Aston Martin DBR9

Development

Based on the Aston Martin DB9 road car, the DBR9 retains the chassis, engine block, and cylinder heads of the road car's V12 engine. The rest of the car is re-engineered for high performance competition use. The DBR9's bodywork is a blend of optimum aerodynamic performance and the styling of the DB9 road car. All the body panels are constructed from carbon fibre composite (except the roof) to minimize the weight of the car. To complete the aerodynamic body, the bottom of the car is flat all the way from the front to the rear diffuser. To optimise rear downforce a carbon fibre wing has been added. The engine develops 625 bhp (466 kW; 634 PS) and 746 N⋅m (550 lb⋅ft). The DBR9 goes from 0 to 60 mph (97 km/h) in 3.4 seconds, and 0 to 100 mph (161 km/h) in 6.4 seconds.
For the 2007 24 Hours of Le Mans, Prodrive made modifications to the DBR9 design to not only improve performance, but also to increase driver comfort in the cockpit.  Due to new regulations put into place by Le Mans organizers, the DBR9 required the installation of an air conditioning unit, to prevent overstressing drivers.  Prodrive went further by putting a heat-resistant white roof on all new cars to assist in keeping cockpit temperatures down.  Performance modifications included the removal of two, now immaterial, cooling vents from the bonnet of the car.

Racing history

The DBR9 won the Sebring 12 Hours for its LMGT1 category in 2005, but came third in Le Mans 24 Hour behind arch-rivals Corvette Racing due to fuel problems.  In 2006, the DBR9 was unable to repeat its success at Sebring, finishing second behind a Corvette.  A similar situation occurred at Le Mans as well.  Despite not winning Sebring and Le Mans, Aston Martin Racing regularly challenged Corvette Racing for victory in the rest of the American Le Mans Series schedule, with victories at Lime Rock Park, Miller Motorsports Park, Mosport, Petit Le Mans, and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.  Aston Martin capped their 2006 ALMS season by finishing second in the GT1 Manufacturer's Championship, earning the factory team an automatic entry to the 2007 24 Hours of Le Mans.
In the Le Mans Endurance Series, Larbre Compétition took the Team's Championship, with victories at the 1000 Kilometres of Istanbul and 1000 Kilometres of the Nurburgring, a second-place finish at the 1000 Kilometres of Jarama, and a fifth-place finish at the 1000 Kilometres of Donington.
The DBR9 came into the 2006 FIA GT Championship being title contender favourites, but the season was somewhat lacklustre with only two victories at Mugello and Dubai. The Phoenix Racing Aston Martin DBR9 narrowly missed out on victory at the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.  BMS Scuderia Italia cited a problem with finding the right tyre compound with their Pirellis as the factor for their lack of success.
For 2007, Aston Martin was finally able to overcome their woes at Le Mans, securing the GT1 class victory for the #009 Aston Martin Racing DBR9.  Larbre's DBR9 would also manage third place in class.  The teams running DBR9s managed to finish every car entered. To celebrate that historic victory, Aston Martin built a very limited edition of the DB9 called the DB9 LM (Le Mans), which featured a unique color, called the Sarthe Silver (named to the track where the Le Mans racing is held), also DBS clear taillights, specific wheels, Magnum silver meshes and crossbar, Sport Pack as standard, a specific interior with red stitching and tertre rouge facia trim. All cars were individually numbered and they are very sought-after today.
Later in 2007, Aston Martin launched another limited production, the DBS road car which has many styling cues taken from the DBR9 in conjunction with the James Bond film Casino Royale.  Aston Martin Racing's DBR9s raced 2006 and 2007 under the numbers 007 and 009, in honour of James Bond. Unlike the DB9 LM, which was an ultra-exclusive (only 60 built) cosmetic package, the DBS brought many technology from the racing world. A lot of carbon fiber and aluminium used in the body, a serious power upgrade to the engine and a new interior.
In 2008, while Larbre and Scuderia Italia moved on from Aston Martin, Prodrive continued to field a two-car factory team at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The #009 numbered car, with the new Gulf Oil sponsored paint scheme, driven by Darren Turner, Antonio Garcia and David Brabham, won its class.
A Le Mans-spec DBR9 participated in the 2009 Super GT season, marking Aston Martin's debut in the series.

Teams

The Aston Martin DBR9 is currently run by two customers team in the FIA GT1 World Championship.
In the past, there were up to three factory teams and the car has also been sold to customers for private use in various racing series, such as the American Le Mans Series, Le Mans Series, FIA GT Championship, FFSA GT Championship, and Super GT.

Chassis

A total of 16 DBR9 chassis were made including a few upgraded chassis' over the five years it has raced so far.