Tag Archives: WEC

News

2024 Aston Martin Vantage GT3

Aston Martin has unveiled the racing version of its fastest and most driver-focused Vantage, the Aston Martin Vantage GT3. The car debuted at the 24 Hours of Daytona last month, and now it has its official premiere.

Basically, this is a standard Vantage modified for the WEC (World Endurance Championship). It is powered by a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 engine with about 535 hp (399 kW). All cars in the GT3 class must weigh between 1,200 and 1,300 kg.

This purebred racer with the unmistakable design language of the Vantage road car takes your breath away. Compared to the standard Vantage, it is equipped with a new front part made of carbon fiber with a wider aperture that allows more air to cool the brakes, full-width laser light, shorter splitter, large louvres in the top of the front wheel arches.

Marco Mattiacci, Global Chief Brand and Commercial Officer of Aston Martin said: “These new generation GT3 cars are more dependent than ever on aerodynamic downforce, so we wanted to make the car more stable under braking. 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 tires. 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. It also works its tires 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!”

The Vantage GT3 is very popular with racing car buyers, and the company believes it will have 30 cars on tracks around the world by the end of this year’s season. This is partly due to the fact that Aston already has many teams using its car, but also because it can be used in different series.

Source: Aston Martin

News

Gold Porsche 963 LMDh ready for the new WEC season

In July 2022, Porsche unveiled a new racing car that the Porsche Penske Motorsport team (Hertz Team JOTA) will use in the Hypercar class in the WEC (World Endurance Championship) starting on March 17. The Porsche 963 LMDh is ready for the race and the external appearance was done in cooperation with the American company Singer.

The car is finished in gold and has a large rear wing with LED lights on the sides, an LED light bar, large wheel arches and Michelin Pilot Sport tires. The drivers will be Yifei Ye, Antonio Felix da Costa and Will Stevens, and among the sponsors who supported the British team is the American company Singer, which is considered the first name in the world of Porsche 911-themed restomod projects.

Hertz Team JOTA, led by David Clark and Sam Hignett, is happy to be among the participants of the legendary French Le Mans 24 Hours race, which is celebrating its 100th birthday this season. It is certain that the past successes in the 24 Hour Le Mans, which Team JOTA achieved in the lower categories, promise success.

When it comes to powertrain, the LMDh is powered by a 4.6-liter turbocharged V8 engine that, combined with an electric motor, delivers a total power of 670 hp (493 kW). These may not be large numbers, but according to current regulations, the engine power must not exceed 680 hp (500 kW).

Source: Hertz Team JOTA

Gallery:

Gold Porsche 963 LMDh ready for the new WEC season
News

2023 WEC – World Endurance Championship more exciting than ever

The new season of the 2023 WEC – World Endurance Championship starts on March 17 and is expected to be more exciting than the previous ones. This season (which also marks the centenary of the first 24 Hours of Le Mans), as many as 13 superfast hybrid prototypes from nine teams will participate in the battle for glory in the most powerful class (Hypercar). This is what endurance racing fans have been waiting for for years.

This year, Ferrari returns to the strongest class in which the Italian team has not participated in decades, and the two red 499P prototypes will face the Hypercar prototypes of Toyota (GR-010), Cadillac (V-LMDh), Porsche (963), Peugeot ( 9X8), Glickenhaus (007) and Vanwall Vandervell (680).

Porsche will have four cars in the most powerful class, two from the team Porsche Penske Motorsport and one each from the private teams Hertz Team Jota and Proton Competition. In the fight for the very top, the Penske Porsche 963 with number 6 with drivers Frenchman Kévin Estre, German André Lotterer and Belgian Laurens Vanthoor have the best chances. Cadillac, Glickenhaus and Vanwall Vandervell will each have one car in the game, and Ferrari, Toyota and Peugeot will each have two cars.

The LMGTE Pro class in which teams from Porsche, Ferrari, Ford, Aston Martin, Corvette… no longer exists. GT cars will be present this season only in the LMGTE Am class, in which 12 teams will have six Porsche 911 RSR-19s, four Ferrari 488 GTE Evos, three Aston Martin Vantage AMRs and one Corvette C8.R.

11 cars from seven teams will participate in the LMP2 class. This year’s calendar has seven races, among which, definitely, the most important jubilee race is the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which starts on June 10, and the season will start with the 1,000 miles of Sebring (USA).

Endurance racing is returning to its roots, and this is confirmed by the previously published information that Lamborghini and BMW will be in the Hypercar company starting next year.

Gallery:

Source: WEC