Le Mans winning Audi takes on jet fighter
In England for the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Audi's Le Mans winning R10 TDI stepped it up a notch, taking on a Royal Air Force Harrier "Jump Jet" in a one kilometer sprint.
Driven by factory driver Allan McNish, the 650 hp Audi diesel was a bit outgunned by the 15,000 hp Harrier GR7, but "jumped" to an early lead off the line, only to lose by a nose at the kilometer mark. A crowd of 5,000 enjoyed the spectacle.
After Goodwood, McNish will join fellow Audi drivers Frank Biela, Emanuele Pirro and Dindo Capello in the U.S. to race the new R10 TDIs in the American Le Mans Series for Team Audi Sport North America. Their first appearance will be July 15-16 at the brand new Miller Motorsports Park road course near Salt Lake City, Utah, where the 4.5 mile circuit (the longest in North America) should give the R10s plenty of room to open up.
[Source: Audi]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Autonews 10:37AM (7/07/2006)
I'll bet on Audi R10
http://www.auto-power-girl.com
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Arsenic 6:30PM (7/07/2006)
Only by nose?! Wow, english militaries have much to learn from german constructors
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New Yorker 6:31PM (7/07/2006)
How many times has THIS been done?
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Lee Gibson 6:53PM (7/07/2006)
"english militaries have much to learn from german constructors"
I've got a better idea. Let's do a similar contest between a German STOVL combat jet and an Aston Martin DB9 Vantage race car.
Oh wait, there are no German STOVL combat jets. My bad.
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RacetrackOwner 8:13PM (7/07/2006)
"A crowd of 5,000 wondered why promoters keep arranging these clearly pointless stunts."
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Dirk Dundenburg 8:33PM (7/07/2006)
Pilot locks AGM-65 Maverick missile onto Audi exhaust and fires, Harrier wins.
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marko 9:33PM (7/07/2006)
wow commenters - way to poop on some good clean fun. How about a Bugatti v. R10 - that would be fun to watch.
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gbh 9:48PM (7/07/2006)
"A crowd of 5,000 wondered why promoters keep arranging these clearly pointless stunts."
Probably because people will show up to see it. Much akin to 'monster truck' racing/car crushing, beats me, but plenty of folks sure show up for it.
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Will 11:17PM (7/07/2006)
oh c'mon, this is obviously publicity, but just because you don't like it, or have seen it before, is no reason to be all poopy about it. If you don't like it, don't watch it. Otherwise, enjoy!
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epp_b 12:28AM (7/08/2006)
"A crowd of 5,000 wondered why promoters keep arranging these clearly pointless stunts."
What on Earth to you mean why? It's infintely cool, that's why! :P
And, hey...where's the video?!
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Tony 7:55AM (7/08/2006)
I very much agree with Dirk.
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alsyl 12:13PM (7/08/2006)
It's Schumacher vs. the Eurofighter all over again. Same race too i guess. The plane eventually ctaches the racecar and beats it to the finish.
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carbuzzard 3:26PM (7/08/2006)
How about vs an F-18 in its natural environment...the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln, the USS Ronald Reagan, etc, etc....
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takeo 6:56PM (7/08/2006)
Let's race the R10 and the Harrier from ground to 30,000 ft! I bet that R10 engine will run out of boost long before you hit that altitude.
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slurpeeman 3:01PM (7/09/2006)
Hmmm. The English military HAS leaned a lot from German engineers, isn't that why we have Anglo-Gernman consortiums like Panavia Aircraft GmbH, Eurofighter GmbH, and Atlas Elektronik???
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CSmit 3:26PM (7/09/2006)
Uhhh, for someone who likes to read other's insight on these topics, this string is way off. How about providing constructive posts on how this breakthrough of Diesel technology is so perfect in timing. It is far more feasible to sythesize Diesel from more than one feedstock. Soy, animal tallow, vegetable oil, fry ois that otherwise would be disposed of for a loss.
Cool, not only can I use the fry oil for cooking, but then I can run the truck that delivers my food when I am done with it. This particular vehicle, the R10, happens to run on a Shell product. Shell has liqefied natural gas into Diesel. Don't forget coal. There are some issues with emissions that must be dealt with in a resposible, motal approach. Destroying more of the environment at a faster rate is not a favorable trade off for not using foreign oil.
Since this country just might start off shore drilling, this would put the United States in a great position to wean itself of a considerable amount of foreign oil. There happens to be http://www.naturalgas.org/business/analysis.asp 1,980 TRILLION cubit feet, which equals 13,452 cubic miles of gas reserves in the United States land mass and coastal waters.
Mix the Audi Diesel Tech (expand to cars, trucks by liscensing technology to major auto producers) as well as the veggie, animal, coal, and natural gas processes for fuel production. Roll it out, and really change the situation in a matter of 4-5 years with no fooling around. Thoughts.
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