It’s not too often that Michael Dick has the opportunity to trade his business suit for a fireproof overalls, put on the helmet and to put himself behind the wheel of a race car. This Friday is such a day. Waiting for the Board for Technical Development at AUDI AG, two vehicles, which could hardly be more different, although they are both from the DTM - that popular racing series in which Audi has just won the title for the eighth time.
Ingolstadt, January 22, 2012 – The new, standardized monocoque for every manufacturer in the DTM has already proven its worth during testing. Homologation of the race car for the DTM season 2012 occurs in a few weeks.
Beginning of a new era: the innovative safety cell in the DTM is the core component of every DTM race car. The new Audi A5 DTM is also designed and built around the new carbon fiber monocoque which is shown for the first time in photos released to the public. “The DTM sets new standards again with this safety cell,” emphasizes Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “The component is extremely strong, assembled very efficiently and, as a consequence, implemented at such a high level for reasonable cost.”
Continue reading ‘Motorsport Newsletter 02/2012: DTM monocoque sets new standards’
In a brief post yesterday we speculated that Peugeot may pull out of the full season of the 2012 FIA sanction World Endurance Championship (WEC) however we never imagined that they would pull out completely from all endurance racing. We are deeply saddened by this news as it has been truly exhilarating to watch Audi and Peugeot battle it out over the past several years. Having seen this battle in person at the last few 24 hours of Le Mans and Petit Le Mans, it will be sad to watch the battle continue without them. Thankfully for the sake of competition there are new entrants in the field including Toyota and Pescarola who we hope to bring a worth fight to the team from Audi Sport.
Cheers to Peugeot for a hard fought battle over the past several years. We tip our hat to you and hope to see you out on the Circuit de la Sarthe racing again soon. Continue reading ‘Peugeot officially withdraws from 2012 WEC and the 24 Hours of Le Mans’
The North American International Auto Show is arguably one of the most important shows of the year for Audi. This year was no exception and was highlighted by the announcement from Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of Audi AG that the Audi Q3 will be arriving in North America within two years. In addition to the Q3, Audi announced the long awaited return of the allroad after a 7-year hiatus from North America.
Continue reading ‘Gallery: Audi at the 2012 North American International Auto Show’
In the face of Peugeot’s mounting financial crisis, the Peugeot Sport team has reached out to numerous privateer teams in hopes of securing some financial help to run 908 semi-privateer teams. Most of Europe is in the midst of a serious financial crisis and France is one of the hardest hit. PSA Peugeot Citroen Group has already laid off over 6,000 workers and in the light of this many see their expenses in motorsports as frivolous.
I do not expect Peugeot to pull out from the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but their involvement in the full season of the FIA WEC is now in serious question. We hope for the sake of competition that Peugeot figures out a way to make the full season for the 2012 FIA WEC schedule otherwise we will have a very boring year of racing.
The first two generations of the allroad quattro from the years 2000 and 2006 were winners, and Audi hopes to build on this success with the third generation. Universally talented, the new A6 allroad quattro extends the range of uses for the A6 Avant because when the asphalt ends, it just keeps on driving. Performance has improved and fuel consumption has been reduced by as much as 20 percent compared with the previous model.
Continue reading ‘The new Audi A6 allroad – the Avant for any kind of road’
Currently United Autosports is running two Audi R8 GT3 LMS during the Dubai 24 Hours. The team at the moment is split in two with half being at the Birmingham Auto Sport Show with their new McLaren. When a problem with electrical system arose the team turned to Facebook for help. Our friends at the Unofficial Audi Sport Facebook Page quickly posted the call for help “Does anyone know where the location is for the starter relay and main relay on a R8? Is it in the front BSG or fusebox?” Within an hour there was a reply from Markus Ferlora an employee of quattro GmbH — The internal Audi group responsible for the development and production of the R8 LMS and R8.
“It’s right rear the last two big Relais are for the starter. The first two big Relais are the main Relais for the Engine” - Markus replied.
We’ve seen some interesting uses of Facebook but this by far was the most creative. It also shows the power of online communities.
Currently the R8s are running in 13th and 18th place. You can follow along here: Dubai 24 Hours Live Timing
• Current Audi allroad owners are invited to tag an image and story of themselves with their vehicle via Audi’s social media channels
• Ten winners to receive a VIP trip to Deer Valley to test drive the all-new allroad
Current Audi allroad owners can share their story and images via any of Audi social media channels, including Twitter,Google+, Flickr or Instagram. Posts must be tagged with #myallroad for consideration. For those who are not registered users of these social media sites, submissions can be emailed to myallroad@audi.com.
Continue reading ‘Audi Launches ‘Memorable Mile’ Photo Contest to Find the Best Audi allroad Owner Story’
Action is heating up at the Roar Before the 24 at Daytona Internation Raceway in Daytona, Florida. Audi Sport Team APR Motorsport is shaking down their brand new Aud R8 LMS and has high hopes for the cars North American debut. This weekend’s race is a great litmus test for the Audi racecar and it will serve as the perfect preparation for the 24 hours of Daytona at the end of the month. QuattroWorld associate photographer, James Boone, known to most as “Old Boone” is on site, capturing some of the most amazing photographs that we have seen of the Audi R8 LMS. We hope you enjoy the gallery! More to come throughout the weekend!
Today’s Daytona Test results: The APR Motorsport R8 managed a best lap of 1:54.626 and best speed of 111.807 The Audi Sport< R8 test car: 1:51.527 & 114.913. While the NGT Porsche finished on top 1:49.708 116.819. We are really looking forward to this weekend.
Bolstering its first effort on the Rolex 24 at Daytona, APRMotorsport is proud to announce Emanuele Pirro – a man synonymous with Audi and success in endurance racing – will be behind the wheel of the no. 51 APR Motorsport Audi R8 Grand-Am for this year’s 24-hour classic.
“I would like to thank APR for giving me this opportunity to drive in one of the classic 24-hour races,” said Pirro. “I have a lot to learn, and I hope to be able, together with the rest of the APRMotorsport team, to finish the race in a good position to make the best possible introduction of the Audi R8 Grand-Am in the American market. I know the race will be super competitive. I am ready for it; I am well trained; I am in very good shape and very motivated. I will have a very open-minded approach, as I have very limited experience in the GT class, although I have overtaken tons of them in 10 years of prototype racing!”
Pirro’s success with Audi dates back to 1994 when he took the Italian Touring Car Championship at the wheel of an Audi 80 sedan. Sports car fans in America will undoubtedly link him to Audi’s legendary R8 and R10 LMP racers, which Pirro drove to five wins in the 24 Hours of Le Mans as well as two championships in the American Le Mans Series. After retiring from active competition with Audi, Pirro drove in select ALMS races in the Drayson Lola – earning himself a spot on SpeedHunters.com’s Greatest 20 Overtakes with a daring move to take the lead at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2010.
Continue reading ‘Audi racing veteran Emanuele Pirro joins APR Motorsport Grand-Am R8 LMS team’
