V12 Vantage Zagatos and V8 Vantages overcome problems to finish tough Nurburgring 24 Hours

27 Jun 2011

Aston Martin’s three factory entries in this year’s Nurburgring 24 Hours have successfully completed the demanding race, albeit after early promise of possible podium positions was thwarted by problems. Held on the infamous 16.1 mile Nordschliefe circuit in late June, two of the new and as yet unavailable V12 Vantage Zagatos took fifth and sixth places in the SP8 class, while a single V8 Vantage N24 netted fifth in the SP10 category. In so doing, Aston Martin has retained its one hundred per cent finishing record at the event for the sixth successive time. A brace of privateer V8 Vantages also finished the 24 Hours.

Marking only the V12 Vantage Zagato’s second public appearance since winning the Design Award for Concepts and Prototypes at Villa D’Este Concours D’Elegance in May, the display car, nicknamed ‘Zag’, and a second example, ‘Zig’, were modified with essential safety features such as roll-over cage, fire extinguisher system and racing seats. By entering the latest Zagato models in Germany, where they covered 230 laps and over 3,700 miles, Aston Martin was maintaining its philosophy of signing-off new products in as close to road car specification as possible by competing in one of the toughest round the clock challenges.

Having run as high as first in class and fought for a top 20 overall finish, Zag, driven by Aston Martin chief engineer Chris Porritt/Oliver Mathai/Richard Meaden/Peter Cate was hit by another car during the night; initially damage was thought to be limited to a broken steering arm but once repaired it was found the engine mountings had sheared, necessitating a lengthy stop. Meanwhile Zig, crewed by Aston Martin chief executive officer Ulrich Bez/Wolfgang Schuhbauer/Horst von Sourma/Matthew Marsh, required a replacement gearbox mid-morning on Sunday. Shortly after, the V8 Vantage N24, nicknamed ‘Smurf’, of Aston Works driver Darren Turner/Shinichi Katsura/Rob Thompson/Jurgen Stumpf, which had also led its class, was involved in an accident causing steering damage.

Of the three privately entered V8 Vantages in the 200 strong field, the Team Pflanz machine finished seventh in the SP10 class and the Bratke Motorsport example seventh in the SP8 category. The Mathol Racing car was cruelly forced to retire with little more than one hour remaining after dominating its class for most of the race. Speaking afterwards, Ulrich Bez said: “All our cars finished today, and two out of the three customer teams also crossed the line. This includes two brand new cars which we launched only four weeks ago. With a little more luck we could have finished higher up the order, but finishing first wasn’t the goal, we aimed to have the cars running at the end – I am really pleased with the team who did such a great job keeping the cars running throughout.”

Aston Martin’s Head of Motorsport, David King added: “We came here with two concept cars and the aim of finishing the 24 hours as the ultimate test for the V12 Zagato and we’ve achieved that. I’m immensely proud of the team – as ever they have represented Aston Martin in the right way; staying calm under pressure, acting professionally and quickly solving problems when they arose.”