Aston Martin DBR4 - Competition Career

Competition Career

The Aston Martin DBR4/250 was unveiled to the public in April 1959, and made its competition debut on 2 May in the non-Championship BRDC International Trophy race at Silverstone. Two cars were entered, for works drivers Roy Salvadori and Carroll Shelby. Salvadori immediately began to show some promise in the car, posting third fastest time in qualifying, beaten only by fellow Brits Stirling Moss and Tony Brooks, driving a BRP BRM P25 and works Ferrari 246 Dino respectively. Shelby also posted some fast lap times, taking sixth place. In the race both Brooks and Moss retired with mechanical problems, but the Astons performed faultlessly for the majority of the distance, before Shelby's oil pump failed two laps from the finish. He placed sixth, two laps down. However, Salvadori was well-placed and competing hard for the lead. He posted the fastest lap of the race, en route to finishing second behind Jack Brabham's works Cooper-Climax. Unfortunately for Aston Martin, the DBR4's debut performance flattered to deceive.

At the DBR4's World Championship debut in the 1959 Dutch Grand Prix on 31 May, Shelby and Salvadori could only manage 10th and 13th fastest in qualification, respectively. During the race both cars succumbed to engine problems in the early laps and failed to finish. Further delays and shifted priorities meant that the light green Astons only appeared at a further three races of the 1959 Formula One season. The DBR4s failed to score even a single point during this time; their best results being a pair of 6th places for Salvadori, taken at the British and Portuguese rounds. Following a second disappointing outing in the BRDC International Trophy (Trintignant was tenth and Salvadori's engine expired on lap 4), a solitary DBR4 appeared in practice for the 1960 Dutch Grand Prix, entered for Salvadori when the DBR5 was not ready. The car was saved further possible embarrassment when a starting money dispute caused Aston Martin to withdraw prior to the start.

The coda to the DBR4's racing career came in mid-1960, when a car was shipped to Australia for local racers Lex Davison and Bib Stillwell to compete in the Australian and New Zealand national championship Inter-Continental Formula races. Fitted with a 3.0 litre engine the car performed much better than had been the case during its brief Formula One life, and Davison took second place in the 1960 Australian Grand Prix. To reflect the increase in engine capacity this car was officially known as the DBR4/300. Stillwell retained the DBR4/300 until the end of the 1962-1963 season.