The Holden Aluminum Group employs 190 people across its two sites in Bromyard and Worcester. The Worcester factory specialises in making full body structures and crash management systems for iconic companies including Aston Martin, BMW, Jaguar and Lotus.

HAW supplied the Aston Martin Racing Team whose drivers include David Brabham, Tomas Enge, Johnny Herbert, Peter Kox, Rickard Rydell and, Darren Turner with a specially designed DBR9 chassis for its cars. Special elements of this build include the inclusion of superformed components, a cast aluminum windshield surround and a number of suspension casting all incorporated into the overall structural bonding philosophy.

 With a rigid chassis, lightweight materials, optimum weight distribution and a powerful Aston Martin 6.0 litre, normally aspirated V12 engine, the road going DB9 is an excellent starting point for the production of the DBR9.

The name DBR9 is derived from the original Le Mans-winning DBR1 car, which not only won the 24 Hour race in 1959 but the World Sportscar title too.

Aston Martin Racing have built a number of DBR9s, which are run by Works and customer teams in the major international GT series around the world. The DBR9 uses the DB9 road car’s aluminum chassis and uses the V12 engine’s cylinder block and heads to develop the race unit. After this the car is re-engineered for competition use.

This was the first time since 1959 that Aston Martin had triumphed at Le Mans. The winning Aston Martin Racing with InterContinental Hotels & Resorts DBR9 – numbered 009 – was driven to GT1 class victory and a remarkable fifth overall by David Brabham, Rickard Rydell and Darren Turner after 24 hours of non-stop competition, characterised by changeable conditions and several safety car periods.

Aston Martin’s double podium underlined the impressive performance and reliability of the DBR9

The 1959 Le Mans-winning DBR1 appeared at the Legends race in Le Mans on Saturday morning before the start of the main event, driven by Sir Stirling Moss and Dr Bez. Now, 48 years later, the victorious Aston Martin DBR9 will next appear at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in Britain from June 23-24.

Commenting on the Aston Martin Racing Team Partnership Jeremy Holden, Chairman of Holden Aluminum Worcester said,

"Holden Aluminum Worcester Ltd is honored to become an official partner to the Aston Martin Racing Team.

“We have worked with Aston Martin over a number of years creating innovative, lightweight aluminum chassis for their cars and this partnership deal enables us to further cement our close working relationship with the company.

“I am also extremely happy that the HAW team responsible for building DBR9 race winning chassis will receive the world recognition they deserve"