2008 Lola B08/60 Aston Martin - Images, Specifications and Information

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One of the biggest surprises of the build-up to the 2008 endurance racing season was the announcement that Aston Martin would enter prototype racing as an engine supplier. This comes on top of their presence in all four international GT categories. The choice of the latest Lola chassis to house the engine will bring back not so pleasant memories of the two ill-fated Aston Martin engined Lola T70s that lasted less than an hour in the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans. This time round the engine is not a prototype, but instead a seasoned and successful powerplant that has already scored a class win at Le Mans.

Aston Martin's surprise decision came about after a slight modification to the regulations for the 2008 season, which gives production based engines a slight performance advantage by virtue of a restrictor break compared to bespoke engines. Aston Martin's six litre V12 engine is built in sufficient numbers and displaces just under the limit of six litres. Furthermore it had already been developed and raced very successfully in the DBR9, which won the GT1 class at Le Mans in 2007 and many other major races since 2005.

There are several drawbacks to using a production engine in general and this V12 in particular, which will make success far from a foregone conclusion. Reliability could be an issue, but engine failure has been a very rare occurrence with the DBR9s. A bigger worry is the higher weight of the engine compared to comparable engines developed specifically for racing. A particular problem with the Aston Martin engine is the relatively tight V-angle, which affects the car's centre of gravity as most of the weight is quite high up in the engine. Aston Martin believe the 30 bhp advantage will more than make up for that.

What is completely new is the Lola B08/60 chassis, which is the English company's first fixed head sports racer since the Group C era. The carbon fibre roof does not hide the fact that the new car shares many design cues with the current generation of open LMP1 and LMP2 Lolas, which was also designed by Julian Sole. The final shape was created by using the latest Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software as well as extensive wind-tunnel testing and Lola believes that both the new LMP1 and LMP2 chassis will be even more efficient. The B08/60 also features a completely new monocoque and suspension compared to its predecessors.

The car will be run by the Charouz Racing with considerable support by Aston Martin Racing, who raced a Judd engined Lola in 2007. They were at times the fastest petrol powered car on the tracks and with the team�s super-quick drivers, it is not unthinkable that the Lola Aston Martin will be near the top of the field. Particularly at Le Mans where horsepower is key, the restrictor advantage might give the Aston engine the edge over the competition. In any case, it is a great way for Lola to celebrate the company's 50th Anniversary and it is also fantastic to have a third major manufacturer involved in LMP1.

After a series of private tests in the first two months of 2008, the Aston Martin engined Lola was first driven in public during the official Le Mans Series test at Paul Ricard. The expectations were high and after a difficult start, the car was right on the pace of the seasoned petrol engined cars. Still in bare carbon fibre, the B08/60 is pictured above during the Paul Ricard test.