AUDI ON POLE IN SPA SHOOTOUT

Audi has dominated qualifying for round 2 of the FIA World Endurance Championship at the famous Spa-Francochamp circuit. Marcel Fässler (CH), Benoît Tréluyer (F)  and André Lotterer (D) are on pole with a four lap average of 1m 59.961s. The number 1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro were the only driver squad to break the two-minute mark. An impressive performance by Lucas di Grassi (BR), Marc Gené (E) and Oliver Jarvis (GB), they share the number 3 car which has been aerodynamically optimized for the upcoming run at Le Mans. But even on the track in the Ardennes that is less suitable for this body version, they qualified for the front row with a time of 2m 00.236, missing the best time by only 0.274s. di Grassi even set the fastest time of the day at 1m 58.934s. Third place is shared by the series leaders Tom Kristensen (DK) and Allan McNish (GB). They are contesting the race together with Loïc Duval (F). As Audi’s best immediate rival, the number 7 Toyota in position four missed the best time by 0.986s. It was a frustrating day for Toyota as its two TS030 HYBRIDs qualified fourth and fifth for the race.

TOYOTA SET THE EARLY PACE IN SHANGHAI

Toyota Racing continued their good run of form setting the pace in practice for the final round of the  FIA World Endurance Championship, the Six Hours of Shanghai in China. Following an exciting home victory at Fuji Speedway two weeks ago, Alex Wurz and Nicolas Lapierre return in the TS030 HYBRID, although Kazuki Nakajima is absent [...]

TESTING TIMES AT LE MANS

The Le Mans 24 Hour race may still be some three weeks away, but the countdown to the World's most iconic Sportscar race begins in earnest this weekend with the annual ACO test day at the famous circuit. While Audi is expected to totally dominate the race with its twin pronged attack of the new Audi R18 e-tron quattro hybrid, and the more conventional R18 Ultra, most of the media attention at this year's race will focus on Japanese manufacturers. Toyota's return to the track after more than a decade has raised more questions than answers. The new TS030 is a Petrol Hybrid powered by a 3.4 litre normally aspirated V8. The engine is a proven quantity serving time in the rear of the Rebellion team LMP1 Lolas, and the hybrid system is also well developed, as used in the Lexus LFA which took a class victory in this year's Nurburgring 24 hour race.

TESTING CRASH PUTS TOYOTA OUT OF SPA WEC DEBUT

In a move that can only be described as "interesting" Toyota have announced that as a result of a "testing accident" it is not able to participate in the WEC Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. A media release sent out today, April 11, claimed that during testing at Paul Ricard, on Wednesday 4 April, the TS030 HYBRID was involved in an accident which damaged the team’s only monocoque. According to the team the damage is too severe to repair. A replacement monocoque cannot be produced and sufficiently tested to ensure reliability within the limited time available. "Therefore Toyota Racing has informed the organisers of the FIA World Endurance Championship of its decision to withdraw from the WEC Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, due to be held on 5 May." The decision is sure to raise some eyebrows with the team now to make its first appearance at the Le Mans 24 Hours in June.

THE SIGHTS & SOUNDS OF SEBRING

AUDI SAYS GOODBYE TO ONE ERA, READY FOR ANOTHER

Audi said farewell to their first generation Audi R18+ dominating the opening round of the new World Endurance Championship with a comfortable one, two finish at the Sebring 12 hour race in Florida. The experienced team of Allan McNish, Dindo Capello and Tom Kristensen in the Audi R18 diesel took the win to give  Kristensen a record six wins at Sebring. Co-Driver McNish registered his fourth win with Cappello now stands between them on five victories. A sister Audi R18 diesel of Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Loic Duval finished a strong second albeit four laps behind the winners. Third place and the first of the petrol powered cars was the P2 HPD ARX-03b of Starworks Motorsports. Driven by ex Peugeot works driver Stephane Sarrazin, Vicente Polotlicchio and Ryan Dalziel. The trio played the fuel economy game and won although Sarrazin admitted that he was running desperately low on fuel at the finish.

TOYOTA TESTS TERRIFIC TS030

TOYOTA Racing has completed a successful first full test of the new TS030 HYBRID car which will compete in the LMP1 category in selected races of the FIA World Endurance Championship. The team spent three days at the Paul Ricard circuit in southern France for the first full test of the TS030 HYBRID, following a three-day roll-out at the same circuit earlier this month. Using the a configuration of the track which includes the complete Mistral Straight, all three race drivers - Alex Wurz, Nicolas Lapierre and Kazuki Nakajima - had the opportunity to test the new car, which features the THS-R (TOYOTA HYBRID System - Racing) power-train. The test programme built on the positive work already achieved during the TS030 HYBRID’s roll-out, when systems checks and basic set-up analysis was carried out.

AUDI’S NEW WAR PAINT AS THE BATTLE FOR LE MANS BEGINS

Audi have unveiled the new livery that the team will take to the 2011 Le mans 24 hours. The new look graphics mark a return to the traditional silver dominated look that has long been a part of the companies rich motorsport tradition. The new look will be seen in public for the first time this weekend when the new R18 takes to the track at Le Mans for the return of the traditional test day. The R18 design represents a radical departure for Audi from their previous Le Mans winning cars with the closed coupe aiming to take full aerodynamic advantage of the new ACO regulations. The livery of the cars is also makes a major feature of carbon fibre, the extremely light and, at the same time, high-strength material, which now plays an increasingly important role in the development of new production cars. "Carbon fibre is ideally suited for lightweight design and construction," explains Head of Audi MotorsportDr. Wolfgang Ullrich. "We have deliberately made this material and the ultra lightweight technology visual for Le Mans. Lightweight design has occupied us for many years in motorsport. Everything that we have learnt over the years and especially about lightweight design and construction during development of the R18 TDI will also be available for our customers in the future - either in the form of greater performance or in the shape of low fuel consumption and lower emissions."

ASTON MARTIN BUCK THE LE MANS COUPE TREND

Aston Martin Racing announces today its plans for the new season including the unveiling of a new ground-up developed LMP1 race car, the AMR-One, as well as confirming the driver line-up and planned race programme. The Gulf Liveried Aston Martin AMR-One is a new open-top LMP1 race car featuring a 2.0 litre [...]

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.