IPLVideocast Sandown VSCRC Rnd. 2

AUDI HEADING TO BATHURST ?

Audi may be heading for Bathurst with plans underway to bring two current GT3 R8 LMS cars to contest the Bathurst 12 hour race in February. Speaking after his Phillip Island enduro victory Mark Eddy told In Pit Lane that discussions are well advanced to see the two cars at the Mountain along with an international driving squad. "We're talking with Audi Europe (who) look like they're bringing two cars out. At the moment we're just working out a driver line up and it looks like a German, an Asian and an Australian driver will be in."

HUGE FIELD SET FOR PHILLIP ISLAND SPORTSCAR CLASSIC

Philip Island's CUE one hour Sportscar Enduro next weekend is shaping up to be one of the biggest and best Sportscar races ever seen in Melbourne. A highlight of PIARC's 20th anniversary Island Magic, the one hour race has attracted a quality field of cars and drivers from all over Australia. Former Australian GT Champion Mark Eddy leads the entries in his spectacular Audi R8. The R8 is just made for this type of event and reliability is unlikely to be a problem give Audi's reputation for longevity. Lamborghini will be represented by the Gallardo's of Victorian State Champion Ted Huglin and Mark Seamons. Huglin's car is the current model racing in the European GT3 championships and as such is not eligible for the Australian titles. The fight between Huglin and Eddy will be a highlight. The race will also feature the return to racing of veteran competitor Murray Carter. At an age when most people have long since retired the 79 year old will debut his new Corvette Z06. The car features plenty of ideas from the GT1 & 2 cars of the ALMS and Carter certainly knows his way around the Island track. Fans of the classic Ford GT40 will be thrilled to see the return to Melbourne of NSW State Sportscar star Iain Pretty in his Roaring 40's replica.

ASTON MARTIN ON TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN

Tony Quinn in an Aston Martin DBRS9 has claimed pole position for Race 1 of the Vodka O Australian GT Championship Round 5 to be held at the Mount Panorama Bathurst circuit tomorrow. Quinn pitted the Aston late in Friday's 20 minute qualifying session to put on new tyres and returned to the circuit to post a lap time of 2:11.6688 putting him on pole ahead of the second fastest man David Wall in a Porsche Cup S. Third on the grid went to the second of the VIP Petfoods cars - the Mosler of Klark Quinn with a best time of 2:12.4392. The Cup S Porsches of James Koundouris (2:12.5467) and Max Twigg (2:12.7413) filled slots four and five with the sixth fastest time in the qualifying session being claimed by the Lamborghini Gallardo of Peter Hackett (2:12.7911) ahead of the Dodge Viper of Greg Crick (2:14.6662).

PEUGEOT SET THE PACE AT PETITE PRACTICE

Peugeot has set the early pace for this weekend's running of the Petite Le Mans at Road Atlanta, the second round of the Le Mans Intercontinental Cup Frank Montagny set the fastest lap in Wednesday’s first official with a 1:07.652 (217.5026 kph) in the Peugeot 908 HDi that he will share with Stephane Sarrazin and Pedro Lamy. The first of the Audis – driven by Marcel Fässler, Andre Lotterer and Benoit Treluyer – set a time of 1:08.717 and was less than a half-second better than the sister car of Dindo Capello, Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish. The second Peugeot of Alexander Wurz, Anthony Davidson and Marc Gene – the winners at Sebring in March – were fourth just ahead of Intersport Racing’s Lola-AER of Clint Field and Jon Field. In LMP2, Muscle Milk Team CytoSport’s Sascha Maassen set the pace with a lap of 1:10.947 in the Porsche RS Spyder he is driving with Lucas Luhr and Klaus Graf. The Muscle Milk squad enters the weekend still alive in the American Le Mans Series’ LMP championship. However it needs to have Patrón Highcroft Racing finish less than 70 percent of the race Saturday.

CARRERA CUP RETURNING DOWN UNDER

It's official, The Carrera Cup is set to return to Australia's racetracks for 2011. In a media release issued late this afternoon, Porsche Cars Australia (PCA) announced that they would seek dates for a series, hopefully next year. The announcement means that PCA can now enter formal discussions with all key stake-holders for a possible return to the V8 Supercar calendar from as early as next year. Carrera Cup was introduced to Australia in 2003 and ran up to and including 2009 through a third party service provider. The reintroduction of Carrera Cup would this time be exclusively managed and operated in-house by PCA. “We have the chance for a fresh start, with an all-new race car and an all-new approach for Porsche Carrera Cup Australia,” says PCA Managing Director Michael Winkler.

RICHARDS RUNS NEW CARRERA CUP CAR AT SANDOWN

A surprise visitor to the Sandown pits for today's open practice for round three of the Victorian State Circuit Racing Championship at Sandown. The new challenger of the reborn Carrera Cup series completed a handful of laps with Jim Richards behind the wheel. The new car features more advanced aerodynamics than the previous model with a wider rear wing and more pronounced front splitter. The new car is also more powerful than the car it will replace with power increased to 450 bhp. The car was entered for the day via Porsche Cars Australia who were testing the car for compliance with noise regulations. Porsche Cars Australia have made no secret of their desire to return the Carrera Cup to the local racing scene. The return to the V8 Supercar support calendar could cause some consternation in the ranks of the Australian GT Championship who have established for themselves a popular niche in several major V8 events.

BRABHAM, PAGENAUD WIN UTAH ALMS

Australian David Brabham and team-mate Simon Pagenaud have raced to their third consecutive victory in the American Le Mans Series with a hard-fought victory in the Utah Grand Prix. Pagenaud drove the final 1:45 in the team’s HPD ARX-01c, and the Patrón Highcroft crew took advantage of a quick final pit stop to beat Drayson Racing’s Emanuele Pirro to the line by 19.116 seconds at Miller Motorsports Park. Pagenaud and Brabham haven’t lost since the Long Beach round in April and increased their championship lead in LMP to 11 points over Muscle Milk Team CytoSport’s Klaus Graf. He and Greg Pickett, driving a Porsche Spyder, were third, 90 seconds behind the winning car.

AUDI DOMINATE NURBURGRING 24 QUALIFYING

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.

PEUGEOT ON TOP IN SPA LE MANS WARM UP

Peugeot won a chaotic Spa 1000 km race last Sunday as the teams prepare for the 24 hours of Le Mans in June. Late race rain and an on-track power failure made the day unforgettable in more ways than one. French driver Simon Pagenaud, along with co-drivers Pedro Lamy and Sébastien Bourdais, took their Peugeot 908 to the win, as the race was called at the six-hour time limit. Audi driver and seven time Le mans winner Tom Kistensen, looked set to grab a thrilling victory after a late race rain shower. Kristensen gambled on Intermediate tyres, and looked set to easily catch the lead Peugeot when the rain stopped and the track dried out. The Audi struggled on but couldn't hold out the second Peugeot of Stephane Sarrazin who came through to take second place. The Audi hung on for third. In LMP2, the Quifel-ASM Team took the win with drivers Olivier Pla and Miguel Amaral in a Ginetta - Zytek holding off the team RML Lola of Tommy Erdos Mike Newton and Andy Wallace.