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All six Aston Martin DBR9s have completed a successful test day prior to this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours, which gets underway in just under a fortnight’s time.

As well as the Aston Martin Racing and InterContinental Hotels & Resorts factory cars, numbered 007 and 009, two DBR9s from the French-based AMR Larbre team and single-car entries from AMR BMS and Team Modena tested at the La Sarthe circuit.

The test day, held this year in front of 20,000 spectators, is an opportunity for teams to re-acquaint themselves with the 14-kilometre track and evaluate tyres and set-ups that will be used in the race.

For some of the drivers – including Johnny Herbert and Rickard Rydell from the factory squad – this was their first opportunity to sample the DBR9 at Le Mans. For others, it was a chance to consolidate their pace and assess some of the development work that has taken place on the DBR9 since last year. The Aston Martin Racing engineers also used the test day to run though the latest evolution tyres and to test the air conditioning system that has been fitted to the factory cars for the first time this year.

Conditions were dry and hot throughout the test day, giving the first indication of the relative pace of all the cars in normal conditions. However, with a variety of set-ups, fuel loads and tyres being assessed, it is hard to draw any definitive conclusion apart from the fact that it should be a very closely-fought race.