It’s good being the boss. Aston Martin’s chief executive Ulrich Bez will be entering the Nürburgring 24-hour race again in May, this time at the wheel of the firm’s new V12 Vantage.
Launched at the Geneva show in March, the V12 is the ultimate incarnation of the Vantage range with a 6.0-litre engine producing 510bhp and 420lb ft of torque.
The racer will be extremely close to production spec, with only essential safety mods, reduced weight and re-tuned suspension, says Aston. There are no aerodynamic enhancements, but the car will run on Pirelli P Zero slick tyres.
Dr Bez will be driving in his fourth consecutive 24-hour race. ‘This is the final engineering durability test for the V12 Vantage programme. We will be subjecting the car to the toughest assessment yet under public scrutiny as we successfully did with the Vantage N24 programme,’ he says.
As long as he’s not having fun…