Aston Martin: Nürburgring 17 Hour Update

After another competitor made contact with the number 5 V12 Zagato (‘Zig’) during the night, the team worked feverishly to fix a broken steering arm. Once the arm was repaired Peter Cate returned to the track, but it soon became evident that damage from the earlier contact was more deep rooted. The lateral impact caused the engine mounts to snap requiring the difficult job of replacing the bolts without the removal of the engine. The car returned to the circuit at 08.00 with reports of the car running perfectly again and is sitting 7th in class.

The Aston Martin pit crew changed the gearbox in the number 3 Zagato (‘Zag’) in record time allowing Horst von Saurma to return to the circuit at 06.50. Zag is running 6th in class.

Shortly after Zag left to join the pack, Jürgen Stumpf reported an accident over the radio while driving the V8 Vantage GT4. The car sustained damage to the steering and the crew are trying to execute a fix track-side so that it can return to the pits.

Aston Martin’s Head of Motorsport, David King said: “It is staggering how quickly the crew managed to solve the issues experienced in the early hours of the morning. We have had to endure some bad luck during the night, but we are running well now, with both cars aiming to make up some lost time.”

Progressing consistently without incident, the number 62 car of Mathol Racing resides out in front of the SP10 class with Team Pflanz in 9th. Team Bratke continue in 5th in SP8.

In the tandem 24 hour attempt in Nevada, where the Americas Aston Martin team are running a production standard Rapide simultaneously with the Nürburgring 24 hours, the car has now completed over 920 miles on the race track.

Aston Martin