Gulf and Aston Martin Racing have unveiled the winner of their global livery design competition at the 90th running of the Le Mans 24 Hours in Le Mans’ historic town centre.
The design, inspired by the change in atmosphere as day gives way to night during the 24 Hours of Le Mans, was created by Jonathan Wesley from Kettering in the UK and will adorn the #97 Vantage GTE throughout race week.
Darren Turner (GB), Stefan Mücke (D) and Peter Dumbreck (GB), drivers of the #97 Vantage GTE, selected Jonathan’s design from more than 480 entries. He will now attend the race weekend as a VIP guest of Gulf to see his winning design compete in the 90th 24 Hours of Le Mans.
“I have been excited ever since I got the news that my design had been chosen,” comments Jonathan. “I loved the chance of being able to design a Gulf Aston Martin, but it’s already such a classic livery that I was wondering what I could do.
“I was just sketching a few thoughts out and I liked the idea of the car being a different colour on both sides. I thought about the Gulf corporate colours – dark blue, light blue, orange and white – and I came up with the idea of ‘daylight to dusk’, which to me is the most exciting part of the race.
“So it moves from the white with the broad orange stripe dividing things to the dark blue of the night. The orange and blue lines represent the streaks that you often see in photos of the cars at night and the whole design sort of summed up the essence of Le Mans to me.”
Gulf, which has partnered Aston Martin Racing for five years and has signed a further three-year deal, ran the livery competition to allow fans to participate in the team’s most ambitious Le Mans campaign, marking the centenary year of Aston Martin.
Sam Cork, Global Brand Manager at Gulf explained: “Gulf has been responsible for some extremely iconic motorsport liveries and we wanted to give fans the opportunity to play their part. To design the livery for a Gulf Aston Martin, racing at Le Mans in the brand’s centenary year, is really something quite special. This livery will enter Gulf and Aston Martin Racing’s history books and Jonathan should be extremely proud to be the winner, as we had almost five hundred entries from all over the world. The design is excellent. It is everything we hoped for. We can’t wait to see it take to the track for the most exciting endurance race of the year.”
The #97 is one of five Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTEs competing in the 24-hour race, but the only one to carry the competition-winning design.
Updates from the team, including information about the livery competition, can be found on the Gulf Facebook page www.facebook.com/gulfoilinternational and the Aston Martin Racing Facebook page www.facebook.com/astonmartinracing.
www.lemans-tv.com will have live TV streaming during practice, qualifying and the race.
Aston Martin Racing uses and endorses Gulf lubricants
