Aston Martin has pulled the plug on its factory Vantage racing project to concentrate on F1 in 2021.
The Racing Point F1 team is owned by Aston chairman Lawrence Stroll, and will be rebranded as Aston Martin for next year’s season, the company’s first in F1 since 1960.
Aston Martin has been a key player in the World Endurance Championship GT class since it launched in 2012, racking up almost 50 wins, including four Le Mans titles, with the help of Prodrive.
Aston’s star drivers, Nicki Thiim and Marco Sorensen have captured the drivers’ championship twice, including this year, when Aston also bagged the manufacturer’s title.
Aston created the Aston Martin Racing team in 2004 and set its sights on victory in sportscar racing’s GT1 class with the DBR9. It managed a class win at Le Mans in 2007, but after a less-than-successful attempt to score wins in the LPM1 prototype class, it switched tack, focusing on the lower-rung GT division with impressive results.
But while Aston won’t be running a work’s Vantage effort next year, it has negotiated a deal with Prodrive that means customer teams with their own Vantage racers will still be supported.
‘Vantage proved it has world champion pedigree in 2020, and in its GTE variant is a 24-hour race winner,’ said Aston Martin chief executive Tobias Moers.
‘Now with the Vantage GT3 we wish to give our partners and customers the best opportunity possible to fight for victory against our closest rivals in the toughest endurance challenges GT racing has to offer.’
Keyword: Aston Martin ditches Vantage racers to focus on F1