A few weeks back we had originally posted a story that indicated Aston Martin was not going to have a factory effort in the Le Mans championships around the globe. They have decided to do a 180 and seize an opportunity that has been provided.
We have noted this off season that the LMP field was rather lacking and that was putting it nicely. Both Audi and Peugeot are running very select races and the American prototype program is virtually non existent. Enter newly named series vultures Aston Martin to the rescue. Aston has struck a deal with Adrian Fernandez and will pilot a machine around Sebring for the ALMS season opener and then around Long Beach for round two. Aston Martin have also announced they will field two cars in the 24 Hour race in Le Mans later this year. The British firm won the overall LMS championship in Europe last year and will compete at Paul Richard for the LMS opener in 2010 giving the team a guaranteed four races. Aston is set to announce later this year their plans for post Le Mans.
While good news, this is still not good enough for the prototypes future at this present moment. Interesting to see Aston scout the landscape to see who will be doing what and then seize the opportunity for some race victories. We have heard none of the heavy really showing up to Sebring, so you might as well chalk it up to an Aston victory because the Acura LMP1 is no match. The car has not even been developed in the off season to really compete in an any LMP1 races. Sebring will be a classical Le Mans style race that should still break down into LMP1 and LMP2 with the new rules coming into effect at Long Beach. I hate to say it but Drayson Racing vs. Aston Martin does not seem like a fair match. Better news for the prototypes, but still depressing as a whole and as we have said before, 2010 will most likely be a repeat of 2009 with nothing much to cheer about if you are a prototype fan.
