We recently drove the showroom-ready Aston Martin Rapide and came away generally impressed -- and now its mettle is about to be tested in the heat of battle.
Pictured alongside is a competition-liveried Rapide that will contest the 38th ADAC Nürburgring 24-hour race (on May 15/16), and the driver line-up will be led by none other than the boss of Aston Martin, Dr Ulrich Bez.
Notwithstanding the eye-catching graphics, the car itself is pretty close to production spec with the mods being restricted to turfing the interior trim to reduce weight, retuning the suspension and equipping it with track-focused slick tyres.
The car has also had a few safety modifications to enable it to meet race regulations.
Explaining the rationale for pitching the Rapide into the gruelling twice-around-the clock enduro, Dr Bez said: "This race represents the ultimate final engineering durability test for any sports car; it subjects the car to the toughest possible assessment under public scrutiny.
"The Rapide has the capability to carry four people in comfort but first and foremost it is a sports car, and we will subject it to the same tests we would our other sports cars."
"We already have a proven track record at the Nürburgring racing our road cars with limited modification and in recent years we have enjoyed success in winning the SP8 class both in 2008 and 2009."
The Rapide will be joined by the similarly modified Aston Martin V12 Vantage racer, which in 2009 claimed a class win on its competitive race debut. Aston Martin has contested the race for the past five years, using race versions of both the V8 Vantage and V12 Vantage.
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