Aston Martin reveal 007 world GT championship car

28-Jan-2010 • Bond News

This is the fabulous James Bond-style 007 Aston Martin in which former Sun racer Darren Turner will spearhead Britain's challenge in the new world GT championship, reports The Sun.

Turner, who drove a Sun-backed SEAT in the 2008 British Touring Car Championship, will be partnered by Czech ace Tomas Enge in the sleek DBR9.

And he is thrilled to be part of the famous marque's 2010 attack on the global series, in which he will be up against a fleet of supercars including Maseratis, Corvettes and Lamborghinis.

Ex-McLaren test driver Turner was at the wheel of the DBR9's first shakedown back in 2004. Since then he has achieved two class victories at Le Mans with the car - and was last year a leading player in the Aston prototype squad that won the Le Mans Series.

He said: "To come all the way from the first shakedown, via two Le Mans victories, to this new project is very special for me.

"I drove the car last week and even after I got home I was still buzzing from it. Just hearing the wail of the V12 again brought it all back to me.

"This season is going to be great. I'm really excited to be doing the full world championship, not only because we will be visiting some fantastic circuits but also because the competition will be intense."

The DBR9 will be run by the Aston-affiliated Young Driver team, based in Denmark and Germany.

Its name is hardly relevant to Turner, now 35, or 33-year-old Enge.

But a second car, numbered 008, will be run for promising 23-year-old Dane Christoffer Nygaard, who will get a chance to display his talent alongside experienced German Stefan Mucke.

Turner said: "The team has the infrastructure and resources to have great success. Bring it on."

The new GT series will take in ten races across Europe, the Middle East, South Africa and South America. It all starts in Abu Dhabi in April.