Aston Martin DBR9 GT1 2005

Designed for ... GT1 of Le Mans GT1 Teams Aston Martin Racing (2005-2009) Team Modena (2006-2008) Aston Martin Larbre Compétition (2007) Aston Martin BMS Scuderia Italia (2007) Vitaphone Racing + Strakka Racing(2007) Jetalliance Racing (2009) Country of origin Great Britain Introduced in 2005 Engine Type 60º V 12 Horse Power 600 bhp / 448 KW @ 6500 rpm Torque 650 Nm / 479 ft lbs @ 5500 rpm Weight 1100 kilo hp/kg 0.55 bhp / kg Engine Displacement 5.935 liter Engine Aspiration Naturally Aspirated Engine Fuel Feed Fuel Injection Engine Location Front, longitudinally mounted Engine Valve Train 4 valves / cylinder, DOHC Drivetrain Xtrac 6 speed Sequential, Rear wheel drive

The last real success of Aston Martin Racing dates back to 1959 when Roy Salvadori and Carroll Shelby scored the marque's only overall victory in the Le Mans 24 Hours. Between then and now a number of attempts to return to the forefront were made at least once every decade, some more successful then others. The most competitive attempts were the well prepared Group C effort in 1989 with the meticulous AMR1 followed 20 years later in 2009 with the Lola Aston Martin LMP1 with the intention to bring back home the overall first place after 50 years. Unfortunately, the Diesels were too fast and Aston Martin ended on 4th place (Fastest Lap Time 3:29.360 compared to the Diesels around 3:25).

But before Aston Martin dared to step into the LMP1 class again they successfully introduced the DBR9 starting in 2005 directly competing the newly introduced Corvette C6.R. Since then, every year, Aston and Corvette delivered the famous battles at Le Mans:
2005-2006: Corvette took home the GT1 win
2007-2008: Aston Martin took home the GT1 win
2009: again Corvette... but it's only fair to mention that 4 C6.Rs raced against a single DBR9 as Aston Martin fully focused on the LMP1 entry.