Ready for another 24 hours? -Nürburgring 3pm Saturday

[MollyGTi]

Personally I can't get too excited about 24 hour racing. Been to Le Mans and the experience had very little to do with the racing (get some practise in sleep deprivation beforehand and you may be better equipped ) However, this weekend the Aston Martin Racing Team are at it again - this time at James May's least favourite test ground - the Nürburgring.

You may wonder why I am bothering to highlight this. Well its because robgt came over all excited himself this afternoon when he told me about it! Not at the fact that Dr Bez is still out there racing Astons, maybe a bit because respected journalist Richard 'Dicky' Meaden (who we have met in the interesting course of Aston ownership) is driving for Aston too, or that the well known team are there in the GT3 (Darren, Stefan and Pedro) - no, the cause of his excitement is that Chris 'Monkey' Harris is on the team driving an N430! He is Rob's hero. Absolute favourite car journo and enthusiast. So that is why the weekend motorsport just got more interesting!

http://www.astonmartin.com/n24

CARS & DRIVERS

One iconic marque. Four cars. 15 drivers.

Discover the cars and drivers who will tackle the legendary Nordschleife for Aston Martin.


SP9 - VANTAGE GT3
STEFAN MÜCKE
DARREN TURNER
PEDRO LAMY

SP10 - VANTAGE N430
RICHARD MEADEN
OLIVER MATHAI
CHRIS HARRIS
ANDREAS GÜLDEN

SP10 - VANTAGE N430
DR. ULRICH BEZ
WOLFGANG SCHUHBAUER
PETER LEEMHUIS
MAL ROSE

SP8 - V12 VANTAGE
EGON ALLGAEUER
PETER KATE
MARCUS MAHY
LIAM TALBOT

[robgt]

Seems it now time for me to bow out !

[W1111AM]

I don't have satellite TV Molly

[roughrider]

We're setting off tomorrow morning!! Been over the last 4 years, and i'd say its better than LeMans. I just hope the drivers avoid the kerbs, as i'm sure thats what caused power steering problems last week............

[Jon39]

W1111AM said:

I don't have satellite TV Molly

No problem.
Simply go to Maplin or if you happen to be lucky with product sale timing, Lidl.
Free-to-air satellite receiver and dish kits are sometimes not much more than £60. Often the cheapest ones are sold to caravanners and come in a case slightly bigger than a briefcase.

Aim the dish at the Astra 19 satellite (can be fiddly, but gets easier with practice).
The race will be on channel Sport 1, which on my set top receiver is listed as DSF.
You can even watch the qualifying tomorrow.
Commentary will be in German, but someone mentioned they were also going to listen to Radio Le Mans, which presumably might be in English and via the internet I suppose.

[W1111AM]

Jon39 said:

W1111AM said:

I don't have satellite TV Molly

No problem.
Simply go to Maplin or if you happen to be lucky with product sale timing, Lidl.
Free-to-air satellite receiver and dish kits are sometimes not much more than £60. Often the cheapest ones are sold to caravanners and come in a case slightly bigger than a briefcase.

Aim the dish at the Astra 19 satellite (can be fiddly, but gets easier with practice).
The race will be on channel Sport 1, which on my set top receiver is listed as DSF.
You can even watch the qualifying tomorrow.
Commentary will be in German, but someone mentioned they were also going to listen to Radio Le Mans, which presumably might be in English and via the internet I suppose.

OMG, we don't watch enough TV for me to consider subscribing to the dreaded "provider". I have pictures in my mind of me balancing on steps calling out to aliens in the sky, asking if I have the "Astra 19" and not the 20 thanks, that was great. I am thinking about it

[Jon39]

W1111AM said:

OMG, we don't watch enough TV for me to consider subscribing to the dreaded "provider".

You don't pay anyone anything, after buying the 'kit'.

The popular myth is that satellite TV, means a Sky subscription.
Mr. Murdoch likes myths.

For Astra 19, point the dish to South then move it 19 degrees towards East.
You can set the TV to make a whistle type sound, then when the dish is pointing correctly, the whistle note changes.

I was in a complete muddle to begin with, but I suppose that is often the case now with technology.

Edited by Jon39 on Thursday 19th June 23:54

[Jon39]

William,

Here is a link that you could try, for on-line viewing of the Nurburgring 24 hours.
www.nurburgring.org.UK/n24.php

A McLaren is in pole position.
Aston I think are 9th.

[W1111AM]

Jon39 said:

William,

Here is a link that you could try, for on-line viewing of the Nurburgring 24 hours.
www.nurburgring.org.UK/n24.php

A McLaren is in pole position.
Aston I think are 9th.

Nice job , thank you Jon, I shall study tomorrow

[Jon39]

Great coverage coming from Nurburgring.
For a while the TV camera was on-board a race car, that was very closely following the GT3 Aston Martin.

The leaderboard can be found through the following link, and probably also the on-line TV coverage.

www.nurburgring.org.UK/n24.php

If the video does not run, try Nismo TV on youtube as an alternative.

The leading Aston Martin (GT3) is now 11th overall.

Edited by Jon39 on Saturday 21st June 20:18

[W1111AM]

Jon39 said:

Great coverage coming from Nurburgring.
For a while the TV camera was on-board a race car, that was very closely following the GT3 Aston Martin.

The leaderboard can be found through the following link, and probably also the on-line TV coverage.

www.nurburgring.org.UK/n24.php

If the video does not run, try Nismo TV on youtube as an alternative.

The leading Aston Martin (GT3) is now 11th overall.

Edited by Jon39 on Saturday 21st June 20:18

Great coverage, love hearing the Le Mans presenters again, feeling right at home almost on the Arnage bend, thanks Jon

[W1111AM]

W1111AM said:

Jon39 said:

Great coverage coming from Nurburgring.
For a while the TV camera was on-board a race car, that was very closely following the GT3 Aston Martin.

The leaderboard can be found through the following link, and probably also the on-line TV coverage.

www.nurburgring.org.UK/n24.php

If the video does not run, try Nismo TV on youtube as an alternative.

The leading Aston Martin (GT3) is now 11th overall.

Edited by Jon39 on Saturday 21st June 20:18

Great coverage, love hearing the Le Mans presenters again, feeling right at home almost on the Arnage bend, thanks Jon

Webcam is stuck on pit lane - lacking a bit of driving action!

Rob, are you watching on Satnav ?

[robgt]

W1111AM said:

W1111AM said:

Jon39 said:

Great coverage coming from Nurburgring.
For a while the TV camera was on-board a race car, that was very closely following the GT3 Aston Martin.

The leaderboard can be found through the following link, and probably also the on-line TV coverage.

www.nurburgring.org.UK/n24.php

If the video does not run, try Nismo TV on youtube as an alternative.

The leading Aston Martin (GT3) is now 11th overall.

Edited by Jon39 on Saturday 21st June 20:18

Great coverage, love hearing the Le Mans presenters again, feeling right at home almost on the Arnage bend, thanks Jon

Webcam is stuck on pit lane - lacking a bit of driving action!

Rob, are you watching on Satnav ?

Sure am William , on everything actually. So want that V12 GT3 to do well. I reckon that they are playing a tactical waiting game. The car has the speed no question.

[W1111AM]

That's all folks, as a famous rabbit once said, enjoy the late night watching a Rob - I'll see where the GT3 is in the morning

[AndyBrew]

I'm watching it at www.astonmartin.com/n24 great coverage there!

[Jon39]

AndyBrew said:

I'm watching it at www.astonmartin.com/n24 great coverage there!

The GT3 Aston is now up to 6th overall.

I expect Andy, that you know (I am usually late with this stuff), you can view your on-line feed full size on a television. If you use a tablet or laptop which has Miracast wireless, it just needs £15 dongle plugged in to the TV HDMI socket.

[AndyBrew]

Yeh I have an apple mini that plugs straight into my TV so I watched it on there although the feed kept hanging when in full screen mode towards the end!

007 finished 5th in the end, good little battle with the BMW Z4 GT3 but thanks to the Clio Cup car and Pedro's calm approach 5th was held, a great result

When you consider AM only had one entry can't complain

[MollyGTi]

AndyBrew said:

007 finished 5th in the end, good little battle with the BMW Z4 GT3 but thanks to the Clio Cup car and Pedro's calm approach 5th was held, a great result

When you consider AM only had one entry can't complain

Don't forget the SP8 & SP10 categories - 2nd & 3rd in SP8 and 2nd in SP10! Here's the final race report from the AM website:


'Aston Martin has finished fifth overall in the 2014 Nürburgring 24 Hours, in its #007 V12 Vantage GT3 and has taken three class podiums with its close-to-production V12 Vantage and pair of V8 Vantage N430s.

The iconic blue and yellow Bilstein-liveried #007, which recorded the fastest lap of the race with Darren Turner (GB) behind the wheel, completed 156 laps of the 25-km race and showed the pace and reliability to be in contention for the win. However, refueling issues early in the race hampered the charge and Turner and his team-mates, Stefan Mücke (DE) and Pedro Lamy (PT) were left playing catch up for most of the race.
However, in the final laps the car was locked in a gripping battle for fifth place, but it was Aston Martin Racing works driver Lamy who came out on top.

“I was expecting that it would be a relaxing final stint – I just needed to bring the car home but then I had the BMW come out if the pits right behind me and it was looking to take the position.

“We were fast but it was fast too. In traffic it was difficult but it worked for us in the end. Considering the experience we have compared to all these teams, we got a great result. I'm pleased for everyone at Aston Martin it is a great team to be part of.”

In the SP10 class, Nürburgring experts Andreas Gülden (DE) and Oliver Mathai (DE) were joined by British journalists Dickie Meaden and Chris Harris, and together they finished in second place in the V8 Vantage N430’s maiden race.

“I had contact with one of the lead GT3 cars in the small hours and that cost us half an hour, the team did a fantastic job replacing the steering arm and we’ve pushed ever since,” commented Harris. “The N430 hasn’t missed a beat and Nürburgring 24 Hours remains the most colourful, exciting and challenging race of all.”

Aston Martin customers Liam Talbot (AU), Egon Allgäuer (DE), Peter Cate (GB) and Marcus Mahy (GB) finished in second place in the SP8 class for cars over 4.0-litres in the #55 Aston Martin Test Centre-prepared V12 Vantage.

“I came to Nürbrugring in 2012 as a guest of Aston Martin and I was blown away by the teams, cars and drivers, but thought that, having no racing experience, I would never be able to compete here,” commented Talbot. “However, the Aston Martin Test Centre team enrolled me on the Driver Training Academy and from there I got my race licence. Now, just two years later, I’m stood here on the podium and I couldn’t be happier.”

In the same class, the #70 Vantage N340 competed with a team of drivers from the Test Centre, joined by Australians Mal Rose and Peter Leemhuis and, despite a minor issue with the cooling system due to damage from debris on track, the team still took third in the class.

“To compete in Nürburgring 24 Hours and finish in the top five is no mean feat,” commented Head of Motorsport David King. “To come here with only one car against the might of the German car industry was a challenge, but the team rose to it magnificently, and showed that a win in the near future is within our reach.”

“Many of the drivers competing with us this weekend aren’t professional racing drivers but you wouldn’t know that from working with them. The level of professionalism has been impressive and we are proud to have them racing with the Aston Martin wings.”

[W1111AM]

Wonderful report Molly
I think I want to go next year to watch, anyone up for a road trip?

[FrankieV8VSP10]

W1111AM said:

Wonderful report Molly
I think I want to go next year to watch, anyone up for a road trip?

Agreed. I'd be up for that trip, taking my SP10 would be a dream.