CMRC: Doug Gore to sit out 2015 Caribbean season after TT-R testing crash in Jamaica

By Johan Laubscher

Sad news has emerged from Jamaica. Doug "Hollywood" Gore will be sitting out the 2015 Caribbean Motor Racing Championship season following accident damage suffered last Sunday.

The team was out testing at JamWest Speedway in Jamaica, preparing for the season opener of the CMRC at the same venue next weekend, 28 February to 1 March.

The team crew chief, David Bell, was behind the wheel of the ABT-Audi TT-R when the crash occurred coming onto the front straight. He was busy with a twenty-lap stint to bed in new brakes. Luckily Bell was able to walk away from the incident without injuries, but the car did take a hard hit.

The ABT-Audi TT-R has sustained frontal damage, but also rear subframe damage, warranting its return to ABT Sportsline in Germany for serious repairs.

More can be read on the Jamaican Observer website HERE.

This is not the first time that the Jamaican ABT-Audi TT-R of Doug Gore has needed to return to Germany for repairs. He had previously suffered a high speed crash at Dover during the opening lap of the first race of the 2012 season. Significant chassis damage put Gore out of the seat that year before the car returned in time for 2013 to begin.

Doug Gore has been competing with this ABT-Audi TT-R in the Caribbean and Jamaica since April 2011. He raced with the ATL Automotive team from 2011 until 2013, after which Gore purchased the Audi and competed with his own team and sponsors from 2014 onwards.

It is very sad news that Doug Gore will be sitting out the 2015 circuit racing season. Gore will now be focusing on a return to rallying in Jamaica with his Mitsubishi Evolution X.

Photo credit: D_MONTii Motography N More (Donavan Montague)

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Gallery: Audi at the 2013 Essen Motor Show

By Johan Laubscher

The annual Essen Motor Show kicks off this weekend and many Audi race cars are represented at the event.

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DTM: All nine Audi DTM champions pictured 1990 - 2013

By Johan Laubscher

The 2013 DTM season yielded the ninth drivers' title for a driver behind the wheel of an Audi race car.

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JRDC: Victory and damage for Doug Gore and ATL TT-R at Heroes of Speed in Jamaica

By Johan Laubscher

The Heroes of Speed was hosted in Jamaica on Monday, 21 October. It was the scene for the return of Doug Gore and the ATL Automotive ABT-Audi TT-R.

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DTM: Audi championship winning cars at the Essen Motor Show

Audi Press Release

All Audi and DTM fans are in for a real treat: The Essen Motor Show will be presenting a special exhibition on the DTM that features winning cars from nearly the past three decades. 

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Video: DTM Top 10 Crashes

By Johan Laubscher

The German DTM Championship has had its share of big shunts over the years, many of which included Audi race cars. 

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Video: Audi domination in Jamaica with Doug Gore ABT-Audi TT-R

By Johan Laubscher 

The first round of the Caribbean Motor Racing Championship (CMRC) saw a dominant display by Doug Gore in the ATL Automotive ABT-Audi TT-R.

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CMRC: Doug Gore dominates Dover with his ABT-Audi TT-R

By Johan Laubscher

The Caribbean Motor Racing Championship (CMRC) got underway at Dover in Jamaica last weekend. Two Audi race cars were entered in the event: The ATL Automotive ABT-Audi TT-R driven by Doug Gore and the extensively modified Audi A4 STW driven by Doug Maloney.

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The SVC Vitver Racing ABT-Audi TT-R returns to the hills of Europe

By Johan Laubscher

During 2012 photos emerged of a modified ex-DTM ABT-Audi TT-R. The car was driven by Vláďa Vitver in the FIA Hillclimb Championship and performed very well. The modifications made to the car were the first of its kind on one of these older Audi DTM cars, and it was certainly very interesting.

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Doug Gore and ATL Audi dominate at Dover

By Johan Laubscher

The annual Carnival of Speed took place at Dover in Jamaica this weekend. The event marks the first big circuit racing event in Jamaica each year. It was also the long anticipated return of Doug Gore and the ATL Automotive ABT-Audi TT-R at the Dover circuit. 

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Victorious return for the Doug Gore ABT-Audi TT-R in Jamaica

By Johan Laubscher

This weekend marked the return of Doug “Hollywood” Gore in and the ATL Automotive ABT-Audi TT-R in Jamaica. The ex-ABT Sportsline DTM race car arrived in Jamaica during 2011 and competed successfully until an accident at Dover last May. The accident caused a lot of damage to the car’s chassis. The damage put the car out for the rest of the 2012 season as it went back to Germany for repairs. It was uncertain if the car would return to Jamaica, but luckily at the beginning of 2013 it was confirmed that the car would return. It had undergone a thorough ABT rebuild and received new bodywork from the SVC team in the Czech Republic, more can be read HERE and HERE. 

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ABT-Audi TT-R has a new face in Jamaica

By Johan Laubscher

The ATL Automotive TT-R was re-launched in Jamaica yesterday. The team held a press conference at ATL where they revealed the car’s new look and the new livery. During the early 2000s the ABT-Audi TT-R race cars were a formidable force in the German DTM championship. The cars were finally replaced at the end of 2003 when the Audi A4 DTM R11 was introduced, however one TT-R made one final DTM start at the 2004 Shanghai DTM event. Along with the TT-R’s DTM career the cars also competed at the 2003 and 2004 Nürburgring 24 Hours, these cars being built to a more robust endurance specification. 

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Doug Gore Audi TT-R back in Jamaica and ready for Jamwest

By Johan Laubscher 

 

The ABT-Audi TT-R of Doug Gore is back in Jamaica. The ATL Automotive sponsored machine has undergone a thorough rebuild at the ABT Sportsline workshops in Germany. The rebuild was necessitated after a crash at the Dover Circuit in Jamaica last year. The crash occurred during the first Carribean Motor Racing Championship (CMRC) round of 2012. The car suffered a lot of damage, especially to the chassis. The damage meant that the car was out for the rest of the 2012 season as it needed to go home to Germany for repairs. More can be read about the repair HERE.

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The Jamaican Audi is alive again

By Johan Laubscher

Doug Gore and his ATL Audi before the crash

The Caribbean has a healthy motorsport scene with many high powered race cars. During 2011 Jamaican race driver Doug Gore was signed by ATL Automotive to drive their newly acquired Audi race car. The car itself was an ex-ABT Sportsline DTM Audi TT, formally known as an ABT-Audi TT-R. Different versions of these race cars competed in the German DTM series from 2000-2004 and since in many other national GT championships around the world.

The car was a technological leap for the cars racing in the Caribbean and the showdown between Gore's Audi and David Summerbell in his Lancer was a spectator draw card of note. The car debuted in 2011 and proved its pace, but only competed in Jamaica. For 2012 the car had been cleared to compete in the Caribbean series and the scene was set for a spectacular year. However tragedy struck at the very first round. Doug was involved in an incident during the very first race on the approach to the first corner, we included the video below. The resulting accident saw Doug crashing into the barriers. Along with the crash the chassis of the TT also suffered severe damage.

The incident resulted in the car missing the rest of the 2012 season and heading back to Germany for repairs. As 2013 got underway Doug Gore announced that he was heading to Germany to test his car at Hockenheim. He has arrived in Germany with accompanying photos which have been published by Jamwest Speedway. The photos show Doug and his team at the ABT Sportsline headquarters as they look at the older ABT race cars on display and then finally a look at Doug’s repaired car, now wearing a silver and red livery.

It is brilliant to see that Doug and his Audi racing career appear to be on track. We hope that they will also be publishing photos of the Hockenheim test session later in the week.

New Bodywork

Update: Further photos have been published now revealing the new look for the Doug Gore ABT-Audi TT-R. The car is receiving new bodywork similar to that used by Vláďa Vitver on his TT-R in the Czech Republic, more can be read about that car HERE. The new bodywork resembles the appearance of a second generation Audi TT. Below we have included the photos of the new bodywork being fitted in Germany, the last four photos listed. 

More information:
Jamwest Speedway FB page
ATL Automotive FB page
Doug Gore FB page

Crash Video

Photos from Germany 

Photos by Jamwest Speedway and ATL Automotive

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Artwork: ABT Audi TT-R Team Need for Speed

By Tarek Ramchani

The ABT Audi TT-R has been a great and winning racer in the German DTM touring series. Abt Sportsline won the 2002 championship title with Laurent Aiello, not bad for a fully privateer effort against works teams from Mercedes-Benz AMG and Opel OPC.

Here is a nice render featuring the TT-R in a special Need for Speed livery. The livery is a real one which has been seen on other cars in the past, and here it matches perfectly with the awesome Abt built machine.

Render by Impact Designs

Editors note: All photos are hosted at www.nogripracing.com and belong to their owners

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ABT Audi TT-R destroyed during testing

By Johan Laubscher

The ABT-Audi TT-R of Vláďa Vitver has become well known amongst Audi motorsport fans for its modified styling. The SVC Náchod Motorsport team purchased the ex-DTM Audi and proceeded to modify the car both mechanically and visually. The car now displays the appearance of a Mk2 Audi TT. Vláďa Vitver has been competing with the car in various European Hillclimb series and events, including the FIA Hillclimb Championship.

The team have been preparing for one of the biggest German Hillcimb events, the Mickhausen Hillclimb. However tragedy struck during testing for the event. Vitver was testing at a former Airport at Hradec Králové. A high speed crash occurred which has damaged the car tremendously. We are happy to report that the news from the incident indicate that Vláďa Vitver is unharmed, and that is most important.

The driver is safe, and in this sport that is the most important fact of all. The fate of the Audi TT-R is unknown. If we will see this car racing again is yet to be confirmed. This the second major crash for one of the older ABT-Audi TT-R race cars this year. Doug Gore of Jamaica suffered a big crash at Dover a few months ago which damaged the chassis of his TT-R.

We wish Vláďa Vitver all the best as he recovers from the crash. Hopefully he will be on track racing again very soon. 

More information:

SVC Náchod Motorsport FB page

SVC Náchod Motorsport website

Race-Action.com FB page

Crash images linked from the SVC Facebook page

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All the Audi DTM Champions

By Johan Laubscher

Audi debuted in the DTM during the 1990 season with the Audi V8. Since then they have achieved a total of eight drivers championship titles. The victorious seasons were achieved with three different types of Audi: the Audi V8, ABT-Audi TT-R and Audi A4 DTM (R11, R13, R14, R14 plus). The official Audi Sport media have released very nice images of all the Audi DTM championship winning cars which have been included below. Enjoy this quick trip down memory lane through the victorious years of Audi in the DTM. 

1990 

Year: 1990

Driver: Hans-Joachim Stuck

Team: Schmidt Motorsport SMS (Audi Sport)

Car: Audi V8 DTM

1991 

Year: 1991

Driver: Frank Biela

Team: Audi Zentrum Reutlingen AZR (Audi Sport)

Car: Audi V8 DTM

2002

Year: 2002

Driver: Laurent Aiello

Team: Abt Sportsline

Car: ABT-Audi TT-R

2004

Year: 2004

Driver: Mattias Ekström

Team: Audi Sport Team Abt

Car: 2004 Audi A4 DTM (R11)

2007

Year: 2007

Driver: Mattias Ekström

Team: Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline

Car: 2007 Audi A4 DTM (R13)

2008

Year: 2008

Driver: Timo Scheider

Team: Audi Sport Team Abt

Car: 2008 Audi A4 DTM (R14)

2009

Year: 2009

Driver: Timo Scheider

Team: Audi Sport Team Abt

Car: 2009 Audi A4 DTM (R14 plus)

2011

Year: 2011

Driver: Martin Tomczyk

Team: Audi Sport Team Phoenix

Car: 2008 Audi A4 DTM (R14)

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