Aston Martin... In a rally!

Hazardous

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Here's something one doesn't see every day. In the entry list for this weekend's Rallye Lyon-Charbonni?res, number 15:

SARRAZIN St?phane / St?phane PREVOT / Aston Martin V8 Vantage !!!

Some info behind this one. The car was originally entered by Frederic Dor, who has had it rally-prepared by Prodrive. Sarrazin is of course one of Prodrive's drivers with both Subaru in rallies and Aston Martin in GT:s. AFAIK Dor was supposed to drive the car himself but for some reason couldn't make it, and had Sarrazin to substitute.

This is the first time an Aston is entered for a major rally for half a century. Rallye Lyon-Charbonni?res is first event of the French Asphalt Rally Championship, and the championship is open for a limited number of GT cars along the normal Xsaras and Imprezas. In this particular event the entry list also includes two Porsche GT3:s and a Lotus Elise 240R.

And you thought modern rallying is boring, did you? ;)

Photos from testing yesterday.
http://img527.imageshack.**/img527/8234/120jd.jpg
http://img133.imageshack.**/img133/3540/15oh1.jpg
 
Its on asphalt so its not a proper rally.

Oh God please guide that car and keep it on the black stuff please.
 
these asphalt rally's are actually pretty cool, funny that aston is taking part
 
News of it.

Source:
AutoCar

Aston Martin is set to enter the world of rallying with an unofficial entry on this season's French Tarmac Championship.

Former Formula 1 driver and works Subaru star St?phane Sarrazin has entered this weekend's opening round of the series, the Lyon-Charbonnieres Rally, in an Aston Martin V8.

The French series includes a 'sportscar' class, so Sarrazin will be out to defeat Porsche GT3s and even a Lotus Exige in the same category.

The project is the brainchild of Frederic Dor, the French shipping magnate who has rallied and raced with Prodrive-built cars for over a decade. It's unclear if the entry is a one-off or if Dor plans to pitch the V8 against 911s on a more regular basis.
 
There are a few video clips of the rally at http://alexrallye.free.fr/videos.htm

Both clips contain pretty much footage from lot of cars but only one short clip of the Aston in action. But there's also footage of some Porsches, Elise and of course a whole lot of "traditional" rally cars.

Edit: Forgot to mention... The noise of the Aston... :thumbsup:
 
^ There's some great sounding cars in those vids - the Aston (of course), the Porsches, and those high-revving four-cylinders
 
So its rough tarmac yeah? Not the frilly stuff we use everyday?
 
I hope the Aston proves itself there.

I just can't get over that episode when vicky was testing the DB7 (Vanquish?) and broke the car twice just by locking the steering to one direction and dropping the clutch. The Aston ppl repairing the car for the 2nd time seemed to imply something like "Donuts not supported".
 
The AMV8 has the best looks and best sound in that rally. The Exige has the better grip and weight.
 
Why do they call it a rally if its on the road?
 
^ It's the format of the event (timed stages) that determines the name, not the location and road surface

[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rallying said:
Wikipedia[/url]]Rallying (international) or rally racing (US) is a form of automobile racing that takes place on public roads with modified production or specially built road cars. This unique motorsport is distinguished by running not on a circuit, but instead in a point-to-point format where participants and their co-drivers ?rally? to a set of points

Several of the WRC events are on tarmac, and events like Targa Tasmania are rallies but entirely on the road.
 
Oh ok. I see :p
 
In France and in Belgium is new class for GT cars.In the new N-Gt class starts 996 GT-3, Aston V8, 350Z and i think in 2007 will be some new cars like Exige 240R,......
 
in ireland the main amount of rallying in done on tarmac roads.. rallying is a timed pieace of track where people drive flat out to get teh best of times.. it can be ice snow tar and gravel... check out my site for some good action on the tar :)
 
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