Citing new regulations for 2011 that allow its car to be competitive against the diesels of Peugeot and Audi, Aston Martin is planning a re-entry to Le Mans next season. The car they'll be campaigning is a new LMP1 prototype.
Even with new rules enforcing performance parity, or at least attempting it, Aston Martin says it will be a "David and Goliath" fight against the "massive resources" of its competitors. Nevertheless, they are looking forward to taking the fight to the series' top marques.
Details on the new Aston Martin LMP1 car are essentially non-existent at this point--all that is known is that it will burn gasoline. The car has already been in progress for several months, however, at Aston Martin Racing headquarters in Banbury, UK. Six cars are to be built, with the first to be at the running test stage in early 2011.
Aston's racing heritage can't be denied, though it hasn't had much luck at Le Mans. Its only overall victory in the 24 hour race came in 1959 with a DBR1 driven by Roy Salvadori and Carroll Shelby. It has scored two GT1 class wins in 2007 and 2008, however, and an overall series win in 2009.
We'll keep you posted as Aston moves forward in its plans to take on Le Mans in 2011.
[Aston Martin]
