Timed to coincide with the international debut of the new Vantage road car, the spectacular new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 mirrors the latest showroom model's intensified performance, sharpened dynamics and eye-catching style, translating those qualities into a formidable new GT racer and starting the next chapter in Aston Martin's illustrious motorsport history.

Speaking of the exciting new GT racer, Marco Mattiacci, Global Chief Brand and Commercial Officer of Aston Martin said: "Simultaneously revealing the new Vantage and Vantage GT3 race car underlines Aston Martin's commitment to building the world's finest sports car, and then proving its capabilities on-track. It also signals a closer relationship between our road and race programmes, with Aston Martin Racing benefitting from the exceptional pool of talent, experience and knowledge forged in Formula 1® and found throughout Aston Martin Performance Technologies. The result is a truly state-of-the-art GT racer; one that clearly shares its DNA with the latest Vantage road car, yet is perfectly evolved to suit the latest GT3 regulations. Descended from a succession of multiple world championship-winning predecessors, the new Vantage GT3 is proving irresistible to an impressive international roster of leading GT racing teams. Hungry for victory and poised to build upon Aston Martin's extraordinary track record, the world's greatest endurance races are firmly in the Vantage GT3's sights."

The Aston Martin Vantage GT3 is a comprehensive evolution of the ultra-successful and recently retired Vantage GTE and GT3 cars, which made their debuts in 2018. Sharing their mechanical architecture - and that of the new Vantage road car - the Vantage GT3 is built around Aston Martin's proven bonded aluminium chassis structure and powered by its fearsome twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 engine. Boasting a dramatic, all-new nose-to-tail aerodynamic package, comprehensively revised suspension and state-of-the-art electronics, together they endow this latest-generation Aston Martin GT racer with world-beating potential.

Built to comply with all FIA GT3 class regulations, including the new-for-2024 LMGT3 category, the new Vantage GT3 is a truly global competitor. One that will battle for honours in the world's most competitive GT series, including the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship (IMSA), Fanatec GT World Challenge, European Le Mans Series (ELMS) and the Nürburgring Langstrecken Serie (NLS).

The Vantage GT3 is the first product of the pioneering collaboration between Aston Martin Racing (AMR) and Aston Martin Performance Technologies (AMPT), as Adam Carter, Aston Martin's Head of Endurance Motorsport, explains: "The new GT3 is our first opportunity to use AMPT to play a role in leveraging the capabilities, attitude and methodologies of all of Aston Martin's various nerve centres, which we've then combined with the unrivalled GT programme management expertise of AMR. The GT racing programme will serve as a development lab that will lead to an increasing transfer of knowledge and approach into future Aston Martin road cars".

Developed to a strict set of objectives set by AMPT and implemented by AMR, the new Vantage GT3 upgrades centred upon addressing some of the old car's more challenging handling characteristics with the aim of making the new GT3 as driveable as possible for both professional and amateur drivers alike.

An extensive development programme - including a gruelling 30-hour test - was completed late last year with a combination of Aston Martin's contracted professional drivers, plus selected amateur racers. All reported the new Vantage GT3 to be a super-fast-yet-forgiving machine with no vices and a usefully wide set-up window that's perfectly suited to the unique demands and ultra-competitive nature of top-level GT racing.

As lead engineer on the GT3 programme, Aston Martin Racing's Head of Performance Gustavo Betelli was charged with ensuring the Vantage GT3 delivered the desired combination of ultimate pace and approachability. Finding that sweet spot while staying within the FIA's tightly prescribed and strictly policed Balance of Performance (BoP) regulations was key to hitting AMPT's transformative objectives: "The focus on the new Vantage GT3 was to increase their performance window and make something that would work at any circuit, on any tyre and with any driver. We also had to work to the new regulations, so this required additional changes.

"These new generation GT3 cars are more dependent than ever on aerodynamic downforce, so we wanted to make the car more stable under braking. The old car would dive a lot under braking, so we had to try and control the pitch with the rear suspension set-up. But this meant it was stiff, which made it quite snappy and, also over-worked the tyres. Working heavily on damper tuning, we have found a much better balance with the new car so we can generate the downforce without compromising the suspension set-up. The result is much-improved progression and greater stability in all conditions. It also works its tyres much more evenly, so teams have more options on strategy. The feedback from drivers who've tested it has been overwhelmingly positive. Especially the amateur racers, who have been able to achieve lap times that are much closer to the Pros. Now we need to go racing!".

Visually the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 combines the striking design of the new Vantage road car with the extreme downforce-generating aerodynamics that make GT3 racing so popular with racers and fans alike. Extensive use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) achieved the desired targets for aerodynamic performance and efficiency - while remaining within the FIA's downforce limits - and input from Aston Martin's Design department ensured this pure function was matched by perfect form.

The result is a truly breath-taking machine. One that combines the muscular and unmistakable design language of the Vantage road car with the awesome aggression and poise of a purebred racer. Amongst the most striking aspects of the Vantage GT3 is the new nose. Not only does the road car's new wider grille aperture look fabulous, but it afforded AMR the opportunity to increase the volume of ducted cooling air to the brakes, which now give drivers more consistent performance.

The nose itself is a large one-piece clamshell made from carbon fibre. A quick-release design to facilitate rapid removal and replacement in the event of mid-race accident damage, it houses a full-width laser light, and a shorter splitter; the effect of which moves the centre of pressure rearwards to reduce pitch sensitivity and aid stability. Large louvres in the top of the front wheel arches evacuate high-pressure air to reduce lift, with an even larger stack of louvres in the rear arches allowing high pressure to escape from the rear to reduce drag.

Thanks to its widespread eligibility, the new Vantage GT3 is the weapon of choice for an impressive and ever-growing worldwide roster of Aston Martin Racing partner teams. This sees long-standing AMR partners Heart of Racing and D'station Racing joined by newcomers such as Germany's Walkenhorst Motorsport and Belgian team ComToYou Racing. Flying Lizard Motorsports, already a Vantage GT4 partner team, will now step up to the Vantage GT3 in the US. It is projected that as many as 30 Vantage GT3s will be actively racing by the end of the 2024 season.

This immediate popularity is the best possible endorsement for the AMR-built machine, which has already been seen in action at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, and will be fighting for victory at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, Spa-Francorchamps 24 Hours and - most iconic of all - the 24 Hours of Le Mans later this year. The Vantage GT3 will also see action in a host of national GT championships around the globe - including the Japanese Super GT Championship and British GT Championship - underlining Aston Martin's leading role in world motorsport.

Through its various generations since arriving on the world stage in 2012, the Aston Martin Vantage has consistently been a force to be reckoned with at the very highest levels of GT racing. With an incredible 52 class wins - the first of those scored on its WEC debut - and 11 world championship titles, plus a plethora of victories in a host of other national and international series, the Vantage name is synonymous with GT racing success. A tradition the new Vantage GT3 is set to continue.

Following the recent successful introduction of the new Vantage road car and Vantage GT3 race car, Aston Martin is proud to introduce the new Vantage GT4. Aimed at partner racing teams and serious circuit driving enthusiasts, Vantage GT4 completes Aston Martin's formidable GT line-up and underlines the brand's commitment to motorsport, from track days through to Formula One®.

Building upon the outgoing Vantage GT4's exceptional record of achievement, the new Aston Martin Vantage GT4 will be an immediate force in GT racing's junior categories. Benefitting from the performance and technology improvements seen in the newly unveiled Vantage road car, this latest version of the Vantage GT4 brings a host of chassis, aerodynamic, drivetrain and efficiency improvements to make Aston Martin's newest challenger more competitive than ever.

Speaking of the newest addition to Aston Martin's GT racing line-up, Chief Brand and Commercial Officer, Aston Martin Lagonda, Marco Mattiacci said: "The new Vantage GT4 is a born winner. Benefitting from the significant performance improvements seen in the sensational new Vantage road car, and developed in parallel with the Vantage GT3, the Vantage GT4 is a demonstration of the increasing synergies between our road and race car programmes; class-leading power and technology on the road translating into race-winning pace on the track.

"The introduction of the new Vantage GT4 also allows us to build an even deeper connection to Aston Martin's partner teams. We currently have more than 40 partners in active competition across the broad spectrum of global GT racing, many of whom are running multi-car, multi-class programmes. This level of engagement underlines our commitment to all levels of motorsport competition as well as building closer ties with our wider community of fans and followers, many of whom fell in love with the brand through our successes in sportscar racing and at Le Mans."

Like the Vantage GT3, the new Vantage GT4 is designed, engineered and built by Aston Martin Racing (AMR). The official GT racing partner of Aston Martin since 2005, AMR is responsible for every production-based Aston Martin GT race car since the legendary DBR9. This invaluable continuity and unrivalled depth of knowledge has fed directly into the Vantage GT4 programme.

The Aston Martin Vantage GT4 programme builds upon the hugely successful and multiple title-winning outgoing GT4 racer, using developments applied to the new Vantage road car to achieve further performance gains in the latest generation race car.

"The new Vantage GT4 is very much an evolution of the previous car," explains Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport, Adam Carter. "Closer synergies between Aston Martin's road and race car programmes have enabled AMR to capitalise upon improvements made to the new Vantage road car for increased speed and efficiency, while retaining the core qualities that made the outgoing GT4 so popular with teams and drivers."

Strict regulations mean the GT4 Vantage remains very close to its production sibling, with the race car sharing around 80 per cent of the road car's structural and mechanical architecture. Central to this is the bonded aluminium chassis, which is fitted with a full custom roll cage to comply with stringent safety requirements before the bodywork is attached.

The 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine and transmission are both based on the Vantage road car components, the primary changes being to the electronic control systems; the former running a Bosch Motorsport ECU with bespoke software developed by AMR; the latter installed with ZF/AMR Motorsport software to control the otherwise production standard automatic transmission. The bespoke software 'converts' the eight-speed transmission into a six-speed paddle shift without an auto mode, locking-out the seventh and eighth gears which are road-going overdrive ratios fitted for fuel economy at cruising speeds.

Changes to the electronic systems are made primarily to ensure precise control of the engine's management and turbo control systems to meet strict Balance of Performance criteria defined by GT4 championship organisers. They are also employed to optimise gearshifts and run motorsport-specific traction control. The Vantage GT4 cockpit also features the latest Bosch DDU 11 display, which replaces the road car's instrument visuals.

Chassis modifications are also driven by regulations. Inboard suspension mounting points remain the same as the production road car's, with some permitted changes to suspension linkages. This is to provide the correct camber range for a racing application, and to suit the mandated 18" diameter wheel and tyre package, which is significantly smaller than the 21" wheels fitted to the new road car. The Vantage GT4 uses new bespoke forged aluminium wheels to AMR's specification.

A highlight of the dynamic package are new two-way adjustable KW dampers, supplied as part of AMR's wider technical partnership with the renowned suspension manufacturer. Based on extensive feedback from drivers over the past six years, the new car has been developed to inspire an increased feeling of precision and control through its driving dynamics, while maintaining the same vital driver-friendly traits and exploitability that made the previous Vantage GT4 such a popular race car among its driver-base.

Visually the Aston Martin Vantage GT4 closely resembles the stunning design of the new Vantage, with regulations permitting only modest changes from the road car design. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) were used to optimise the GT4's aerodynamic package. Input from Aston Martin's Design department ensure these changes are perfectly integrated into the final design.

The majority of the Aston Martin Vantage GT4's body panels are standard production items. The exception being the bonnet, which allows for the incorporation of air outlets and is made from a sustainable natural flax fibre composite, with stiffening via a cork core material. GT4 regulations also allow limited aerodynamic changes. In the case of the new Vantage GT4 this means a larger front splitter and the addition of a new rear wing. The result is an increase in downforce and a reduction in drag compared to the previous Vantage GT4.

Attention has also been paid to airflow management, specifically cooling air to the engine and brakes. Both have benefitted from the design of the new Vantage; its larger radiator aperture allowing for greater mass of air flowing through the engine's cooling system. There is also a significant increase in ducted air to the brakes. Crucially both these gains have been achieved without disturbing airflow over the rear wing.

After completing an exhaustive development programme the new Vantage GT4 made its international racing debut in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge event during last month's Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona meeting, in Florida, USA. Production is now well underway, with a number of cars already in the hands of customer teams, and AMR busy building orders for more than 40 units during the 2024 season.

Through its various iterations since arriving on the world stage in 2009, the Aston Martin Vantage GT4 has been a consistent class-winner in GT series and endurance events around the world. Since its launch in 2018 the outgoing generation of Vantage GT4 has gained an increasingly impressive reputation; a fact reflected in the number of teams who have chosen to run them in countless international endurance races, national GT series, domestic club racing events and trackdays.

By carrying that momentum and building on its legacy, the new Vantage GT4 is the go-to-choice for professional racers and amateur enthusiasts alike, providing a fast, reliable and exploitable package with which teams and drivers can challenge for victory.