Aston Martin Racing will give the new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 its Nürburgring Nordschleife race debut in round eight of the VLN Endurance Championship, a four-hour race which takes place on 6 October.
The event marks the first occasion the car, driven by three-times Le Mans class winner Darren Turner (GB) and 2016 Nürburgring 24 Hours winner Maxime Martin (BEL), will have been matched against GT3 opposition.
The Vantage will race in full GT3 specification, but is not yet homologated, so will run in the VLN’s unique SPX class and hence will be subject to mandatory pitstops that are longer than those for the SP9 (standard GT3) entrants. The car is now at an advanced stage of development prior to its March 2019 homologation date, and the purpose of entering this race is to give Aston Martin Racing vital information as to its performance and durability in race conditions on what is considered the most challenging racing environment.
The Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 will be joined by two Nürburgring-based AMR Performance Centre prepared Vantages that will both feature works drivers. Turner will switch between the GT3 and a V12 Vantage he will share with German drivers Jürgen Kroner and Marco Müller. While Aston Martin Lagonda high performance test driver Chris Goodwin and Aston Martin Racing test and reserve driver Ross Gunn will share a Vantage GT4 as they begin the process of gaining their full VLN licenses for future programmes.
