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Archive for March, 2006

AUDI MAKES HISTORY….

Published March 18, 2006 in Events, Racing and Watched. 0 Comments

as Diesel-powered R10 TDI wins MOBIL 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring

Audi Sport North America made history Saturday as the diesel-powered Audi R10 TDI of Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish and Rinaldo Capello won the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. The new prototype is the first diesel car in the world to win a major sports car race.

“Our R10 TDI is a real racing car,” Kristensen said. “Over two stints, you can drive it very precisely, which is a combination of the diesel power and immense torque. It’s simply pure fun to drive it.”

The No. 2 Audi won the opening race of the 2006 American Le Mans Series by three laps over Intersport Racing’s No. 37 Lola B05/40-AER. After winning the pole position, the No. 2 car had to have its heat exchanger switched before the race and had to start the race from pit lane and in 34th position. But by the two-hour mark, the pole-sitting car had moved back into the lead when the No. 1 sister car had to pit.

Kristensen gave the No. 2 car the lead for good when Marco Werner, driving with defending Series champions Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro in the No. 1 Audi R10 TDI, pulled the car into the garage just shy of the four-hour mark. Shortly thereafter, the car was retired due to overheating.

That left Kristensen, Capello and McNish to comfortably run out front. Kristensen added yet another record to his already impressive résumé. He is now has four overall wins at Sebring, the most in the race’s 54-year history. He also has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans seven times, including the last six in a row.

- ALMS

Technorati Audi, R10, TDI, Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish, Rinaldo Capello, Sebring

NO. 2 AUDI R10 TDI LEADING IN SEBRING DARKNESS

Published March 18, 2006 in Events, Racing and Watched. 0 Comments

Sebring - The Audi R10 TDI and the Porsche RS Spyder entered the 54th running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring as favored but unproven entries. Through the first half of the demanding half-day event, both auto manufacturers were just that in their Sebring debuts. Especially the Audi R10 TDI, which was making its first-ever showing in a race.

Two days after one of the two new Audi R10 TDI entries garnered the pole by breaking the Sebring International Raceway track record by more than two seconds, the No.2 car –the first diesel-powered pole sitter in an international race – developed problems with its heat exchanger during the morning warm up session. As a result, the No.2 car was forced to start the race from pit lane in the 34th position. Despite the handicap start, the No.2 Audi R10, piloted by the trio of Rinaldo Capello, Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish, needed just 61 laps (just under two hours) around the 3.7-mile circuit to move into the front-running slot.

As good as the No.2 car’s recovery from its mechanical problems was, the sister Audi R10 TDI was forced to retire from the race due to an overheating problem after 117 laps. Before withdrawing, the No.1 car driven by Frank Biela, Emanuele Pirro and Marco Werner posted a best lap of 1:48.687.

“Sebring is a very, very tough race track,” Ralf Juttner, Technical Director for Team Audi Sport North America, said as he spoke of his concerns regarding the untested R10. “We have done some miles on the car, but we didn’t run it for 12 hours in a row without a break.”

Just past the eight-hour mark, the No. 2 car led the No. 37 Intersport Racing Lola B05/40-AER of Jon Field, Clint Field and Liz Halliday by just over two laps. The Intersport trio led in LMP2 by two laps over the No. 6 Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyder.

Through the first hour of competition, both Spyders dominated the LMP2 class and were among the top five running cars; however, mechanical problems forced the retirement of the No. 7 car of Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Patrick Long near the seven-hour mark. Thus, car No.6 (piloted by Sascha Maassen, Lucas Luhr and Emmanuel Collard) was the lone Porsche RS Spyder that was left to do battle with the top-leading cars.

In GT1, the battle between the Corvettes and the Aston Martins has materialized as a fight between last year’s American Le Mans Series champions – Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin with Jan Magnusson in the No. 4 Corvette C6.R – with the 009 Aston Martin pole-sitting car of Pedro Lamy, Jason Bright and Stephane Serrazin. With two-and-a-half hours left, Magnussen led Lamy by less than two minutes.

The closest battle on the track, however, is in GT2 where the traditional front-running Porsches have been upstaged thus far by the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari F430GT with Ralf Kelleners, Jaime Melo and Anthony Lazarro and the Multimatic Motorsports Team Panoz Panoz Esperante GTLM of David Brabham, Scott Maxwell and Sebastien Bourdais. Bourdais is leading Lazzaro by 12 seconds.

- ALMS

Technorati Audi, R10, TDI, Porsche, RS Spyder, Sebring, Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish

Golf V ready for a face lift?

Published March 18, 2006 in Watched. 0 Comments

*note: translated using google Italian to English

It is already time for the heir of the “Golf”? The fifth generation of the medium sedan of the Volkswagen, in commerce from little more than two years (has toed make one’s debut in the autumn of 2003), has already need of being replaced?

Lawful questions, if credit is given to how much writes the German edition of the “Financial Times”, second which the House would have decided to anticipate the arrival of the “Golf YOU”, whose put in sale it would have to begin instead in 2008 that in 2009.

According to the daily paper, the decision would be explained with desire to correct some error of design store clerk with it puts into effect them “Golf” and to reduce the development costs: for produrne a copy, the plants of the Volkswagen employ the double quantity of the time regarding those Japanese who assemble comparable models.

In the images, the possible aspect of the “Golf YOU” second the rintracciabili reconstructions currently on Internet.

- quattroruote.it

Technorati VW, Golf, Golf V, Gold VI, Volkswagen

Sebring: IT’S A START!

Published March 18, 2006 in Events and Racing. 0 Comments

This morning, The 12 Hours of Sebring has begun. At 10:43am this morning. The two Audi TDI R10’s were 1-2 followed by the 2 Porsche RS Spyders. The was a problem for the #2 Audi and it had to start from pit lane. This meant that after all cars/classes hit green, the Audi then took off, yes in last.

It didn’t take logn for the #2 Audi to move into 2nd place overall.

What a start to the 2006 American Le Mans Series. The Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring will go down as history as Frank Biela became the first driver to lead the classic endurance race with a diesel-powered sports car in the No. 1 Audi R10 TDI.

At the end of the first hour, Biela was more than 40 seconds ahead of teammate Rinaldo Capello in the No. 2 car, which had to start the race from pit lane after switching out a heat exchanger. Capello flew through the field and passed Timo Bernhard in the No. 7 Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyder for second on lap 19, just 35 minutes in.

Bernhard led in P2 over Clint Field in the No. 37 Intersport Racing Lola B05/40-AER. Ron Fellows in the No. 3 Corvette Racing C6.R led in GT1, as did David Brabham in GT2 in the No. 50 Multimatic Motorsports Team Panoz Esperante GTLM.

- ALMS

Technorati Audi, R10, Sebring, ALMS, diesel

McCann Earns First Career SCCA SPEED GT Win at Sebring

Published March 17, 2006 in Events, Racing and Watched. 0 Comments

Michael McCann, of North Canton, Ohio, earned the first win of his SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge career, taking the SCCA SPEED GT portion of the 54th Annual Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring by 11.571 seconds in his No. 82 McCann Plastics/K&N Filters Dodge Viper. Reigning SPEED GT Drivers’ Champion Andy Pilgrim, of Boca Raton, Fla., was second for the third year in a row at Sebring, and Bob Woodhouse, of Blair, Neb., finished third – the highest finish of his SCCA SPEED World Challenge career.

“I think I’m more Irish today than I’ve ever been,” McCann said. “You work so hard to put yourself in this position, to get to the podium. Sometimes, you need a lot. You need some luck. Sometimes you need the big guy upstairs to shine on you, and he shined on me today.

- SPEED World Challenge

Technorati SCCA, SPEED GT, Sebring, Viper, Corvette, Cadillac

SPEED Touring Car Sebring Race Report

Published March 17, 2006 in Events, Racing and Watched. 0 Comments

Bill Auberlen set a new lap record and won the season-opening round of the 2006 SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car season, taking the checkered flag by 0.829sec. in his No. 2 Turner Motorsport/H&R Springs BMW 325i over Randy Pobst. Pierre Kleinubing finished third.

Starting from the pole, Auberlen withstood an immediate, unexpected charge from Seth Thomas who shot from his fifth-starting position in his No. 38 BimmerWorld Racing/Performance Friction BMW 325i to challenge for the lead going into the first turn. Auberlen shut the door without incident and moved away as Thomas battled for second behind.

“I think this year at Sebring was very fast compared to other years,” said Auberlen, who set a new race lap record of 2:20.562 (94.762 mph) on the fourth lap, after set a new qualifying mark the day before. “The weather has been a little cooler, and the track seemed to be a little quicker. The car loves Sebring, and I love Sebring.”

The SCCA SPEED Touring Car race, part of the 54th Annual Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring, will be broadcast on SPEED Channel at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 19.

- SPEED World Challenge

Technorati SCCA, Speed Touring Car, Sebring, Speed Channel, Audi, Stasis

VW GTI: Not so Fast

Published March 17, 2006 in Test Drives and Watched. 1 Comment

Volkswagen has been advertising their new GTI (available to ConsumerReports.org subscribers only) with a quirky series of commercials featuring a menacing creature named “The Fast,” which looks like a cross between Darth Vader and a rabbit. The demanding gargoyle totem, who rides around in the hatchback (without a seatbelt) on television, encourages the car’s owner to take unpopular actions to increase his enjoyment. These include driving with the windows down, telling a girlfriend to stop talking (all the better to listen to the engine), and spurning food delivery (which is “for the weak”) over driving to the restaurant yourself (redefining “Fast food”). As part of the marketing tie-in, each VW dealer received a Fast doll for the launch of the GTI; these iconic critters are now gathering as much as $600 on eBay.

Our test GTI seems to be set up to appease Lord Fast’s need for speed: the speedometer is dramatically out of calibration. Many of us came back into the office after first driving the enjoyable car, reeling at how difficult it was to keep it at the speed limit and amazed at how quiet and refined it was “at speed.” But something was amiss: we were still getting passed by clapped-out Suburbans on the highway.

A quick run out on the test track with our Datron optical fifth-wheel instrumentation told the tale (see chart). At an indicated 70 mph, our GTI is only going 65. Climb to an indicated 80 mph and reality trails at only 73. Seems that while our GTI is fast, it isn’t that fast….

- CR Blog

Technorati Tags: GTI, Fast, Consumer Reports,

AUDI, PORSCHE PROTOTYPES LEAD THE WAY

Published March 14, 2006 in Events, Racing and Watched. 0 Comments

On the first official day of practice for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and the 2006 American Le Mans Series, Audi’s diesel-powered R10 and the Porsche RS Spyder continued to show the pace they displayed during Monday and Tuesday’s tests. It was a common thread through all four classes as once again the fastest times were under the track qualifying records.

Allan McNish in Audi Sport North America’s No. 2 Audi R10 posted the quickest time of Wednesday morning’s one-hour practice session. The 1:47.791 lap at Sebring International Raceway was about a half-second under the LMP1 qualifying record.

It also was 0.863 seconds better than Emmanuel Collard in the No. 6 Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyder. The leading LMP2 entry, one of two Porsche RS Spyders from Penske Racing, was almost a full second ahead of the No. 7 sister Porsche prototype.

Top 5:
1 (1), No. 2 LMP1, Capello/Kristensen/McNish, 1:47.791 (123.572 mph), 25 laps, Audi R10/TDI Power.
2 (1), No. 6 LMP2, Maassen/Luhr/Collard 1:48.654 (122.591 mph), +0.863, 19 laps, Porsche RS Spyder.
3 (2), No. 1 LMP1, Biela/Pirro/Werner, 1:49.210 (121.967 mph), +1.419, 23 laps, Audi R10/TDI Power.
4 (3), No. 16 LMP1, Weaver/Leitzinger/Wallace, 1:49.530 (121.611 mph), +1.739, 24 laps, Lola B06/10/AER
5 (2) No. 7 LMP2, Bernhard/Dumas/Long, 1:49.599 (121.534 mph), +1.808, 25 laps, Porsche RS Spyder.

Other notables:
28 (10) No. 85 LMGT2, Kox/Crevels, 2:05.688 (105.977 mph), +17.897, 19 laps, Spyker C8 Spyder/Audi.
32 (14) No. 86 LMGT2, Bleekemolen/Hezemans, 2:07.337 (104.604 mph), +19.546, 17 laps, Spyker C8 Spyder/Audi.

- ALMS

Technorati Audi, ALMS, Porsche, R10, Sebring, RS Spyder

Double mission for Audi Sport

Published March 13, 2006 in Events, Racing and Watched. 0 Comments

Just 29 days remain before the opening race of the 2006 DTM at Hockenheim. Because of the ambitious objectives preparations for the new DTM season are running at full speed at Audi Sport in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm: “We will do everything we can to recapture the title from Mercedes-Benz,” emphasizes Head of Audi Motorsport Dr Wolfgang Ullrich.

Over the winter Audi Sport has developed the Audi A4 DTM even further. The “R12” - as called internally - has become the “R12 plus”. To a large extent the V8 engine is new, the suspension and the aerodynamics have been fine-tuned. This should all help to bring the prestigious DTM title back to Ingolstadt.

But it is not only the Audi A4 DTM seeking glory during the 2006 season. Audi will become the first manufacturer to fight for overall victory with a diesel engine in the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Audi R10, powered by a 650-hp V12 TDI engine, will race for the first time at Sebring (Florida) on 18 March.

Audi Sport’s sports car team flew into the USA on Saturday - and will not come back to Europe before their DTM colleagues have started testing at Brands Hatch. Things will continue like this over the forthcoming weeks and months. Trying to be successful in both the DTM and with the R10 project at the same time is not only logistically a big challenge - the “double mission” also demands maximum performance from all employees.

- dtm.de

Technorati Audi, DTM, Le Mans, R10, R12, R12 plus

From the Audi V8 quattro to the Audi A4 DTM

Published March 13, 2006 in Events, Racing and Watched. 0 Comments

When the new DTM series starts at Hockenheim on April 9th, there will be a small anniversary to celebrate: 2006 marks Audi’s tenth year of contesting the most popular international touring car racing series. Four champion’s titles, 35 victories, 30 pole positions and 26 fastest race laps make Audi one of the most successful brands in DTM history.

At its first appearance in the DTM Audi immediately left a lasting impression. In the Audi V8 quattro, a vehicle derived from the production version, Hans-Joachim Stuck clinched the title for Ingolstadt in the brand’s debut year of 1990 straight away, owing - last not least - to the superior quattro drive. 1991 saw Frank Biela triumphant, thus making Audi the first manufacturer to manage a successful defence of the title.

In the 2004 season, when Audi made its comeback to the series as a manufacturer, Mattias Ekström in the A4 DTM yet again claimed the championship straight away. The fourth DTM title on Audi’s track record was captured by Team Abt Sportsline, which had been entering the Abt-Audi TT-R from 2000 to 2003 as an Audi customer team, winning the championship with Laurent Aiello in 2002.

In each of Audi’s four champion’s years the closest rival in the fight for the DTM crown was Mercedes-Benz - and in the 2006 season Germany’s two leading automobile manufacturers will again be fighting for the prestigious title.

- dtm.de

Technorati Audi, DTM, Mattias Ekström, quattro, A4