The final minutes of the 85th Le Mans 24 Hours will be remembered for the epic battle between two iconic GT cars. Jordan Taylor’s #63 Corvette and Johnny Adam’s #97 Aston Martin Vantage starred in a nail-biting final-lap thriller as they chased LMGTE Pro class honours. It was a scenario reminiscent of the 1969 clash between Porsche’s Hans Herrmann and Ford’s Jacky Ickx in their battle for overall victory.

Coming out of the final chicane, Adam finally managed to edge in front of his rival. For Aston Martin Racing, it successfully wrapped up a six-year quest that began when the LMGTE Pro class was introduced in 2011. Since the inception of the World Endurance Championship, the Vantage has taken two class wins (2014 in LMGTE Am and 2017 in LMGTE Pro) and two other podium spots at the 24 Hours.

The 2017 World Endurance Championship also ended on a high, with the LMGTE Am Drivers and Team trophies, justly rewarding three seasons of hard work for Canada’s Paul Dalla Lana, Portugal’s Pedro Lamy and Austrian Mathias Lauda. The 2015 and 2016 seasons were long, drawn-out campaigns for the trio after their disappointments at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (especially their retirement 45 minutes from the chequered flag in 2015). In 2017, their goal was to finish in the points at every race. And they did exactly that, with four wins, three other podiums and two top 5 places in the nine rounds, including an impressive seven pole positions.

And so the oldest GT on the 24 Hours and WEC grid (its design was based on the 2005 Aston Martin DBR9) bows out in glorious style. But how will its replacement fare at Le Mans in 2018, against the Ferrari 488 GTE, the Ford GT, the Porsche 911 RSR, the BMW M8 and the Corvette? One thing is for sure: next year’s LMGTE Pro class promises to be more exciting than ever.

Photo: Winners of the LMGTE Pro class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans this year, Jonny Adam, Daniel Serra, Darren Turner and their Aston Martin Vantage covered more race laps (117) than any other team in the LMGTE Pro class.