The ferocious Aston Martin Vulcan is an all-too rare sight. Only 24 examples of the hypercar were ever built, and none of them are street legal. Well, except for one. Luckily, if you’ve been wanting to marvel at the Vulcan in the metal, you’ll get to see the track-only hypercar in action at Le Mans this year – though it won’t be competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race. Instead, for the first time ever the automaker will be pitting a pair of Vulcans in the Aston Martin Racing Festival support race on the same day as the 24 Hour endurance race on June 18.
The event will be held on the full circuit at La Sarthe. In total, Aston Martin will be entering 38 track cars in the 45-minute race, including Vantage GT2s, GT3s, GT4s, and GT1-spec DBR9s. This should be an awe-inspiring spectacle for Aston Martin fans. Thanks to its naturally aspirated 7.0-liter V12 delivering 800 horsepower, the Vulcan will be the most powerful car on the grid when it makes its racing debut. Among the drivers will be former Formula One driver Martin Brundle and Olympic gold medallist Sir Chris Hoy, who will act as Brundle’s co-driver. Other GT4 celebrity drivers include Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer, ‘Bake-Off’ television host Paul Hollywood, and Prodrive chairman David Richards.
“Having taken part in this event in 2015, I can say first-hand it will be a tremendous experience,” said Palmer. “Moreover, this is a wonderful celebration of all that Aston Martin Racing has achieved since we returned to the sport as a manufacturer. To be able to display so many different iconic Aston Martin racing cars, as well as the stunning Vulcan, in front of 250,000 fans is a testament to the durability of our brand.” Aston Martin may not be competing in the full 24 Hours of Le Mans race, but this could change in the future. Palmer has previously hinted the forthcoming Valkyrie hypercar could be made into a Le Mans racer to compete against Ferrari and McLaren.
No comments:
Post a Comment