Following months of anticipation, Aston Martin has officially launched its new Vantage GT3. Timed to coincide with the international debut of the new Vantage road car, the significantly upgraded GT3 version is the result of a collaboration between Aston Martin Racing (AMR) and Aston Martin Performance Technologies (AMPT).
The brand describes it as "a comprehensive evolution" of its namesake and predecessor, which made its debut in 2018 and earned considerable global success – including a class win at the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa in 2019. Sharing the same mechanical architecture, the new Vantage GT3 is built around a bonded aluminium chassis and powered by a twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 engine.
Though it continues to carry the Vantage name, an all-new "nose-to-tail aerodynamic package, comprehensively revised suspension and state-of-the-art electronics," make this every bit a new machine. It addresses what Aston Martin called "some of the old car’s more challenging handling characteristics" with the aim of making it equally suited to professional and amateur drivers.
“These new generation GT3 cars are more dependent than ever on aerodynamic downforce, so we wanted to make the car more stable under braking," said Gustavo Betelli, AMR's head of performance and the lead engineer on the project.
"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 tyres. 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," he continued. "It also works its tyres 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!”.
Adam Carter, Aston Martin’s Head of Endurance Motorsport, added: “The new GT3 is 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 centres, which we’ve then combined with the unrivalled GT programme management expertise of AMR. The GT racing programme will serve as a development lab that will lead to an increasing transfer of knowledge and approach into future Aston Martin road cars.”
A pair of Fanatec GT Europe teams have already committed to running the new Vantage GT3 this season. Comtoyou Racing and Walkenhorst Motorsport will both field multi-car entries, including at least one Pro crew from each. The car will be present for the Prologue at Circuit Paul Ricard on 5/6 March, followed by the opening Endurance Cup round at the same venue on 5–7 April.
Read the full Aston Martin press release here.