Page 1 of 1 Morgan kicked off the company's centenary celebrations in great style by launching the brand new Aero SuperSports during the 2009 Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este. The GT3 racing version made a victorious debut just a few weeks later during the opening round of the European Championship at Silverstone. This was Morgan's very first win in the highly competitive class after two fruitless seasons. Once again responsible for the development of the new racer was the French AutoGT team run by former Renault Formula 1 drivers Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Jacques Laffite, and funded by great Morgan enthusiast Prince Eric Studza from Switzerland.
Mechanically the SuperSports GT3 is identical to its predecessor and as such closely related to the Aero range of Morgan road cars. Carried over almost unaltered is the advanced bonded aluminium spaceframe chassis. Suspension is by double wishbones with adjustable springs/dampers on both ends. The main technical difference between the road and racing cars is the size of the BMW V8 engine used. Through a slight increase of both the bore and stroke, the displacement has gone up from 4.8 litre to just shy of 5 litre. With the mandatory restrictors, it pumps out around 440 bhp. A Holinger sourced six-speed gearbox completes the drivetrain package.
Many of the new elements introduced on the SuperSports road car were also carried over to its racing counterpart. Unlike its 'hard-topped' predecessor, the SuperSports GT3 has a coupe roof, which greatly improves the body's rigidity. This is only one small part of the much revised rear end, which also includes vertical tail lights and air channels behind the wheels. The nose features an upgraded splitter and the traditional Morgan grille is removed altogether, replaced only partly by a composite blanking panel. Finished in surprisingly elegant combination of green and gold, the complete Morgan Aero SuperSports GT3 tips the scales at just 1080 kg.
Two cars were constructed ahead of the 2009 season by the AutoGT team. The #100 was entered for French drivers Dimitri Enjalbert and Johan-Boris Scheier and the #101 was piloted by their compatriot Gaël Lesoudier and Belgian Maxime Martin. The two Morgans were entered in the FIA sanctioned GT3 European Championship where they faced a wide variety of production based machinery ranging from the all new Audi R8 to seasoned Dodge Vipers. To ensure some parity all of the GT3 cars were tested by Christophe Bouchut at the start of the season. The results of these tests formed the basis of the performance equalisation on the basis of weight and horsepower restrictions.
At the season opening Silverstone round, company principal Charles Morgan received one of the best 100th anniversary presents he could think of. The #100 secured pole for the first race and went on the win its race. This exact feat was repeated by the #101 car in the second race. Unfortunately the spectacular results at Silverstone could not be repeated in the remainder of the season. A second at Adria and a fourth at Paul Ricard were the only other decent finishes for the striking machines.
The two cars are pictured here during the 2009 FIA GT3 season finale at Zolder where the #100 finished 8th and 11th and the sister car 7th and 16th in the two races. In the final row of shots one of the Aero SuperSports GT3s is seen at the 2009 Goodwood Festival of Speed where Morgan's 100th anniversary was celebrated. It was driven up the hill by team principal Jacques Laffite. Page 1 of 1
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Aero SuperSports GT3
Morgan kicked off the company's centenary celebrations in great style by launching the brand new Aero SuperSports during the 2009 Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este. The GT3 racing version made a victorious debut just a few weeks later during the opening round of the European Championship at Silverstone. This was Morgan's very first win in the highly competitive class after two fruitless seasons. Once again responsible for the development of the new racer was the French AutoGT team run by former Renault Formula 1 drivers Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Jacques Laffite, and funded by great Morgan enthusiast Prince Eric Studza from Switzerland.