The Class of Aston Martin

Aston Martin in the Racing World

Executive Summary By Thom Sanders

Manufacturers of luxury or sports cars sell their cars almost entirely based on one factor: image. They have plenty of ways of promoting this, but one of the best ones is to pit their cars, engines and teams against the car, engine and team of another manufacturer. Aston Martin have a history of engaging in racing as their founder co-created versions of their cars to compete in the French Grand Prix as early as 1922, setting speed and endurance records on the track. It's not surprising that such successes bore them on to competing in more races whilst also making people aware of, and interested in, their cars.

Who wouldn't want one of the fastest cars available at the time?

This racing streak was continued after World War II when David Brown Limited bought the company in 1947. The models produced during this period, the world famous DBs, all won plenty of races for the company, bringing in prize money but, more importantly, demonstrating just how fast, slick and cool the cars really were.

Under the management of Ford it was announced that a new division was to be created, Aston Martin Racing, which would oversee Aston martin's return to motor racing. They've enjoyed success since then, entering heavily modified versions of their standard cars into various touring races. There were two previous attempts by Aston Martin to enter F1, but both ended with the company failing to score any points in any races.