Audi
Press Release
- Audi R8 GRAND-AM, winner of Daytona 24 Hour race, returns to GRAND-AM racing for Watkins Glen
- Two Audi R8 GRAND-AM race cars will contest the endurance championship
- Fall-Line Motorsports to race in Audi R8 GRAND-AM for remainder of the season
Audi announces the return of the Audi R8 GRAND-AM at this weekend’s 6 Hours at Watkins Glen race as part of the endurance championship. Audi to field two cars that will contest the endurance championship within the GRAND-AM schedule – a quattro GmbH factory team and new customer-racing team, Fall-Line Motorsports.
Two
Audi R8 GRAND-AM race cars will be taking to the grid this weekend at Watkins
Glen in an effort to win the endurance championship as part of the overall
GRAND-AM schedule. This weekend’s race at the 6 Hours at Watkins Glen marks the
return of the winning Audi R8 GRAND-AM that won the Daytona 24 Hours earlier
this year as well as several of the winning drivers. Felipe Albuquerque
(Portugal) – who took the checkered flag at Daytona, Eduardo Mortara
(France/Italy) and Dion von Moltke (South Afraica) will pilot the number 24
car. Watkins Glen will present the drivers and the car with many challenges as
the track is relatively unknown to the number 24 drivers except von Moltke who
has raced there before.
Fall-Line
Motorsports will make its debut at Watkins Glen in the number 46 R8 GRAND-AM in
the B+ (Be Positive) livery. “We are very pleased to have Fall-Line Motorsports
join our R8 customer-racing program and are optimistic about the future of
customer-racing in the U.S. Fall-Line brings a lot of great experience with
them and we look forward to jointly seeking a spot on the podium as we go
forward,“ said Brad Kettler, Director of Operations, Audi customer-racing, Audi
of America.
“The
Audi sports car legacy and its knowledgeable and experienced support staff are
an obvious choice for us to help further evolve our team and we’re proud to
represent the ‘four rings’ synonymous with sports car and endurance racing,”
said Mark Boden , Fall-Line Motorsports Team Principal.
Piloting
the car at Watkins Glen will be current Fall-Line drivers Al Carter, Charles
Espenlaub, and Charlie Putman, all of whom drive currently in the Continental
Tires Sports Car Challenge Series for the team. The successful Fall-Line trio
has worked together for several years and has won many races including
Fall-Line’s team and drivers’ 2010 Continental Tires Sports Car Challenge
Series championship with Espenlaub and Putman. The #46 will be carrying
sponsorship from the beloved charity that Al Carter and all of
Fall-Line have supported over the years with B+ Racing featured prominently on the car.
Fall-Line have supported over the years with B+ Racing featured prominently on the car.
The
R8 GRAND-AM shares approximately 50 percent of its parts with the R8 production
car. The 5.2 Liter V10 naturally aspirated engine fitted to the R8 GRAND-AM is
tested for maximum durability on the track, requiring its first rebuild
interval at approximately 12,000 miles driven at race speeds. Other competitor
race engines require rebuilds at approximately 5,000 miles. Every production
car developed by the Audi performance division, quattro GmbH, is driven 4,700
miles at high speeds around the Nuerburgring by factory race car drivers and
engineers that work in unison to ensure engine, transmission, steering and
suspension characteristics are optimized.
The
new 2014 R8 production car has been further improved upon and now offers a new
V10 Plus model with 550 horsepower that can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in just
3.3 seconds using the new in-house developed 7-speed double clutch S tronic
transmission that is exclusively used in the R8. The 6-speed manual gated
shifting transmission remains available on all models as well as new full-LED
lighting design. New cross-stitched leather seats and door inserts round out
the improvements on the interior of the 2014 R8 production car.
Audi
hopes to build upon its racing success in GRAND-AM at Daytona and in endurance
racing having just won the Le Mans 24 Hours with the R18 e-tron quattro.
The
race will be televised on Speed TV this Sunday, June 30th at 11 am EST.
Live timing and scoring is also available at www.GRAND-AM.COM
Live timing and scoring is also available at www.GRAND-AM.COM
ABOUT
AUDI
Audi of America, Inc. and its U.S. dealers offer a full line of German-engineered luxury vehicles. AUDI AG is among the most successful luxury automotive brands globally. Audi was a top-performing luxury brand in Europe during 2012, and broke all-time company sales records in the U.S. Through 2016, AUDI AG will invest about $17 billion on new products, facilities and technologies. Visit www.audiusa.com or www.audiusanews.com for more information regarding Audi vehicles and business topics.
Audi of America, Inc. and its U.S. dealers offer a full line of German-engineered luxury vehicles. AUDI AG is among the most successful luxury automotive brands globally. Audi was a top-performing luxury brand in Europe during 2012, and broke all-time company sales records in the U.S. Through 2016, AUDI AG will invest about $17 billion on new products, facilities and technologies. Visit www.audiusa.com or www.audiusanews.com for more information regarding Audi vehicles and business topics.
Fall-Line Motorsports is a premiere builder and fabricator of racecars for all levels of competition. Fall-Line specializes in BMW, Porsche, Audi and other high-performance makes. Fall-Line Motorsports unveiled their Grand-Am team in 2006 and won the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge GS Championship title in 2010. In addition to fielding 3 GS BMW M3′s in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, Fall-Line also prepares and fabricates cars for other CTSCC teams, SCCA and NASA drivers, track day prepared and high performance street vehicles. www.fall-linemotorsports.com@FallLineMotorswww.facebook.com/Falllinemotorsports
ABOUT THE B+ FOUNDATION: The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation honors the memory of Andrew McDonough. Andrew’s mom, dad and sister founded The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation. The overall goal of The B+ Foundation is to “Do Good”. During the racing season, Al Carter and Hugh Plumb visit kids with cancer in hospitals before racing events to make a positive difference and keep the “B+” message alive through outreach efforts and talks. The B+ Foundation provides financial assistance to families of children with cancer nationwide. In the last two years, The B+ Foundation awarded over $1,000,000 to families of children with cancer while giving over $500,000 to support research efforts. Information about the Foundation and its activities can be found at www.BePositive.org.
Photo credit: Audi USA Media
