2007 Aston Martin DBR9

The Aston Martin DBR9 is a racing car by Aston Martin Racing, first built in 2005. The name DBR9 is derived from the original 24 Hours of Le Mans-winning DBR1 car, named for then-owner David Brown, which not only won the 24 Hour race in 1959 but also the World Sportscar title.

For the first time since 1959, Aston Martin has triumphed at Le Mans. The winning Aston Martin Racing with InterContinental Hotels & Resorts DBR9 – numbered 009 – was driven to GT1 class victory and a remarkable fifth overall by David Brabham, Rickard Rydell and Darren Turner after 24 hours of non-stop competition, characterised by changeable conditions and several safety car periods.

The bad weather was in evidence right from the start of the first qualifying session, where the AMR Larbre Competition 008 DBR9 claimed pole position – before going on to finish third in the actual race.

Aston Martin’s double podium underlined the impressive performance and reliability of the DBR9, which is closely based on the DB9 road car. The winning 009 car started from fourth on the grid at 1500 on Saturday, and was locked in a fierce battle for the lead with its sister 007 car for the majority of the race. As night fell, the two Aston Martin Racing cars were separated by less than 10 seconds, and they were in visual contact with each other right up until dawn on Sunday morning. Then, the 007 car – crewed by Thomas Enge, Johnny Herbert and Peter Kox – had a small off-road excursion that nonetheless damaged the front splitter and necessitated an eight-minute repair.

While pushing hard to make up the deficit, the 007 car went off again while trying to overhaul the third-placed competitor at around 0700 on Sunday. This seemingly innocuous trip into the gravel trap caused a series of related problems as the sharp flint stones in the gravel trap damaged the tyres, brakes, and alternator pulley. After a number of pit stops, the 007 car was forced to settle for fourth place in class.

In total, there were six DBR9s entered for this year’s 75th Le Mans 24 Hours – two each for Aston Martin Racing and AMR Larbre Competition, plus single-car entries from AMR BMS and Team Modena.

All six cars made the finish, with AMR BMS ending up sixth in class and 11th overall, while Team Modena were 10th in class after their DBR9 was hit from behind by an LMP2 prototype at around 0300. This meant that the Team Modena DBR9 spent the best part of half an hour in the garage – having previously been fourth in class – before returning to the fray.