Success on the racetrack is not the only source of good news for US racing legend Roger Penske. Penske’s US based Auto sales and dealer network, has reported an impressive $29.4 million second quarter operating profit. Penske Automotive Group Inc. is the United States’ second-largest dealer holding company, and it has seen a 16% rise in [...]
Continue reading...Monday, June 14, 2010
If you keep your head when all around are losing theirs, you'll be the tallest person in the room. Audi kept their head and were rewarded with a remarkable 1, 2, 3 finish at the 2010 Le Mans 24 hour classic. The victorious Audi R15 TDI with Timo Bernhard (Germany), Romain Dumas (France) and Mike Rockenfeller (Germany) at the wheel, completed a total of 397 laps and setting a new distance record of 5,410 kilometres. Second place went to Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and local driver Benoît Treluyer. Their R15 TDI lost time in the pits when the front bodywork had to be changed twice after contact with the track barriers. In third place was the most experienced team in the Audi line up Dindo Capello, Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish. Le Mans record winner Tom Kristensen lost time when he had to evade the GT2 BMW of Andy Priaulx and slid backwards against the track barrier of the Porsche corners. With fast lap times, Capello, Kristensen and McNish pushed back into the group of the front runners and in the end were rewarded with a podium result.
Continue reading...Friday, June 11, 2010
Peugeot continued their domination of the timing sheets with a lock out of positions one to four for the starting grid at Le Mans. The Wednesday time of local hero Sebastien Bourdais was quick enough to keep pole position from team mate Alexander Wurz who was the quickest of the drivers in the second 908. Third place will see the combination of Frank Montagny, Stephane Sarrazin and long time In Pit Lane favourite Nicolas Minassian start alongside the semi-works ORECA Peugeot of Panis, Lapierre and Duval. Audi closed the gap slightly to the French marque but will have to rely on reliability and their famous strategy to have any chance of regaining the Le Man crown.
Continue reading...Thursday, June 10, 2010
Cleaner, Greener, More Quiet. Welcome to motorsport in the 21st century. The Automobile Club de la Ouest (ACO) have unveiled the regulations for the 2011 Le Mans 24 hour race and associated series. According to the ACO the new rules have been drawn up in the context of sustainable development and respect for the environment. The ACO and the motor industry have concentrated on two aspects that are crucially important from their point of view: • An endurance race like the Le Mans 24 Hours must enable entrants to test new technologies. • The focus of the Le Mans 24 Hours must be aimed even more strongly towards both the reduction of CO2 emissions and fuel consumption. The most noticeable change will be new rules to both control and encourage energy recovery systems. Under the new rules the recovery and release of energy will be restricted to two wheels only (front or rear axle). Energy from the system may be stored using either electrical or mechanical systems. This will no doubt please Porsche whose flywheel based William F1 designed system has already been tested and proven in last months Nurburgring 24 hour race.
Continue reading...Thursday, June 10, 2010
The ACO have confirmed that the Zhuhai circuit in China will be the venue for the third round of the new Le Mans Intercontinental Cup. The series which has already attracted entries from both Peugeot and Audi will start with the Silverstone1000 kms race in September before moving on to the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta on the first weekend of October. The Zuhai race wil be held over the weekend of November 5-7. The 4.3 km circuit is situated in the Guangdong Province of the People's Republic of China and is accessible to Hong Kong by a 70 minute Ferry ride. This should make the event popular with Australian motorsport fans who can base themselves in HongKong as well as with the growing band of race enthusiasts already living in the region. It'll be a busy month for motorsport in the region with the Macau Grand Prix on Nov 21 and the final round of the DTM in Shanghai a week later.
Continue reading...Thursday, June 10, 2010
Peugeot dominated the time sheets after the first day of on-track action at Le Mans. The three works cars led by Sebastian Bourdais and the semi-works ORECA car set the fastest four times in qualifying with the first Audi R15+ the Bernhard/Dumas/Rockenfeller car back in fifth place. Despite efforts by race organisers the ACO to level the playing field, diesel cars dominated with the first seven positions. Aston Martin led home the unofficial "petrol" division with the car of Mucke/Fernandez/Primat on top of the team's second car with the team of Turner/Hancock/Barazi. A surprise in P2 with the Staker HPD ARX of Watts/Kane/Leventis coming out on top of the Highcroft team HPD led by last years outright winner David Brabham.
Continue reading...Monday, June 7, 2010
Canadian Bruno Spengler scored his first DTM race win of the season to lead home a Mercedes 1, 2, 3, at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz. Scotsman Paul Di Resta led for most of the race, but lost the lead after problems with the left rear wheel change during the second pit stop. “Winning here really is an incredibly good feeling." said Spengler after the race. "I have given my girlfriend a nice birthday present today. But it is even more beautiful because we have three Mercedes-Benz drivers on the podium today." The win was the first for Spengler since the Norisring back in 2007. Briton Jamie Green completed the 1-2-3 for Mercedes-Benz which made him the best-placed driver of a 2008-spec car. German Audi driver Mike Rockenfeller, who was also racing a 2008-spec car finished fourth to be the first Audi home.
Continue reading...Saturday, June 5, 2010
The final round of the 2010 DTM will be held on the streets of Shanghai. The race was confirmed today by the DTM promoters ITR at a media conference at the Euro Speedway at Lausitz. Hans Werner Aufrecht, chairman of the board for ITR said: "The contract is ready now, and we will be there on the 26-28 November this year. The move to China comes with the support of DTM manufacturers Audi and Mercedes who are both keen to use the race to promote their brands to the growing Chinese auto market. "We know what is happening in the Chinese market. The car market will be, in the near future, the number one in the world. said Mr Aufrecht. "That is the reason why we have built this platform for our manufacturers to showcase their products in this very important market."
Continue reading...Monday, May 31, 2010
Darren Hossack has won the 2010 Clem Smith Cup with a last to first drive, at South Australia'sMallala Motor Sport Park. After damaging his new set of tyres for the weekend during qualifying, Hossack was forced to start his Audi-Chevrolet from the rear of grid with four new tyres for the feature race. Undeterred, the former champion scythed through the field, taking advantage of a spin by rookie JamesSera (Saab-Chevrolet) to take the win. “Finally, it’s been one that’s been hard to win for some reason,” Hossack said. “It would have been interesting had James not spun, but he did a really good job regardless. Hossack won all three races for the weekend, although multiple karting champion Sera was very impressive during his circuit racing debut, finishing second overall.
Continue reading...Saturday, May 15, 2010
The Audi R8 LMS looks to be the car to beat in the 38th running of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring with the first four grid positions filled by the German Sports Car. The two Audi customer teams ABT Sportsline and Phoenix Racing had the correct strategy in qualifying: After it had rained during first qualifying on Thursday and the Nordschleife was still very dirty and slippery at the start of Friday’s second qualifying session, the two teams only went gunning for lap times shortly before the end of the final two-hour qualifying session. Lucas Luhr (ABT Sportsline/8m 27.967s) and Mike Rockenfeller (Phoenix Racing/8m 25.782s) initially used the now considerably superior conditions to set new fastest laps before they were beaten by Marco Werner (ABT Sportsline) with 8m 24.753s. Rockenfeller was still able to improve to 8m 25.568s on his last lap, but remained in second position. Pierre Kaffer (Phoenix Racing) completed the Audi quartet at the head of the field after posting a 8m 29.250s lap. As a result, an Audi starts from pole position for the first time in the history of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring. "That four of our customer cars occupy the first four grid positions underlines the qualities of the Audi R8 LMS on the world’s longest and most demanding race track and is fantastic advertising for our new customer car, which we have developed over the last two-and-a-half years," explained Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, who follows the Audi customer teams’ preparations himself on location, and in doing so demonstrates how important the new customer sport programmed with the Audi R8 LMS is for Audi Sport.
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Friday, July 30, 2010
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