It was a record setting day yesterday at Road Atlanta, with all four classes setting qualifying records including a blistering 1:06.242 by Stephane Sarrazin in his Peugeot 908 HDi to take the top overall spot. Peugeot has continually proved that it has a fast car, taking the last two pole positions at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but it was Audi on top at the end of that race. Allan McNish will be putting plenty of pressure on the Peugeot team, who qualified just .085 seconds behind the Peugeot in his Audi R10 TDI. In P2, Penske racing not only captured pole with a record qualifying time of 1:07.061, but also grabbed the top three spots. It was all Corvette Racing in GT1, but it will be a close race between the two Corvette who were separated by only .047 seconds. Finally, Risi Competizione qualified first in GT2 for the second straight year.
Coverage of the event starts today at 11:00 AM EST on SPEED TV today, with the green flag waving at 11:15. A NASCAR race splits up the coverage from 1:00 to 6:00 p.m. EST, but you can still watch the race on AmericanLeMans.com (as well as look up live timing and scoring) or listen in on XM channel 166. Full details of the qualifying and driver quotes can be found in the press release after the jump.
Click above for a high-res gallery of the Audi R10 in action
If Audi was a greater beneficiary of the "win on Sunday, sell on Monday" adage, they would have trounced Mercedes and BMW in sales long ago. The house of the four rings took the 24 Hours of Le Mans, then they claimed the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), and now Audi extends its arms once again to grab the European Le Mans Series championship (LMS) trophy.
In fact, by finishing first and fourth at Silverstone with two Audi R10s, Audi takes the driver's title (Alex Prémat and Mike Rockenfeller), the manufacturer's title, and the team title. It's only real competition was Peugeot, which walks away empty handed even though it won four of the five LMS races, had two cars on the podium at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and had pole position for every race. Next year's battle for Franco-German supremacy should be even better. Make the jump for Audi's press release.
Them's fightin' words, but when we're talking about a V10-powered version of the Audi R8, you'd better be taking them seriously. According to an Audi insider as reported by Auto Motor und Sport in Sweden, the more powerful R8 will set a new lap record for a production car at the Nurburgring. That would mean coming in under the 7:26 lap time claimed by the Corvette ZR1 (and taken by the Pagani Zonda F), and faster than the Nissan GT-R's 7:29, but the big question remains whether it could out-gun the GT-R V-Spec's purported 7:25.
The R8 V10 – with whatever name it will adopt – is expected to make its production-guise debut at the Paris Motor Show this coming October. That'll make for some delicious eye-candy, but the real treat will be to see how the German supercar holds up against the Americans and the Japanese on the 'Ring.
The 76th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans takes place this weekend, and just like last year, Audi and Peugeot will be duking it out in front with their diesel-powered LMP1 cars. The Audi R10 is a proven race machine, both durable and fast, but the Peugeot 908 has often times proved faster. Late yesterday at the first qualifying session for the endurance race, the 908 proved to be the fastest by far when it shattered the lap record at Le Mans by 7.8 seconds! The car was being driven by French driver Stephane Sarrazin, who man-handled the 908 around the track in 3 minutes and 18.513 seconds. A truly amazing feat, though what's more incredible is that the next five fastest times also beat the previous lap record, two of which were Audi R10s. Unfortunately, the second and third fastest times behind the fastest Peugeot 908 were two more Peugeot 908s. The Peugeot cars are clearly faster than the Audis so far in qualifying, but that was the case last year and Audi pulled out a win just like it has the past four years in a row. Unlike the Le Mans Series races where Peugeot has won the first three races so far this year, Le Mans is about endurance and Audi has proven seven out of the last eight years that it can last longer than the rest.
In the world of alternative power, not all fuels are created equal. This fact is true with ethanol, where the alcohol can be made using fairly inefficient processes, some of which involve corn, or using more advanced cellulosic methods which do not use a foodstock. Diesel too can come from either petroleum or from non-dino sources. You're probably aware that Audi has been assaulting various race tracks using its advanced diesel powered race cars, specifically its two-time Le Mans-winning R10 TDI, which has so far been running on what is known as gas-to-liquid (GTL) diesel fuel. With the 24 Hours of Le Mans just around the corner, Audi and Shell, the fuel provider for Audi's race team, have announced that the team will be blending a small amount of biomass-to-liquid (BTL) fuel into its secret mixture. Shell's BTL fuel is made from materials such as wood chips and will make its on-track debut on Sunday, June 1, as Audi's R10 TDI begins its official Le Mans testing.
We've been following the developments surrounding the V10-powered R8 for what seems like eons. But today, we received the most definitive proof yet; engine-bay shots and a video of a white prototype shot in Florida. According to members of AudiWorld, a few V10 mules have been handed out to current, and supposedly trustworthy, R8 owners for evaluation, sporting oval exhaust pipes and a revised fascia. While that's a rather unconventional move on Audi's part, it's proof that the automaker is getting ready to launch the new RS8 (or R10) in the near future.
Hit the jump to hear the V10-powered R8 stretching its legs.
It's been rumored for some time that Audi and Porsche would be teaming up to produce a handful of new models over the next five years. From a manufacturing standpoint, both automakers could benefit from shared development and production costs, while consumers would get their hands on some very compelling product.
The cornerstone of Audi's confusing salvo to "put old luxury on notice" is the expansion of its lineup to fill every conceivable niche. The extension of the "R" line of products – beginning with the R8 – is rumored to include a convertible version of Audi's midship V8 super coupe, along with an R4, R6 and an R10.
Details on the R6, which could slot in between Porsche's Cayman/Boxster and 911 range, and the R10 are scarce, but the next generation Boxster will share a platform with Audi, allowing the four-ringed crew to offer a midship coupe of its own. The R4 is expected to sport the TT's 2.0-liter TFSI four producing 268 hp or a 2.5-liter five-cylinder making upwards of 300 hp. Porsche and Audi are also likely to share everything from aluminum space frames to high-output diesels, torque-vectoring AWD systems and dual-clutch transmissions.
The only concern is how this massive amount of cross-pollination between brands could affect the sales of both automakers. Choice is good, but only if the market can sustain the amount of product being offered.
Despite confirmation from Audi that it will return to ALMS in 2008 with two R10 TDIs, apparently it's not officially official. It is well known that Audi holds extreme displeasure for ALMS regulation changes involving weight that were aimed at keeping the LMP1 vehicles like the R10 in close running with the less powerful LMP2 vehicles. Audi believes that the adjustments went too far, as the Penske Porsche RS Sypders won 8 out of 12 races in the 2007 season. For 2008, a 50 kg (110 lb) weight penalty will be imposed on the LMP2 cars for the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, and Audi hopes to see IMSA implement the same weight penalty before it decides it will return to ALMS. When asked, Audi would also not go into detail on whether they would accept the rumored compromise of a 25 kg (55 lb) weight penalty. Come on, IMSA. The ALMS without Audi is a lot less attractive.
To say that Audi has been successful in motorsports the past few years would be a gross understatement. Both the diesel-powered R8 and R10 TDI LMP1 race cars have dominated the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the American Le Mans Series, while Audi A4-based race cars have also been champions in DTM racing. For 2008, Audi is going whole hog into motorsports, investing more money and cars into these two successful series. Audi will be going for its sixth victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans next June with three R10 race cars, and in addition to entering another two R10 TDIs in the American Le Mans Series, it will also field a pair in the Le Mans Series in Europe. Aside from the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, this will be the first time the Audi R10 TDI and Peugeot 908 HDi, both powered by diesel engines, square off on a regular basis. Lucas Luhr, who previously could be found driving in the DTM series, will also make the switch to the Audi R10 TDI in the Le Mans Series.
While we spent the entire last season of the American Le Mans Series watching the Audi R10 TDI duke it out with the entire LMP2 field, the Le Mans Series in Europe featuring Audi versus Peugeot will be where the best racing can be had. Too bad SPEED hardly shows anything but NASCAR now.
Click image for a high-res gallery of Michelin booth pics by Drew Phillips
At last year's SEMA show, one of our favorite booths by far was the one from Michelin, which brought together the world's fastest supercars for one massive display of speed. We eagerly anticipated what they had in store for us this year, and we headed straight for it. It would have been virtually impossible for Michelin to top itself, but they sure made a stab at it. While last year focused on production cars, the display this year was broadened to feature tuner cars as well as race cars. Taking the unique approach of having a production model, tuner version and race car from three prominent manufacturers, Michelin showed us that they build a tire for all sectors of the automotive kingdom. While we were particularly fond of the Audi R8 by APR, there was also a Champion Motorsport F77 Turbo and out back a Lingenfelter Corvette sporting 1,100 HP. Race cars included the R10 from Audi, an RS Spyder from Porsche, and a Corvette C6.R as well. While a production R8 and GT3 RS represented the stock crowd for the German marques, the Corvette slot was left suspiciously vacant, perhaps giving us a preview of what shoes the ZR1 might be donning for its debut. Nice follow-up, Michelin.
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