Aston Martin's new V12 Zagato racecar concept will return to the Nurburgring this weekend for final preparations ahead of the 24-hour race hosted at the famous German circuit at the end of the month.
Two examples of the V12 Zagato will compete in the 51st ADAC Reinoldus-Langstreckenrennen VLN5 four-hour race on Saturday. These are similar to the car which won the Concorso d'Eleganza Design Award for Concept Cars and Prototypes at its first public appearance at the Villa D'Este Concours last month.
The race is being used as a test session ahead of the Nurburgring 24-hour race which takes place between 25-26 June. It will be the first time two new V12 Zagato racecars have been in action together after one of the pair enjoyed its first running under race conditions at the 53rd ADAC ACAS H&R-Cup VLN race in May.
The four-hour race weekend will be used to refine the setup and allow further driver familiarization with the new cars on the gruelling 25.378km circuit.
Aston Martin Chief Executive, Dr Ulrich Bez will lead the driver team, joined by the company's Nurburgring Test Centre Director, Wolfgang Schuhbauer plus experienced amateur racer Peter Cate in the first of the two V12 Zagato's.
The sister car will be driven by One-77 Chief Engineer Chris Porritt, experienced sports car driver Oliver Mathai and automotive journalist Richard Meaden.
Introduced as a modern interpretation of the famous Aston Martin and Zagato collaboration in the 50th anniversary year of the iconic DB4GT Zagato, the V12 Zagato revives a collaboration. The partnership takes inspiration from the past to create a modern interpretation based on Aston Martin's ultimate performance interpretation of the Vantage range.
The 51st ADAC Reinoldus-Langstreckenrennen VLN5 four-hour race starts at noon Central European Time on Saturday 11th June with live updates on the progress of the Aston Martin V12 Zagato available on the company's official Twitter feed.