Aston Martin Vulcan Owners Were Taught How To Tame Their 800bhp Beasts At Yas Marina

The £1.8 million, 800bhp, track-only Vulcan is easily the most hardcore car Aston Martin has ever produced. With a 7.0-litre V12 engine, carbonfibre monocoque chassis and enough downforce to pull your face off - 1300kg at 200mph to be precise - it would take a very handy driver to get the most out of the race-derived machine.

To ensure that Vulcan owners were able to handle their machines upon delivery, Aston Martin offered all 24 customers an initial three day track tuition experience programme as part of an exclusive ownership package. With an uptake rate of 100 per cent, the first six owners were flown (first class, presumably…) to the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi last week to start their training, with the remaining 18 drivers starting their tuition later in the year.

World-class training was provided by a team of highly-qualified racing drivers, led by Aston Martin factory driver Darren Turner. Working the customers up slowly, each driver started in an Aston Martin V12 Vantage S, moving on to a Vantage GT4 race car later in the day. After that the owners took to the full F1 circuit in their specially prepared Vulcans - sounds like heaven.

Now granted, you might think that all of this seems a bit excessive, and let’s face it, it is, but there was a practical reason behind heading to Abu Dhabi. Firstly, it’s absolutely freezing in the UK at the moment, and the idea of allowing a rich businessman to drive an 800bhp hypercar around a wet and windy Silverstone sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. And secondly, Yas Marina can be fully illuminated at night, allowing the drivers to, as Aston Martin puts it, “experience the car in different atmospheric conditions.”

Owners are reportedly delighted with the experience, but let’s face it, blatting Aston Martins around a Grand Prix circuit all day is an activity that’s unlikely to disappoint. If only we had the money to join in…