Aston Martin's latest V8 Vantage competition model gets its motivation from a surprisingly simple source: gravity.
The British company built its latest race-ready car for a Redbull-sponsored soapbox derby held yesterday at Alexandra Palace in London, UK. Dubbed "a race for the wickedly adventurous," in which "fast is good, but outrageous is even better," the event casually known as 24 Seconds of Ally Pally invites teams to design the wackiest contraptions they can dream up to coast down a course that includes jumps, obstacles and plenty of opportunities for dramatic crashes.
Unsurprisingly, Aston's was one of the more sophisticated in the race, and finished in second place, with Alex Summers, Aston's senior engineer of prototype operations, behind the wheel.
In a press release, Aston called the race a chance to turn the company's considerable experience in hill climb racing on its head. And while Aston freely admits to an innovation partnership with Red Bull, the automaker assures us there was no favouritism and a "level playing field, so to speak."
Check out some of the highlights from the race below.
