Time passing galleries - Part 3 End of the prototypes

Aside from the earliest prototype style of race car to bear the Aston Martin badge (the AMR 1 in the late 1980's) only two further cars have been developed by Aston Martin Racing or in conjunction with Aston Martin Racing in modern ACO rules motorsport.

The first of course was the hugely loveable Lola Aston Martin B09/60 V12 which was built to race in the 2009 European Le Mans Series and American Le Mans Series following the team running a smaller development car with Charouz Racing earlier in 2008. Only four examples of the LMP1 car were ever built.

The reign of the B09/60 platform was to have been replaced with an all new and fully in-house developed AMR One LMP1 car ready for the 2011season and it was during its pre-season testing where we found the car on track for the first time at Snetterton.

Technical issues unfortunately blighted this new chassis in its one and only season of racing, especially around the design and performance of its smaller engine block and after a disastrous event with the car at the 2011 Le Mans 24 (where both cars retired within the first 30 minutes of racing) the team took the decision to revert back to the liable Lola chassis to see out the season before electing to only race car platforms that they sell on a daily basis.

For some safety cells from the AMR One programme, they would go on to see more racing as part of the Nissan Deltawing programme.

With the Vantage platform now being so successful in GT racing across the entire GTE, GT3 and GT4 ranges since, it appears that the team's tentative toes into Hypercar with the Aston Martin Valkyrie would be the closest that AMR would be going back to prototype style of racing before further regulation changes forced a rethink with the factory and parent company - no more Hypercar - well not at least in the short term!

Again, many of these shots were taken from pubic areas of the circuits. Hope you enjoy them?

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