The British automaker has presented the first image with the 2011 Aston Martin Le Mans race car.
Redesigned from scratch, the 2011 Aston Martin Le Mans race car features a open cockpit monocoque and a new purpose designed race engine, all under the ACO (Club De L’Ouest) regulations for 2011. In other words this means the 2011 Aston Martin Le Mans racer is ready to battle the diesel power Audi and Peugeot cars, but we’ll obviously have to wait for the real race to actually see what it is capable of.
David Richards, Chairman at Aston Martin said that "Having won the GT
category twice at Le Mans in 2007 and 2008 and the Le Mans Series
outright in 2009, we still want to achieve our ultimate goal of winning
the 24 Hour race overall to bring the title back to Britain." 
The first and single victory recorded by Aston Martin at Le Mans was in 1959
with the DBR1 driven by Roy Salvadori and Carroll Shelby.
Aston Martin press release :
Silverstone, 11 September 2010. Aston Martin will return to the
legendary Le Mans 24 Hour race in 2011 with a new LMP1 race car designed
to compete for top honours.
The new Gulf Oil liveried car is being designed from the ground up
with an Aston Martin open cockpit monocoque chassis and a new
purpose-designed race engine.  
Under the new Automobile Club De L’Ouest (ACO) technical regulations
for 2011, Aston Martin now believes it has the opportunity to compete
for top honours at the 24 Hour race against tough competition including
the diesel-engined competitors. As with all Aston Martins, the new LMP1
will be petrol-powered and designed to make the best use of the ACO’s
stringent regulations.
Aston Martin Chairman, David Richards said: “Having won the GT
category twice at Le Mans in 2007 and 2008 and the Le Mans Series
outright in 2009, we still want to achieve our ultimate goal of winning
the 24 Hour race overall to bring the title back to Britain.
“In recent years, it has been impossible for petrol cars to compete
on equal terms with the diesels.  However, we now have assurances from
the ACO that, with the adoption of the 2011 regulations, they will
properly balance the performance of these new cars.  Under these
circumstances we have been prepared to develop Aston Martin’s first
purpose-built racing chassis and engine for more than 50 years. 
“Even with this new car, it will still be a ‘David and Goliath’ fight
against the massive resources of our competitors, but we have become
accustomed to this and relish the challenge.”
Work on the new chassis and engine has been progressing for several
months at Aston Martin Racing’s headquarters in Banbury, UK and the
first of a limited number of six cars will run in early 2011. 
Dr. Ulrich Bez, CEO of Aston Martin said: “Racing is a fundamental
part of Aston Martin’s heritage and Le Mans is the race that every true
sports car maker aspires to win.  While every aspect of this new LMP1
car has been built purely for racing, we also remain committed to
developing race-winning GT cars based on our road cars. We are the only
manufacturer to offer a race car for every category from GT1 to GT4.” 
Aston Martin’s first and only outright victory at Le Mans was in 1959
with the DBR1 of Roy Salvadori and Carroll Shelby. Aston Martin Racing
has been at the pinnacle of endurance racing since it was founded in
2004 with multiple factory and customer wins across the globe including
two GT1 class victories at Le Mans in 2007 and 2008, and an overall Le
Mans series win in 2009.

Source: Aston Martin