Aston Martin Vantage GTE set for Final Farewell
This weekend, the curtain will fall on the most successful GT racing car in the history of Aston Martin, the Vantage GTE. Making its final appearance in modern day motorsport in Bahrain during the conclusion of the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), the Vantage GTE has been an ever-present in the WEC since 2012, recording 52 class wins and 11 world championship titles in that time.
New regulations are coming in for the 2024 WEC season and that means Aston will be switching to the forthcoming Vantage GT3. Also on the horizon is the return to the top class of WEC for Aston Martin in 2025 with the Valkyrie hypercar,
NorthWest AMR, TF Sport and D’station Racing all currently use the Vantage GTE and the three teams aim to give the car a fitting send-off after an 11-year, 85-race (including Bahrain) WEC career that has even featured five class victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Following a third-place finish for AMR on its debut at the 12 Hours of Sebring in the 2012 season, the first of the victories for the Vantage GTE came at the Shanghai International Circuit in China at the season ending race. One year later, AMR recorded its first WEC title with the Vantage when British duo Jamie Campbell-Walter and Stuart Hall took the GTE Am drivers’ crown.
The first win at Le Mans came in 2014 with Danish trio Kristian Poulsen, David Heinemeier Hansson and Nicki Thiim behind the wheel and Poulsen and Heinemeier Hansson made it back-to-back Drivers’ Championships for the Vantage later the same season, as well as securing AMR’s team title win. Thiim later achieved title glory two years later in 2016, taking an upgraded version of the V8 Vantage GTE to the GTE Pro class world championship crown and the Teams’ title for Aston Martin Racing.
The second generation V8 Vantage GTE tasted its final success in 2017, with a further GTE Am Drivers’ title for Paul Dalla Lana (CDN), Pedro Lamy (POR) and Mathias Lauda (AUT) as well as another Teams’ crown. A famous win was also recorded at Le Mans with AMR beating long time rival Corvette.
The current spec Vantage GTE, which made its debut at the beginning of the 2018-19 WEC ‘Super Season’, is a prototype version derived from Aston Martin’s luxury sportscar, which shares the same aluminium body frame and a specifically tailored version of the four-litre V8 turbo-charged production engine.
It began life with two wins in its first campaign and Thiim and Sørensen clinched their second GTE Pro title the following season in 2019/20. Aston Martin were crowned FIA GT Manufacturers’ World Champions on the same day thanks to wins at Le Mans in the GTE Pro class and GTE Am.
A further GTE Am victory at Le Mans followed in 2022 as TF Sport again triumphed and an incredible year for Keating and Sørensen was topped off as they also became FIA GTE Am Drivers’ World Champions with TF securing the Teams’ crown. TF Sport’s contribution has ensured that Aston Martin won more GTE Am victories more than any other manufacturer in WEC history, the total standing at 32 wins with one race left to go.
Aston Martin’s Head of Endurance Racing, Adam Carter, said: “Aston Martin has been one of the pillars of the World Endurance Championship since the very foundation of the category, and through the GTE class, Vantage has set an exceptional standard for others to follow
“Just as racing has always been in our brand’s DNA, enduring performance is a core value that has shone brightly through the entire GTE era where Vantage is concerned. We know that what comes next is an intensely exciting period in sportscar racing, both in the hypercar class and also the new LMGT3 class, and we intend to play our own role in that, but for now, let’s soak in the final flourish of a glorious category that has given back so much to Aston Martin.”.
The BAPCO 8 Hours of Bahrain begins at 10:00 GMT on Saturday 4 November. Practice and qualifying take place on Thursday and Friday respectively.
Words: Mike Booth
Pictures: Aston Martin