Aston Martin Racing and Gulf have unveiled their livery for the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The livery, designed by Jonathan Wesley from Kettering in the UK, was the winner of a livery design competition for the #97 Vantage GTE throughout the Le Mans race week.
The design was selected from hundreds of entries by the drivers of the car, Darren Turner, Stefan Mucke and Peter Dumbreck. Wesley will now attend the race weekend as a VIP guest of Gulf to watch his design compete in the Le Mans 24 Hours.
“I have been excited ever since I got the news that my design had been chosen,” said winner Wesley. “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 have partnered Aston Martin Racing for the past five years and have recently announced they will continue to adorn the cars for the next three years.
“Gulf has been responsible for some extremely iconic motorsport liveries and we wanted to give fans the opportunity to play their part,” said Global Brand Manager of Gulf, Sam Cork. “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 hundreds of 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.”
