Fernando Alonso’s love affair with Aston Martin continues with rare car purchase

Thomas Maher
Fernando Alonso carries out a test of his newlypurchased DTM Aston Martin.

Fernando Alonso drives an Aston Martin DTM car in a test at Aragon in December, after buying the machine!

Fernando Alonso has bought himself an ex-DTM racing car from Aston Martin, after driving the machine in a sponsor outing in Spain.

The Spaniard took part in a sponsor event at the Jarama circuit in early September 2023, driving an ex-Dani Juncadella Aston Martin Vantage AMR from the 2019 DTM season.

Alonso was clearly impressed by the Class 1 machine, with Alonso opting to buy one of the five chassis prepared by R-Motorsport from engine manufacturer HWA AG, with some minor modifications made to the car before the sale.

Fernando Alonso buys himself a DTM Aston Martin

Alonso has bought himself the DTM Aston Martin for an undisclosed sum of money, with Martin Marx – managing director at HWA – telling German publication Motorsport-Total.com that the two-time F1 World Champion had made the initial approach.

Alonso requested a passenger seat for demonstration runs be fitted, with the fuel tank size reduced to allow for this modification.

With the car handed over to Alonso at the Jarama event, Alonso took the car to Aragon for a test in early December 2023.

Juncadella, who appeared at Jarama alongside Alonso, said Alonso had had no problems adjusting to the handling of the DTM machine.

“I was there to give him some support in case he needed help with the car basics,” Juncadella explained.

“He has a lot of experience and knows racing cars well. But it was interesting to spend the day with him. It seems that everything is very natural for him.

“He understands everything very quickly and doesn’t ask many questions because he knows what he’s doing. He said he was impressed by the car. The performance was better than expected for him.”

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Juncadelle also has an idea as to why Alonso was so attracted to the car that he decided to buy one of the five machines: “Fernando is used to having a lot of power and good braking. But he said the car is pretty straightforward. He expected to have to turn the wheel more.

“It’s a little different today, with the GT3s, but the prototypes were high-performance vehicles. Fernando likes all forms of competition: he would drive anything if there was competition and a challenge.”

The exact car that Alonso purchased is the test machine prepared by R-Motorsport, with the other four cars all used in racing competitions. HWA now expect the demand for the remaining two chassis to increase.

“After the sale to Fernando, who drives this car and obviously enjoys it, interest in the two vehicles that are still available has increased significantly,” said HWA board member Gordian von Schoning, as quoted by Motorsport.com.

“For us too, it is the ideal scenario if the car is in good hands and continues to be driven.”

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