Aston Martin To Contest Nürburgring 24 Hour In 2009 V12 Vantage

Aston Martin will be lining up on the grid of the 37th ADAC Nürburgring 24-hour enduro with its latest model, the V12 Vantage.

The race will form part of final testing for the V12 Vantage, which was first shown at this year's Geneva Motor Show and expected to be on sale a little later this year.

Race preparations for the car are minimal. A lightened interior with full roll-cage, modified suspension and Pirelli P Zero racing slicks being the only changes to the car. The 380kW, 570Nm 6.0 litre V12 remains the same as that which will be delivered to customers.

Joining the V12 Vantage on the grid will be ‘Rose’, the yellow V8 Vantage (pictured above) which made its track debut in 2006. Aston Martin has successfully covered 20,000 endurance miles with Rose and will continue to run the car alongside the V12 Vantage, further demonstrating the car's race-proven reliability.

Dr Ulrich Bez, Aston Martin CEO, will contest part of the race along with a selection of Aston Martin’s engineers.

"We already have a proven track record at the Nürburgring racing our road cars with limited modification and in 2009 we also celebrate our 50-year anniversary of winning the ADAC Nürburgring 1000 km with a DBR1," Dr Bez said.

“We will be subjecting the car to the toughest assessment yet under public scrutiny as we successfully did with the Vantage N24 programme.”

Head of Motorsport at Aston Martin, David King, also spoke about the previous performance of the Vantage racing program:

"The Vantage N24/GT4 programme has been a huge success to date. Since its inception in 2006, no standard N24 from the factory or customer team has failed to finish a 24-hour endurance race in 13 starts around the world – a remarkable testament to the durability of the Vantage," he said.

The 37th ADAC Nürburgring 24 hour race will take place at Nordschleife on the 23rd and 24th May