Aston Martin ready to race at the Nurburgring
Friday, May 15, 2015
Aston Martin’s weekend at the Nürburgring has started strongly with all five cars qualifying well for the world-famous 24-hour race.
At the end of the two main qualifying sessions, the two close-to-road-specification Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT12s were first and second in class and the pair of Aston Martin Racing V12 Vantage GT3s were through to the top-30 qualifying.
In the exciting two-lap shoot-out, Stefan Mücke (DE) in the #007 Vantage GT3 qualified in 12th place and the #006, driven by Richie Stanaway (NZ), went 13th fastest.*
“We are all in a strong position going into tomorrow’s race,” commented David King, Head of Motorsport at Aston Martin. “The Aston Martin Racing GT3s are well-placed to climb through the top ten and the GT12s are leading the way in the SP8 class.”
Ahead of the Nürburging 24 Hours, an Aston Martin Customer Parade Lap comprising 40 cars will take place. The event, celebrating 10 years of Aston Martin racing at the Nürburgring will be led by Non-Executive Chairman Dr Ulrich Bez in ‘Rose’, Aston Martin’s N24 debut race car from 2006. In addition, Aston Martin’s CEO Dr Andy Palmer will drive a new Vantage GT12 to mark the launch of the brand’s most focused sports car.
The main race will start at 1600hrs CET. Fans can listen to Radio Le Mans and watch live streaming atwww.24h-rennen.de.
Driver quotes:
Stefan Mücke: “I did two strong laps and the car felt good. We went out on the medium tyres because of tyre allocation - we want to save our softs for in the race during the night. We’re playing the long game with our strategy and we should have good race performance tomorrow.”
Richie Stanaway: “We had to compromise on tyre choice due to the allocation for the weekend. It wasn’t ideal but we’re in a good position to make some gains during the race. We just need to keep it clean and we will have a good result.”
*the #006 Vantage GT3 will start from 18th following a five place grid penalty following an incident in qualifying two.
Source material & photo credits - Aston Martin Racing
