The Aston Martin DBR9 Might Be Bond Material

The Aston Martin DBR9 is manufactured by its racing division and has had significant success since its inception in 2005.  The car is a GT1 racing class, and it got its name “DBR9” from it predecessor the “DBR1”, which was the first winning car in the family that won the illustrious 1959 “24 Hours of LeMans” race and in that same year the “World Sportscar” title as well.  The “DBR1” derived its name from then-owner David Brown, which heralded the British back into the racing world once more.  The Aston Martin DBR9 was first shown to a very select few of people back on 4th November 2004, at Aston Martin’s headquarters in Gaydon, UK, and its debut race was the “12 Hours of Sebring” in March 2005.

The body of the car is designed in the conventional 2 door coupe style, and has its foundations rooted from the Aston Martin DB9 road car.  And the DBR9 maintains some major attributes from DB9 road car, for example the heads of the V12 engine, the cylinder block, and the chassis, whereas everything else was made from scratch, and re-mastered for a superb enhancement of the car’s performance under tough competition scenarios.  The structure of the DBR9 is made up of an aluminum roof, racing developed aluminum under-frame, which is derived from the DB9, a high strength steel roll cage, and every other body panel is made from a “carbon fibre composite”.

Aston Martin DBR9’s bodywork is a complete blending of maximum aerodynamic performance, and the ease of use of a typical road car, making movement on the track second nature to the car and driver, resulting in a comfort and normalcy to everything that the car is, also adding to the aerodynamics of the car.  The designer’s aim was to make the entire bottom, from the rear diffuser to the front, of the DBR9 flat as possible, with a carbon wing attached to the backend in order to stimulate the rear down-force, allowing the car to accelerate from 0-60mph in just 3.4 seconds.

The specifications of the car are a width of 1978mm; a length of 4767mm; a weight of 1100kg; a wheelbase of 2741mm; and a height of 1195mm.  The engine of the DBR9 consists of a “48 valve Aston Martin Racing 6.0 litre V12” fabricated from all alloy and a quad overhead camshaft, also the engine includes a “dry sump lubrication system”, and “2 x 31.2mm air restrictors”.  The 6.0 litre V12 max power peaks at 600 bhp, and with a torque of over 700 N m. The suspension of the car incorporates a double wishbone at the front end and at the backend, with adaptable Koni dampers equipped with Eibach springs.  The braking system is consists of both front and backend “Brembo six pot calipers” with “330mm diameter carbon discs”, all labouring around a set of “OZ forged magnesium wheels”.  The arrangement and configuration of the DBR9 comprises a “mid front mounted engine”, rear wheel drive, and a “mid rear mounted transmission”.  The transmission, Xtrac, is built up of “six speed sequential” that is longitudinally situated at the rear axle, and is put to use by a “four plated carbon clutch”.  The incorporated ECU/Data system encompasses a “Pi Data system” with a “Pectel engine ECU”.

Recently, there were changes in regulations to assist race car drivers while racing the 2007 24 Hours of Le Mans race, and Prodrive added these changes unto the car e.g. the installation of air conditioning in the cockpit, and a heat resistant white roof inside.  Both to assist the driver by ensuring temperatures are kept at a minimum, so performance levels from the driver would go up.  However, the items previously responsible for cooling, the two hood vents, were removed because they were no longer needed.

The racing history of the DBR9 is a prominent one, with its major rival being Corvette Racing, where there as been some tough rivalries over the past 3 years.  DBR9 debuted by winning the 2005 “12 Hours of Sebring” LMGT1 category.  It came second behind Corvette in 2006 in both the 12 Hours and the 24-hour races, but had victories at Lime Rock Park, Mosport, Laguna Seca, Miller Motorsports Park, and Petit Le Mans.  They finish second overall that year earning automatic entry into the 2007 24 hours of Le Mans, which they eventually won their class.

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