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Interview: Dan Sayers, Technical Director at Aston Martin Racing Technical Chief

Dan Sayers is the technical director of Aston Martin Racing (AMR). He graduated from Brunel University in London and started at Prodrive — the company that runs AMR — in 2008.

 Automobile Magazine: What is your specific role and what are your responsibilities at AMR?

Dan Sayers: I’m responsible for the design and development of the AMR products, as well as the other motorsports products and projects at Prodrive. Most of my time is with AMR. I’m responsible for all the design engineers on the new [AMR] GT products we hope to launch in 2018 and 2019, as well as the development of the current products we’re racing.

 AM: Talk about the evolution of the V8 Vantage GTE in FIA WEC.

DS: The current car started as a GT2 car [in 2008]. The last big update — prior to the 2016 changes — was 2013. That was significant, [turning it into] a more race-specific, bespoke car. There were far fewer production parts on it at that point. The regulations changed dramatically again in 2016, allowing more freedom for the bodywork and aerodynamics. That’s the car we raced to victory in 2016.

 AM: Why a V-8 in the GTE car versus the V-12 in the GT3 car?

DS: It started off as a regulation thing. There was a maximum capacity [engine size]. The V-8 is the engine that fit the category. It’s obviously lighter and it has been developed over the years. We constantly evaluate whether we should switch to the V-12. But in terms of efficiency, mass and packaging, the V-8 makes for a better race engine.

 AM: How does the 4.5-liter V-8 relate to the production car’s V-8?

DS: The block, heads, and the major castings are all the same. All the internals are now race-specific. The engine develops about 550 horsepower in race trim, depending on the restrictor setup. It could make at least another 10 percent if unrestricted [so up to 600-plus horsepower). There is no rpm limit [in the rules] but we shift at around 7,500 rpm and redline is close to 8,000 rpm.

 AM: It seems many modern race cars cater to the “video-game driver.” They seem to be less analog and more digital to drive. How do you feel the V-8 Vantage GTE drives?

DS: One thing we’ve always targeted with the car is making it easy to drive. In the GTE-Pro category, you can get a tenth or two [of a second] out of our pro drivers. But if you can get your amateur drivers to be comfortable in the car, you can make up bucket loads of time — you can get seconds out of them. So, having a car that a pro can exploit but is easy to drive for an “am” driver is something we spend a lot of time on. It’s something where we believe that our competitors, at least in the past, haven’t focused too much on.

 AM: How tricky is the car to setup for various tracks?

DS: Because it’s a relatively old car and it’s reaching the end of its life, we’re pretty comfortable at each track. A big change for 2016 was the new Dunlop tire. We went to every track with our setup history but we didn’t actually know what we were going to find [with the new tire]. Luckily, we had great support from Dunlop — we had its engineers at every race and we quickly found a good baseline and we worked from there.

 AM: What does the overall maintenance regime of the car entail?

DS: Literally every single part on the car is “lifed,” or life limited. We need to know exactly how old every part is on the car. Parts don’t last forever and you just can’t take the risk. So, engines are 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles) — essentially three FIA WEC events or a single Le Mans 24. They’ll then have a full rebuild. All the other parts including the gearbox, the rest of the driveline, wheel bearings, etc., we’ll get 10,000 kilometers (6,200 miles). We do a lot of testing trying to increase the life of these parts because the fewer changes you do, the reduced chance there is of making a mistake on the rebuild or other work. If the part is well within its life, there is no reason to introduce a variable through stripping something and rebuilding it.

 AM: The GTE field has grown, including some cars that seem more race-car-based than road-car-based — the Ford GT and mid-engined 911, for instance. How does the aging V8 Vantage GTE fit into the seemingly more exotic competition?

DS: The FIA has a very difficult balancing act. We all want more cars and more manufacturers to race. So, that’s one thing that’s good about the new cars. And there are more new cars planned for the coming years. Let’s be honest, if it wasn’t for BoP [balance of performance], the chances of Aston Martin racing against some of the other manufacturers would be extremely difficult and would require a huge investment. So, BoP is a necessary evil. And it actually does what it’s intended to do. It serves a purpose to balance out manufacturers to start out from various types of road cars.

 AM: The end of the IMSA WeatherTech Rolex 24 at Daytona in January was certainly close in GTLM!

DS: Yes. But it’s slightly artificial with a yellow flag with 20 minutes left in the race. But IMSA does a great job with the show. If you look at the lap times, the GTLM lap times were always within about a tenth — the fastest laps. I think both series — IMSA and FIA WEC — can learn from each other. It’s about getting to the right level of BoP. It’s making it more transparent so that the lobbying and political side goes away. Nobody really likes it.

 AM: There is a new V8 Vantage road car coming soon. What more can you tell us on the future of that car in regards to motorsports and AMR?

DS: I can’t say much. What I will say is that it looks extremely exciting!

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