Aston wants Le Mans win

Aston Martin is developing a brand new LMP1 class car, which it’ll use to challenge for outright victory at the 2011 Le Mans 24 Hours. The last time it achieved that feat was in 1959, with Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori driving a DBR1, although more recently the DBR9 won the GT1 category in both 2007 and 2008.

The decision to compete was helped by the revised technical regulations introduced by the Automobile Club De L’Ouest (ACO), organiser of the race. These have been designed to give petrol-powered cars a more equal footing against their diesel counterparts, something that was arguably overdue given that the Audi R10 TDI and Peugeot 908 HDi FAP - both diesel-powered - have dominated in recent years. In fact, the last petrol car to win the Le Mans 24 Hours was the Audi R8 back in 2005.



Work on the chassis and bespoke race engine for the Aston Martin LMP1 has already begun, and there’ll be six cars built. The first test runs are planned to take place in early 2011.