Sarrazin to drive a Vantage V8 in French Rally

[Nick Koan]

In the infamous words of Paris Hilton, That's Hot.

Hopefully we'll be able to see it in action.

http://www.wrc.com/page/News/Breakin...17941,00.html?

Aston Martin in French rally

Subaru World Rally Team driver Stephane Sarrazin is to drive the first Aston Martin to enter a major rally for a half century on Friday, at the start of the French tarmac championship Lyon-Charbonnieres Rhone Rally. Tests started this morning (Tuesday 18th) in France with initial work setting-up the suspension of the Aston Martin V8 Vantage V8. Sarrazin and codriver Stephane Prevot run as number 15 in the special GT series category, up against cars such as 911 GT3. Like rallies in Belgium, standard production GT cars are allowed to compete on this event, whereas big sports and GT cars have been barred from FIA World Rally Championship since the end of 1986.

This car has been prepared by Prodrive in Britain for the motor sportsman Frederic Dor. A Prodrive spokesman explained "the French federation have listed a series of cars which can run in the category. The Porsche 911 cars offered a benchmark for this project. The Aston looks like being more suitable with a shorter bodywork, longer wheelbase and wider track, though the Porsche is lighter. The power and torque of the two cars are similar. So far the only preparation work has been to add safety equipment and a sump guard. The initial reaction of Stephane (Sarrazin) is that the car is inherently better balance than expected".

The last recorded major win for an Aston Martin was on the 1956 RAC Rally in Britain when a private DB2/4 was driven by Lyndon Sims. The only works Astons in rallying were the year before when three cars were entered on the Monte Carlo Rally where Maurice Gatsonides finished seventh overall and the Grand Prix driver Peter Collins finished 96th!

[Nick Koan]

http://www.wrc.com/page/News/Breakin...820753,00.html

Belgian co-driver Stephane Prevot returned home after a weekend of an unforgettable experience sitting beside French Subaru World Rally Team driver Stephane Sarrazin on the Lyon Charbonnieres-Rhone Rally - in an Aston Martin V8 Vantage. Although this class of car is forbidden in world championship events, production GT cars are allowed on rallies in Belgium and France, with the Lyon Charbonnieres being the first round of the French asphalt championship. "It was quite an experience for me who is more used to World Rally Cars, for the sport, for the marque and especially for the spectators. Maybe for Stephane, however it was a bit slow, because in his spare time he races an Aston Martin DBR9!" Serious rallying with Aston Martins has not been known for fifty years.

The project only began three weeks before the rally. "Stephane and I got a call during Corsica recce to ask if we would be available, then to our surprise it all happened straight away. The car was really standard with standard ABS brakes and suspension, but with racing seats and a rollcage added. On the rally we finished second in the class behind Nicolas Bernardi's Porsche 911 GT3. We were just less than a second a kilometre slower, which considering they must have been developing the Porsches for one to two years was very promising." The project was masterminded by motoring sportsman Frederic Dor, who attended the rally and was very encouraged by what he saw.

"Sitting in the car is quite an experience. It is so quiet. Suddenly you realise that you are travelling at 200kph. Maybe it is really too quiet, it is much quieter than an ordinary Group N car. From inside the car you can feel just how heavy it is, but you can also tell just how much fun it must be to drive the car as well. It is rear wheel drive, so the driver can use the throttle to slide the car round the bends. The Prodrive people did what they could to improve the car during the event, they even disconnected the ABS system but that led to a lack of balance of the braking, so they reverted to standard again. We do not know what will be the next time the car is seen in action, but with some work it must surely be able quite soon to match the speed of the Porsches."

[Nick Koan]

Looks pretty stock to me, but it does have the cage in it.

[MattR]

So ,So Hot.

[AtomicLabMonkey]

Did they even pull the interior out?

[Nick Koan]

It looks like not. Sounds like they just replaced the seats and put in a cage. And in the last paragraph he says "It is so quiet. Suddenly you realise that you are travelling at 200kph."

Its no wonder they were about 1 second/km slower then the Porsche. They had all the interior and sound dampening in the vehicle though.

[AtomicLabMonkey]

Originally Posted by nKoan

It looks like not. Sounds like they just replaced the seats and put in a cage. And in the last paragraph he says "It is so quiet. Suddenly you realise that you are travelling at 200kph."

That statement is what got me wondering about it. I don't know why you would go through all the extra work during the cage building process to leave an interior in a car that's being professionally raced, not to mention the weight disadvantage and the fire hazard for the drivers.