Aston Martin will rekindle its long and glorious relationship with the fearsome Nürburgring Nordschleife this weekend as the new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 debuted in the ADAC Ravenol 24H Nürburgring.
The British ultra-luxury sportscar manufacturer has enjoyed a winning tradition at the Nürburgring for over 60 years. Indeed, iconic Grand Prix legends Tony Brooks (GBR), Sir Stirling Moss (GBR), and Sir Jack Brabham (AUS) all contributed to a hat-trick of 1000km victories for Aston Martin in the late 1950s, including the 1959 edition that helped secure the brand’s World Sports Car championship crown.
That triumph occurred in the same year Aston Martin’s DBR1 claimed its famous overall victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 92nd running of which will be held on 15-16 June in France.
Since returning to sportscar racing in the mid-2000s, Aston Martin has been ever-present at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, whether through works-entered GT cars or with its most trusted partner teams. From 2006 onwards and with each previous iteration of Vantage, Aston Martin has claimed at least 10 class victories and more than 25 podium finishes.
Now, the British ultra-luxury sportscar brand takes on both those famous events again, as well as the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa at the end of the month, when three of the most significant and prestigious endurance races come thick and fast through the month of June. And all of them will feature the new Aston Martin Vantage GT3.
Just as it did in 2022 when Vantage led the Nürburgring 24 Hours for several hours into the night, Aston Martin has partnered with an ultra-successful team – this time Walkenhorst Motorsport – as it strives to become the first British manufacturer to win the race outright. The German outfit, which 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 feature works driver and reigning Nürburgring 24 Hours winner David Pittard (GBR), a renowned Nordschleife specialist, alongside Aston Martin stalwart and two-time FIA World Endurance GT champion Nicki Thiim (DEN). These two will be joined by Christian Krognes (NOR) and Kuba Giermaziak (POL).
PROsport Racing has also entered a previous-generation Vantage GT3 in the SP9 PRO-AM class featuring Nico Bastian (DEU), Marek Böckmann (DEU), Hugo Sasse (DEU), and Ben Green (GBR), as well as two Vantage GT4s in the SP10 class and another in the SP8T category. Dörr Motorsport, which won the SP8T class in 2022, will run a single Vantage GT4 in the class again and another in SP10.
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, the marque has enjoyed many notable class successes, including victory in the SP9T class in 2018, when Maxime Martin (BEL), Thiim, Darren Turner (GBR) and Marco Sørensen (DEN) finished fourth overall, having led overall into the final hours amid heavy rain in the last competitive outing for the V12 Vantage GT3. This result remains the marque’s best finish in the Nürburgring 24 Hours.
In recent years, the Vantage GT4 has flourished. The previous generation (seven of which are entered in the 2024 race) won the SP8T class in 2019 with Jamie Chadwick (GBR), Alex Brundle (GBR) and Peter Cate (GBR). In 2020, Garage 59 finished third in the same class with an upgraded GT8R driven by works driver Jonny Adam (GBR), Alexander West (SWE), Chris Goodwin (GBR) and Turner.
The brand’s most recent class win came in 2022 when Dörr Motorsport clinched a one-two victory in SP8T on its Aston Martin debut with the Vantage GT4. The team also finished third in SP10 behind the second-placed PROsport Vantage GT4, the best result yet for the Nürburgring-based team.
There are now 25 examples of Aston Martin’s spectacular new Vantage GT3 challenger competing in more than 10 significant GT series, including the FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the Fanatec GT World Challenge series in Europe, Asia, and the US, and the Japanese Super GT Championship. That figure is expected to grow to at least 35 by the end of its first competition season.
The new Aston Martin Vantage GT3, which descends from a succession of multiple world championship-winning predecessors, shares the mechanical architecture of the new ultra-luxury Vantage road car unveiled in February this year.
Built around Aston Martin’s proven bonded aluminium chassis and powered by its fearsome twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 engine, the Vantage GT3 features all-new nose-to-tail aerodynamics, comprehensively revised suspension and state-of-the-art electronics, endowing this latest-generation Aston Martin GT racer with world-beating potential.
First qualifying for the ADAC Ravenol 24H Nürburgring begins on Thursday, 30 May, at 1300 local time (1200 BST), with the race starting at 1600 (1500) on Saturday. Follow details of the event via the official series websites and Apps.
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