Aston Martin is set to return to the legendary Nordschleife circuit for the fifth consecutive year at the 24-hour race in its newest four-door sports car – the Rapide.

Underlining its proud racing heritage, the Aston Martin Rapide will compete in the gruelling 38th ADAC Nürburgring 24-hour race in near-standard specification.

As was the case for the V8 Vantage and V12 Vantage, the Aston Martin Rapide will stake its reputation in a race which Aston Martin Chief Executive, Dr Ulrich Bez describes as the ultimate final engineering durability test for any sports car.

Dr Bez, who will lead the Rapide driver team, also says that the Nürburgring 24-hour race is 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 Aston Martin Rapide race car will be as close to production standard as possible with only essential race safety modifications

The interior trim has also been removed to reduce weight, engineers have re-tuned the suspension and the car will run on slick tyres designed for track use.

The Rapide will be joined by the similarly modified Aston Martin V12 Vantage race car which in 2009 claimed a class win on its competitive race debut.