Day one
Aston Martin might have the best looking line-up of any road car manufacturer. The full collection of models standing — or parked — to attention in front of Beaverbrook Hotel on a sunny June morning is a sight. ‘Resplendent’, says the estate’s gatekeeper. I am here to celebrate Aston Martin’s return to the top category of Le Mans, and will do so with a road-trip to the sleepy French town for the 24 hour race.
Le Mans is about endurance. Not just of the machine, but of the people who drive it, who fix it, and who watch it. More than 300 laps. Thousands of tires. 24 hours of non-stop racing, at upwards of 200mph. For many manufacturers, it is the absolute pinnacle of racing.
Aston Martin is, once again, no longer just a road car manufacturer. It returned to Formula 1 (F1) in 2021 and is now aiming to get back to the top step of endurance racing. Winning the French race would be the cherry on its motorsport cake. It has of course done so before; having first raced at Le Mans in 1928, it first won a class victory in 1931, with four more wins throughout the 1930s. It then won the 3.0-litre class six times in the 1950s, before bagging an overall victory in 1959 with Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori. Today, it’s impossible to imagine two drivers sharing the wheel over the course of the race; the rules dictate that three must split the work. This is the toughest motorsport event in the world.
Writer Charlie Thomas keeps a watchful eye over his 'thirsty' DB12 somewhere underneath the English Channel.
It is less of a challenge to drive from Surrey to Honfleur. My first carriage towards France is the DB12, Aston’s ‘Super Tourer’. 680bhp, 0-60 in 3.7 seconds, and lashings of leather. Power and opulence combined. At a petrol station in Calais, a roving crowd of car spotters hurriedly raise their cameras towards the thirsty fleet of Aston Martins, swarming around us as we refuel. In Honfleur, we settle into our hotel, La Ferme Saint Simeon, once the hangout of choice of Monet, Courbet and local hero Eugene Boudin. It is the calm before the Le Mans storm.
Day two
There is an enviable effortlessness to the DB12. It absorbs miles. It’s easy to drift down a motorway, but the real fun begins in ‘Sport’ mode, when the vehicle comes alive with an agile urgency that belies its size (the DB12 weighs just under 1,800kg on an empty tank). While it won’t ever be a track day weapon, it’s great fun on back lane drives. Spot a chance to pass someone or something? Simply breathe on the throttle and you’ll find yourself 50ft in front of your victim.
At lunch — at La Maison Villeneuve in Donnay, a former 17th century hunting lodge, about 90 miles from Le Mans — I swap the DB12 for its smaller, angrier sibling, the Vantage. The vehicle has the same Mercedes-AMG-sourced 4.0-litre, twin turbo V8, but it’s been reworked for a more race-y tune. It has less power at 665hp, but is lighter, weighing in at 1,605kg, so it’s quicker, hitting 60mph from a standstill in 3.5 seconds. Oh, and it sounds like thunder. It makes light work of the twisty country roads that take us to our race base, the Le Mans Country Club
Day three
The Aston Martin Valkyrie 009 gleams in the sunset.
What these guys do is phenomenal. How they do it for 24 hours in the dark, rain and sun and all the other conditions they have to deal with, baffles me completely
The Le Mans Country Club (below) — yet another 17th century hunting lodge — is hot property during race week, but this year it has been entirely taken over by Aston Martin, to celebrate its entry into the race’s Hypercar category. Despite the party atmosphere, race expectations are reasonable: ‘We know a win isn’t possible’, says Aston Martin CEO Adrian Hallmark, but ‘along with our partner, The Heart of Racing, we will do our utmost to ensure Valkyrie delivers on its promise with a performance worthy of all the work that has gone into the programme thus far.’
The Le Mans Country Club — a 17th century hunting lodge — was taken over by Aston Martin for the duration.
The car — which is so early on in its development — is going up against more established programmes from manufacturers including Ferrari, Porsche, Toyota and Cadillac. Rather, the idea for this weekend is to gather all the necessary data to carry over for next year, when Aston Martin expects to be more competitive. Given the unique challenges of the race, if the Valkyries can finish, the whole endeavour will be deemed a success.
‘Compared to the seasons where there were 16 Grands Prix per year, Le Mans is a whole F1 season in a 24 hour period, and it's faster’, says Hallmark. ‘The speeds down the straight and the corner entry speeds are truly mind blowing. So what these guys do is phenomenal. How they do it for 24 hours in the dark, rain and sun and all the other conditions they have to deal with, baffles me completely.’
Day three, 3.35pm
There are 25 minutes to go before the start of the race and a French military helicopter is drowning out the buzz of the packed grandstands. Soldiers abseil down from its belly, directly onto the track, but it’s nothing to be alarmed about — they are performing the now customary delivery of the Tricolour flag which will be used to start the race — brandished, this year, by tennis star Roger Federer.
Day three, 4pm
AF Corse #83 Ferrari 499P Hypercar tackles Tertre Rouge corner at Le Mans' Circuit de la Sarthe.
Roger does his thing and the brash sound of 62 engines fills the air. Hearing it in person is one of motorsport’s most visceral experiences — and it will echo across the 8.5 mile track for the next 24 hours.
Day three, 10pm
Asleep on the job. (But in a good way.)
At this time of year, the sun sets at 10pm, by which point the race has been going for six hours. That is the total race time for a number of World Endurance Championship races, including Imola and Spa, but Le Mans is just getting started. Twilight is a unique time to watch the cars. Headlights are on and the horizon’s pinky glow bathes everything in warm light.
The garage mechanics, however, are unmoved by the pretty scene, sitting patiently on fold-up chairs for their respective cars to pit, every 10 to 13 laps. For some, bursts of sleep are possible, but not for the engineers who stay awake for the entire race, monitoring their team’s progress and strategy, and communicating with the drivers.
Day four, midnight
Iron Lynx #63 carves through the night under the glow of the ferris wheel.
The sun is now a distant memory and the party is in full swing. A ferris wheel illuminates the Ford Corner and Chicane — the last obstacle designed to slow cars down before the pit lane. There is live music, but the best sounds come from the Valkyrie, unique among Hypercars in that it is the only one based on a road car (Aston Martin’s road-legal flagship of the same name).
It has a race-tuned version of the same engine, a 6.5-litre Cosworth V12, albeit without the road car’s hybrid unit. Detuned to 680bph to appease FIA rules, it is arguably the best sounding race car in use today. It has a pure, mechanical wail, akin to early 1990s F1 cars, and can be heard screaming its way towards you long before you see it. It might not have a chance of winning, but between this and its radical aerodynamic design, it’s a strong fan favourite.
Day four, 4pm
The Valkyrie (above) is also impressively reliable, performing strongly through the night and into the morning. At the chequered flag, signalling the end of this gladiatorial event, the #009 car finishes 12th, with the all-British line-up #007 car in 14th, ahead of a Toyota, a Peugeot, both BMWs, two Cadillacs and a Ferrari — which was disqualified. A Robert Kubica-Yifei Ye-Phil Hanson-driven, privately entered Ferrari, is the overall winner, but on its first return to the pinnacle of endurance racing, Aston Martin had plenty to celebrate.
AF Corse #83 drivers Phil Hanson and Yifei Ye celebrate alongside their victorious Ferrari.
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