BEST OF BRITISH: Aston Martin Racing tour

They say racing improves the breed. Perhaps that's why Aston Martin jumped back into racing in a big way in 2005, partnering with acclaimed specialist engineering firm, Prodrive.

A bit of context… The 103-year-old car-maker has been racing since the 1920s and although it might not compete in its own right in F1 (it did contest two seasons in the late 1950s) on most weekends, thanks to classic racing and the resurgence of GT, somewhere in the world, there's an Aston Martin racing to win.

As part of our Best of British adventure, we visited Aston Martin Racing (AMR) in Banbury, UK. Comprising design and corporate offices, and a massive race workshop, the Prodrive-managed operation is ground zero for the brand's global motorsport operations.

AMR researches, develops and fabricates the parts required, then builds Aston Martin racecars that compete in events like 24 Hours of Le Mans, Daytona and various GTE, GT3 and GT4 series across the globe.

And if you want, you can rock into the facility and request a racer and the support facilities required to be competitive. AMR will take care of everything -- assuming you've got deep pockets… After all, racing ain't a poor man's sport.

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Working the line

Stepping inside the motorsport facility and talking to the people who work there, it's clear there's more than just knowledge and experience at play.

The AMR workforce is passionate about racing and each of the individuals on the floor play a crucial part in furthering the development, not only of Aston racers, but some of the brand’s high-performance road cars.

When engineers in the workshop come up with solutions to shave tenths of seconds off lap times, to reduce weight or improve car balance, the knowledge is available to be shared with the road car boffins. For example, AMR's development team was involved in the tuning of the high performance GT8 models, which effectively say farewell to Aston's much-loved Vantage line-up.

AMR staffers regularly travel to the Aston Martin production car facility in Gaydon, as Paul Howarth, AMR Team Principle, explains.

"They [Aston's line workers] make the body shells, we put in the roll cages and certify safety levels.

"We actually go on site at Aston and unglue the panels [to install rolls cages and the like] so we can manufacture the [racer's] shell. It is a factory [integrated] operation," he explained.

"We operate the Aston Martin World Endurance team, car build for GT4 and GT3, so we manufacture and build all cars for customers world-wide," he stated.

The AMR facility can build and fabricate almost every part required for the Aston racers. And there's an engine division located in Northhampton too.

"It's where we build and develop all the engines for all our programs worldwide, in co-operation with Aston Martin.

"We have a permanent weekly delivery from Aston of standard components, engine blocks etc," Howarth told motoring.com.au.

AMR's engine teams then turn the basic road car powerplants into fully-fledged, track-ready transplants.

Howarth says that AMR's services include everything from car to full race series support.

"[We are] Turn-key. If you walk into this office today and want to buy a car, I'll sell you a car, a support package, from base level to world endurance level. A bespoke package," he explained.

It's just a matter of applying the right amount of dollars, Euros, or the currency applicable…

Vulcan to Vantage: a racer for everyone

"There's lots of synergies between us and our partners [Aston Martin] in Gaydon," said Howarth, noting that much of the work on the fire-breathing Aston Martin Vulcan – some of which are now even road-registered – was completed at AMR.

The AMR boss says that attacking apexes and rubbing paint – often for up to 24 hours at a go, depending on the race series – can aid in the development of sports car technology. As Aston Martin continues to push the boundaries with vehicles like the AM-RB 001 – its carbon-fibre intensive road-legal hypercar due in 2019 – AMR will be continue to be called upon for specialised assistance, he says.

Aston Martin's Product and Motorsport Press Officer, David Adams, explains.

"Both [AMR and Aston Martin] engineering teams work to make our aluminium bonded chassis fit for purpose in both road and track applications, with as little modification as possible so as to fit the regulations of the World Endurance Championship for GTE, which is the strictest competition it is entered into."

"There's lots of synergies between the two, we're closely linked with our partners up in Gaydon," added Howarth.

The old adage "win on Sunday, sell on Monday" holds about as much water as a moth-eaten sock today, but for AMR – a profitable venture says Howarth – the subtle flow-on effect of motor racing in its production cars is vital to the company's competitiveness.

If racing really does improve the breed, then Aston Martin should be considered a thoroughbred.