Aston V12 Vantage vs LMP1 racer

Aston Martin secured victory last weekend at Le Mans in the GTE Am category with a V8 Vantage. This is incredibly important, because the car that crossed the line was car #95; the car Allan Simonsen drove last year before his unfortunate passing.

So with mixed emotions the drivers honoured Simonsen, victory being the finest tribute to their fallen comrade, in front of a Le Mans audience awash with Danish flags.

To celebrate this win, we also thought we'd give a little salute, by digging out this old video that Aston Martin released a few years back. While it references the Vantage and Le Mans, this one is in fact all about a bloody great big shouty engine. Aston's 6.0-litre V12. It's a great, great engine.

Not because it features in the DBS, DB9, Vanquish and Vantage, but also because it powered the 2009 DBR1-2 to a 2009 Le Mans Series win, and three podiums in 2010. Aston thought, ‘lets get these two cars together for a little video and noise off'. This, as you will shortly discover, was a correct thought.

And the Vantage? As we mentioned way back when, the V12 is just built for telly. Who can forget Jeremy's V12 Vantage film from the end of Series 13? Well if you did forget it, you can have a watch of it below.

Read TopGear.com's definitive blog on the 2014 Le Mans 24hrs