Audi R18 e-tron quattro : Audi brings the quattro back to the race track

Ingolstadt/Munich, 2012-02-29

• World premiere in Munich: the new Audi R18 e-tron quattro
• Four-wheel driven diesel hybrid for the 24 Hours of Le Mans
• Audi ultra lightweight as base for the application of hybrid technology

Motor sport is used yet again by AUDI AG to pioneer new technology: the brand with the four ring’s new Le Mans race car is the world’s first LMP1 car to combine a highly-efficient TDI with a hybrid system. quattro drive also celebrates its comeback to the race track with the prototype – in a entirely new form.


Audi R18 e-tron quattro is the name of the new Le Mans prototype that makes its race debut on May 5 in the 6-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium) and fights for overall victory at the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans (France) on June 16/17. Audi unites two technologies in a fascinating way to create a new type of drive, which is also already being tested for future use in production cars: e-tron quattro.

Hiding behind this description is the next generation four-wheel drive with which Audi combines the advantages of the proven quattro drive with the potential of electromobility. To this end one vehicle axle is powered conventionally, the second by electric motors.


“Audi has always consciously selected championships and categories in racing that have a close relationship to production and therefore have technical relevance for the Audi customers,” explains Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, who personally drove the new Audi R18 e-tron quattro onto the stage on Wednesday evening during its world premiere in the Audi Training Center at Munich airport – electrically and almost silent. “quattro, TFSI and TDI are three excellent examples of how motorsport has stimulated production development. A similar tendency is apparent with the e-tron quattro: we test a completely new technology on the race track before it’s introduced to the Audi production line.”


On the Audi R18 e-tron quattro kinetic energy is recovered on the front axle during the braking phase. It is fed as electric into a flywheel accumulator before being retrieved under acceleration again above a speed of 120 km/h. During this procedure only the front axle is integrated. The V6 TDI power plant producing 375 kW (510 hp) continues to transmit its power to the rear wheels. Both systems complement each other to create the new drive principle e-tron quattro.

Project began in February 2010

The project e-tron quattro for motorsport started in February 2010. Only 18 months passed from the initial conceptual ideas to the first test. “This is a relatively short cycle for a technology that has never been tested in motorsport and which still doesn’t even exist in production,” stresses Dr. Martin Mühlmeier, Head of Technology at Audi Sport. “The challenge is correspondingly big.”

Audi Sport developed the Audi R18 ultra in parallel to the Audi R18 e-tron quattro – because Audi takes a two-pronged approach this year in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and in the newly created FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) – the 2012 model year Audi R18 is built with and without hybrid drive. The trick: the base of both cars is completely identical, which is why the additional logistical effort is kept limited for Audi Sport and the race team.

“The TDI engine invented by Audi is still the most efficient drive in the world,” says Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “We are convinced that the TDI has even more potential. This is why Audi not only supports the hybrid in motorsport as it does in production, but in parallel also the further development of the conventional drive.”

Innovation in transmission area

The R18 e-tron quattro’s twin brother more than lives up to its model name ‘R18 ultra’: it is the lightest Le Mans prototype that Audi Sport has ever built. To compensate for the additional weight of the hybrid system the subject of lightweight design and construction was the focus throughout development of the 2011 Le Mans race winning R18 TDI. In addition to the many detail optimizations there is also a genuine innovation in the transmission area: a new gearbox with a carbon-fiber composite housing was developed for the R18 – a premiere for endurance racing.

“The new R18 ultra is a distinct evolution of last year’s Le Mans race winning car,” summarizes Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “Our drivers’ impressions were very positive from the first moment. Without the weight optimized R18 ultra we would have not been capable of realizing the R18 e-tron quattro which is absolutely identical with the exception of the hybrid system.”

Audi Press Release

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2012 South African Bridgestone Production Cars - Audi Teams Preview

Photo hosted at Racepics.co.za

Written by Johan Laubscher

The Bridgestone Production Cars Championship has long been regarded as the premiere racing series in South Africa. Some of the country’s best teams, drivers and machinery compete for this coveted title in South African motorsports. In the last five years the Audi brand has established itself as one of the primary forces in the Class A category, having won four of the last five titles. The A4 (B7) 3.2 quattro became a dominant force first winning the title in 2007 with Shaun Watson-Smith (Terry Moss Racing) and a double of 2008 and 2009 with Johan Fourie (Johan Fourie Racing). 2011 saw the introduction of the first new car model for the Audi teams since 2005 in the form of the new Audi S4 (B8). The season came down to a Johan Fourie S4 vs Michael Stephen S4 battle for the title, with Stephen (Terry Moss Racing) taking his first Class A title.

2012 is shaping up to be another great year for the series and one that holds a lot in store for Audi fans. The Class A grid is growing and so too is the Audi brigade, with four Audi S4 cars on the grid and rumours suggesting even more cars. Strong rumours suggest that Terry Moss Racing will field a third S4 during the year for Terry Moss’ son, Simon Moss. If this is true it will be the largest ever entry for the Audi brand in a single series in its South African motorsport history. As in the past with the Production Car Championship it will be a privateers only effort for the Audi teams. The teams contesting the 2012 Bridgestone Production Cars Championship with Audi machinery includes Terry Moss Racing, Johan Fourie Racing and VMP Motorsport who will be returning to the Audi brand in 2012.

Team Previews:

Terry Moss Racing    

Fresh from their 2011 triumph, Terry Moss Racing will be ready to defend their title this year. Regular drivers Michael Stephen and Tschops Sipuka will again be at the wheel of Audi S4 cars. With the opening round at Zwartkops, Michael Stephen will be seen as a favourite as he won three of the four races there during last year’s finale.

Number one plate for Michael Stephen:

Rumours also suggest that a third S4 is being built for Simon Moss. The potential addition of Simon Moss, the son of Terry Moss provides a case of Déjà vu for South African Audi fans.

Terry Moss S4 GTO (left) and Simon Moss S4 (right):

Photo hosted at Motorpics.co.za

A mere twenty years ago Terry Moss competed with the legendary Audi S4 GTO, with which he won the 1993 South African Wesbank Modifieds Championhip. Fast forward to the present day and Simon Moss might be competing in his first Bridgestone Production Car Championship season, also in an S4. Simon had impressed during 2011 when he shared with Tschops Sipuka during the two Endurance events at Phakisa and Zwartkops.

Michael Stephen will again be in top form, looking to defend his Class A title. He was dubbed Mr Consistency during 2011, a trait that paid dividends at the end of the year. This young engineer who was involved with the building of the team’s cars will once again be a man to watch in 2012. Tschops Sipuka will be looking to improve on strong performances from 2011, the year in which he won his first Class A race. The Audi S4 has the pace and Sipuka will be right up there at the sharp end of the grid.

Michael Stephen S4 (2011):

Photo hosted at Racepics.co.za

Tschops Sipuka S4 (2011):

Photo hosted at Racepics.co.za

Simon Moss S4 (2011):

Photo hosted at Motorpics.co.za

Team website: www.engenxtremeteam.co.za

Johan Fourie Racing

Johan Fourie Racing are aiming to again field their one entry for Johan Fourie in the Audi S4. Johan Fourie has not been officially confirmed for the first round of the season as his primary sponsor has recently pulled out. The team is working hard to ensure that Johan will be on track this year. It is strongly believed that the team will be at Zwartkops for the opening round.

Johan had an amazing mid season in 2011 with exemplary performances catapulting him into the lead of the championship. It was only misfortune at the final two events of the 2011 season, both held at Zwartkops that denied Fourie of his third Class A championship title. Johan Fourie, renowned for being a hard charger and an equally fast driver will as always be a force to be reckoned with in the 2012 Bridgestone Production Car Championship.  

Johan Fourie S4 (2011):

Photos from Racepics.co.za

Team website: www.johanfourieracing.co.za

VMP Motorsport

VMP Motorsport will be making their return to the Audi brand in 2012. They were last seen competing with Audi from 2005-2009 and were always a competitive force in the Class A brigade. Melvil Priest will once again be driving for VMP and will be doing so with a new weapon, the Audi S4.

The VMP Audi S4 build:

The team has been very busy preparing for the new season, and with the team and Vic Maharaj’s brilliant track record one thing is for certain: The new VMP Audi S4 will be fast.

Melvil Priest A4 (2009):

Photo hosted at Motorpics.co.za

Team website: www.vmpmotorsport.co.za

Team Facebook page: www.facebook.com/pages/VMP-Motorsport/100449663387411
Vic Maharaj on twitter: www.twitter.com/vicmaharaj  

If 2011 is anything to go by, 2012 will be another exciting year in the Bridgestone Production Cars. With a growing gird and more Audis than ever before, the South African race tracks will see a tremendous racing spectacle.

The first round is at Zwartkops on the third of March.

The 2012 Bridgestone Production Cars Calendar:

3 March - Zwartkops
31 March - Killarney
28 April - Port Elizabeth
26 May - Zwartkops
23 June - Durban
4 August - Phakisa
25 August - Zwartkops
22 September - Killarney
27 October - Kyalami

The provisional Class A Entry List for Zwartkops (3 March): 

Michael Stephen - Audi S4
Tschops Sipuka - Audi S4
Richard Pinard - Subaru WRX STI
Melvill Priest - Audi S4
Hennie Groenewald - Subaru WRX STI
Etienne van der Linde - BMW 335i
Johan Fourie - Audi S4
Kishoor Pitamber - BMW 335i E92
Anthony Taylor - BMW 335i
John Mayer - BMW 335i


Watch:

Watch the entire 2011 Class A Championship here:
www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLECC7689089A88AAB

For more info visit:

Bridgestone Production Cars website: www.productioncars.co.za 

Bridgestone Production Cars Faceook page: www.facebook.com/pages/Bridgestone-Production-Cars/301299066589405

Bridgestone Production Cars twitter: www.twitter.com/SAProductionCar

Audi Motorsport in South Africa Facebook page: www.facebook.com/AudiMotorsportSouthAfrica 

The Unofficial Audi Sport FB page: www.facebook.com/audisportpage

Race Pics:  www.racepics.co.za

Motorpics: www.motorpics.co.za

End

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Audi and Phoenix Racing won Bathurst 12 Hour 2012

By Tarek Ramchani :

Audi wins a thrilling Bathurst 12 hour race for a back to back victory. A very rainy and hard enduro event, with the #1 Audi R8 LMS from Phoenix Racing crossing the finish line victorious. Three Audi R8 LMS cars entered the race at Mount Panorama.

Audi’s victory wasn't at all easy. Right from the start the three R8 LMS cars were in the in the middle of a titanic GT3 battle. Two works supported cars of Phoenix Racing and the fully privateer entry from United Autosports. In the first stages of the race a Ferrari 458 GT3 took the overall lead, but quickly dropped out after facing technical troubles. Then came the rain and shortly afterwards the first of the Audis retired. The #22 United Autosports was unable to continue after a big crash in the rain. Later a great three-way battle for the lead developed between the two Phoenix cars and an SLS AMG. The three cars continued to battle until the #2 R8 LMS "Spider" hit the wall. The car shared by Craig Lowndes Warren Luff and Mark Eddy was forced to retire due to the damage sustained in the impact. In the closing stages, the gap between the leading "Kangaroo" Audi and the chasing AMG was almost 2 minutes. The Mercedes was able to keep the pressure on and reduce that gap. The track being very wet and extremely narrow meant that the #1 Audi was forced to race fast and cautious at the same time. In the final stint, the Mercedes was still pressing, but it was too late. Darryl O'Young crossed the finish line victorious to give Audi a second straight Bathurst 12 Hour win, along with his teammates Christopher Mies and Christer Jöns. O'Young and Mies have already won last year with Audi race experience Team Joest. Christer Jöns was a rookie in the Aussie endurance race this year.

The 2011 Audi victory at the Bathurst 12 Hours was seen as an easy one, maybe this is true but this year was a completely different story. The Phoenix team pushed to the limits to defend Audi's crown at Mount Panorma. A new great overall victory for the R8 LMS, a perfect way to start a new season.

Darryl O'Young, Christopher Mies and Christer Jons the winners

#2 Audi R8 LMS - Phoenix Racing

#21 Audi R8 LMS - United Autosports

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Audi Sport drivers for the 2012 DTM

By Tarek Ramchani

Today Audi Sport revealed its driver line-ups for the German Touring Car Masters. Seven cars will be fielded for the new season. Seven drivers, all of who are familiar faces.

Audi is moving from a nine car effort to only seven cars this year. Martin Tomczyk left the squad earlier following his championship title in 2011. Now Oliver Jarvis has also officially left the DTM, but he is staying with Audi, joining the sportscar Le Mans program. Once again three teams will represent Ingolstadt in the premiere touring car series: ABT Sportsline, Phoenix Racing and Team Rosberg.

ABT Sportsline:

ABT Sportsline has always been the top supported Audi team in the DTM. The 2011 teams champion will have three cars this season. Mattias Ekstrom and Timo Scheider are long time regulars. Both drivers were crowned DTM champions twice with the team. Ekstrom was champion in both 2004 and 2007, while Scheider was champion in both 2008 and 2009. The new comer is Rahel Frey. Last year the Swiss drove for Phoenix Racing, she is switching with Mike Rockenfeller.

Phoenix Racing:

Audi Sport Team Phoenix of course won the 2011 driver championship title, the first ever satellite team to win the series overall. The team lost their two 2011 drivers, Martin Tomczyk gone from Audi and Rahel Frey joining ABT. The two drivers for this year are Mike Rockenfeller and Miguel Molina. Rocky is no stranger to team Phoenix, he raced with them in 2010 with many great performances. Miguel Molina has come from ABT Sportsline as well, with a nice second half of last year’s season.

Team Rosberg:

The only Audi DTM team not changing its line-up. Filipe Albuquerque and Edoardo Mortara did great last year as rookies. Mortara won the non-championship event at Munich, while Albuquerque got a strong second place at the Valencia race. 

Perhaps the main difference from previous years is that all the three teams will have the same spec car, while in the past, newer generation cars were only in hands of team ABT Sportsline. This year brings new rules and new cars, so all the teams at Audi will race the brand new A5 DTM R17.

The seven drivers will face world class competition from both AMG Mercedes-Benz and the new comers of BMW Motorsport. The season opener is set at Hockenheim, April 29th. Audi of course aiming to defend its two championship titles of 2011.

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Audi with three R18 TDI at the 12 Hours of Sebring

By Tarek Ramchani

The 12 Hours of Sebring are fast approaching. The season opener for the brand new FIA World Endurance Championship. Sebring will kick off the American Le Mans Series season as well and Audi will be there with no less than three R18 TDI cars.


2012 will mark the 60th edition of the world famous 12 Hours of Sebring. Audi has already won Florida's big classic nine times overall between the years 2000 and 2009. It’s been three years now since the last victory, 2009 with the Audi R15 TDI. This year Audi is fielding three cars at Sebring, all of them TDI powered R18 cars. The brand new Audi R18 using hybrid technology will only have its race debut at the 6 Hours of Spa (round 2 of FIA WEC). All the cars will be under Audi Sport Team Joest banner. This will mark the first time since 2000 that Audi is racing three full factory cars at Sebring. Eleven of the twelve drivers for the 12 hours enduro have been confirmed.

#1 Audi R18 TDI, will be shared by the 2011 Le Mans winners Andre Lotterer, Marcel Fassler and Benoit Trelueyr. The trio have never raced at Sebring for Audi.

#2 Audi R18 TDI for the old warriors: Allan McNish, Dindo Capello and Tom Kristensen. Mr. Le Mans Tom Kristensen could be named Mr. Sebring as well as he holds the record of 5 overall wins in this big race. While Dindo Capello has won it four times outright.

#3 Audi R18 TDI has only got two drivers confirmed for now. 2010 Le Mans winners with Audi: Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas. The two drivers aren't strangers to Sebring, they won overall in 2008 with a less powerful Porsche RS Spyder of team Penske Racing against the top cars from the LMP1 class. The third driver will be announced soon.

Audi has been chasing a win at Sebring for three years now. A three cars assault in Florida is the perfect way to do that, while anticipating the Toyota's debut at Spa-Francorchamps. The opposition will come from three privateers HPD cars, two Lola Coupes/Toyota from Rebellion Racing, and the French teams of Pescarolo Team and OAK Racing. The ACO are aiming to have more balanced races this year. We are expecting to see less powerful R18 TDIs at Sebring. However Audi is clearly the big favourite for race win.

The very experienced Audi Sport Team Joest will hunt for a tenth overall win for Ingolstadt. The race is set for March 17th. A new era for sports car racing with the debut of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

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The Audi RS5 Joins International Superstars Series

By Tarek Ramchani :

After many years racing with the Audi RS4 (based on the B7 generation model), Audi in Italy will enter the 2012 International Superstars Series with the brand new Audi RS5. The old RS4 gave Audi Sport Italia two drivers championship titles with Gianni Morbidelli in 2007 and 2008. It won also the teams title in 2008.

The RS4 was clearly outpaced last year but now Audi is bringing the Audi RS5 to the growing International Superstars Series. The racing car has to be closely related to its road version, so it will have a big V8 producing around 450 bhp. Three new Audi RS5 cars are set to join the 2012 season from three diffrents teams. Italian touring car specialist and two time Superstars Series champion Gianni Morbidelli will be the leading driver with Audi Sport Italia. In 2011 Morbidelli raced with the team during the second half of the season, showing very strong performances with an inferior older car. The program is of course backed by Audi Italia the official Italian dealer. The other two drivers aren't Italians. Johan Kristofferson from Sweden will race for Kristofferson Motorsport (KMS) a Swedish team and Audi long time partner in the STCC. While Thomas Schoeffler from Germany, will race for MTM Motorsport the world famous German Audi tuner.

The 2012 season will be very close more than ever, with no less than 34 cars on the full season competitors list. Audi will face strong competition from world class marks such as the 2011 BMW, AMG Mercedes-Benz, Cadillac, Chevrolet and more. In addition to the top three Audi Italia supported RS5 there will be no less than three old RS4 in hands of the privateer Durango Motorsport team. And of course we hope that the Audi RS5 and the drivers will be among the ones battling for the overall championship title. Gianni Morbidelli is one of the strongest drivers on the grid. With a slower RS4 he was amazingly fast last year, so we except a great 2012 from the Italian ace.

Nine races are scheduled for the 2012 season. Hankook will be the new exclusive tire supplier for this unique touring car series open for big V8 sedans. The Season opener and RS5 debut is set at Monza on April 1st.

For more :

Facebook page of Audi Sport Italia 

International Superstars Series

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WRT Belgian Audi Club back to Blancpain Endurance Series

By Tarek Ramchani :

2011 was a great and successful season for WRT in the series. Despite only scoring a single victory last season, consistency was enough to give the Belgians both trophies in the end. The single race victory was at round three, the prestigious Spa 24 Hours. WRT won overall with Mattias Ekstrom, Timo Scheider and Greg Franchi. The team may only have won at Spa but the two R8 LMS cars of the team fought really hard at each race for victories. Many times unlucky while clearly being the fastest on track.

While mainly focusing on representing Audi in the FIA GT1 World Championship in 2012, the Belgians are returning to the Blancpain Endurance Series to defend both championship titles. Two brand new Audi R8 LMS ultra cars are entered for the full season. For now only Laurens Vanthoor is announced for the driver lineup. The other five drivers will be announced later. The Audi R8 LMS ultra will fight for overall victories, racing in the top Pro-Cup class. Rivals in the class will come from BMW with the Z4 GT3, McLaren with the MP4-12C and Porsche with the 997 GT3 R. While the theoretically lower class of Pro-Am Cup could also bring strong competition for the outright wins, with its very large entry list. As in 2011, WRT will be backed by the Belgian Audi Club, and will have full support from Audi Sport customer racing. Last year the team raced with Audi works drivers Filipe Albuquerque and Marcel Fassler for the full season. We expect the same this year as well, with some factory Audi drivers supporting the team.

In addition to the top WRT team, a third Audi R8 LMS will race in the series. An older spec car for JB Motorsport. A fully privateer team from Sweden. They will enter the amateur class, the "Gentlemen Trophy". The drivers will be Jan Brunstedt and Mikael Bender. Last year they raced in the Swedish GT Series and competed in a few VLN Endurance Series events supported by Phoenix Racing.

Six races are planned for the 2012 season including the stellar event of the series, the Spa 24 Hours at the end of July. The season opener is set at Monza on April 15th.

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Audi’s Women Race Drivers

 



Written by: Johan Laubscher

The Audi brand has a strong connection with women racing drivers during its history. The opportunity of having women drivers compete for the brand has always been promoted by Audi and women have always formed part of the Audi squad. Some of the well known and legendary Audi women racing drivers are listed below: 

Michèle Mouton

This French lady was probably the most famous of Audi’s women drivers, Michèle Mouton was part of the star-studded driver lineup in the 1980s World Rally Championship. Her co-driver was Fabrizia Pons, forming an all-women team. She joined Audi in 1981 driving the legendary Audi quattro rally cars. She was the first women to win an FIA sanctioned world motorsport event. Misfortune robbed her of the 1982 World Rally Championship title, eventually finishing runner up in the title chase. She retired at the end of the Group B era and went on to be a co-founder of the annual Race of Champions (ROC) event.

Paola de Martini

Paola started her racing career as a young Italian lady at the age of 20 and quickly moved through the ranks of rallying. She suffered a large accident in 1985 and when she returned in 1986 she was behind the wheel of an Audi. She drove various Audi cars in many European Rallys and championship, including the WRC from 1988. Some of the Audis that she drove includes the Audi 80, 90, S2 and Coupe. 1992 was the last time she drove an Audi.  

Tamara Vidali

Tamara, an Italian lady who worked her way through the local Italian championships where she finally joined the Italian Super Touring Championship. After a good showing in 1994 she was contracted by Audi for the 1995-1997 German Super Touring Championship. She represented the Audi brand in Super Touring many times outside of Germany in single events in Italy, Australia, Spain and South Africa. She moved away from the Audi brand after Super Touring came to an end but did return in 2006. She competed in the 2006 Audi Sport Italia championship with Audi Sport Italia in a RS4 scoring many race victories. She also competed once in the 2006 Russian Touring Car Championship for Team Sport-Garage in an S2000 Audi A4 STCC B7.

Vanina Ickx

Vanina Ickx, the daughter of the legendary six time Belgian Le Mans winner Jacky Ickx. Her career with Audi started in 2006 in the German DTM championship driving for the Futurecom TME team. She competed in both the 2006 and 2007 seasons for the TME team driving two year old cars each time. In 2006 she drove a 2004 A4 DTM R11 and in 2007 she drove a 2005 Audi A4 DTM R12. She struggled for results and moved on from Audi back into her first love of Sport car racing where she has shown many positive performances.  

Katherine Legge

A British driver who had shown great promise as a single-seater driver was given the opportunity of joining the Audi DTM squad in 2008. She replaced Vanina Ickx at the Futurecom TME team for the 2008 season in a 2006 Audi A4 DTM R12 plus. Strong performances saw her get promoted to the ABT team for 2009 and the Rosberg Team for 2010, both seasons she was behind the wheel of a 2008 Audi A4 DTM R14. 2010 was her last season driving for Audi.

Rahel Frey

A young Swiss driver who joined the Audi DTM squad in 2011. She was part of the Audi Sport Team Phoenix team alongside teammate and eventual 2011 DTM champion Martin Tomczyk. 2011 was a learning year for the young lady in the very competitive DTM championship with many strong performances showing her potential. She drove a 2008 Audi A4 DTM R14. The 2012 Audi driver lineups are yet to be announced, but it is strongly believed that Rahel will be at the wheel of  one of the new Audi A5 DTM R17 cars.

Cyndie Allemann

Another young Swiss driver will be making her debut with the Audi brand in 2012. It will not be with a factory team but with the Japanese team, Hitotsuyama Racing. She will be competing with an Audi R8 LMS R16 in the highly competitive Japanese Super GT Championship. She has proven herself in single-seaters and GT racing and will be a strong driver during the 2012 Super GT season. She showed her potential during her first test with the R8 LMS.

There is a long legacy of women drivers competing with the Audi brand, many more other than the ones mentioned above have competed in local series around the world. Motorsport may be a male-dominated sport but there is an increase in women drivers around the world, showing that the girls can also race with the boys.There is a long legacy of women drivers competing with the Audi brand, many more other than the ones mentioned above have competed in local series around the world. Motorsport may be a male-dominated sport but there is an increase in women drivers around the world, showing that the girls can also race with the boys.

Photo credits:

Eric Gilbert from www.motorsport.com

www.fourtitude.com

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Japanese Audi R8 LMS with Cyndie Allemann Challenging Super GT

By Tarek Ramchani :

Great news that comes from Japan. Hitotsuyama Racing, a privateer Japanese Audi team is about to enter the world famous Super GT. The team will field two Audi R8 LMS in the lower GT300 class.

Hitotsuyama Racing isn't new the Audi R8 LMS. Last year they raced in two series, the GT Asia Series scoring a victory at the home round at Suzuka and also the Super Taikyu Endurance Series, almost a Japanese VLN which the team won. The team also raced at the ILMC round at Zhuhai and at Macau. The team is of course backed by Audi Japan.

However things won't be easy for the team, while last year they took parts in proper GT3 races in the Asian series, this year the move into Super GT means more competition and mainly radically different rules. The Super GT which is the top Japanese motorsport series is divided into two classes. GT500 the upper one featuring the fastest cars, almost true "Closed prototypes". While the GT300 one is for less powerful and modified machines. The Audi will enter the GT300 class a much fought class with very large entry lists each round. The competition will come from various challengers, mixing exotic Japanese racers and supercars from Porsche, Ferrari, BMW, Lamborghini, Subaru, Toyota and Nissan. The Audi R8 LMS will have to adapt with this unique format and to slight modifications from its original Spec GT3. Maybe a difficult task, but still not impossible, as last year’s GT300 champions raced a GT3 Spec BMW Z4 GT3.

For the driver lineups, the first one announced is Cyndie Allemann and Akihiro Tsuzuki. Swiss female Cyndie Allemann with her first drive in the Audi R8 LMS. Still she isn't a rookie in GT racing. In 2010 she raced in the FIA GT1 World Championship and the Le Mans 24 Hours with a privateer Ford GT. Cyndie Alleman tested the R8 LMS on February 8th at Fuji Speedway and immediately got confidence with the Audi. Akihiro Tsuzuki isn't a rookie with the car either. Last year he raced with Hitotsuyama Racing in the Super Taikyu Endurance Series, the ILMC round in China, and Macau GT Cup. Akihiro Tsuzuki also did the Super GT, with a Porsche GT3 in the GT300 class. He is familiar to the series and will bring a lot of experience to the team. The second car’s lineup will be announced later.

Thanks to Eric Gilbert and www.motorsport.com for the photos.

Cyndie Alleman - Audi R8 LMS - Super GT

Audi R8 LMS - Japan Super GT GT300 - Fuji Speedway

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