‘We were looking for the crescendo effect,’ says Simon Newton, Aston Martin’s director of vehicle performance. Never mind crescendo, at 162mph on the 960-metre main straight of the Circuit Monteblanco near Seville in Spain, this car’s got more build than the band of His Majesty’s Royal Marines playing Elgar’s Nimrod.
Way, way past the pits now and it’s still bellowing and accelerating hard as I cling to the wheel, forced back in the leather and carbon fibre bucket, waiting for the second when I really should slam on the anchors for the hairpin right. All the while wondering if I’ve actually got the chops to join the cadre of ‘real drivers’ at whom Aston Martin is aiming this new Vantage model.
Blimey, what a machine. I’d been slightly unnerved by Newton’s introduction as he outlined just what Aston had done to this (arguably) third-generation of the current baby Aston Martin. With first quarter losses of £139 million and a plummeting stock price, there’s a lot riding on this, the new starter Aston.
Watch Steve Sutcliffe’s 2024 Aston Martin Vantage review
