HISTORIC RACING FROM MONTLHERY 1991

PORSCHE HEAVEN AT THE GREEN HELL

MAZDA ENDS RX-8 WITH SPIRIT BUT THE ROTARY TO LIVE ON

Mazda has announced the new Mazda RX-8 SPIRIT R, a special edition version of its four-door, four-seat rotary engine sports car. The RX-8 SPIRIT R will go on sale from November 24, 2011 at all Mazda and Mazda Anfini dealerships throughout Japan. Mazda RX-8 production will end in June 2012 and SPIRIT R will be the final special edition model. Mazda expects to sell 1,000 units. However despite the end of the RX-8 Mazda say that the iconic Rotary engine will continue to be developed. although just how and why they haven't said. Takashi Yamanouchi, Mazda's Representative Director, Chairman of the Board, President and CEO, said:

LE MANS DAY 1: Peugeot pounce on provisional pole

Just when it looked like Audi was set to dominate practice & qualifying fir the 2011 Le Mans 24 hours, along came Stephane Sarrazin. With half an hour of the first session remaining, Sarrazin grabbed provisional pole position with a lap of 3’27’’033. And with a strong chance of rain for tonight's final session it may well be good enough to give Peugeot the coveted pole position. Earlier in the day Audi dominated the opening practice session with all three R18s at the top of the time sheets. The team, which had set the fastest times in the April test session looked set to continue it's advantage over the Peugeot but that was until Sarrazin's last minute charge.

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."

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.

PORSCHES ON TOP IN ADELAIDE GT OPENER

Porsches have dominated the opening day's practice session of the first round of the Australian GT championship on the streets of Adelaide. Canberra driver James Koundouris in his Porsche 997 GT3 outpaced defending champion David Wall and Victorian Max Twigg to lead a big field of 31 GT cars. Tony Quinn in the controversial Mosler MT900 was the only car to challenge the Porsches which featured in five of the first six places. High profile Lamborghini driver Peter Hackett had to play second fiddle in the battle of the Gallardo's to local driver Andrew Taplin. Former GT champion Mark Eddy debuted his new Audi R8 LMS in 11th spot just ahead of the battling Dodge Viper pair of Greg Crick and Ross Lilley.

LAMBORGHINI SUPER TROFERO ACTION

Super Trofeo: Adria, Italy, 15-16 May 2009 from Super Trofeo on Vimeo.

SIX HOURS OF WATKINS GLEN

TOYOTA BACK TO LE MANS ?

The rumours became whispers now the whispers are becoming a quiet roar, Toyota is heading back to Le Mans. The stories have been around for years but with the limitations of Formula One and the high profile of the Le Mans series in both Europe and the important USA market, the chances of a return by Toyota are growing. Speaking on the Australian television show “In Pit Lane” Toyota's Australian motorsport manager Todd Connolly said the while there was nothing official the company would like to be back at Le Sarthe. “At this stage there is nothing we can say in that reagard but obviously there's a lot of benfits in running a hybrid in  a race like Le Mans. he said. Connolly was speaking from in front of the Toyota stand at the recent Syd.. sorry Australian International Motorshow which featured a heavy motorsport presence including the Tokachi 24 hour winning Supra Hybrid.