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AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY RACING NEWSRacing News from the Worlds top Automobile Manufacturers
DELIVERY OF THE AUDI R8 LMS HAS STARTED
MARCH 12, 2009
Ingolstadt/Neckarsulm - The new customer sport program of AUDI AG has reached the next stage with delivery of the first Audi R8 LMS to Audi Sport Italia. Twelve examples of the over 500 hp GT3 sports car will be delivered during the forthcoming weeks to six customer teams. The first races for the R8 LMS are scheduled for April.
Audi Sport Italia receives the Audi R8 LMS with chassis number 101. The symbolic handover of the first customer car was made on Tuesday in the Audi Forum Neckarsulm. Emilio Radaelli, Team Manager of Audi Sport Italia, accepted the R8 LMS from Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich.
"In the future our new customer sport program represents Audi Sport's third business field alongside our factory programs in the DTM and in sport prototypes," explains Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. "2009 is a test and development year during which we aim to collect as much experience as possible with the R8 LMS. We are delighted to be able to do this with teams with which we are familiar and have established a solid partnership over the years."
In the 2009 season, Abt Sportsline, Argo Racing, ORECA, Phoenix Racing and Team Rosberg also trust the new GT3 sports car from AUDI AG. Audi Sport will start the delivery to customers for the 2010 season from fall 2009.
The six customer teams plan to race in five European GT3 championships as well as in the 24-hour race at the Nuerburgring for which Audi Sport has developed an endurance version of the R8 LMS.
Twelve R8 LMS sports cars will be in action in more than 40 events at almost 30 European circuits throughout the 2009 motorsport season. "This allows us to collect a lot of experience which will flow into the development of the R8 LMS," says Oliver Straube who is responsible for marketing of the R8 LMS at Audi Sport.
With the GT3 race version of the R8, Audi Sport developed a racing sports car specifically for use in customer sport with the GT3 race version. Pure "factory" entries are not planned with the R8 LMS.
The assembly of the race cars including the body shells is made by quattro GmbH in Heilbronn-Biberach in a factory hall specifically for the customer sport program. The Audi factory in Gyor, Hungary, deliver the V10 engines.
The new Audi R8 LMS competes in GT3 race series for the first time over the Easter weekend (10 to 13 April). The French GT Championship and the ADAC GT Masters start at the same time at Nogaro (France) and in the Motorsportarena Oschersleben (Germany).
WORLD WIDE PREVIEW OF PEUGEOT 908 HY AT SILVERSTONE
SEPTEMBER 13, 2008
Peugeot previewed for the first time the 908 HY, the new sportscar with an hybrid engine. At this occasion, Jean-Philippe
Collin - Peugeot's general manager - was present in order to present to the media what they consider to be the future of motorsport. Even before the static presentation during the Paris Motorshow in October, Nicolas Minassian performed some laps of the Silverstone circuit with the brand new car. The driver attests that the car feels the same as the 908 he drove for the whole season.
Michel Barge: "As Peugeot Sport is above all a competition team, we wanted to begin the 908 HY adventure with a dynamic presentation, and to prove the real technological progress that the hybrid development represents."
In conformity with the ACO announcement this morning, Peugeot announced that they are thinking about punctually taking part in the 2009 Le Mans Series programme. Today offered a glimpse of motorsport's future, at the occasion of the final round of the most followed event of the Le Mans Series season, Silverstone
NEW CHALLENGER WILL HAVE DODGE COLOURS IN TARGA NEWFOUNDLAND
SEPTEMBER 5, 2008
ST. JOHN'S (September 4, 2008) - The eagerly awaited new Dodge Challenger will get its Canadian competition debut and enthusiastic fans will get an eye-full of ‘Snake Skin Green' when a dazzling 2009 Challenger SRT8 carries the corporate colours for Chrysler LLC in Targa Newfoundland 2008, the company has confirmed.
Driven by two-time Targa competitor and heralded Chrysler car designer Ralph Gilles, with co-driver Karen Wagner, the new Challenger is the fifth new vehicle in four years the manufacturer has sent to test the challenging roads of Canada's longest and toughest motorsports event.
Powered by a potent 6.1-litre Hemi V8, the Challenger is sure to be a crowd favourite in its eye-popping lime green livery.
"The car is the result of a remarkable volunteer effort from enthusiasts within the company, and was built in record time," Gilles says. "The car is nicknamed Samantha, and is built off the new Mopar® ‘drag pak' chassis, which is an ultra-light car built just for drag racing."
"This car was lovingly built by a small group of enthusiast volunteers inside Product Design, SRT, Mopar Performance and, most graciously, the UAW fabricators and mechanics from unit 10 and unit 1," Gilles explains. "They worked around clock using a variety of off-the-shelf Mopar® performance parts to prepare the Challenger for the rigors of Targa. Some parts literally were pirated from the 2005 race car and a variety of test vehicles. The team squeezed this project in between their day jobs."
Gilles has enormous respect for Targa, earned over two previous visits to the event. In his first attempt, Gilles's Dodge Charger SRT8 was a victim of an off-road excursion. He rallied the following year to score a class win, with Wagner, in a colourful new Dodge Caliber SRT4.
The company has used its experience at Targa as real world testing in the process of refining and developing its vehicles and components. In addition to the Challenger, Charger and Caliber, the company has also entered a Chrysler 300C SRT8 and Jeep® Grand Cherokee SRT8 in the event. But the team has a competition goal, too. "We want another class win, and get a top overall finish," Gilles says. "But mostly we want to show the world how truly capable the Challenger is."
The scenic roads and bays of Newfoundland are a world away from Gilles's day job as Vice President - Design for Chrysler LLC. A highly regarded designer, he has left his mark on vehicles as diverse as the award-winning 2005 Chrysler 300C, 2005 Dodge Charger Magnum and Viper SRT10 Coupe. More recently as Vice President - Jeep / Truck, Advance Interior and Component Design, Gilles oversaw the design of the 2008 Dodge and Chrysler minivans and the 2009 Dodge Ram 1500. Although his home today is near Detroit, Gilles grew up with his family in Montreal.
Wagner, of San Marcos, California, is an active co-driver in the U.S. and currently leads her class in the popular Rally America national championship. The team will be keeping fans up to date with daily posts to their blog at www.firehouse.biz.
Owned and operated by Newfoundland International Motorsports Limited, Targa Newfoundland is one of three internationally recognized Targa motorsports events in the world. The 7thannual Targa Newfoundland will start and end in St. John's and will cover more than 2,000 kilometres of the challenging, twisty roads of the central and eastern portion of the island of Newfoundland over six days, including up to 400 kilometres of closed-road, flat-out Targa stages. Competitors have come from the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Holland, the Bahamas and the U.K. for the first six editions of Targa Newfoundland and international interest continues to build with competitors registering daily from places such as Germany and the Turks & Caicos.
CORSA MOTORSPORTS TEAMS WITH ZYTEK GROUP TO FIELD HYBRID LMP1 FOR 2009 ALMS COMPETITION
AUGUST 29, 2008
ZYTEK LMP1 ENTRY TO 2009 ALMS
DETROIT (August 29, 2008) - Corsa Motorsports announced today that it has entered into a strategic alliance with the Zytek Group based in the United Kingdom. The partnership will result in the production of the first Le Mans Prototype car fitted with a hybrid power system. Corsa will compete as a works team in the LMP1 class of the American Le Mans Series. The team's plan is aimed squarely at Sebring 2009 and predicated on testing and progress. The Zytek will be unveiled at and compete in the ALMS Green Challenge at Petit Le Mans (October 4), in addition to the season-ending Sports Car Championships at Laguna Seca (October 18).
Initial tests of the car were held at Donington Park in the UK in July with additional tests ongoing in the UK before the car is transported to the United States for a final shakedown at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah prior to departing for Petit Le Mans.
The Zytek LMP1 Hybrid
The car is based on a Zytek 07S carbon fiber/aluminum monocoque employing typical wishbone suspension with rack and pinion steering and fitted with a Ricardo 6-speed sequential gearbox using a Zytek electronic gear shift system. The car will be powered through a combination of an ethanol-fueled (E10) internal combustion engine and a three-phase induction electric motor.
The ethanol fueled engine is a newly designed Zytek 90º normally aspirated 4.5-liter V8 with four overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder with an output of 625 hp. The electric motor is a direct drive Zytek proprietary design powered by an on-board lithium-ion energy storage system with a KERS (kinetic energy recovery) supplemental regeneration system.
The heart of the system is the energy storage/battery system which enables the collection and conversion of mechanical energy to electrical energy permitting use of the electric motor resulting in more efficient power and a lower carbon footprint. The lithium-ion battery used on the car is supplied by Zytek shareholder Continental AG of Germany.
AUDI DEVELOPS RACE VERSION OF THE R8
AUGUST 27, 2008
Ingolstadt - For the first time, Audi Sport will offer a racing sports car specifically developed for customer use in the form of the powerful 500 hp plus GT3 version of the Audi R8 which will be available from autumn 2009. The logistics and factory space required for the AUDI AG customer programme will be created over the next few months in Ingolstadt, Neckarsulm and Gyor.
 Audi R8 - First races planned for 2009 season
"The R8 is the first production Audi bearing the name and genes of a successful racing sportscar and is therefore an excellent base from which to build up our first big customer sport programme," explains Head of Audi Motorsport Dr Wolfgang Ullrich. "Ever since the R8 was unveiled we've been inundated with enquiries about a race version. With the Audi R8 we will offer customers a racing sportscar equipped with high-calibre technology and the typical Audi qualities, but which is nevertheless easy to handle."
The Audi R8 conforms to the production-based GT3 regulations allowing the car to be fielded in numerous national and international race series.
Because the GT3 regulations prohibit the use of four-wheel drive the Audi R8 comes with the typical GT rear-wheel drive. The power is transmitted via a newly developed six-speed sequential sports gearbox. The suspension uses almost exclusively components from the production line. A comprehensive list of safety equipment guarantees the highest-level of passive safety. A modified front end and a large rear-wing generate the required downforce for the race track.
The Audi R8, which bears the project name "R16" within Audi Sport, was developed under the direction of Audi Sport. Mid August, the first prototype successfully completed a roll-out in the hands of Audi factory driver Frank Biela.
The first test races in various European racing series are scheduled for the 2009 season. Delivery to the customers is planned from the autumn of this coming year.
The customer cars are manufactured together by Audi Sport and the quattro GmbH, which is also responsible for production of the Audi R8 street version, and Audi Hungaria Motor Kft. (Gyor).
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