Aston Martin recently announced that the new generation of the Vantage GT3 will be unveiled on February 12 alongside the roadgoing Vantage. However, the racecar made an early racing debut at the 24 Hours of Daytona last weekend, flaunting its redesigned bodywork to the unsuspecting spectators.
The updated racecar made its first public outing on January 22 during qualifying, before the race weekend on January 27 and 28. However, without an official announcement, it largely flew under the radar.
Not wanting to spoil the surprise ahead of the formal debut, Aston Martin Racing (AMR) kept a low profile on social media. The majority of photos and videos of the racecar focus on the familiar profile and rear end, rather than showing us the redesigned face.
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Footage from the 24-hour race and closeups uploaded on the IMSA website suggests that Aston Martin tried to camouflage the new headlights with stickers, although the difference with the outgoing model is quite obvious. We can also see the revised nose leading to the new grille, while the two bumper intakes are fully covered in the racecar. As with its predecessor, the GT3 model looks a lot wilder than the roadgoing Vantage thanks to the wider bodykit with the significantly larger aero.
Under the hood lies an AMG-sourced twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 which is capped to produce between 500-600 hp in the racecar according to GT3 regulations. It is safe to assume that AMR engineers made improvements to the chassis setup compared to the previous Vantage GT3 that debuted back in 2018.
Three examples of the updated Aston Martin Vantage GT3 competed at the 24 Hours of Daytona this year. The Magnus Racing no.44 car was forced to retire, but the Heart of Racing no.23 secured a fourth-place finish. Besides the GT3-spec model, Aston Martin will soon reveal a GT4-spec racecar, as revealed by the camouflaged prototypes that recently made their first appearance on the track.