Club Arnage

I don't know if anyone has already seen these, but I was at the Aston Martin 1st test back in November, thought you might like some pictures...

http://www.members.lycos.co.uk/mikehoyerracing4/Aston%20Martin%20Test/Page/gallery1.htm

Nice pics Mike, thanks.

Looking forward to seeing this in action in just over two months...  :)

That is one beauty of a car.  Know what I'll be supporting next year.

Any idea of the drivers yet? Brundle and Blundell were mentioned before as possibles.

Also, who will Herbert & McNish be driving for?

I read somewhere McNish will miss Le Mans 2005 and concentrate on his DTM drive, coming back with the new audi in 06.

Herbert I think would be in either the Champion Audi or the MC12.

I doubt if either Blundall or Brundle will be in the Aston, they hope to run a team with Dave Price in 06

David Brabham, Tomas Enge and Darren Turner look to be favourite as they have done most, if not all, of the testing

Aren't Blundell and Brundle looking at running the team in 2005 ?

On a sort of related note. Does anyone know where I could buy plain green  T shirts a similar colour to the Aston Martin Green paint work. Fancy doing a shirt for Sebring.

Try 'Ye Olde Local Green Tee-shirt Shoppe'
H

Hi Chris,
Some people you may want to get in touch with are Jacque and Lilianne Sar at Auto Brass.  They have I boutique in the village at LeMans and always have their mobile shop at all of the ALMS and Grand Am races over here.  Jesus, I hate to think of how much money I've spent on their stuff over the years.  Lilianne usually recognizes me when I show up.  They will probably have some sort of Aston shirt in the works for Sebring.  You can try them (they have some pretty nice stuff on their website) at www.autobrass.com
Fax

Hi Chris24,
                 To save money you could turn the Bentley shirt inside out and have a T-Shirt shop print the Aston Martin Logo for you ;D
Canada Phil

Have a word with yourself, Phil!
Home made corporate racewear? What's up with that?
It sort of reminds me of a complete and utter twat, next door neighbor of mine, back in the days when Red Nose Day wasn't the hackneyed old load of cobblers that it is now.
It was de rigeur for charitable do-gooders to attach a 'red nose' to their car.
In the true spirit of the affair, my sh*t-for-brains neighbor attempted to cut a ball cock in half to adorn the front of his Mini van, rather than pay the fiver or so that the genuine article cost. In doing so, he nearly cut his f**k*ng hand off when the stanley knife slipped. I think it's called poetic justice.
I think we can be fairly confident that there will be more DBR9 shirts at Sebring than soft mick, you mark my words.

I will be very disappointed if the vehicle does not show up at Sebring.  :'(
I will be doubly disappointed if it shows up and does poorly. :'( :'(
About green shirts. Shoot Chris ............ buy a white one and dye it green. (use a good dye tho!)

Not as disappointed as I will be...................it's slightly further for us to get there!!  ;) ;D

 ;)I changed my mind about any disappointment :P
I also want to change into a handsome race car.
I think that car is so beautiful if I were a handsome race car I would marry her  .... win or lose. ;) :P

Great pics, stunning car.

Can't wait for Le Mans 2005 now!

Don't think we should expect too much from the Aston this year. As with other manufacturers who have raced in green livery, the first year back is expected to be a bit of a shake down, with 2006 being the target year for results. I would love to see success this year, but expecting this may be too optomistic, considering the well drilled oposition (Corve' and 'rarri).
Aston have stated that they have experienced some reliability problems during test at Estoril already, not what you want in a 24 or indeed 12 hour race !
However, there is still plenty of time left before the season kicks off for real, and I for 1 would love to see some success for the DB9R.
Good old sister in law has managed to get herself a job at Aston for the season (Veloqx last year, Bentley the previous years), so another pit and garage visit on race day looks good. ;D

What does she do????  Have they got any more jobs???!!!  ;)

she manages the catering and hospitality.
I've already tried the "any jobs going" approach - didn't work !

Regarding reliability, at Snetterton it broke down after a handful of laps, although that was the first test, and from what I overheard some of the parts weren't even ready.

Absolutely right MikeH, I was refering to Estoril testing, which has taken place after Snetterton. All mechanical parts were race spec' at Estoril, as you might hope with only 10 or so weeks until Sebring.

Sebring will be a good shakedown for the car (literally!)
Audi, BMW and Bentley all showed that the 12 Hours will reveal any hidden gremlins that testing won't.  The cars have to be properly taken into race conditions.  The circuts are poles apart on setup but if something's going to fail at LeMans, it will break at Sebring as well.
John

If we slipped her a few notes, can she smuggle out a few team shirts for us to wear at Sebring !

Hi Nobby,
               Don't dispair  just yet. The Corvette is a totally new car too. A Fair contest.
Canada Phil

Chris - as yet, there are no shirts (I think for this very reason !). If they are distributed before the team departs, many "get forgotten" and have to be replaced.

Phil - you're so right; it'll be an interesting contest for certain.

Shame I won't be in Sebring to see it, but eager anticipation awaits your post race report.

Is that right Phil? I thought mechanically, it was a C5R.... with a sexy new overcoat

Hi Matt,
            I read this on the web so it must be so ::)
"the Corvette C6.R starts from production roots: the same hydroformed frame rails that roll down the assembly line at the Corvette plant in Bowling Green, Ky., are sourced for the structure of the race car. With the new C6 production model measuring shorter in overall length (but with a longer wheelbase), race car engineers faced a new set of numbers in which to achieve their goals"
Longer wheel base and narrower track difficult to do on the old chassis too.
Canada Phil

The C5/6 platform construction utilises the same process - but as you state, is a different shape. Hydroforming (bending tubular aluminium structures that are filled with water to stop them kinking) has made the 'chassis' incredibly rigid - far more so than was ever achieved with C4 and in the race car, stiffer even than the 550/575 racer.
The C6R is shorter, has a slightly increased wheelbase and is also wider than the C5.
My understanding is that the ZLT1 7.0 litre motor, transmission, cooling, suspension, brakes, steering and fuel delivery systems all carry over from the C5R - which is not great news for GTS competition.
The car as tested at Road America - is lighter than it's predecessor too.
There is a public test/shakedown at Sebring weekend after next. Corvette Club of America members get (chaperoned) garage access, so I'll report back on my findings. My understanding is that Pratt & Miller are not too phased by the DBR9 at this point in proceedings.....

Here's a link (I hope) to the ALMS site with the annoucement of the Aston Martin driver line-up.
Fax
http://www.americanlemans.com/News/Article.aspx?NewsID=814

Sebring, FL- Aston Martin Racing has confirmed an international driver line-up for the 2005 season, which begins with the American Le Mans Series Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March and includes the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The six drivers introduced today were: David Brabham (Australia), Tomas Enge (Czech Republic), Peter Kox (Netherlands), Pedro Lamy (Portugal), Stephane Ortelli (France) and Darren Turner (UK). This line-up of experienced sports car drivers will share driving duties in the team'...

Ok, some names on there that I hadn't imagined. I assume that Sebring and Le Mans don't clash with any IRL events then.

I think they could very well be on the same weekend's but since the Indy Racing League (what a stupid f**k*ng name for a racing series) is the largest pile of sh*t in the motor racing universe, I wouldn't call it a conflict.  Could be problem for Tomas Enge though.  A bunch of familiar Prodrive pilots in that line-up.
Fax

So the question is can we make the DBR9 thread as long as the Commer one??  ;D

The link is for details of the DBR9 UK race debut at Silverstone in May

http://www.crash.net/uk/en/news_view.asp?cid=8&nid=105736