This weekend, the famed 15.5 mile proving ground in Germany will host its most famous race, the 24-hours of Nürburgring, featuring literally hundreds of vehicles. Two of the most exciting are from Aston Martin, who will enter a pair of fraternal twins in the form of two V12 Zagato concepts.

Zagato, the go-to company for extravagant car design, took the next step in its partnership with Aston Martin which began when the first V12 Zagato was released at the 2011 Concorso D’Eleganza Villa D’Este in May. The car is based off of the V12 Vanquish platform, and will also celebrate the 50 year partnership between the companies which began with the DB4GT Zagato.

The first car, which won the design award for concepts and prototypes at the Concorso, has been tweaked to form the number 3 race car, nicknamed ‘Zag’. It will be in the hands of Aston Martin CEO Dr. Ulrich Bez, the automaker’s Nürburgring Test Center Director, and a few other German colleagues.

The other V12 Zagato, nicknamed ‘Zig’, will wear race number 5 and will be piloted by One-77 Chief Engineer Chris Porritt, pro race driver Oliver Mathai, amateur race driver Peter Cate and journalist Richard Meaden.

The race starts June 24th; be sure to tune in because, in the words of Sir Jackie Stewart: “The 24 hours race on the Nürburgring is one of the most grueling tests for driver and material. You’re not up against the other drivers here, you’re up against the track itself.”

Check out photos of the Aston Martin V12 Zagato here.

[via Aston Martin]

Press Release:

> Aston Martin V12 Zagato Ready for Nürburgring 24hr Test
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> • Two new Aston Martin V12 Zagatos entered in 24 hour race, just weeks after being first unveiled
> • Experienced driver line-up, led by Aston Martin CEO Dr Ulrich Bez
> • The V12 Zagatos are joined by an Aston Martin-entered V8 Vantage GT4 featuring Aston Martin Racing works driver Darren Turner
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> Nürburgring 22 June 2011. This week Aston Martin is putting the final touches to its race preparations in readiness for the toughest 24 hour race of them all – the annual ADAC Nürburgring 24 Hours on 25 and 26 June where a brace of new Aston Martin V12 Zagatos will compete.
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> This weekend marks the next step of an ambitious project which began when the V12 Zagato was unveiled at the Concorso D’Eleganza at Villa D’Este in May this year, winning the Design award for Concepts and Prototypes. The show car was then transformed into the number 3 race car, nicknamed ‘Zag’ (red) and will be piloted in the 24 hour race by Aston Martin CEO, Dr. Ulrich Bez, the company’s Nürburgring Test Centre Director, Wolfgang Schuhbauer and automotive journalists Horst von Saurma and Matthew Marsh.
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> In addition, a green V12 Zagato (nicknamed ‘Zig’) – car number 5 for the race – was prepared by the small team based at Aston Martin’s global headquarters in Gaydon, Warwickshire. Zig will be driven by One-77 Chief Engineer Chris Porritt, experienced sports car driver Oliver Mathai, automotive journalist Richard Meaden and experienced amateur racer Peter Cate.
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> Joining the Zagatos will be a V8 Vantage GT4 affectionately nicknamed ‘Smurf’ (now orange but formally blue) which will be driven by Aston Martin Racing works driver, Darren Turner, journalist and experienced 24 hour driver, Shinichi Katsura, Australian racer Rob Thomson and seasoned Nürburgring pilot Jurgen Stumpf.
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> Three further customer team V8 Vantages will be competing over the weekend bringing the Aston Martin presence in the race up to six cars with Mathol Racing (#62), Bratke Motorsport Team – AVIA (#85) and Team Pflanz (#75) driving Vantage GT4s in the SP10 class.
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> Aston Martin’s Head of Motorsport, David King said: “Our entries this year extend our Nürburgring racing philosophy. For five years now we have signed-off our new products by entering a car which is as close to the road car as possible and subjecting it to the toughest 24 hour test on what best simulates the extremities of public roads. This year we go a step further by testing a car at prototype stage.”
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> “As ever, the race will present an enormous challenge in a vast and increasingly competitive field which will be fraught with all the unpredictable elements associated with racing at the Nürburgring. However, we are excited by the potential we have seen from the V12 Zagato in the testing we’ve completed and that gives us great hope for the task ahead. We look forward to a safe, successful and enjoyable race for our teams and customers.”
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> Aston Martin’s presence at the Nürburgring marks the sixth successive time factory engineers complete a product sign-off test in what has been dubbed ‘the toughest 24 hour race’ under public scrutiny. Since 2006, the marque has used the race to prove the reliability and durability of its new models – first for V8 Vantage itself, then the new SportshiftTM transmission in 2007, the 4.7 litre engine V8 Vantage in 2008, the V12 Vantage in 2009, the four-door Rapide in 2010, and now, rather more ambitiously, for the first major test of a new concept car – the Aston Martin V12 Zagato.
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> In addition to this year’s race, Aston Martin’s American team has joined forces with Road & Track magazine to run a standard road specification Rapide at Spring Mountain Motor Sports Ranch in the USA for the same 24 hours as the European team at the Nürburgring. The endurance test echoes last year’s Nordschleife attempt where a near standard four-door Rapide with a production six-speed automatic transmission successfully completed the 24 hour race, finishing third in class.
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> At the Nürburgring the roofs of both V12 Zagatos will be sporting a ‘Heart for Japan’ dedication as part of Aston Martin’s support for the Tsunami victims of Japan. In May, Dr. Bez auctioned his company Rapide raising £100,000. During the build up to this year’s 24 hours Dr. Bez will hand the cheque to Toyota CEO, Akio Toyoda and their Donation Fund for Employees in the Affected Disaster Area charity.
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> The 39th ADAC Nürburgring 24 Hour race starts at 4pm CET on Saturday 25 June – live updates are available by following @astonmartin on Twitter and live commentary will be broadcast via Radio Le Mans (www.radiolemans.com)