The DBR9 designation consciously evokes the original Aston Martin DBR1, the sports prototype that David Brown's racing programme built in the late 1950s. The DBR1 won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1959 and took the World Sportscar Championship in the same year. By naming its new GT1 car DBR9, Aston Martin linked the modern programme directly to that heritage. The cars regularly raced under race numbers 007 and 009, a tribute to the James Bond franchise with which Aston Martin has a longstanding connection.
The DBR9 is built on an aluminium frame with carbon fibre panels, excluding the roof. It is powered by the Aston Martin AM04, a 6.0-litre V12 engine with twin overhead camshafts and 48 valves, which produces 625 bhp (466 kW) at race trim with air restrictors fitted, and is capable of more than 750 bhp when unrestricted. Peak torque stands at 746 N·m. Drive is delivered through an Xtrac 6-speed sequential gearbox. The car weighs 1,170 kg and runs on Michelin tyres, with double wishbone suspension at both ends and Koni dampers. Chief designer was Henrik Fisker; chief engineer Graham Humphrys.
The DBR9 debuted at the 2005 Sebring 12 Hours, winning the LMGT1 class. At Le Mans in 2005 car number 59 finished third in class, driven by Turner, Sarrazin, and Brabham. In 2006 car 007 finished second in class at Le Mans, crewed by Enge, Piccini, and Turner. That year Aston Martin Racing won the FIA GT Constructors' Championship and Larbre Compétition won the Le Mans Series teams' title.
The programme's headline results came at Le Mans. In 2007 car 009 — chassis DBR9/10, crewed by Brabham, Rydell, and Turner — won the LMGT1 class and finished fifth overall. In 2008 the same car number, crewed by Brabham, Garcia, and Turner and running in Gulf Oil livery, repeated the class victory. Following the 2007 win, Aston Martin released a limited-edition road car, the DB9 LM, finished in Sarthe Silver; only sixty examples were built.
In 2009 a Le Mans-specification DBR9 was entered in the Super GT series, marking Aston Martin's first appearance in that Japanese championship. Factory team operations wound down as the programme transitioned toward the newer DBRS9 and subsequently the V12 Vantage GT3. In 2011 the chassis continued to be raced by customer teams; Hexis AMR won the FIA GT1 World Championship teams' title that year using a DBR9. A total of sixteen DBR9 chassis were constructed across the programme's lifetime.
The DBR9's profile extended into animation: the character Nigel Gearsley in the Pixar film Cars 2 is modelled on the DBR9.
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