It’s hard not love Aston Martin. Last night they crammed a bunch of us in a small room in London, fed us with chips and beer and told us they were going to win Le Mans this year. Or at the very least have a bloody good go at it. No apologies for the language, this was all very British. And absolutely inspiring.
Aston Martin is after all hurting badly right now, 600 planned redundancies were announced before Christmas as it became apparent that the recession was hitting Aston harder than most. And yet we have the One-77, we have the re-launch of Lagonda in March, there’s a DBS convertible and (holy cow) the V12 Vantage to come… and now this; a crack at overall victory at Le Mans against cars many times more sophisticated and teams with ten times the budget.
You might want to suggest that Ulrich Bez, CEO and David Richards, Chairman, are insane. This is the week that even sober commentators began talking not about recession, but about depression; 2009 and 2010 are write-off years. Maybe 2011 too.
Yet Richards is nothing if not canny, he’s pulled the trick of pre-selling the racing chassis to collectors before. And after Subaru’s withdrawal his Prodrive business has paid-up talent going spare. And Gulf, the team’s iconic sponsor, is after all, an oil company and they all still seem to be doing rather well. For now. And it is the 50th anniversary of Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori’s win in the beautiful DBR1. Maybe not so insane. Maybe 2009 was the only year they could do this.
So what chance does the team have? Frankly, it’s slim, but that’s enough of a chance at Le Mans where anything but 24 hours of perfect motor racing will knock you out of contention as it did two of the Audis and all of the Peugeots last year. Peugeot is committed to a complex hybrid system, Audi to an all-new car.
The Aston is neither complex nor all-new. (It’s also nameless, suggestions please…?) And Richards and wing man George Howard-Chappell know how to run the tightest of ships with the DBR9s after four years of some of the closest racing Le Mans has ever seen against the Corvettes. A win is not impossible then. A memorable weekend is however guaranteed. It wouldn’t be very British to miss it.
It’s great to have a British contender at the top level; and as we know from last year, anything can happen. Bring on the race!
yh I say bring it on to.
Aston Martin should win it.
It could be one of those miracle moments this year. I can imagine it, the Aston running in a solid podium position for 23 hours and then the lead Pug and Audi punt each other off in the last hou, ‘God Save The Queen’ playing on the podium. And that my friends will be the moment I will be most proud of being not English, but British.
How about the DBR50 for a name (kinda cheesy though, but Ferrari called their new car the F60)
There is a strong possibility that Aston can win Le mans this year as they will probably be the only team left to compete…
Why not make it a race for standard production cars only, in road trim. That way the costs would be affordable to all.It could be done in groups, family, hot hatch, performance, petrol, diesel. Sales figures would improve for the winning manufactures, as they would have ‘real’ meaning to the great unwashed.
Aston must have a secret money printing press hidden away somewhere, they seem to be launching products and spending all around them like it’s bonus weekend on Wall Street.
As far as a name goes how about DBR 09 as it is 2009 after all. DBR50 is also a good suggestions from Duffers917k
@ English Cad
That defeats the point of Le Mans – to marvel (and support) ridiculous cars, which are all but irrelevant. I love it! Go Aston. You might want to check out the BTTC, that’s a vastly underrated champ, and its great to watch. I think it’s on ITV2 or 3.
It should be called the Astom Martin Gauntlett, for any number of reasons.
Though it should be spelt correctly.
@No.4: No. That would suck. Maybe as a kind of Anti-LM, in the same way that the 2904 is an anti-Gumball, but it wouldn’t replace proper Le Mans.
I really hope Aston Martin do well this year, especially with such a gorgeous car, apart from that rear wing looks a bit small. And think of the sound!
As for the name, I too thought of DBR50, or maybe AM50. Or the Aston Martin Arse-Kicker V12. Or LMP-Vantage. Or DBR-Vantage. Or ONE-50. Or Ad-Vantage. Or not.
Or the AM Diesel Hunter!
How about the Aston martin Gulf-Anator!
make gulf pay a little extra money to have their name in the car title…
or just how about the Aston Martin LM09?
I SPOTTED A SPELLING MISTAKE
It’s hard not- ????____???? -love Aston Martin. Last night they crammed a bunch of us in a small room in London, fed us with chips and beer and told us they were going to win Le Mans this year.
Aston Martin DBV12 LM
I remember a rumour about this a while back, definatly good news.
they won the GT1 category, and ill be damned if they cant win LMP1 or LMP2
Bentley won it before, it would prove that britain still rules motorsport.
AMR09-LMP1 i bet it will be called that. Which is much more boring than ‘Earl Grey Racer’ or ‘Have it you fat americans, you hairy germans and you homosexual frenchies’…. i doubt FIA will approve that
Do you like WWF?
The union jack is upside down.
I want to get into racing ( I’m a girl age 13) does anyone know where i can go!!!!???????
p.s IM DESPERATE
Buy an old Mini and try autograss.
Tank- You do realise that the Bentley Speed 8 project was run side by side with Audi and the car was a essentialy a coupe R8, right?
Something this British with so much guts and heart put into it deserves a better name than some combination of letters and numbers.
How about the Aston Martin Vanguard? Or perhaps Aston Martin Victoria?
the aston martin dbr-hope. in the darkest time…
And I thought DBR50 was cheesy, I know let’s call it the Aston Martin Winner!
The DBR-LM methinks… I’d love to see them win but I’ll be happy enough if they finish. Unfortunately I’m afraid Audi will beat them to death with their own shoes, they practically own Sarthe these days.
Blasphemy!
How about DBR1ce more?
DBR50…for the 50th anniversary of the DBR1’s victory
its gonna be hard to beat audis and their TDIs …
ITS SHOULD DEFINITELY IN BRITISH RACING GREEN!!!!
how about for the name; aston martin dbrx
it is laughable at everyone here to see that they think aston is british, when clearly it isnt. the british are really trying SO hard to make everyone believe that its british.
aston marton didnt even know how to make a proper car till the company was handed over to the germans to engineer their cars properly. the CEO of aston is german. the company’s engine plant is in germany for god’s sake!! obviously all the engineers and workers there are germans as well. so it stands to reason that no matter how hard the ‘british’ try, they can never make aston martin ‘british’, which is sad.. sorry guys.
if only the british hadnt made such rubbish cars with a reletively good looking body on top of the chassis when they REALLY had control of the company and were actually running the show. hiding behind the germans and shouting ‘we’re british’ shows some serious inferiority complex issues doesnt it.
its ok boys…perhaps one day you will find some thing which you can invent which actually IS ‘british’, and i mean something made by you entirely, not a stolen idea from some other nation or civilization and given the title of being ‘british’. good luck!
im a terrorist arrest me police
hello its van yeah yeah top gear is a show init bluud
Always been a big fan of brits at le man both drivers and more so manafacturers went to the classic reunion last year with all the jags astons lotus etc was really good fun you just dont realise the number of brits involved, this year hoping to get out there to watch the 24hr best of british to all brits going
@ Face the Truth…..
Whilst I agree that calling Aston “British” is a misnomer, I think you may need to check your facts. Go back in history and look at how many inventions there have been that ARE british, that are now used throughout the world.
Oh…you failed to mention where you are from??
He’s a Yank and obviously sore at Aston Martin beating Corvette. As for what have we invented, well America didn’t we?
And that was the biggest mistake
This news was long time coming I reckon, after all doesn’t Prodrive own Aston now?
its a gd car dat aston ave made well done
Name suggestion: Aston Martin Gulf, which abbreviates into… : D Sorry, I couldn’t stop myself there.
It’ll probably end up as Gulf/AML LMP1 1.09.
Btw: why do all streetgoing AM’s look alike? Jezza’s always comlaining about Porsche’s (lack of) design, but these guys are worse! It’s a nice design, but please…
@ get real
doesnt matter where im from. most people havent even heard of my country. but thankfully im NOT from america. look im not trying to start an argument here. personally i believe top gear is a program which can never be replaced by anything else. its theonly program which i watch regularly (whenever it comes that is)
yes the british do have talent. but the modern generation of brits havent done their previous generations proud. this is what i was trying to say in my last post. they constantly tell about what they have invented in the years passed, but there is nothing being invented TODAY. infact even the things that they have invented are being improved by other nations. thats just not something good is it? till when will they stand on the shoulders of their forefathers and lean against other european nations just to stand up?
@face the truth
as somebody who works for a British engineering company that exports to China because, whilst they can make whatever cheaper, they cannot produce to the required quality.
There is plenty being invented and made in Britain these days, sadly certain media organisations would not sell their newspapers if they printed good news.
Good luck to all who work on this Aston Martin project. Do you recon Jenson Button might be available to drive it?
And just for all bickering above
GO ON ASTON SPLATTER THE YANKS
They dont like it up em!!!
In an underated british way of course
Let’s call it the DBR1T…
And it’s predecessor…
This year is the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the DBR1, which is to be celebrated at the Silverstone Classic, this year.
DBR1/2
1957 construction – 1st at Spa Sports Car Race (Brooks), it repeated this performance when it won at Nurburgring 1000kms (Brooks/Cunningham-Reid). It crashed at Le Mans whilst lying 2nd (Brooks/Cunningham-Reid). It then finished 1st at the Belgian GP at Spa (Brooks).
1958 – Retired at Sebring (Moss/Brooks), was forced off the road at Nurburgring (Brooks/Lewis-Evans), retired at Le Mans (Brooks/Trintignant) but then came 1st in the TT at Goodwood (Moss/Brooks)
1959 – 1st at Le Mans (Salvadori/Shelby) and then 1st again in the TT at Goodwood (Moss/Shelby/Fairman)
1960 – Sold to Major Ian Baillie who drove it (with Greenall) at the Nurburgring; it finished but unclassified, apparently! Finished 9th at Le Mans (Baillie/Fairman)
1961-1962 – Remained with, and raced by, Baillie
1963 – Acquired by David Ham and raced by him for the 3 seasons
1966 – Acquired by Chris Stewart and raced by him for several years, although Neil Corner also campaigned it and appears to have purchased a joint ownership, or possibly outright purchase at some stage.
1971 – Last recorded outing by Corner but Stewart continues to race it until …….
1977? – Purchased by Geoffrey Marsh
1980 (circa) – Goes to the Setton private collection France. Returns to UK in …..
1992 – Acquired by Tim Samway and rebuilt by him, the car has occasionally been driven by Tony Dron but much more often by Peter Hardman with whom the car has become closely (and spectacularly!) associated, especially at the Goodwood Revival when with it, he won the Lavant Cup in 1999 and 2000.
@ face the truth:
You forget about Ariel, Noble, and Lotus.
That was my comment above, forgot to put a name on it…
And you forgot Caterham and Westfield, and McLaren was founded by a New Zealander and is now British. And don’t forget we invented NZ too!
face the truth, it’s almost funny how you make an annoying statement, and then, after one complaint, almost entirely go back on your word!
And no one is doing anyones forefathers proud, because most stand-out cars are reinventions of, or inspired by, things from the past, or are just same-old same-old. Even before the Credit Crunch, very few people were actually looking and thinking forward and innovating.
And Astons are designed by Brits (generally speaking) and made in England, with an English badge. That’ll do for us.
I had a DB9 not bad actually but my Maserati GranTurismo is much better.
No one really cares about Le Mans tbh, F1 and Moto GP is the pinnacle.
@Alfa: No one cares about F1…
It´s good to have a new competitor going for an overall win.
But to be realistic, it´s going to be a race between Audi and Peugeot. And if not them, the Porsche LM is also a good tip.
re: 13 – That’s a grammatical error, not a spelling error since there wasn’t a word put to have been misspelled.
re: face the truth – the thing your using now… the computer… we invented that. and Anonymous, you forgot Ascari, which – apart from the fugly Appolo – is the quickest car round the TG track. Not an american, German or japanese car. a British one. that isn’t uglier’n sin.
also… you owed a DB9, but preffer the Granturism huh? well that’s great, I have Forza 2 also.
anyways… I’m just happy for Aston havign a go at LeMans. Bentley did well enoughon their first return after a long hiatus, so why not?
also.. beer and chips? Brilliant. could you imagine any japanese or german manufacturers doing that?
Yeeees, that would be bloody brilliant! I’d love to have and Aston win in Le Mans …and a Hamilton F1 victory. The UK most certainly still has the talent!
@ face the truth…
no matter who takes ownership of Aston Martin, you must realise that it will ALLWAYS be as british as James May eating crumpets in a shed.
Aston is ours; ours ya hear!
Rather than concentrating on Le Mans, maybe Aston could focus on making a road car with a gearbox that works properly. Even a Hyundai Excel and Kia Rio have one of them.
I care about Le Mans and clearly enough other people do to warrant Audi spending billions on it over the past decade. Also, Aston is just british, it just is, much the same as Chrysler is American whoever owns it. It’s more about a marques philosophy and mindset as it is about where the financial backing comes from.
I would like to see the Lada Niva to win it all
No but there are some other great contenders so Im not so sure that the Aston will win.
Astin Martin is british, end of. “Face the truth”, you are obviously German. Audi may have Tesco’s budget but they don’t make cars as boner-inducing as AM and I think with enough British will power and a few steroids, we might just win.
Just to add to the things the British invented, besides the computer, John Logie Baird demonstrated the first working television to the public (it may not have been the first fully electronic TV, but a TV none the less) and Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web (Not the internet, that’s a different thing) So, computers, TV and WWW – all very handy for someone posting a message on the TG website!
I think the fact your missing is that the car is being built by Aston Martin Racing aka Prodrive a British company. So I think Face the truth you really need to face the truth your wrong!
what is beter a golf or a ford u are the best .
i like canin fast
what i like are golf gti but my frend has a land rover sport but i like it but he is gay and captin slow is all ways right u 2 are no
call the car rover 25 that will make the competition not suspect great things
The worst car on the market , was the early Monaro , I bought a nice shiny black one , VXR milage 6k 3years ago .Driving it as it deserved 12mpg 9points wife got to the point of refusing to go in it , something to do with excessive G-force and heavy doors .Decided to sell 9 months ago,lucky to recover 40% of cost .Forgot to mention lack of brakes after pushing on for a while .You can stick it JC , Iwas talked into by HIM .Wife says we are not having a Chevvy ?
dearest face the truth we invented “..it´s british”.. and got away with it, if that pokes your eye too much try the industrial revolution or the free world that isn´t ruled by cowboys or communists.. and if that isn´t enough the london caddy, the bobby, british racing green, golf, tennis, football the list is actually quite long and za gremanz ? well that goes without saying…
and as long as you write back in english, I´ll still have the last laugh
luv, ai
..aston martin the majestically beautiful german car…puhlease get a grip, a danish guy designed the alfa 156 which is in fact than a danish fiat, which makes a bmw swis-american-chineseRMAN and the deep pan pizza italian ?? yes, the truth is out there.. somewhere.. keep looking if that´s your pleasure.. tali-ho:D
why is the flag upside down?
surely lewis should drive
why not the stig ?
I think they should call it the Aston Martin Victory. Or possibly the Vanguard.
I loved Julianme´s(46) the AM DBR1T .. has the best cling by far…
its a plucky brit story
vangaurd sounds good and it should have the stig AND lewis driving
mikeado, the wings for lmp cars have to bbe smaller this year thats why it looks small
I hope they win le mans this year if Aston can win GT1 why cant they win LMP1! Anyway how fast would an Aston Martin DBRS9 go round the top gear test track?
I STILL prefer an Aston Martin
Aston Martin DBR9 will have a tough job this year.Yes it is very,very fast,but there are still those C6.R,and they are serious racing cars,just as Aston.
And about Aston in LMP1,sorry but with a petrol engine it will do nothing.They should use Mercedes to make new racing diesel engine for Endurance races.Mercedes and Aston have a massive expirience in LM racing(and that’s only from Mercedes),so together,they can make a proper LMP1 diesel rocket,that will launch them to the victory in P1 class…
But,for now,that is only a sweet dream,until Mercedes finally catch that Audi is constantly winning LeMans and DTM…And in DTM Mercedes is loser,so if they want to beat Audi,they should do it at LeMans,together with Aston!!!
aston martin should
win