009 Aston Martin LMP1 car is based on the 2008 Charouz Racing System Lola. Aston Martin is developing the car in conjunction with Lola, Michelin, Koni, and BBS. Look for the car to make its debut at the start of the 2009 Le Mans Series, which begins April 5th with the 1000 km de Catalunya.