Aston Martin: Nürburgring 24 Hours - 12 Hour Report

At the mid-way point of the ADAC Zurich Nürburgring 24 Hours, all four official Aston Martin entries continue to circulate the 25-kilometre track consistently and reliably. In the black of the night and under the threat of rain, the pair of V12 Vantage GT3s are pressing on with their recovery in the headlining SP9 class following early setbacks while the SP8-category V12 Zagato and Vantage GT4 continue to hold podium positions.

The #007 V12 Vantage GT3 lies 23rd in class having climbed a position since the eight-hour mark, despite losing a lap to its rivals whilst the Young Driver AMR technicians repaired a damaged front splitter. The #006 sister car suffered a brief delay of its own when a small component in the power steering system failed, but it has risen to 24th position in class as it sets competitive lap times.

In the SP8 class, the #005 V12 Zagato and #85 Vantage GT4 hold second and third respectively having closed the margin to the class leading Lexus LFA. V12 Zagato driver Richard Meaden (GB) has embarked upon a double-stint, which will last two-and-a-half hours, as he bids to maintain the podium position. Run by Aston Martin’s engineering department, both cars have reached the mid-way point of the race without any technical issues.

Team Mathol Racing’s Vantage GT4 has retained its lead of the SP10 class after 65 trouble-free laps, while similar cars are running fifth in eighth in the category. The fourth Vantage GT4 dropped out of the action in the early stages of the race.

David King, Head of Motorsport at Aston Martin, said: “We’ve had a couple of minor issues with the V12 Vantage GT3s, but we anticipated that for our first 24-hour race with the new car. This is very much a development exercise for which we set ourselves no performance targets, so we’ve actually been pleasantly surprised by the pace of the two GT3s.

“The V12 Zagato and Vantage GT4 have run very smoothly for the first half of this particularly demanding race, and we remain on course to score a double podium in the SP8 class. Team Mathol Racing is continuing to prove just how well suited the Vantage is to this track as its leads the SP10 category. We’ll see the sun starting to rise quite soon, which will put the most treacherous period of the race behind us.”

Keep up to date with Aston Martin’s progress on the official website at www.astonmartin.com/racing, or on its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/astonmartinracing and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/amr_official.

Fans can follow the race live via Radio Le Mans at www.radiolemans.com, which will broadcast for the duration of the 24 hours.

Aston Martin