What a beast. This is the new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 upon which Britain’s great sports car maker has pinned its hopes for a bountiful season in the super-competitive category, which for the first time is finally embraced as the GT division of the World Endurance Championship and the Le Mans 24 Hours. To the surprise of absolutely no one, the switch to GT3 for 2024 has rejuvenated the WEC’s Grand Touring class, as a glut of manufacturers dive in to jostle for honours.
Aston Martin is, of course, a stalwart of the old LMGTE era in which it claimed 52 wins and 11 world titles between 2012 and ’23. Once again it heads into battle against familiar faces and foes from Ferrari, Porsche and Corvette, but there’s plenty of fresh competition too.
Entries representing BMW, Ford, Lexus, McLaren and Lamborghini have taken the LMGT3 bait, meaning the WEC will now boast nine varieties of GT make and concept. The class structure is now simple and split in two: 19 Hypercars and 18 LMGT3s – although the popular LMP2 prototype division will return
