2015 The second stop of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) was held in Shanghai. With four V8 Vantage GTEs participating in the Aston Martin Racing Team, this over a century-old supercar brand once again challenges the limits.
Was born in motor racing
Since the company was founded in 1913, racing has been inseparable from Aston Martin. The founders, Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford, partnered with the Aston Hillclimb Mountaineering Championship in recognition of their passion for motorsports as part of the famous Martin Motorsport competition. Since then, Aston Martin has devoted himself to making the world's premier high-performance sports car with outstanding performance and beautiful appearance. This aim has never changed in more than a hundred years.
Above: Aston Martin's first car is a two-seater sports car, its brand sports genes can be seen.
The company took an active part in motor racing just as it was founded: in 1919, Aston Martin won the London-Edinburgh long-distance race. In the same year they won three runners-up and one fourth place at the Junior Car Club May Meeting in the UK's most prestigious Brooklands circuit. In 1921, Aston Martin won their first race on the track, their "Cloverleaf" car won the Brooklands Meeting title, and the driver was Lionel Martin himself.
Pictured above: Lionel Martin and his beloved car, the logo on the front made up of the letters A and M is the earliest mark of Aston Martin.
After this series of successes, Aston Martin not satisfied with the local events, began to enter the international arena. They first participated in the then French Grand Prix in 1922. In the same year, they broke ten world records in Brooklands. In 1932, Aston Martin drivers AC Bertelli and P. Driscoll won the Le Mans double-decker Cup driving a green painted car. This trophy was later repeatedly Aston Martin in 1935 and 1937.
Above: Baron Louis Zborowski was an early Aston Martin investor and was one of the drivers who represented the team at the 1922 French Grand Prix.
Above: The Ulster is the Aston Martin's main chariot of the 1930s, not only beautiful appearance, performance is superior, twice won the Le Mans Cup, the other game is award-winning.
Golden age
In 1947, the war in World War II had just been extinguished and all was lost. The industrialist Sir David Brown acquired Aston Martin to bring this pre-war racing brand to a new era. Under his leadership, the company is vibrant and expanding, followed by the acquisition of RKD. At the same time, the company also named after David Brown's name, launched a series of new cars, Aston Martin of this period, every model is amazing. These milestone models include DB2 in 1950, DB2 / 4 in 1983, DB2 / 4 Mark III in 1957, and DB4 in 1958.
Above: Aston Martin's degree of practicing motor racing aesthetics can be seen on this early-stage DB2.
Above: When the DB2 / 4 model was introduced, the shape of the grille of Aston Martin today has basically been established.
Above: DB2 / 4 structure diagram.
Above: DB4 GT Zagato is often hailed by classic car enthusiasts as the most beautiful car of all time.
In the continuous introduction of new models at the same time, Aston Martin under the leadership of Brown also did not forget the beginning, continue to vigorously participate in car racing. First, in 1949, Aston Martin sent a DB2 24 hour race that was still in the prototype development stage, and a car driven by Leslie Johnson and Charles Brackenbury finished third.
In 1950, George Abecassis and Lance Macklin drove a DB2 to a Le Mans 24 hour race to win the group title of the fifth and the two-liter championships and the three-year cup trophy, which was acquired by Aston Martin in the postwar period A Le Mans victory. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, Briggs Cunningham won a runner-up in the first Sebring contest in the United States. DB2 sports career can be described as smooth.
Top: One of the DB2 who attended the 1950 Le Mans 24 hour race.
In 1951, Macklin and Eric Thompson drove another driver for a second place in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In the same year, Brown instructed engineers to develop a dedicated DB3. At the 1952 Grand Prix held at Silverstone, the car included the second, third and fourth place. The same year won the Goodwood 9-hour race champion. However, DB3 in Le Mans still unsuccessful, to retire end. In 1953, DB3S was introduced to improve some of DB3's flaws. This model has been very successful in both domestic and international competitions, but still failed to win the ultimate victory at Le Mans. The DB3S at Le Mans was the overall best runner-up in 1955 and 1956.
Above: DB3 uses some of the DB2 components, the body is the hood design.
victory is in sight
Despite winning so many laurels and racing world Cups, one of the most important racing fans of the year - the 24 Hours of Le Mans - is still a goal that Aston Martin must fight for. In 1956, they introduced the landmark DBR1. Adapting to the changes of the current international racing rules, the DBR1 was Aston Martin's first racing car designed specifically for the race, so the model also includes the first letter of "Racing." The new car can be based on any existing civilian design, great freedom, but also a very test of the ability of the depot. Chief Designer Ted Cutting designed a very smooth and low profile body for the DBR1. The wheels were completely encased to reduce wind drag, and the triangular triangular louvers made it one of the DNA designed by Aston Martin. DBR1 equipped with 2.5L inline six-cylinder engine (later expanded to 3.0L), the maximum power of up to 250 horsepower.
Once the car was introduced, the first battle entered the battlefield of the 1956 24 Hours of Le Mans. In the race, Regal Parr and DBR1 at Tony Brooks performed well and performed well, but regrettably, they retired after 246 laps due to gearbox failure.
In 1957, after a small change in the DBR1 participated in the entire season. Finishing the race for the first time won the British Empire Cup runner-up, the driver is the famous Roy Salvadori. Then they took second place in the Sussex Cup at Goodwood. For Aston Martin at the moment the situation seems very good. Sure enough, the first victory of the DBR1 came soon: At the Belgian Spa, Tony Brooks drove the DBR1 (3L engine version) in one fell swoop to win the wreath, followed by Salvadori. In the fourth race of the 1957 World Sports Car Championship, Tony Brooks snapped again and driving DBR1 with Noël Cunningham-Reid won the 1,000-kilometer Nurburgring race and Le Mans triumph seemed close at hand. Unfortunately, however, both participating DBR1s failed to finish the race during the 24-hour race in the French town, and Aston Martin's aspirations fell again.
Above: It's not an exaggeration to call DBR1 the most beautiful Le Mans race ever.
Not to be overwhelmed by difficulties, they continued to participate in the 1958 World Sports Car Championship. This year, the upgraded DBR1 car encountered a number of gearbox problems that led to several drawdowns, but one car driven by famed drivers Stirling Moss and Jack Brabham defeated numerous Ferrari and Porsche rivals and made another Nurburgring 1000 km race champion. However, the dream of Le Mans broke again, and all three cars racing in 24-hour races failed to retire. Despite this, Sirston Moss and Tony Brooks led the Aston Martin in the final race of the season to take the top three, which led them to be second only to Ferrari and overall runner-up in the overall standings.
Brilliant moment
Three years in a row without any success, but Aston Martin did not retreat. Holding enough confidence in their car, they sent DBR1 for the fourth time to the 1959 World Championship. This year, they had a total of five cars participating, with a fifth of them being sold to privately-run Graham Whitehead's team. After a series of retirements, the DBR1 from Sitrling Moss and Jack Fairman won the Nurburgring Championship for the third time. But the bigger win of the year was still behind: they finally achieved their long-cherished wish and after a bit of hard work, the DBR1, driven by Roy Salvadori and the famous American driver Carroll Shelby, finally won the 24 Hours of Le Mans! A DBR1 followed second place. Aston Martin showed off at Le Mans their tremendous advantage: the third-placed Ferrari 250 GT lagged behind them by as much as 24 laps at the end of the race.
Top: DBR1, winner of the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans Championship.
Le Mans victory does not allow Aston Martin Racing loosening, because at the moment they differ very little with the Ferrari's points. The stadium moved to the final 1959 Goodwood circuit. The team dispatched three cars for the war, and the Whitehead team's DBR1 / 5, also mentioned above, entered the war together. In the race, an accident happened. A factory team's DBR1 suddenly caught fire in the pit lane. The fire quickly spread to an uncontrollable level, causing the entire vehicle to be destroyed. At the same time, the fire destroyed the factory's garage and ordered Follow-up car can not stop, seeing the army would be annihilated. At this juncture, Whitehead took the initiative to withdraw from the race, withdrawing from his own garage and leaving room for the team. Eventually the DBR1 from Stirling Moss, Carroll Shelby and jack Fairman won the race and helped Aston Martin beat Ferrari to secure their first annual championship.
Above: DBR1 structure diagram
The success of Le Mans and the 1959 season championship is a historic victory, it officially established Aston Martin in the car's dominance. Le Mans championship this history has only been achieved by a handful of car manufacturers, and in these championship cars, Aston Martin DBR1 is undoubtedly the most elegant. Its innate noble qualities and superior performance will always be loaded into the annals of history, as fans pass by.
After the 1959 victory, Aston Martin officially pulled out of the sports car championship and instead focused on F1 racing, and soon thereafter stopped racing for a variety of reasons. The DBR1 was subsequently sold to privately-run teams, with the No. 2 chassis also winning the 1960 Rouen Grand Prix. In the first three DBR1s, which win the most with chassis number 2, the following is the record of the years completed by the three cars and the race wins:
DBR1 / 1 - 1956 production
Ø1959 1000km Nürburgring
DBR1 / 2 - 1957 production
Ø1957 Spa Sportscar Race
Ø1957 1000km Nürburgring
Ø1957 Spa Grand Prix
Ø1958 Goodwood Tourist Trophy
Ø1959 24 Hours of Le Mans
Ø1959 Goodwood Tourist Trophy
Ø1960 Rouen Grand Prix (private entry)
DBR1 / 3 - 1958 production
Ø1958 1000km Nürburgring
Re-exhibition grand plan
After a 1959 victory, Aston Martin was not heavily involved in motorsports. They had developed AMR1, a Group C car in the late 1980s, but ended the program only for one year. For forty years fans around the world have been eagerly looking forward to this classic brand return to the stadium.
Above: DBR9
Finally in 2005, Aston Martin announced that they will re-enter the World Sports Car Championship venue, using the just released production car DB9 as a prototype, to create a GT1 car: DBR9. This is the latest model that will continue the bloodshed of the Aston Martin DBR Series. Once appearance, DBR9 first won the appearance of the fans applause: the basic model DB9 since its inception has repeatedly been named the world's most beautiful sports car, after adding a series of racing elements, the original elegant lines at this moment More interpretation of its hard to cover up the performance, called the perfect combination of art and power.
Above: Since 2008, Aston Martin has also cooperated with famous Gulf Oil Company to start using the most classic blue-and-white Gulf oil paint in the history of racing. The beautiful racing car is even better.
DBR9 on the court to prove its superior performance: the first battle to beat home rival Chevrolet Corvette Sebring 12-hour endurance champion, 2006 season is the total runner-up. DBR9's most brilliant victory came from the 24-hour Le Mans endurance race in 2007, winning the GT1 championship in one fell swoop, again winning their Le Mans championship since their 1959 championship. Followed by the next year's Le Mans competition, they once again won the GT1 champion, achieved two consecutive championships.
Pictured: Goodwood Speed Festival 2008, just won the 24 hour endurance race GT1 champion No. 009 DBR1 specially with Le Mans track to win the dust covered the United Kingdom returned to the home fans sent a gift.
After the success of the GT1 team, Aston Martin has developed a series of LMP1 racing cars. The Aston Martin DBR1-2 was the fastest of all gasoline-powered racing cars at the 2009 Le Mans stadium and was also made Good results in fourth place. Eventually Aston Martin won the Le Mans Series championship. The model was still very competitive until 2011 and won the Laguna Seca Championship at the Le Mans Series in the United States.
Above: Aston Martin LeMon LMP1 racing and DBR1 photo.
In 2012, the FIA renamed the endurance race the WEC World Endurance Championship, and Aston Martin, who moved on to the GTE team under the new rules of the WEC, won the overall runner-up with the new Vantage GTE. At the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans, Team 95 won the GTE AM Championship with absolute dominance, defeating many other rivals including Ferrari, Porsche, BMW and Chevrolet. The performance of the Aston Martin Vantage GTE is so strong that it takes two laps to get away from their nearest competitor.
Pictured above: Aston Martin for the 2014 Le Mans GTEAM Championship winning 95 car
At the just-concluded six-hour end of the Fuji race, Aston Martin's 98 GTE Am was once again placed on the podium after a hard last-minute fight, finishing second in the group and continuing with the legendary brand's movement brilliant. What kind of performance will they have in the future? Let's wait and see.
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