The Aston Martin Vantage GT8R wants to win its class at the N24

Jonny Adam better be spending this week catching up on sleep, for just days after winning the GTE Am class at Le Mans, he’s racing a brand-new Aston Martin in the Nürburgring 24hrs. Adam, together with Darren Turner, Chris Goodwin and Alexander West will drive the Aston Martin Vantage GT8R in this weekend’s race.

A field of more than 100 cars are taking part, divided into 21 classes (and you thought Le Mans was confusing). The Aston, which sits between the Vantage GT3 and GT4, is built to SP8T class specs, where power is capped at 549bhp and cars must weigh no less than a relatively lardy 1,450kg.

Still, it represents a reduction in weight and increase in power over the Vantage GT4, with revised aero in the form of a new wing, dive planes and splitter. Though Aston says the GT8R is mainly for privateers competing in the Nürburgring Langstrecken Series (NLS) and N24, it’s also eligible for the UK’s GT Cup, Super Taikyu in Japan, the Transam Series in the US and New Zealand’s Endurance Championship. It would also, says Aston, be “an ideal candidate for a track day car”.

50 examples will be built costing £225,000 each, though existing GT4 owners can simply have their car upgraded to GT8R spec.

Turner, an Aston works driver with three class-wins at Le Mans, said the GT8R is a “fun car” that is “far less demanding to race than a high downforce GT3 or GTE”. Aston Martin Racing boss David King says the car “exploits a gap in the market that allows drivers to experience the user-friendly accessibility of the entry-level Vantage, while delivering a significant step-up in performance”.

An “early concept” of the GT8R won the SP8T class at the N24 last year, while the production version you see here made its race debut in round five of the NLS last month.