20/24 #11: Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE
Chosen by: Rebecca Jones
Best finish: 1st in LMGTE Am, 2014, 1st in LMGTE Pro, 2017
Team: Aston Martin Racing (Prodrive)
Driven by: Too many to list!

“Right now, we’re in a golden era of sportscar racing, and it properly kicked off when the World Endurance Championship kicked off,” says Rebecca Jones, veteran of endurance racing as a PR and marketing specialist.

Today, Jones is at the forefront of WEC – like the rest of the paddock, she pronounces it ‘weck’, not ‘double-you-ee-see’ – doing comms with Porsche Penske Motorsport, but she was in different colours at the championship’s foundation.

Over the winter of 2011-12, she was working on the launch of the Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE. The Prodrive-run factory Aston Martin Racing team had just come off a 2011 season that is probably best unmentioned, and having limped out of the previous year, they needed to stride into the new season.

“I was involved from the inception of the Aston WEC effort and I’ve been working in the Championship ever since,” she continues. “But it all started, for me at least, at the end of 2011 when we launched this car. So it signifies the return of a World Championship in sportscar racing, and that means a lot to me.”

Developed from Aston’s preceding V8 Vantage GT2, the GTE was visually-similar but thoroughly improved in almost every area. It worked a treat right out of the box, and 2012 was a pretty good year for the Vantage and its thumping V8, with a Pro class podium at Le Mans, as well as a win at the closing race of the WEC season.

It went on to be a mainstay of the GTE class, winning Le Mans twice and topping both drivers’ and teams’ World standings in GTEs Pro and Am, before it was finally replaced in 2018. Most importantly, though, for one of the WEC paddock’s mainstays, it was the very beginning of the journey.

All my art is giclée printed on gorgeous 315gsm paper, and is supplied unframed. They’re printed round the corner from me in Bristol, and I pick them up, then pack and post by hand. They are made to order, so please allow 14 days for UK delivery, and more outside the UK – if your need is urgent, please send me a message via the contact form and I’ll endeavour to make it work for you. Unfortunately, items posted outside of the UK can encounter delays and costs outside of my control.