Racing with Professionals/MRS GT Racing: July 2012

Tuesday, 31 July 2012

918 Spyder prototype in attractive Martini Racing design

New edition of a successful partnership

918 Spyder prototype in attractive Martini Racing design

Stuttgart. Driving trials of the Porsche 918 Spyder are entering the next phase. A permanent fixture of the test programme for the 918 Spyder – and in the tuning process for all Porsche vehicles – is the 20.8 km long challenging Nürburgring-Nordschleife race circuit. After all, a lap time of less than seven minutes and 22 seconds is one of the development goals of the innovative super sports car with a plug-in hybrid drive.

The 918 Spyder combines a high-performance internal combustion engine with electric drives at the rear and front axles to achieve extraordinary driving performance and excellent efficiency. The system power of all three drives together is 770 hp. The car’s NEDC fuel consumption is forecast to be only around three litres per 100 km, which is equivalent to CO2 emissions of about 70 g/km. The monocoque, consisting of carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP), reduces the car’s weight and delivers remarkable rigidity and precision. Other highlights are the car’s fully variable aerodynamics, adaptive rear axle steering and “top pipes” exhaust system which routes the pipes upwards. All of this makes the Porsche 918 Spyder a super sports car for the future, even though the styling of the prototypes is reminiscent of historical models.

The latest test vehicle is now turning laps in the legendary Martini® Racing look of many historic Porsche race cars, particularly from the 1970s. More than nearly any other race car design, the Martini® Racing look quickly attained cult status in those times and is still in vogue today. Martini® was already the official partner of the Porsche factory team between 1973 and 1978. Back then, the attractively designed “Martini® Porsche” race cars with their numerous victories were a centre of conversation. These victories included finishing first overall at Targa-Florio in 1973, winning the Sports Car World Championship in 1976 and overall victories at the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1976 and 1977. As early as 1971, a Porsche 917 finished first in the legendary endurance race in Le Mans with the support of Martini®. Whether a Porsche 908, 917, 935 or 936 or one of various 911 RS or RSR models, common to all of these race cars was the memorable Martini® Racing design implemented in a wide variety of forms.

Now, a new edition of this successful partnership is making the Martini® Racing design exclusively available to the innovative 918 Spyder. Porsche AG and the Martini® brand, represented by Bacardi & Company Limited of Switzerland, have once again signed a partnership agreement to make this possible.

Communication Porsche AG
Technology Communication
Hermann-Josef Stappen

Porsche MOBIL1 Supercup Budapest: Mixed doubles in Budapest

Porsche MOBIL1 Supercup Budapest
Mixed doubles in Budapest

Last weekend the seventh and eighth run of the Porsche MOBIL1 Supercup took place in the outskirts of Budapest. Already on Saturday afternoon the race of Barcelona, which has been canceled in the last second, was repeated. MRS youngster Philipp Eng and the Swede Mats Karlsson started for the team from Lonsee.

The qualifying took place on Friday late afternoon, where in 45 minutes the starting grid for the race on Saturday and Sunday was determined. For both MRS drivers it was a premiere on the challenging Hungaroring, even more remarkable is the performance, both showed. At the end Philipp Eng positioned himself on the tenth starting position for the race on Saturday and on the eighth starting position for the race on Sunday with a lag of only a few tenths to the top. “We have keenly improved compared to the free practice. For me it was the first time on this track on a Porsche and therefore I struggled a little bit. But the car was really good and with P8 and P10 we have good starting positions”, said a happy Philipp Eng. Also the Swedish TV star Mats Karlsson considerably improved his lap times compared to the free practice and reached the starting positions 18 and 17.

The race on Saturday went extremely well for Philipp Eng. Until the half of the race Philipp Eng fought position for position with remarkable overtaking maneuvers to the sixth position and was able to defend his position to the finish. Eng’s teammate Mats Karlsson became a good 15th and gained points at his Hungary debut.

On Sunday morning the second race started by midsummer temperatures. Unfortunately the race of Philipp Eng was over after the first half. Lying on P8 he was hit on the rear wheel by an opponent and thereby the suspension was damaged. Mats Karlsson was able to improve his performance and finished the race as very good twelfth.

Karsten Molitor: „Actually we are really happy with the race weekend, although Philipp Eng missed out in the second race. And it is less useful that the initiator of the collision is punished with a grid penalty for the next race. At the first race on Saturday Philipp impressed with a great performance. For our Swedish guest the Supercup Weekend was for sure a great experience, he scored twice, what do you want more.”

Your MRS GT Racing Team

Ready for all your races.

Monday, 30 July 2012

24H. Spa: Audi clinch commanding one-two in dramatic Total 24 Hours of Spa

Audi clinch commanding one-two in dramatic Total 24 Hours of Spa

Audi underlined its endurance race pedigree with a commanding one-two performance in a gruelling Total 24 Hours of Spa, the fourth round of the Blancpain Endurance Series.

Andrea Piccini (ITA), Rene Rast (DEU) and Frank Stippler (DEU) in the Audi Sport Performance Cars Team Phoenix No.16 led home the No.1 WRT Audi R8 LMS ultra of Christopher Haase (DEU), Christopher Mies (DEU) and Stephane Ortelli (MCO).

It was the third major endurance victory for Audi in 2012 following success at the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Nurburgring 24 Hours.

“It was a hard race for us, especially because our top speed is not the best and we always had to take a lot of risks to overtake other cars. The Audi R8 was a tank this time and I’m very happy with the result and very relieved that the car lasted and so did we,” Stippler said.

Rast, a Spa debutant, added: “I didn’t expect to win my first 24 Hours of Spa. We had a lot of mixed conditions, Safety Cars, massive rain and aquaplaning to deal with but we got our strategy right and we had fast pit stops and made few mistakes.”

Second-placed Ortelli said: “First of all congratulations to the winners, you did such an amazing job, well done.

“I am really proud to be part of this Audi family. We had one legend here in Tom Kristensen but it also nice to share the podium with the likes of Frank (Stippler) who is also a legend and he deserves all the success he gets. It was a great fight and I can’t wait to come back.”

A crowd of over 53,000 witnessed a true classic – a battle against the Ardennes elements, physical and mental fatigue and mechanical durability. The race began and finished in sunshine but in between there was torrential rain and a spate of Safety Cars.

In the end it was Audi who came out on top after a race-long internal squabble and a separate duel with two front-running BMWs. Apart from a puncture and a small issue with a wheel-bearing after contact with a slower car, the Audi ran trouble-free.

The Vita4One Racing BMW trio of Mathias Lauda (DEU), Greg Franchi (BEL) and Frank Kechele (DEU) took third place, despite a last-lap puncture, while Marc VDS Racing took fourth with its BMW Z4 of Markus Palttala (FIN) and Belgians Bas Leinders and Maxime Martin.

“It was my first Spa 24 Hour race, it was extremely tough but I really enjoyed it,” Lauda said. “We knew the car was quick, Frank (Kechele) put the car on pole. We had the pace to win the race, but unfortunately we lost too much time at the beginning. We lost two laps when we were on slick tyres when it began to rain which cost us.”

Victory in the PRO-AM class went to the No.52 AF Corse Ferrari of Niek Hommerson (NLD), Louis Machiels (BEL), Andrea Bertolini (ITA) and Alessandro Pier Guidi (ITA). The car lost time when held in the pit lane under the Safety Car and overcame a gearbox downshift gremlin to secure its second successive class win in the Blancpain Endurance Series.

Bertolini said: “It is very difficult to manage a race like the Spa 24 hour race and I think the Race Director did an excellent job because in the night it was not easy, 67 cars, the conditions were extremely difficult and he made the right calls with the Safety Cars. For us drivers he made it easier and more safe and for this I want to say thank you to the Race Director and all his staff.”

The Gentlemen Trophy went to the First Motorsport Belgian Porsche squad of Steve van Bellingen, Bert Redant, Johan Van Loo and Armand Flumal who took a superb 17^th overall from 63^rd on the grid. They became the fourth different class winners of the season.

The Cup Class, for older generation cars, went to the all-Belgian SpeedLover Porsche 997 GT3 Cup No.95 of Kevin Balthazard, Christophe Bigourie, Rik Renmans and Raf Vleugels which saw off its class opposition.