Aston confirm Le Mans line-up

The first car will be driven by Tomas Enge, Andrea Piccini and Darren Turner, with Pedro Lamy, Stephane Ortelli and Stephane Sarrazin piloting the sister DBR9.

The cars have been granted the dispensation by organisers the ACO to run three-digit car numbers - 007 and 009 - in deference to a tie-in the forthcoming James Bond film Casino Royale.

"We have a great driver line-up. Four of the drivers were with us last year and have driven for us in the first three ALMS races of this year," said Aston Martin Racing Team Principal George Howard-Chappell.

"Stephane Ortelli drove for us at Sebring in 2005 and, although Andrea is new to our team, he has shown great potential driving a DBR9 for one of our customer teams."

Aston's is the second attempt at the famous race since their sportscar return. The best DBR9 finished third in GT1 last year but as a result of their performance, the team have an additional 25kg weight and a smaller air restrictor this year.

"We were fast last year but as always in motor racing, this year will be an unknown and we won't really know where we are in comparison to the opposition until we get to the race," added Howard-Chappell.