The Vantage DTM, one of the five chassis ever built by R-Motorsport with a license from Aston Martin, was bought for an undisclosed amount by Alonso from engine builder HWA.
At Alonso’s request, a passenger seat was installed by HWA before the car was sold to him. This was a standard conversion process, with the size of the fuel tank reduced in order to enable taxi rides.
“Fernando knew that the cars were for sale and contacted us,” Martin Marx, managing director at HWA, told Autosport’s sister title Motorsport-Total.com.
The Vantage DTM was officially handed over to Alonso during a large fan event organised by his sponsor at the Jarama circuit near Madrid in September, which was attended by over 2,000 people.
Daniel Juncadella, who was part of R-Motorsport’s 2019 DTM campaign, was also present at the occasion and provided Alonso with some inside knowledge of the car.
Photo by: Finetwork
Fernando Alonso testing the Aston Martin Vantage AMR Class One
Alonso later took the Vantage to Aragon for a proper test last month, just weeks after guiding Aston Martin to fifth place in the 2023 F1 constructors’ standings.
A number of family members and friends were invited to attend the event and join him as a passenger as he completed several laps of the 5.3km circuit.
Among those present was six-time MotoGP champion and fellow Spaniard Marc Marquez, who took the wheel of the Vantage from Alonso to get some more experience in prototype cars under his belt.
Juncadella also joined Alonso for the test and revealed that the 42-year-old enjoyed his first proper experience of driving the 650bhp Vantage.
“He said that he was impressed by the car,” Juncadella told Motorsport-Total.com. “The performance was better than expected for him.
“Fernando is used to a lot of power and good braking. But he said that the car is pretty direct. He was expecting to have to turn the steering wheel more.
“It’s a bit different today with the GT3 cars, but the prototypes were high-performance vehicles. Fernando likes any form of racing – he would drive anything if there was competition and a challenge.”
Juncadella feels the fact that the Vantage DTM could be easily modified played a role in Alonso’s decision to buy the car.
“There is the Formula 1 two-seater, but if you look at all the cars around the world that can be used as taxis, the Class 1 car from the DTM is the best you can get so that the passenger can really feel what happens in a…
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