Aston Martin is returning to Le Mans, and is going for overall victory with a pair of LMP1 cars. Now this is exciting and the car looks great:

Exciting news. From Octane Magazine:

Going for victory
Aston Martin is returning to Le Mans, and is going for overall victory with a pair of LMP1 cars...
27th January 2009

Gulf-liveried Aston Martin Le Mans car


I see this as a great opportunity to showcase the ingenuity of British engineering talent

On the 50th anniversary of its outright win at Le Mans, Aston Martin will return to La Sarthe with two Works LMP1 cars bearing the iconic blue and orange livery of Gulf Oil. In an ambitious attempt to emulate the legendary achievements of the 1959 DBR1 driven by Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori, Aston Martin will endeavour to bring the Le Mans title back to Britain.

'2009 is a hugely significant year for Aston Martin at Le Mans and the challenge of reclaiming victory in this famous race for Aston Martin and Great Britain was simply too great to ignore,' said Aston Martin Chairman, David Richards.

'However, we do not underestimate the task. While we have won the GT1 class for the last two years, competing against the proven speed and endurance of the diesel-powered cars with all their years of winning the prototype class, will be a massive undertaking. Nonetheless, I see this as a great opportunity to showcase the ingenuity of British engineering talent.'

Dr Ulrich Bez, Aston Martin Chief Executive Officer said: 'Racing has been, and still is at the heart of Aston Martin. Our cars today are subtle, elegant and handcrafted but they still have the genes for competition. I am happy that we have found partners who, with their support, will enable us to compete at the highest level of endurance racing.

'We will put all our heart and skill behind this project to demonstrate the essence of Aston Martin: Power Beauty and Soul.” The new car which is based on the 2008 Charouz Racing System Lola will be powered by the same production-based Aston Martin V12 engine which, last year, helped Aston Martin secure its second successive Le Mans GT1 title with the DBR9. It also powered the Charouz car to a new La Sarthe lap record for a petrol car. Aston Martin Racing is developing the car in conjunction with Lola, Michelin, Koni and BBS and continues its relationship with major partner Gulf Oil and official clothing partner Hackett.

The Le Mans 24 hour race will be held over the weekend of June 13-14

 

I don't know why they are doing this. They were starting to get competitive in LMP2 with the RS Spyders and now they bump up to LMP1? I know that overall victory is a huge achievement, but they don't have a chance againt the Audi R15's or Peugeot 908 diesel prototypes. I just don't see it happening

 

I think you're getting Aston and Porsche confused there, chief. Aston was testing a LMP1 car at LeMans last year IIRC.

To the OP, the link isn't working for me.

 

Here's more info I found:

motivemagazine.com

Jalopnik

Here are some renderings I found of what the final design could look like:

 

Try this one:

Aston to Return to Le Mans - Aston Martin Forum

 

Yup, that link works. Thanks!

 

Your right! I was thinking of Acura who is also challenging for LMP1 this year and I got confused on my prototype news. My mistake, but regardless my postion stands. Watch out for the diesels

 

Acura moved to LMP1 because LMP2 will be a grave yard this year.