Aston Martin Racing’s Cutest Car Is Its New Soapbox Racer
Can Aston Martin replicate its endurance racing success on a smaller scale?
Aston Martin Racing has unveiled a brand-new race car it has been working on: a soapbox racing replica of their V8 Vantage GTE endurance racing car that won its class at this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans. This soapbox car retains the name of its elder sibling, and is built to compete in Saturday's Red Bull Soapbox Race at London's Alexandria Palace. Last year's event saw a potpourri of strange vehicles based upon themes such as John Deere tractors, TIE Fighters, Batman, and what appears to be a bratwurst in a bun. Winners are decided in the same fashion as most soapbox races: with a war between a stopwatch and a panel of judges.
"When taking on a challenge as big as this it is important to rally your troops and throw everything you’ve got at it. Aston Martin has enjoyed great on-track success with the V8 Vantage GTE so it was the obvious choice for the design of our soapbox entry," said President of Aston Martin Racing, David King, with his tongue buried so far in his cheek that it could be taken as a lewd gesture.
Aston Martin Racing will not be fielding their endurance racing drivers Darren Turner and Johnny Adam in this hazardous downhill sprint, though they will be present to give the baby Vantage's driver, an engineer by the name of Alex Summers, a hard shove on the back at the top of the hill. As one would expect from a racing team, there is nothing but camaraderie between Darren Turner and Alex Summers. “There is no way in the world I would get into one but I’m very happy to wave the brave pilot on his merry way. I hope Alex manages to last for more than 24 seconds and, most importantly, makes it to the bottom in one piece,” said Turner.
