Aston Martin Rapide news - Rapide takes on the 'Ring

Some jobs have great perks. McDonald's staff get free Big Macs, while Barclays personnel get free money. Probably.

Aston Martin engineers have always had it pretty good, but it's just got a whole lot better for them: this year they get to drive the four-door Rapide supercar at the Nurburgring 24hr endurance race.

Find out what Richard Hammond thinks of the Aston Martin Rapide

The guys from Gaydon will drive a near-standard spec Rapide (apart from racing slicks, a stripped-out interior and re-tuned suspension) at the 38th ADAC Nurburgring 24hr race in May, led by CEO Dr Ulrich Bez.

The Rapide sports a 6-litre V12 engine good for 470bhp, and with those suspension and interior mods we reckon the 0-62mph dash will be significantly quicker than the standard car's five seconds.

Ulrich reckons the Rapide is ‘first and foremost' a sportscar and so will be quite handy at the 24hr race. It's also in with a shout as the coolest four-door racer on planet earth.

Vijay Pattni