Aston Martin enters V12 Vantage (2009) at Nurburgring 24hrs

Aston Martin V12 Vantage race car

By Ben Pulman

First Official Pictures

27 April 2009 09:52

Aston Martin will enter a V12 Vantage in the 37th Nurburgring 24-hour race on 23-24 May, along with ‘Rose’, the yellow V8 Vantage that was first entered at the infamous ‘Ring race in 2006.

Aston claims the V12 Vantage racer will be pretty close to production spec, bar a revised suspension set-up, some safety modifications (a roll cage) and a reduced kerbweight (goodbye stereo system and other goodies). There are also new Pirelli P Zero slick tyres.

Why no further tweaks? Because Aston wants to use the 24-hour race as a final sign-off for the production V12. ‘This is the final engineering durability test for the V12 Vantage programme,’ said Aston CEO Dr Ulrich Bez. ‘We will be subjecting the car to the toughest assessment yet under public scrutiny as we successfully did with the Vantage N24 programme.’

‘Nothing official’ is the reply from Aston’s PR team, but then there were no plans for a V8 customer racecar when Aston turned up with the Vantage in 2006.

In the meantime, the production V12 Vantage will go on sale this July. Its 6.0-litre engine produces 510bhp and 420lb ft, helping it to 62mph in 4.2 seconds and on to 190mph. Just 1000 will be made and each will cost £135,000.

By Ben Pulman