Autoblog

Click above to see what the Vanishing Point Challenger looked like before

The Chrysler employees who entered the prototype Dodge Challenger in this year's One Lap of America may have taken the car's Vanishing Point theme a bit too seriously. Just like in the classic film, the stark white Challenger came face to face with a solid object. The car met its demise in Round 2's time trial event at Road America after getting loose through turn 1. It then left the track and came to a stop perched atop a tire-wall. This course of events departs slightly from the original movie plot, where the Challenger did not meet its destructive fate until the final frames. The film version also somehow managed to survive its own slew of off road adventures without much harm, proving that Hollywood doesn't necessarily mimic real life. Fortunately the Challenger driver, Erich Heuschele, came away from his off track excursion unscathed. The crew has reported that the car will be out for the remainder of events, though it was spotted leaving the track under its own power so a return might be a slim possibility. Check out the source link below for more images of the carnage.



5/4/08 - 2:40 PM EST - UPDATE: The team came back today with a second, orange Challenger, but since One Lap rules forbid changing cars mid-campaign, they're out of the running for points. On a related side note: one of the Chrysler employees drove the wrecked Challenger some 200 miles with no mechanical issues. The vehicle is current at a friend's shop, being repaired and prepped for the upcoming Targa Newfoundland Rally.

[Source: Car Domain Blog]

click above image for gallery of Audi's battle with Porsche at Road America

Speaking of calling your shots, Audi said prior to Round Eight of the American Le Mans Series at Road America this past weekend that its LMP1 R10 diesel racers were poised to steal an outright victory from the LMP2 cars. The R10s, they surmised, were better suited to the 4.0-mile track with its long straights than the LMP2 cars. Though performing well in qualifying and leading most of the race, the Audis ultimately lost to a Penske Porsche RS Spyder in the LMP2 class, the nearest one 1.783 seconds back. Both Audis picked up fuel and tires in their final pit stops, while driver Timo Bernhard opted for only fuel in his Porsche. Ironically, what really did the Audis in was their lack of cooperation during the final laps. Rather than allowing one of the cars to charge ahead and overtake Bernhard in the LMP2 Porsche, the Audis passed each other multiple times, as if they were competing against each other for the LMP1 win. The R10 driven by Dindo Capello and Allan McNish ultimately finished first in LMP1, just 0.706 seconds ahead of the R10 driven by Emanuele Pirro and Marco Werner. Lot of good it did them, especially considering Road America was their best change this season at an overall victory, which they haven't enjoyed since March in St. Petersburg.

Check out a gallery of the Audi and Porsche battle below, complete with descriptive captions from Getty.

[Source: ALMS, Audi]

click image for high-res version suitable as desktop wallpaper

The "1" in "LMP1" is supposed to signify that this is the top class in the ALMS. But for a good stretch of this season, the top of the podium has featured LMP2 cars, instead. For Audi, long the top P1 team, it is particularly troublesome that German rival Porsche is the team ahead of them during this P1 slump. And as they head to Road America for the next round of the series, they are saying "enough is enough." Audi is telling anyone who will listen that the Porsches are going down. If that sounds cocky, it shouldn't. Audi should be confident here as they've never lost a race at this familiar course in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The fast track should allow that big diesel to run free and show off all of its torque once again.

Since an LMP2 car has outright won the last five races in a row, the governing body of the ALMS has decided to slow the class down for the 2008 season by adding mandatory weight to each car. Now, if that sounds like the ALMS is helping Audi win, it is. But the rules should favor the LMP1 class to win, and five losses in a row for the class means something is amiss, so a little tweaking is understandable.

Full press release with weekend schedule after the jump.

[Source: Audi Motorsport]

Despite the decision by American Le Mans Series officials to handicap both Audi R10 race cars in Round 7 at Road America, the two diesel-powered LMP1 race cars, one driven by Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro and the other by Allan McNish and Dindo Capello, won the race with the team's second successive 1-2 finish.

The Audi teams were racing against competing LMP1 Lolas from the Dyson team that were allowed to compete with 143 lbs. less, a decision made by ALMS officials to even the playing field. It didn't work, as both Audis overcame some hairy contact with the field on the first lap to finish the race in an all out duel.

Though both cars started on the pole (Allan McNish set a new ALMS track record in qualifying), the R10 driven by Frank Biela was forced off the track on the first lap and he spent the rest of the race charging the back of the field and eventually catching his teammate in the other R10. After McNish handed his R10 over to co-driver Capello, the pair lost the lead to their charging teammates and finished 0.4 seconds behind the R10 driven by Pirro. Round 8 of the AMLS will be in two weeks at Mosport in Canada.

[Source: Audi]

A couple of years ago the thought of a diesel-powered race car would've made all but the most die-hard diesel fans laugh out loud. Today, however, Audi is dominating the American Le Mans Series with its pair of diesel-powered R10 racers. Their domination is so thorough, in fact, that ALMS organizers have decided to grant their competition concessions so they can keep up.

At this weekend's round of racing at Road America, the competing LM P1 Lolas from the Dyson team will be allowed to race with 143 pounds less than the R10s. At the following race at Mosport the Lolas will be given a five-liter larger fuel tank, as well. These concessions seem to be aimed at making up the gap in power and fuel economy the R10s enjoy over their gas-powered competitors.

The decision by ALMS officials to change the rules in the middle of the series have cast doubt about Audi's future participation in the series, though the team plans to tough it out for the time being. Road America's long 4-mile track should suit the R10's abilities, despite the fact Audi engineers calculate the cars will be giving up 1.3 seconds per lap due to their weight disadvantage.

[Source: Audi]