Photo of the day: the Aston Vantage GT3 flies at the 'Ring

You’ve probably seen plenty of cars getting a bit of air at the Nürburgring. But how many have looked as cool as this? It’s Aston Martin’s new Vantage GT3 racecar, and it made its Nordschleife debut at the weekend.

It didn’t win, though it did qualify on pole and go on to take fourth place in the VLN Endurance Championship race.

Which may sound like an anti-climax, but racecars go on to live long lives – the old Vantage GT3 bows out six years after first being unveiled – so this is only the beginning for the latest iteration. It was also hamstrung by some time penalties, because the complexities of motorsport mean it’s not fully homologated until 2019.

“The first time you compete in a race with a new car around the Nordschleife, it is about getting the car to the flag,” said one of its drivers, Darren Turner. “So the fact that we had no reliability issues is a big tick in the box.

His driving partner Maxime Martin added: “Compared with the old car the Vantage GT3 is definitely a big step forward. But it is also a young car so there are a lot of parameters we will improve further, which is normal for a new project. The base is really good and I am really confident that the car will be competitive.”

What they’ve not touched on is how good it sounded. We eagerly await a chance to see (well hear) if it can live up to its utterly thunderous predecessor, and shall report back in due course…