Brundle: New Aston is beautiful.

On the same day that he and Mark Blundell revealed that they were to mount an assault on the 2006 Le Mans 24 Hours, Martin Brundle visited Aston Martin's headquarters in the UK to see the unveiling of the car the two Britons hope to run in the French classic.

Speaking exclusively to Crash.net, Brundle revealed that he and Blundell had been seriously impressed with what they had seen at the Gaydon factory, with the wraps coming off a vision in traditional green-and-yellow as the race-prepared DBR9 was shown to selected guests.

"It is beautifully made," Brundle admitted, "I always think Le Mans cars are just the most beautiful - they're aggressive and they're elegant all at the same time - but, if I didn't know it had already tested twice, I would have said it was a show car for a motor show. It looked so beautiful - the detail is exquisite and everything fits well together. And, apparently, it is going very well too! It looks right, and it feels right..."

While the two former Le Mans winners insist that no deal has been secured for the new team they are planning with sportscar veteran Dave Price to run the DBR9, neither makes any secret of the fact that it is the main target.

"There is a very strong desire to add Aston Martin to my list of British teams after Jaguar and Bentley - and Mark's got MG on his list as well, of course," Brundle conceded, "Two former winners of the Le Mans 24 Hours added to a good programme and the Aston Martin name - I think it will work well."

Asked how the deal to team up with his fellow ITV commentator and Price had come about, Brundle said that friendship had played a part, but insisted that the fact that all three wanted to return to Le Mans was the over-riding factor.

"The three of us had worked together before and we're good friends, but Mark and I fancied going back and driving again," he explained, "We saw the Aston Martin programme being formulated, and that was attractive to us - and it is our first priority to be involved in.

"We thought it was great idea to go back to Le Mans, form our own team with a great-looking car that should win some GT races - and all the boxes seemed to be ticked on that one."