A record eight Aston Martins will take the green flag at this weekend's Nurburgring 24 Hours.
The fastest of them all is the factory supported V12 Vantage, which lapped the Nordschleife in 9:11.909 in Friday's second qualifying session in the hands of German Oliver Mathai.
As conditions improved through the two hour session times tumbled, and nearly every team improved on their time from Thursday night's first session, Mathai's lap 90 seconds faster than the team's initial marker.
The second factory – Aston Martin Cars entered – effort, a four-door Aston Martin Rapide recorded the 79th fastest time overall, and the eighth fastest in the SP8 class.
“The main objective for qualifying was simply to get each driver through the required two laps,” said David King, the company's head of motorsport. “The conditions were fairly restrictive so there was not a great deal we could gain by taking unnecessary risks.”
“Grid positions are not overly important in a 24-hour race although Oliver managed to get a clear run in the V12 Vantage and should be very pleased with his time. Both cars are in good shape and we are looking forward to the race.”
“We are also delighted to see such a strong customer presence in the race this year – we have come a long way since 2006 when we came here with just one entry. We hope all our customer teams finish the race and hopefully have some fun along the way too.”
The two cars – along with Astons in the hands of privateer team including Mathol Racing, Gentle Swiss Racing and Birchwood Racing – will start the 38th edition of the Nurburgring 24 Hours at 2pm UK time Saturday.
You can keep up to date with their performance throughout the race through www.astonmartin.com, www.facebook.com.astonmartin and www.twitter.com/astonmartin.
Live, on site commentary will be broadcast on www.radiolemans.com throughout the race.
