2002 Aston Martin Db7 Vantage Coupe 2-door 6.0l on 2040-cars

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Aston Martin launches Evolution Academy driver training program

No longer content with simply recruiting new talent when they're ready, young driver training programs are becoming increasingly vital to a racing team's success and continuity. But while most of those programs are run by Formula One teams like Red Bull and Ferrari, this time it's Aston Martin that's set up a network of its own. The British automaker, as any endurance racing fan will tell you, has a robust motorsports program, including works entries in the FIA World Endurance Championship, at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Nurburgring 24 Hours, to say nothing of the privateer teams it supports in other series around the world. And to feed it with new talent, it has launched the Evolution Academy. Designed for up-and-coming drivers between the ages of 17 and 25, the Aston Martin Evolution Academy will be limited to ten participants each season. Each trainee will be assigned a veteran professional racing driver from the Aston Martin Racing roster, get seat-time in Aston's simulator, and will be coached in everything from fitness and nutrition to marketing and sponsor recruitment. At the end of the program, the top of the class will be offered a contract to race full-time with the company, which would be a pretty plum assignment for any sports racing driver. The announcement was made at the Autosport International show in Birmingham, where Aston is showcasing its various Vantage-based racers. ASTON MARTIN RACING LAUNCHES LANDMARK EVOLUTION ACADEMY 7 January 2015, Gaydon: Aston Martin Racing is launching a young driver programme, the Evolution Academy, which offers a coveted 2016 Aston Martin Racing works driver contract to the most successful participant of the season. The academy, being launched at the Autosport International Show, is open to applications from drivers aged 17-25 competing in an Aston Martin racing car this season. It has been devised by the Banbury-based team to help support and develop young talent, as well as creating a breeding ground for Aston Martin Racing works drivers of the future. Successful applicants, limited to a maximum of ten, will be assigned a professional mentor from Aston Martin Racing's team of top GT drivers. In addition, they will be given fitness and nutrition assessments and advice; PR, marketing and sponsorship support; training sessions in an Aston Martin Base Performance Simulator; and Evolution Academy-branded apparel including a race suit and team kit.

Bathurst 12-hour gallery is GT3 heaven [w/video]

The 2015 Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12-Hour race was run this weekend at the Mt. Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, Australia. Race photographer Joel Strickland sent us a huge batch of photos, all of which make us salivate for the switch to GT3 rules in the United SportsCar Championship; the top seven finishers at Bathurst were of seven different makes: Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3, Audi R8-LMS Ultra, Aston Martin Vantage GT3, Bentley Continental GT3, Mercedes SLS AMG GT3, Ferrari F458 Italia and Lamborghini Gallardo. It was a sweet victory for the No. 35 car driven by the NISMO Athlete Global Team after it crashed in Saturday qualifying, and then was only in third place on the penultimate lap. The three-man driving team included two GT Academy winners, one of whom, Florian Strauss, has only been a professional race car driver for 18 months. It's the first time the GT-R has won at Panorama since the original R32 "Godzilla" took back-to-back wins in 1991 and 1992. Second place went to the No. 15 Phoenix Racing Audi R8-LMS Ultra, 2.4 seconds behind the winners, third to the Craft Bamboo Racing Aston Martin Vantage not even half a second behind the Audi. The Bentley Motorsport team, in its first Bathurst 12-Hour with two cars, had its No. 10 Continental GT3 in the lead until the penultimate lap and in second place until the final corner, but crossed the line in fourth after some rubbin'-is-racin' action from chasers. And if pictures aren't enough, as of writing you can still watch the live stream of the entire race at the Bathurst 12-Hour site. Or, if you don't have the time, at least be sure to check out the last five minutes, below. Enjoy. Featured Gallery 2015 Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12-Hour View 118 Photos Image Credit: Copyright 2015 Joel Strickland / AOL Motorsports Aston Martin Audi Bentley Nissan Coupe Racing Vehicles Videos aston martin vantage gt3

More V12 power, no turbos | 2017 Aston Martin Vanquish S First Drive

Like the last days of the dinosaurs, Aston Martin's $294,950 Vanquish S is one of a handful of extant Tyrannosaurus Rex – few big-capacity naturally aspirated engines still bellow rage at the world in general. So, six liters, twelve cylinders, 48 valves, and no turbos; hurrah. Well, as long as you're not buying the gas. As the delivery driver who brought this car to me observed: "Whatever I seem to do with this car, it never gives more than 14.5 mpg, where as long as you barely touch the throttle, the new DB11 gives you about 18." Aston's DB11, which debuted this year with a fresh chassis/powertrain architecture that will eventually underpin a new car with the Vanquish nameplate, is twin-turbocharged. The Vanquish S, with its extra power, is decidedly not. It's the off-duty moments that stymie gas mileage for naturally aspirated mills like the one in this car. Dragging that huge crank, con rods, pistons, and cams around plays havoc on economy when you aren't on it like jam on toast. At full throttle, there's not a lot in it, turbo or no turbo. The Vanquish is the most unlikely car ever to have almost not made it into production. The name was first used in 2001 attached to Ian Callum's toothsome aluminum/carbon composite coupe body, but then chief executive Uli Bez held it back for six months, officially because he didn't like the Ford Ka air vents. Unofficially, as he later admitted: "What no one wanted to hear at the time is that Vanquish was crap. I changed 200 things, and even then, it burned through gearboxes." At the heart of the Vanquish then and now is a V12 engine, effectively built out of two Ford Mondeo Cleveland V6 units. It's easy to scoff at such humble beginnings, but the rumor machine elicits Porsche and Cosworth involvement in its gestation. First introduced in the 1999 DB7 V12 Vantage, the engine was then tuned to 460 horsepower for the 2001 Vanquish, which also debuted Aston's bonded-and-riveted VH platform chassis. Over 2,500 of these amazing cars were sold in standard and (from 2004) S forms, though its robotized manual transmission was problematic.