autoevolution 11 Jan 2021, 10:31 UTC ·
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The original Shelby Daytona Coupe – built in just six examples – is one of the most important pieces of motorsport history for the Blue Oval. It was created just prior to Caroll Shellby’s refocus on the Ford GT40 project for the 24 Hours of Le Mans and officially raced by the company to great success, bringing the first title for an American manufacturer in the FIA GT International Championship (a.k.a. the WSC - World Sportscar Championship). 62 photos
Naturally, with such historic significance came also the prospect of building a modern business around it – note the Shelby American continuation Daytonas from 2015 (honoring the 50th anniversary of the WSC title) or the Ford Shelby GR-1.
It s the end of an era.
To coincide with the launch of the new Vantage road car, Aston Martin unveiled the new Vantage GTE race car back in 2017 as a successor to the Le Mans-winning V8 Vantage GTE to compete in the World Endurance Championship. It s the end of an era, however, because Aston Martin has announced it s withdrawing from the FIA World Endurance Championship for the 2021 season after nine years. Sadly, this means Aston Martin won t compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans next year.
Instead, Aston Martin will support customer racing teams using the Vantage GTE, so you ll still see it in action on the race track. Since the car s track debut in 2018, Aston Martin believes it has achieved every target it set for the V8 Vantage GTE. This means Porsche and Ferrari will be the only represented manufacturers for the 2021 GTE Pro championship.