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Autoblog's adventures at the Nurburgring 24-Hour race [spoilers]

The brand-new Audi R8 LMS, said to share 50 percent of its components with the street-legal R8 shown off at Geneva, has won its very first race at the 2015 Nurburgring 24-Hours. The No. 28 car driven by Christopher Mies, Edward Sandstrom, Nico Muller, and Laurens Vanthoor for the Audi Sport WRT team out of Belgium finished only 40.279 seconds ahead of the No. 25 BMW Sport Team Marc VDS Z4 GT3 in second place, for the smallest winning gap since the race began in 1970. Those two cars traded the lead throughout Sunday morning and were less than a minute away from one another for the last two hours. They were part of a total 35 lead changes during the entire race – a record for the event – and both did 156 laps. Third place went to the No. 44 Falken Tire Porsche 997 GT3, one lap down. The Audis did what they always do: lurked close to the front, stayed out of trouble, then pounced when everyone else faltered. For the opening stretches the BMW Z4 teams owned it, running 1-2-3 for a while, but all of them hit trouble. When morning came and the race got over its yellow-flag fever, the No. 28 Audi was in front and stayed there. It was the third Nurburgring 24-Hour win for Audi in four years, the brand's first win only coming in 2012. Last year's winner, the Phoenix Audi team that set a race record by doing 159 laps, had both of its cars retire. One hit an oil patch about 12 hours in, spun and was hit by another car behind, taking on too much damage to continue. The other retired with engine issues. Other Notes Three cars crashed out of the race while leading, after the rains that weren't supposed to happen, happened about 90 minutes in. The No. 20 Schubert BMW Z4 led the first 50 minutes of the race, hopped a crest at Pflanzgarten, landed in a pool of water, and hit the wall on the 30th lap. Then the No. 30 Frikadelli Porsche, with a driver team that included ex-'Ring Taxi driver Sabine Schmitz, hit the No. 31 Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 on the approach to Carrousel and crashed out. Then the No. 1 Phoenix Audi, last year's winning car, took the lead but hit the wall after that oil patch near Pflanzgarten and was out of the race. Aston Martin celebrated a class win in the SP8 category with the No. 49 Vantage GT4 N430. This being the tenth anniversary of the Vantage running the Nurburgring-24, this year's car was painted in the same colors as the racecar from ten years ago.

Aston Martin designs another house, this one overlooking Tokyo

In Japan, where so many apartments aren’t much bigger than the cabin of a Bentley, it probably doesnÂ’t makes sense that Aston Martin plans to build a luxury home with a vista overlooking Tokyo. Of course, the home, designed as it will be by Aston Martin artists, will feature an automotive gallery. And after oneÂ’s parked his car, he can enjoy the wine cellar, in-house cinema, gym, and the private spa. The four-story property, already sold (price not revealed) and due for completion in about a year, is the British brandÂ’s first collaboration with homebuilders in Asia, but it is not the first time Aston has dipped a toe into projects other than automobiles. In 2018, the company launched a power boat, the AM37, a $1.6 million toy that was the result of two years of research and development. Supposedly designed with similar proportions that Aston applies to its vehicles, the top trim level AM37S makes an estimated 50 knots derived from its twin 520 horsepower Mercury petrol engines. Aston Martin even got into the personal luxury submarine game. Aston has also partnered to build a 6,000-square foot  “house” called Sylvan Rock in the Hudson Valley in upstate New York, costing $7.7 million, and is collaborating on the construction of a 66-floor, high-rise condominium in MiIami. Top price for a unit: $50 million. But the view is very nice. For the so-called “holistic” extravaganza near Tokyo, Marek Reichman, executive vice president of Aston, said: “The influence of Tokyo culture, with its amazing history and style, holds an important creative space within our design studio. I see fashion, architectural and even culinary references being considered by our team.” Japanese luxury real estate developer firm VIBROA is working with Aston Martin on the project, with an eye toward expanding the carmakerÂ’s presence in Asia. Related video:

Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato | Autoblog Minute

Aston Martin and iconic Italian design house Zagato teamed up to create a striking carbon-fiber-bodied concept set to debut at a glitzy concours on the shores of Lake Como, Italy, this weekend. Aston Martin Autoblog Minute Videos Original Video zagato aston martin vanquish zagato