Autoblog's adventures at the Nurburgring 24-Hour race [spoilers]

Autoblog's adventures at the Nurburgring 24-Hour race [spoilers]The Race, The 'Ring, The G65 AMG, And MoreImage Credit: Audi Communications MotorsportImage Credit: Audi Motorsport / Mercedes-AMG / Bentley Motorsport / Aston Martin RacingImage Credit: Audi Motorsport / Mercedes-AMG / Bentley Motorsport / Aston Martin RacingImage Credit: Audi Motorsport / Mercedes-AMG / Bentley Motorsport / Aston Martin RacingImage Credit: Audi Motorsport / Mercedes-AMG / Bentley Motorsport / Aston Martin RacingImage Credit: Audi Motorsport / Mercedes-AMG / Bentley Motorsport / Aston Martin RacingImage Credit: Audi Motorsport / Mercedes-AMG / Bentley Motorsport / Aston Martin RacingImage Credit: Audi Motorsport / Mercedes-AMG / Bentley Motorsport / Aston Martin RacingImage Credit: Audi Motorsport / Mercedes-AMG / Bentley Motorsport / Aston Martin RacingImage Credit: Audi Motorsport / Mercedes-AMG / Bentley Motorsport / Aston Martin RacingImage Credit: Audi Motorsport / Mercedes-AMG / Bentley Motorsport / 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RacingImage Credit: Tim Upietz, Gruppe CImage Credit: Audi Motorsport / Mercedes-AMG / Bentley Motorsport / Aston Martin RacingMore PhotosHottest Cars and Trucks in AmericaMost Popular Cars By StateOur Picks For The Best $5,000 Used CarsCars That Depreciate FastestHistory's 10 Best Selling Cars Of All TimeWard's 10 Best Engines of 2015Jonathon Ramsey

The brand-new Audi R8 LMS, said to share 50 percent of its components with the street-legal R8 shown off at Geneva, has won its very first race at the 2015 Nürburgring 24-Hours. The No. 28 car driven by Christopher Mies, Edward Sandstrom, Nico Muller, and Laurens Vanthoor for the Audi Sport WRT team out of Belgium finished only 40.279 seconds ahead of the No. 25 BMW Sport Team Marc VDS Z4 GT3 in second place, for the smallest winning gap since the race began in 1970. Those two cars traded the lead throughout Sunday morning and were less than a minute away from one another for the last two hours. They were part of a total 35 lead changes during the entire race – a record for the event – and both did 156 laps. Third place went to the No. 44 Falken Tire Porsche 997 GT3, one lap down.

The Audis did what they always do: lurked close to the front, stayed out of trouble, then pounced when everyone else faltered. For the opening stretches the BMW Z4 teams owned it, running 1-2-3 for a while, but all of them hit trouble. When morning came and the race got over its yellow-flag fever, the No. 28 Audi was in front and stayed there. It was the third Nürburgring 24-Hour win for Audi in four years, the brand's first win only coming in 2012. Last year's winner, the Phoenix Audi team that set a race record by doing 159 laps, had both of its cars retire. One hit an oil patch about 12 hours in, spun and was hit by another car behind, taking on too much damage to continue. The other retired with engine issues.

Other Notes

Three cars crashed out of the race while leading, after the rains that weren't supposed to happen, happened about 90 minutes in. The No. 20 Schubert BMW Z4 led the first 50 minutes of the race, hopped a crest at Pflanzgarten, landed in a pool of water, and hit the wall on the 30th lap. Then the No. 30 Frikadelli Porsche, with a driver team that included ex-'Ring Taxi driver Sabine Schmitz, hit the No. 31 Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 on the approach to Carrousel and crashed out. Then the No. 1 Phoenix Audi, last year's winning car, took the lead but hit the wall after that oil patch near Pflanzgarten and was out of the race.



Aston Martin celebrated a class win in the SP8 category with the No. 49 Vantage GT4 N430. This being the tenth anniversary of the Vantage running the Nürburgring-24, this year's car was painted in the same colors as the racecar from ten years ago. What's more, non-executive chairman Ulrich Bez was part of the four-man team, and in his tenth consecutive 'Ring 24-hour race he drove the class-winning racer across the line.



Bentley had a tougher time of it, the factory team watching the No. 84 car spin out of the race at midnight. The No. 85 car got hit in a braking zone and punted into the barriers, spent five hours getting repaired, then set the course on fire to make up 74 places by the checkered flag to finish 72nd. The satellite HPT outfit fared better, getting the No. 11 Continental GT3 into eighth at the finish. We give the Bentleys first place for their exhaust note, though – they sound properly awesome.



The sole Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus SCG 003C to start the race, called Maccinauno, ran as high as ninth but finished 35th after a standard Honda OEM part failed a few hours in and caused intermittent alternator failures and a pit fire. And the team took a three-minute time penalty for exceeding speed limits. It's not a bad start to the competition life of a revolutionary car, though. The other car, Maccinadue, didn't start after crashing in the rain during practice.



The 'Ring

Of course I've seen footage of pro drivers setting record laps at the Nürburgring, and I've even driven this course in a Ferrari 458. Nevertheless, I didn't understand the 'Ring until I went to see this race. If you come to Autoblog regularly to find out about cars, then you must put a trip to the Nürburgring on your bucket list. After all, the reason the 'Ring has such a big footprint here is because every automaker uses it to test cars, and half of our spy shots involve some stretch of autographed tarmac in the evergreen German hills.

The 24-hour race is the automotive version of Rio's Carnivale at 160 mph. If the Romans had been half as adventurous, they'd have had held their chariot races in the Eifel Forest instead of the Colosseum. If you enjoy motorsports, this is the event to see because there's nothing like it anywhere else in the world: a certifiable pre-war racing experience with loads of modern cars that all look like their production counterparts and most of which are driven by 'gentleman' racers. There are so many cars on track that when you look at the on-screen graphic of every runner identified by a blue dot, it looks just like an arcade game.



The pit walk before the start is the length of the entire front straight, and a mob scene. It's more hassle than I ever want to deal with again, but it has to be done once. A track tour on a shuttle bus, making just six or seven stops at various interesting points like Flugplatz, takes 90 minutes. You could run – on foot – the entire Le Mans circuit in that time.

The pits are narrow rectangular boxes that need to service as many as six cars. When drivers pit during the race, they do so at all sorts of crazy angles because there isn't enough room to line up parallel, so the hot pit looks like an airport departures terminal swarming with crew members and racecars.

The closing speeds are intense and it's so tough to pass through all those corners that drivers start flashing their lights at slower cars from the next zip code. Scott Preacher with Team Mathol told us that he checks his side mirrors every five seconds, which gives him three views of a GT3 car closing in on him, and he checks his rearview mirror every 15 seconds. It's the only way to make sure you don't get hit from behind.



There's no way you could race this track without prior experience, which is why the sanctioning body requires all but platinum-level drivers to have previously raced at the 'Ring in order to qualify for this event. Preacher said, "If you make a mistake at a turn, a lot happens before you get back to it. You've got another 171 turns to make, then you've got to remember 'Oh yeah, I want to be eight inches to the right.'" At night, drivers are outdriving their lights through the numerous twisty sections; if they don't absolutely know what the next turn is going to be, they'll run off the track.

When you lose a tire it's a long way back to the pits. For the driver that blew a tire just after the pits, that meant a 25-kilometer trek at crippled speed before he could get it fixed. But he had the crowds to keep him company. There are tens of thousands of people, they are everywhere, and they came to party. It is unbelievable. And I have to do it again next year.



Team Mathol

Scott Preacher, the driver who got us to the 'Ring in the first place, cleaned up in the SP10 GT4 class. Team Mathol runs two Aston Martin Vantage V8-GT4 cars, one sponsored by Avia Racing (Avia is a fuel company, like Shell), one by Stadavita (a health company), and Preacher drove both during the race. He finished the race in the Avia Racing car, so he's listed as a class winner among the four-driver team, but he started the race in the Stadavita car that eventually finished second, so he's also listed as second-in-class with that car. They crossed the line 41 st and 43 rd overall out of 102 classified finishers, even after incidents like when the Stadavita car suffered a fuel pump issue on track, so driver Markus Lungstrass got out, ran to a public gas station off track, bought a jerry can and filled it up, then ran back on track and filled the tank. Because that's how you win races at the 'Ring.



AMG Customer Sports

The AMG teams got seven cars into the top 30, but had a hard slog of it in the race. The No. 2 Black Falcon car that qualified second overshot the first corner on the first lap and fell right down the order, then had to leave the race for good after four hours when a driveline issue resulted in its left rear wheel coming completely off the car. Driver Adam Christodoulou tried to repair it trackside, but there's only so much a driver can do with a severed wheel. The No. 5 Black Falcon car shared the lead in the early hours of the race, but gave up the lead when it didn't pit within the mandatory window and had to take a penalty. But that No. 5 car, which qualified in 18th place and didn't have quite the accomplished driver line-up of the others, finished the race in fifth, the last team to accomplish 155 laps.



The AMG GT3

This race was the last Nürburgring 24-Hour go-round for all of current German Big Three entrants: the SLS AMG GT3 and Audi R8 Ultra retire, the BMW Z4 GT3 won't be factory supported. The SLS AMG was more successful on the sales floor than Mercedes expected; it's likely that the brand had no idea how well it would do as an endurance racer either, but it's taken trophies every year in major and minor races around the globe, locking up endurance victories in Dubai, Bathurst, the 'Ring, and Spa in 2013 alone.

We spoke to Tomas Jäger, one of the AMG Customer Sports drivers who also oversees customer relations and who helped develop the AMG GT3. He said that Mercedes will continue to support teams who run the SLS AMG GT3 for ten years with engineering assistance and parts, because it did so well and they sold so many that they expect it to be run for some time. Jäger said also that because yearly running costs are one or two times the purchase price, the long-term support helps owners make the most of their initial investment.

The big change for the AMG GT3 will be its improved agility via its shorter wheelbase, and it will be more efficient in terms of aerodynamics and fuel usage. For the folks writing the checks, AMG wanted to make it less expensive to run than the SLS AMG GT3, with owners able to get more miles out of the car for the same expenditure. Reliability, comfort, and safety systems have been upgraded as well.



The G65 AMG Tour

I spent a week crossing Germany in a G65 AMG as the appetizer to this 'Ring adventure. The 6.0-liter, twin-turbo, 12-cylinder, 604-horsepower Geländewagen is coming our way later this year, so we thought it prudent to make the acquaintance in its homeland first. The AMG versions of the traditional G are mainly lifestyle vehicles, because the wheels, sidepipes, and turbocharged reflexes severely narrow its off-road focus. The question, though, was how the 12-cylinder G65 goes beyond the eight-cylinder G63. The answer is: subtly. The G63 is the boisterous one, whereas the G65 doesn't do any sonorous boasting until you lay deep into the throttle. It's only faster to 62 mph by 0.1 second compared to the G63, yet it needs a lot more gas even when you're only cruising. It has that quilted-leather Designo interior, but you pay for it: 140,000 euros for the G63, 264,000 euros for the G65 (it will cost us $217,900). I can't imagine where that price difference is hiding, but after ten days in The Fatherland I know this: it's tons of fun, and even among posh Teutons it says, "Baller Status." It is absurd as it is necessary. Oh, and that guy in the photo? That's a giant bust of Karl Marx, who would not approve. Review to come.



Sideways At The 'Ring

Having booked my hotel only ten days before the race, I had to throw a rock a long way from the 'Ring to find something open. The German equivalent of Lady Luck came through for me when I got a spot in the Mosel-Landhaus in Briedern, in the Moselle Valley. About 30 miles away, it took less than an hour through a countryside carpeted in deep green grass and bright yellow canola fields to get to the track, and because I came in from the side instead of the main B-roads I was never in any traffic. I barely saw another car until I got to the B258, the road in front of the track, and then it was only a couple of hundred meters to my parking spot.



The Moselle Valley is straight out of a Grimm fable, its steep, deep walls covered in Riesling grapes and a unique, blood red peach used to make dessert wines. The nine-room Mosel-Landhaus in Briedern is owned and run by a fabulous couple, Silvia and Jan, and they took excellent care of me – Silvia made breakfast every morning and packed lunches when I had to leave too early for breakfast. When I wasn't supping on that hospitality, the valley itself is a winding run dotted with other medieval towns and castles, or I'd simply sit in my room next to the river, drinking local wines and meditating on the swans. If you ever get this way, then you must get to the Mosel-Landhaus.

I'll definitely be there next year.Featured Gallery2015 Nurburgring 24-Hour Race

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Pre-Race notes from the 2015 Nurburgring 24-Hours

Pre-Race notes from the 2015 Nurburgring 24-HoursJonathon Ramsey

Autoblog has come to the German countryside to watch the Nürburgring 24-Hour race, and just one day in, we have to say it's outstanding. Le Mans has been the highlight of our summer racing schedule for the past few years, the 'Ring 24-Hour event being the appetizer we always skipped. Earlier this year, however, while visiting Miami to check out the Cigarette Racing 50 Marauder GT S, we met Scott Preacher. He oversees digital marketing for both Cigarette and AMG during the week, then comes to Germany to compete in the VLN race series on the weekends, driving an Aston Martin Vantage GT4 for Team Mathol.

If Le Mans is the Oscars of endurance racing, the Nürburgring 24-Hour race is the Screen Actors Guild award – the one voted on by the actors, for the actors. In this case it's the race by the teams and fans, for the teams and fans, even though the increasing manufacturer presence has altered the team equation. We were told that it wasn't so long ago that true privateers could win the overall, but that's not really the case anymore. Front-running teams have heavy factory involvement – Audi Sport Team Phoenix, for instance, which finished in first and third last year, has its own 'Ring race center and is running the 2016 R8; Aston Martin is represented by Aston Martin Racing and Aston Martin Test Center, and Bentley has a Bentley Motors team and uses HPT to run another team.

The fan component hasn't changed, though, and you can't talk about the race for more than 60 seconds before someone brings up the battalions of spectators. Every driver we spoke to cited them as the most incredible part of this race after the track itself. It feels to us like a giant German Sebring, with thousands of people camped out in the ginormous, forested infield, many of whom have been here since Monday erecting their ornate camping compounds. There will be parties everywhere Saturday night, and so much bratwurst on the grill that the drivers can smell it when as they're blasting full speed through Wehrseifen. Even when we drove a Mercedes S63 AMG Coupe on a lap before the race, the fans waved like it was a competition. Scott Preacher's Australian co-driver Robert Thompson said, "You come around a corner and it's like you're driving full speed through the middle of a carnival."

The race field itself could also be called a carnival, with an officially invited field of more than 170 cars. Even on a track that's 24.4-km long, that's like racing on the 405 at midday. The final grid will have 152 cars from 19 manufacturers in 21 different classes. Leading the way on the grid will be the #26 BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS Z4 GT3, ahead of the #2 Black Falcon Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3, and the #20 BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert Z4 GT3. The German stranglehold on the top ten – four BMWs, four Audis, one Mercedes – is broken up by the #84 Bentley Motors car at number nine. Aston Martin Racing secured spots 12 and 13. The Team Mathol Racing Aston Martin and Stradavita Racing Team Aston Martins that Scott Preacher will drive for Team Mathol are first and fourth in their SP10 class.

The race itself will be a little funky this year due to regulations introduced after last month's accident. The authorities have put speed limits at three zones on the track: the last big straight before the start-finish line has a 250-kilomter-per-hour limit, from Quiddelbacker-Höhe to Flugplatz – where the incident happened – the limit is 200 kph, and from Flugplatz to Schwedenkreuz the limit is 250 kph. The GT3 cars used to book it through the new 250-kph sections at anywhere from 270 kph to 300 kph, and they'll still hit those speeds through Fuchsröhre and after Bergwerk, where it's unlimited.

The upside of the limits is that you can add more downforce to the car and tweak the aero, but there are more downsides. The rules add five seconds to the lap time, and it is harder to pass, since GT3 cars will be limited to the same speeds as cars in slower classes. Team Rowe driver Tomas Jäger told us, "Traffic is always an issue," and that the best laps are the first two since you don't have to deal with other cars. By Lap 4, you're in the mix for the rest of the race and this only makes it worse. For example, where you used to be able to pass slower cars into Flugplatz and through the section of bumpy turns afterward, now you've got to stay with them.

Every car is monitored by race control, and going just one kilometer per hour over the speed limit will result in a time penalty of one minute and thirty two seconds, to be served during a pit stop. Punishment that severe means many cars have limiters set below the 200-kph and 250-kph maximum, just to make sure they don't accidentally go over. Top teams like Black Falcon and Rowe have fitted their SLS AMG GT3 with a button-activated limiter in fourth gear that caps it at 200 kph, and a limiter in fifth and sixth gears that holds it to 250 kph. The Team Mathol drivers, on the other hand, have to maintain their own speeds with their right feet while monitoring a giant, secondary speedometer to the left of their dashboards. It's a less-than-ideal distraction when one is racing.

Cars are set up to handle the bumpy Nordschleife at the expense of the grand prix track. Preacher told us, "If you drove the car just on the GP track you'd think it was a boat." On the other hand, he said, "You couldn't drive a new Porsche 911 GT3 on its stiffest setting on the Nordschleife – you'd bottom out so much." Cars have to be fine-tuned for the undulations; Jäger told us that if you don't bottom out at Pflansgarten your car is set up too softly. Preacher added, "Or you're not going fast enough." Preacher has another factor to consider, being ten kilos heavier than other drivers on the team. He said he has to lift coming out of Carrousel, taking it two or three kph slower, or he bottoms out so badly it sounds like he's ripping the bottom of the car away.

After all of that it's the usual endurance race rules: stay on track. Jäger said that if you can limit your pit stops to tire changes and refueling you can finish in the top five. But it's the 'Ring, and with 24 hours between the start and finish, anything can happen. The weather forecast said there'd be no rain today, but it's been sprinkling for the past few hours. But then, you don't earn the name "The Green Hell" for being predictable. We'll be back tomorrow with a race report.

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Porsche reveals new 911 GT3 R at the Nurburgring

Porsche reveals new 911 GT3 R at the NurburgringImage Credit: PorscheImage Credit: PorscheImage Credit: PorscheImage Credit: PorscheImage Credit: PorscheImage Credit: PorscheImage Credit: PorscheImage Credit: PorscheImage Credit: Porsche2015 911MSRP$151,100ShopReviewsMore PhotosMark Webber pilots Porsche 911 GT3 RSPorsche 911 Targa 4S Exclusive Edition (Netherlands)Techart Porsche 911 Targa 4S: Geneva 20152016 Porsche 911 GT3 RS: Geneva 2015Porsche 911 GT3 RSPorsche 911 GT3 RS spec sheetNoah Joseph

On any given weekend, you're bound to find gaggles of Porsche 911s zipping around most any race track. Now Porsche has revealed its latest competition model at no less fitting a location than the Nürburgring.

The new 911 GT3 R replaces the existing version, slotting in below the 911 RSR. It's based closely on the road-going 911 GT3 RS, and retains the same 4.0-liter naturally aspirated flat-six with direct injection and variable valve timing, but tuned to deliver over 500 horsepower, transmitted to the rear wheels through a six-speed sequential paddle-shift gearbox and mechanical limited slip differential.

The wheelbase has been stretched over three inches for better weight balance compared to the outgoing GT3 R, further optimized by more lightweight components and a central radiator to lower the center of gravity. The lightweight bodywork is made of aluminum, steel, and carbon fiber, and for the first time all of the glass (including the windscreen) has been replaced by plexi.

Stopping power is provided by six-piston aluminum monoblock calipers gripping 380-millimeter steel discs up front, with four-piston calipers and 372-mm discs at the back. The safety fuel cell can now hold 120 liters of fuel with a cut-off safety valve, the doors and windows can be removed, and the escape hatch is bigger, too.

All of this adds up to the promise of a more competitive GT3 R ready to take on the competition, available to privateer racing teams from December for 429,000 euros before tax – working out to about $487k at current exchange rates.Show full PR textWorld premiere at the Nürburgring
Lighter, more economical, faster: the new 911 GT3 R

Stuttgart. Based on the 911 GT3 RS production sports car, Porsche has designed a customer sport race car for GT3 series around the world: The 911 GT3 R. In developing the more than 368 kW (500 hp) racing nine-eleven, special attention was paid to lightweight design, better aerodynamic efficiency, reducing consumption, improved handling, further optimised safety as well as lowering service and spare parts costs.

Adopted from its production sibling, the 911 GT3 R features the distinctive double-bubble roof, and the wheelbase which had been lengthened by 8.3 centimetres compared to the previous generation. This ensures a more balanced weight distribution and more predictable handling particularly in fast corners corners in comparison to the previous GT3 R. By applying systematic lightweight solutions for the body, add-on parts, and suspension, the engineers significantly optimised the centre of gravity position of the GT3 R compared to the predecessor model. The lightweight body design of the 911 GT3 RS production sports car featuring intelligent aluminium-steel composite construction has proven to be the ideal basis for the race car. The roof, front cover and fairing, wheel arches, doors, side and tail sections as well as the rear cover are made of particularly light carbon-fibre composite material (CFRP). All windows – and for the first time even the windscreen – consist of polycarbonate.

Powering the new 911 GT3 R is a cutting-edge four-litre flat-six unit which is largely identical to the high-performance production engine of the road-legal 911 GT3 RS. Direct petrol injection, which operates at pressures up to 200 bar, as well as variable valve timing technology ensure a particularly efficient use of fuel. Moreover, the normally-aspirated engine offers significantly better driveability and a broader usable rev range. Power from the rear engine is transferred to the 310 mm rear wheels via a Porsche sequential six-speed constant-mesh gearbox. As in the GT road-going models of the 911, the driver changes gears via shift paddles conveniently positioned on the steering wheel.

The aerodynamics of the 911 GT3 R also follows the example of the road car. The distinctive wheel arch air vents on the front fairings increase downforce at the front axle. Measuring two metres in width by 40-centimetres in depth, the rear wing lends aerodynamic balance. From its 911 RSR big brother, the GT3 R has adopted the concept of the centrally-positioned radiator. By eliminating the side radiators, the position of the centre of gravity was improved, the radiator is better protected against collision damage, and the venting of hot air through louvers in the front cover was enhanced.

The brake system of the 911 GT3 R also underwent further modifications and, thanks to increased stiffness and more precise control of the ABS, is even better suited to long distance racing. At the front axle, six-piston aluminium monobloc racing brake callipers combined with ventilated and grooved steel brake discs with a diameter of 380 millimetres ensure outstanding braking performances. Fitted at the rear axle are four-piston callipers and discs measuring 372 millimetres.

Another development focus was on the safety features of the GT3 R. The capacity of the further-reinforced FT3 safety fuel cell was increased by twelve litres to now hold 120 litres, with the tank now featuring a fuel cut-off safety valve. The doors and the side windows can be removed, and the escape hatch in the roof is now larger. In the event of an accident, the new racing bucket seat offers pilots even better protection.

The new Porsche 911 GT3 R can be ordered immediately for 429,000 Euro plus country-specific VAT and will be delivered from December 2015.


Technical description Porsche 911 GT3 R (991)
Single-seat customer race car based on the Porsche 911 GT3 RS

Engine
- Water-cooled six-cylinder boxer engine (rear mounted)
- 4,000 cm3; stroke 81.5 mm; bore 102 mm
- Output: over 368 kW (500 hp) subject to FIA BoP (air restrictor)
- Four-valve technology
- Direct fuel injection
- Dry sump lubrication

Transmission
- Porsche sequential six-speed constant-mesh gearbox
- Mechanical slip differential
- Pneumatic gear-shift activation (paddle shift)

Bodyshell
- Lightweight body featuring intelligent aluminium-steel composite design
- Integrated (welded) roll-cage according to FIA Appendix J
- Removable escape hatch in roof
- Lightweight exterior design:
- CFRP doors, rear cover, rear wing, wheel arches, front and rear fairing
- Polycarbonate glazing
- Removable polycarbonate door windows
- FT3 safety fuel cell, approx. 120 litres, with fuel cut off safety valve in accordance with FIA regulations
- Air jack system (four jacks)


Suspension
- Front axle McPherson strut, adjustable in height, camber and toe
- Wheel hubs with centre-lock wheel nuts
- Adjustable anti-roll bar blades (left and right)
- Power-assisted steering with electro-hydraulic pressure feed
Rear axle
- Multilink independent rear suspension, adjustable in height, camber, toe
- Wheel hubs with centre-lock wheel nuts
- Adjustable anti-roll bar blades (left and right)

Brake system
Two separate brake circuits for front and rear axles; adjustable by driver via brake balance bar system
Front axle
- Six-piston aluminium monobloc racing brake calliper
- Ventilated and grooved steel brake disc, D = 380 mm, aluminium disc bell
Rear axle
- Four-piston aluminium monobloc racing brake calliper
- Ventilated and grooved steel brake disc, D = 372 mm, aluminium disc bell

Wheels/tyres
Front axle
- One-piece BBS alloy wheels according to Porsche specification and design, 12.0J x 18 offset 17, tyre dimension: 300/650-18 front; 13J x 18 offset 37.5, tyre dimension: 310/710-18 rear

Electrics
- COSWORTH power module IPS32
- Race ABS
- Traction control

Weight/dimensions
- Total weight: ca. 1,220 kg (subject to BoP)
- Overall length: 4,604 mm
- Overall width front axle: 1,975 mm
- Overall width rear axle: 2,002 mm
- Wheelbase: 2,463 mm

Car price
429,000 Euros plus country-specific VATFeatured Gallery2016 Porsche 911 GT3 R

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UPDATED: Aston Martin preps 5-car Nurburgring N24 onslaught

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

UPDATED 5/13/15: Additional information about Aston Martin private entries and car numbers added; N24 field size updated.

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 150 entries. Eight of those racers will be driving Aston Martin cars, five of which are officially sponsored by the company, including two V12 Vantage GT3s (#007 and 009) 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. Car number 048 and 050 are as close to production cars as possible, 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 an SP10 (GT4) V8 Vantage run by the Aston Martin engineering team and driven in part by Aston chairman Dr. Ulrich Bez; this car, #049, will be painted in the yellow livery of the original Aston N24 car -- known affectionately as "Rose" -- from 2006.

Three other Aston V8 Vantage GT4 cars will also be racing in SP10, all entered by private teams.

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.

Twitter: twitter.com/autoweekusa
Facebook: facebook.com/AutoWeekUSA
Instagram: instagram.com/autoweekusa

It appears your Web browser is not configured to display PDF files. Download adobe Acrobat or click here to download the PDF file.

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

Read more »

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.

Twitter: twitter.com/autoweekusa
Facebook: facebook.com/AutoWeekUSA
Instagram: instagram.com/autoweekusa

It appears your Web browser is not configured to display PDF files. Download adobe Acrobat or click here to download the PDF file.

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

Read more »