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" Aston Martin, the century-old automaker known with a long history of endurance racing, managed a top-ten finish with a Bilstein-sponsored V12 Vantage GT3. The conditions were far less than ideal, as the Eifel weather managed to show its worst, with hard rain and thick fog surrounding the legendary racetrack. The works driver Pedro Lamy started off from second place, having set a qualification time of 8:18.362 \u2013 1.1 seconds after the Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 driven by Frank Stippler.  The tough weather took its toll on the Aston Martin, numbered 007, as Aston Martin led the race from the second hour onwards, until the event was red flagged for the night at 10:30 PM due to the impossible conditions. When the green flag was waved at 8 AM, the rain persisted, and the Vantage GT3 took a visit to the barriers at the early laps. This meant Aston had to play it safe and end upbringing the car home \u2013 even if they would have been more than happy getting a podium finish \u2013 at tenth place overall. The almost-stock #005 V12 Vantage survived to reach fifth position in its class, and the customer-driven #006 V8 Vantage that competed in the SP8 class finished third.  As well as running the V12 Vantage GT3, Aston Martin entered the N\u00FCrburgring 24 Hours with a hybrid Rapide. It was the first hydrogen-powered racing car to compete in an international event, and the car completed the race. The company CEO Ulrich Bez also took a number of stints behind the wheel in the race. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/news/a4560/racing-racing-news-aston-martins-rough-day-at-the-nurburgring-24-hours/>