Aston Martin Fielding 4 Cars in Nürburgring 24 Hours

The Nürburgring 24 Hours, which is the biggest sports car race in the world in terms of entries, runs from May 19 to 20. Aston Martin is fielding four factory-backed cars - two V12 Vantage GT3sAston Martin V12 Vantage GT3United Kingdom, 2011 > present3 photos
and two V12 ZagatosAston Martin V12 ZagatoUnited Kingdom, 2011 > present19 photos
1 video
. There are four other Aston Martins entered by customer teams. 

The two V12 Vantages represent the first time that Aston Martin will have cars entered in the fastest SP9 category, which has the same rules as the FIA GT3 category. The #007 Vantage GT3 will be driven by Johannes Stuck and Ferdinand Stuck, Dennis Rostek and Darren Turner. The Stucks are the sons of  three-time Nürburgring 24 Hours winner Hans-Joachim Stuck. The #006 Vantage GT3 will be driven by Stefan Mücke, Tomas Enge, Fredy Barth and Oliver Mathai.

Aston Martin's CEO Dr. Ulrich Bez will drive one of the V12 Zagatos with Aston Martin Chief Engineer Chris Porritt, Aston Martin Nürburgring Test Centre Director Wolfgang Schuhbauer and automotive journalist Richard Meaden. The other V12 Zagato will be driven by Jurgen Stumpf, Mal Rose, Rob Thomson Peter Cate.

“Our 100 per cent finishing record in thirteen starts in one of the world’s toughest endurance races is remarkable; truly a testament to the reliability of our cars and the efforts of our people. In the past six years we have deliberately focused on racing close-to-production cars, achieving seven class podiums and three class wins. For 2012, I am delighted to be returning again to drive our V12 Zagato with my engineering team," said Bez. 

Aston Martin will be tweeting updates of its progress through the race and post updates on Facebook. 

The Nürburgring 24 Hours has over 170 cars entered this year running on the 25km combined GP circuit and Nordschleife. Expect a preview of the race on Autoviva later in the week.