Updated Vantage GT3 “More Forgiving” for Am Drivers

Aston Martin has placed a greater focus on the accessibility for amateur drivers in the development of its updated GT3 platform, which is set to debut next year.

Along with the announced revival of its Valkyrie LMH program, the British manufacturer confirmed earlier this month that it will roll out a refreshed GT3 offering to customer teams ahead of the 2024 seasons.

It will be the first significant update for the Vantage GT3 since it debuted with customers in 2019, with development of an Evo kit known to be in progress for several months.

Adam Carter, Aston Martin’s Head of Endurance Motorsport, told Sportscar365 that the improvement of drivability and accessibility for non-professional drivers was a key area of focus for the brand.

Carter admitted that the original car was never the most friendly for amateur drivers, with its roots in Aston Martin’s highly successful GTE platform.

“I’d say, being completely, utterly blunt, the GTE car was a fantastic car,” Carter said.

“The GT3 car was probably less well-loved within the racing community. On some days it was loved, some days it wasn’t to a certain extent, because it had a bloodline very close to the GTE car, which had evolved out of the Pro car.

“The new GT3 car for 2024 has much more of that taken on board in terms of it being not only Pro-friendly but Am-friendly.

“So there’s a lot of change in aero, but also mechanical package to make it more accessible, more benign in terms of [the] setup window.

“It’s got a wider setup window and more forgiving. More forgiving is probably a good way to put it.”

Carter added that amateur drivers have been actively involved in the ongoing development process, which has already seen the new car complete an endurance test “with no problems.”

“From no problems from a reliability point of view, but also from actually just tracking its pace and balance over the full period of the endurance test, that’s all gone through,” he said.

“It [was] actually in the hands of an amateur driver [last week] as well. So that’s the thing, rather than ‘here’s an awesome race car’, well actually, GT3 is Pro-Am. It’s a mix.

“They’re available for order from now and there will be cars available for Daytona next year.”

Carter also further clarified that Aston Martin will not be rolling out an all-new car in 2024, as was previously suggested, with the existing underpinnings set to be “carried through.”

“Whilst the cars are yet to be officially named in terms of their homologation name, the GT3 car with FIA regs is being developed under the Evo regs rather than the whole new reg set,” he said.

‘That gives a nod to the underpinning of the car. At the end of the day, 19 championship wins, five Le Mans wins, all of that serviceability, reliability, potential still underpinning the car.

“The GTE and GT3 car carry very similar mechanical architecture and layout. They’re fundamentally the same car and the GT3 to GTE deviated where it needed to meet the regs.

“So the underpinning and the engineering approach and ethos is the same and therefore that’s carried through.

“It’s an evolutionary design. So you’ve got the same design philosophy and the same approach to reliability and serviceability in there.”