2009 Aston martin LMP1 car

Aston Martin won the GT1 class in the 2007 and 2008 24 Hours of Le Mans races with the DBR9, and now Aston has set its sights higher this year. It’s abandoning the GT1 class to focus its efforts on the faster LMP1 class and the overall win.

The car is based on the 2008 Charouz Racing System Lola, and power will come from the same production-based Aston Martin V12 engine that was used in the DBR9 that won in 2008. Although all car companies would like to win at Le Mans, this would be especially sweet for Aston Martin. Fifty years ago, Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori brought Aston an overall win on the French circuit in a DBR1.

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Porsche working on Cayman clubsport

Now that Porsche has launched the refreshed Cayman, its time to start make some special editions. By October a lightweight Clubsport model will be the first version to be added to the new Cayman’s lineup.

The previous Cayman had an S Sport version that appeared earlier this year. Where that model was used to celebrate an anniversary and gave a 8 hp bump (303 in total), the Clubsport should be a focused racer. The Clubsport will go on a strict diet and remove unnecessary interior pieces and accessories, as well as utilize lighter body panels. The total weight savings should be about 220 lbs, which represents about seven percent of the car’s total mass.

The engine shouldn’t change from the Cayman S’s 320 hp 3.4-liter flat six with direct injection. A six-speed manual gearbox and limited-slip differential will be standard, should also be standard. The extra weight savings should shave off a few tenths off the Cayman S’s 0 to 60 time of 4.9 seconds.

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