Class podiums for Aston Martin Racing Vantage at ADAC Total N24
It was double delight at the weekend for the two Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantages competing ADAC Total 24H around a rain soaked Nordschleife.
Principally the same car but for a 'few' performance tweaks here and there, saw the Garage 59 team enter their 'baby Vantage' GT8R for the first time within the 24 hour having debuted their little 'pocket rocket' at the last round of the Nurburgring Langstrecken Serie. This time they would be running an ultra competitive driver line up with Alex West and Chris Goodwin being joined by AMR factory drivers Darren Turner and the new 2020 GTE Am Le Mans 24h winner of the previous weekend, Jonny Adam within the races SP8T class.
Having also competed together in various driver arrangements in previous rounds of the NLS with various degrees of success (or not), the 24H would mark a massive step up for all of the drivers as they each took a step up from their previous pedigrees of race car.
Starting from the off in wet conditions, things would sadly never improve overnight for the teams and the few spectators that were eventually allowed access into the Grand Prix circuit grandstands before the race was temporally red flagged just after midnight due to standing water and visibility issues.
A seven hour delay to the proceedings was required before Race Control deemed the circuit to be raceable again leaving just about a quarter of the race time left for those who had survived the riggers of the Green Hell up until then.
By the end, both cars took the chequered flag with each finishing third in their respective classes.
Photo credits - Garage 59 / PROsport Racing / ADAC N24
New AMR Vantage GT8R to debut at ADAC Total N24
The new Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT8R will make its debut in the ADAC Total Nürburgring 24 Hours on the world-famous Nordschleife in Germany this weekend, with partner racing team Garage 59.The Aston Martin Vantage GT8R, based on the same chassis that has proved successful in its GTE, GT3 and GT4 variants around the world, is set to compete in the SP8T class. It will be raced by works drivers Darren Turner (GB), and Jonny Adam (GB) – who won the GTE Am class of the 24 Hours of Le Mans last weekend – as well as Aston Martin test driver Chris Goodwin (GB) and GT World Challenge class race winner Alexander West (SWE).
Sitting between the GT3 and GT4 Vantages, the GT8R’s performance has been optimised around the race’s SP8T regulations, with reduced weight, increased power and improved aerodynamics compared to its GT4 counterpart. The aerodynamics package includes a larger rear wing, as well as new dive planes and splitter, whilst power and weight are targeted at the SP8T class limits of 549hp and 1450kg
An early concept of the GT8R actually won the SP8T class at the Nürburgring 24 Hours last year, in the hands of British trio Alex Brundle, Pete Cate, and Jamie Chadwick. Since then the production specification has been comprehensively developed and recently completed its sign-off testing at Aragon in Spain before making its race debut last month in round five of the Nürburgring Langstrecken Series (NLS).
Aimed primarily at customers wishing to race in the NLS and the Nürburgring 24 Hours, it is also eligible for the GT Cup in the UK, Super Taikyu in Japan, America’s Transam Series and the New Zealand Endurance Championship, as well as being an ideal candidate for a track day car. A run of 50 will go on sale at a list price of £225,000, while kits will be made available for existing Vantage GT4 customers to upgrade their cars.
Aston Martin Racing works driver Turner said: “The GT8R is such a fun car to race – it’s really easy to drive and gives the driver so much confidence. The car performed extremely well on its debut at the Nürburgring, and once we’ve applied the lessons we learned during the six-hour race – where it ran faultlessly – I expect it to be able to allow us to fight for class victory in the 24-hour event. You can really feel the step up in performance, but it remains a far less demanding car to race than a high downforce GT3 or GTE. I’ve loved driving it around the Nordschleife and I can’t wait to return there this weekend.”
Aston Martin Racing President David King added: “This car was borne out of a desire from our existing customers who wanted to step up to a faster machine than the Vantage GT4, and from our desire to have a truly competitive car in the increasingly important SP8T class at the Nürburgring. The GT8R exploits a gap in the market that allows drivers to experience the user-friendly accessibility of the entry-level Vantage, while delivering a significant step-up in performance.”
The 2020 Nürburgring 24 Hours starts at 1530 CEST on Saturday 26 September. More than 100 cars in 21 classes will battle it out in what is regarded as one of the toughest endurance races in the world.
Adam joins Garage 59's ADAC Total N24 line up
"Fresh" from his class winning exploits at last weekends 24 Hours of Le Mans, one third of the 2020 Le Mans 24 GTE Am Class winning team that is Jonny Adam has today been confirmed as the fourth driver within Garage 59 Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT8R at this weekends Nordschleife endurance.
Featuring an already declared line up that includes fellow AMR factory driver Darren Turner, Adam will be joining up again. with co team owners of Chris Goodwin and Alex West aboard their revised #59 SP8T class car for the start of this years event which in itself has also been severely affected by the ongoing global pandemic.
First moved from its usually mid summer date to this weekend, the race was at first business as usual with fans in attendance before then being from behind closed doors to now, where fans are again welcome in the circuits grandstands only.
One small outstanding consideration going into the event was Alex West's fitness to drive this weekend after his sizeable accident and collision with the circuit barriers at Le Mans in his AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE but he has since confirmed with us that all is well and the driver line up remains as now stated.
They join the the #71 PROsport Racing AMR Vantage GT4 of Nico Verdonck, Guido Dumarey, Alex Walker and Michael Hess aboard their GT4 (SP10) class car.
Verdonck, the resident professional driver coach of the team has been supporting all three gentleman drivers through earlier Nordschleife Langstrecken Serie races as many step up from lower classes within the former VLN Series of racing to the full SRO homologated GT4 racer.
Unfortunately, early weather indications show a distinct drop in ambient temperatures over the race weekend plus a high possibility of - guess what? That’s right - rain!!!
Awesome!
Photo credits - Garage 59 / VLN
Good job well done for Garage 59's new Vantage GT8R at NLS 5
Todays fifth round of the Nurburgring Langstrecken Serie from the Nordschleife proved itself to be something of a job well done for the #160 Garage 59 Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GT8R.
Being the first competitive race for the modified Vantage GT4 platform that the team will race in the SP8T class at the forthcoming ADAC Total 24h event later next month, running any new car for the first time comes with risk and the final NLS round before the 24 hour allowed the team up to six hours of racing to prove the cars potential.
Qualifying for todays race in P65 out of the 160 car entry, drivers Alex West, Chris Goodwin and Daren Turner took the #160 to P2 in class, finishing just 4.5 minutes behind the class winner. That will be enough to give them the confidence that they were looking for ahead of the 24hour.
In the SP10 class however, the #176 Propsort Racing AMR Vantage GT4 faired not so well in the race as they too prepared themselves for the N24 completing only three laps!
Photo credits - Garage 59 / Prosport Racing
