Aston Martin preps 5-car Nurburgring N24 onslaught

We'll be on the ground with Aston works racers at the Green Hell this weekend

Though it doesn't get the global press its French cousin enjoys, the ADAC Zurich 24-hour race held at the Nurburgring offers Le Mans-style endurance-racing thrills and then some, thanks to a 15.5-mile circuit and more than 200 entries. Five of those racers will be Aston Martin Racing works cars, including two V12 Vantage GT3s seeking a top SP9 class win for the brand's 10th year of N24 competition.

“We’ve learned a lot here, and this year we come with two cars which are well proven and fantastically reliable and a strong driver lineup," said Aston team principal John Gaw. "The race win is the ultimate goal.”

Aston is also bringing a pair of race-ready Vantage GT12 cars to compete in the production-based SP8 class. As cool as the all-out SP9 racers are, the SP8s may be the more impressive engineering feat -- they're basically production cars with safety features added and weight removed. 

The Aston Martin team at the 2014 Nurburgring 24 hour race

As for the fifth car, it'll be a Vantage V8 driven in part by Aston chairman Dr. Ulrich Bez and painted up in the yellow livery of the original Aston N24 car -- known affectionately as "Rose" -- from 2006.

Can Aston Martin maintain its 100 percent finishing record at the N24? Will the Vantage GT3 be competitive against strong competition from Benz, Porsche, Audi, Bentley, BMW and Nissan? Will it be awesome to watch this Opel Manta blasting around the 'Ring?

Stay tuned to our social media channels this weekend, where we'll bring you live updates, photos and videos from the N24 race: Follow Autoweek on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for more and look for the hashtag #teamAMR for Aston Racing news.

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Full list of ADAC Zurich Nurburgring 24 race entries(85.46 KB)Click here to download PDF

Posted in: 5-car, Aston, Martin, Nurburgring, onslaught, preps