The countdown to Le Mans for Aston Martin started naturally enough in France – but not at the world-famous La Sarthe circuit.

The Aston Martin Racing team, resplendent in its new Gulf colours, took to the Paul Ricard circuit in the south of France recently along with several customer cars. Some of Aston Martin’s road cars – fresh from the Geneva motor show – were also put through their paces on the well-known French circuit.

While the driver line-up for Le Mans has not yet been entirely finalised, the DBR9 race cars –which will be once more numbered 007 and 009 – are already painted up in their iconic blue and orange liveries, conjuring up memories of Steve McQueen in the classic Le Mans movie from 1971.

Back in the present day, the Paul Ricard test was a valuable opportunity for both the factory and customer teams to test their cars in conditions that are quite similar to Le Mans.

“We’ve got a very long straight at Paul Ricard with a lot of heavy braking, and that means that there are some similarities to the Le Mans circuit,” said Darren Turner, who was part of the GT1-winning 009 crew last year. “The test was a really good chance to get back behind the wheel of the DBR9 again, as I haven’t really been driving it since Le Mans last year. Sure enough it felt very familiar, but we’ve made a few improvements and the lap times are actually better than they were last year. You spend a lot of the lap at Paul Ricard on full throttle, and that obviously allows the engineers to get a good picture of the aerodynamics and the reliability of the car, which are both absolutely crucial factors at Le Mans.”

The Aston Martin Racing squad, under the watchful eye of team principal George Howard-Chappell, also tried out some potential drivers for the Le Mans 24 Hours in June. Amongst them was Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who is best known for finishing third in the 1999 Formula 1 World Championship. The German had not driven any sort of racing car for over a year, but he enjoyed getting behind the wheel of the DBR9 for the first time.

“I’ve been sitting in my office for a year and a half, so it’s good to be back in action,” said the 40 year-old. “What struck me straight away was how easy the car felt to drive: I had no problem at all in adapting to it. It’s a car where the driver really makes the difference.”

The fundamental qualities of the DBR9 are mirrored in every other Aston Martin model – both for the track and for the road. The entire Aston Martin Racing family was represented at Paul Ricard, with the new V8 Vantage GT2 car also taking to the circuit together with the GT3 DBRS9 and the V8 Vantage N24, which competes on the GT4 European Cup.

The brand new Charouz Racing Systems LMP1 prototype, powered by Aston Martin, also got in some vital testing with Jan Charouz, Tomas Enge and Stefan Mucke – who are confirmed to drive the car at Le Mans.

Completing the Aston Martin line-up was a selection of the firm’s latest road cars, including the new V12 Vantage RS concept that was first displayed at the Geneva Motor Show.

Over the next couple of months the team will decide on the definitive crews for the two DBR9 factory cars at Le Mans, which takes place from June 14-15.

As Darren Turner explains: “Being an Aston Martin driver at Le Mans is not just about driving the car quickly all the time. You really have to fit into the team. That’s why it’s so valuable to get as much running in as possible before the start of the event. By the time we get to the high-pressured environment of Le Mans, working together should be second nature.”

The Aston Martin Racing team is now back at base in Banbury, preparing for the next test. You can keep up to date with the team’s build-up to Le Mans by reading the weekly features that will be published on this website from now up to the big race itself...