Aston Martin is set to rekindle its long-time relationship with the Nürburgring Nordschleife as the new Vantage GT3 will make its debut in the Nürburgring 24 Hours this year. In a bid to become the first British manufacturer to win the race outright, the British carmaker has partnered with multiple German racing outfits.
Walkenhorst Motorsport, that won the 2018 24 Hours of Spa and the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series, will run three Vantage GT3s in the SP9 PRO, PRO-AM and AM classes. The #34 SP9 PRO Vantage GT3 will be piloted by works driver and reigning Nürburgring 24 Hours winner David Pittard, alongside two-time FIA World Endurance GT champion Nicki Thiim. The pairing will be joined by Christian Krognes and Kuba Giermaziak.
PROsport Racing, will compete with a previous generation Vantage GT3 in the SP9 PRO-AM class with a driver line-up featuring Nico Bastian, Marek Böckmann, Hugo Sasse, and Ben Green. They will also run two Vantage GT4s in the SP10 class and another in the SP8T category. Dörr Motorsport, who won the SP8T class in 2022, will run a single Vantage GT4 in the class again, and another in SP10.
Sharing his thoughts on Aston Martin’s upcoming Nürburgring outing, Adam Carter, Head of the brand’s Endurance Motorsport division, said, “The Nürburgring 24 Hours has always held a special place in the hearts of Aston Martin fans. The enormous racing, technical and human challenge it presents sums up everything that is special about endurance racing. It’s also the reason why it is so difficult to win, and why every victory across every class is such a special achievement. The new Vantage GT3 has proven competitive everywhere it has raced so far in 2024, and we don’t expect anything to change this weekend, but as we all know with the ’Ring, you need a huge number of factors to be correctly aligned to achieve success. In Walkenhorst Motorsport, Dörr Motorsport and PROsport Racing we have three partner teams who know exactly how to put all those factors into play. We wish them all the best of luck and we will see what happens in the race.”
Aston Martin made its Nürburgring 24 Hours debut in 2006, with an almost standard V8 Vantage that provided the springboard for the ultra-successful GT4 version. Since then, with every iteration of the Vantage, Aston Martin has claimed no less than 10 class victories and more than 25 podium finishes.