Aston Martin Racing has launched its new Vantage GT Grand Am car, a V12 Vantage GT3-based car designed for the Grand Am Rolex Sports Car. The championship takes in 13 races across the USA and the car is now available for customers to buy and race. Aston Martin works driver Jonny Adam travelled to the USA to test the car.
Can you tell us a little bit about the Vantage GT Grand Am car?
The Vantage GT Grand Am is based on the very successful Vantage GT3, the car that I race in British GT and Blancpain Endurance Series with Andrew Howard for Beechdean AMR. Like the GT3, it has a lightweight 6-litre V12 engine, six-speed sequential gearbox with semi-automatic paddle shift and a lightweight aluminium chassis.
How does the GT Grand Am car differ from the GT3 and why?
The GT Grand Am car is adapted from the standard Vantage GT3 so that it can be raced in the Grand Am series in America. In order to meet the series' requirements, Aston Martin Racing has modified the design of the standard roll cage, designed a new 20 US gallon fuel cell, redesigned the front splitter and fitted the series spec rear wing and Bosch engine management as per Grand Am regulations.
Where did you test the car?
I tested the car with The Racer's Group, the American sales and distribution representatives of Aston Martin Racing at Sonoma Raceway and then again at Button Willow.
Why did you choose these circuits?
We used these tracks because together they would give us a wide range of conditions to test the car and the tyres.
Sonoma Raceway was very challenging with a wide variety of different speed and camber corners, making set-up work very important and meaning we could understand how the car responds in different situations.
Button Willow was a great little technical track. With temperatures of 125F in the afternoon we were able to get some understanding of how the Continental tyres will respond under race conditions, which will prove invaluable when the car makes its debut in the Grand Am series.
How did the test go?
Really well. It was the first time the Vantage GT Grand Am had run in this specification at a race track and many improvements were made on set-up over the three days. Looking the data we have gathered, the potential of the Grand Am car is very encouraging.
In terms of what we achieved; the power from the V12 engine was optimised, the Vantage chassis was fine-tuned and we quickly understood the Continental tyres. It was great to be working with all the engineers from both Aston Martin Racing and The Racer’s Group AMR on such an exciting project – the addition of the car into American GT racing will be a great one.