WTCC/News

F1 AND WTCC CARS RAN DOWNTOWN BUDAPEST The city of Budapest and Hungary’s motorsport fans enjoyed a tasty appetizer to this week’s WTCC event last Tuesday, when a McLaren F1 and four WTCC cars ran along the streets of the capital city. The spectacular event was organized by the Hungaroring to promote both the Formula One Grand Prix and the WTCC races. Hungarian drivers Norbert Michelisz and Gábor Wéber with their Zengö Motorsport BMW 320 TC cars, Tom Boardman in his Special Tuning Racing’s SEAT León TDi and Pasquale Di Sabatino’s Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T took turns with Jenson Button’s McLaren F1 to accelerate on a four-kilometres street-course from the central Erzsébet tér (Elizabeth square) and along Bajcsy-Zsilinszky and Alkotmány utca. In a sunny and hot afternoon nearly 500,000 spectators crowded along the streets to watch the racing cars at speed.

THOMPSON TESTED THE LADA AT MAGNY-COURS The WTCC LADA Granta Sport moved its first steps Tuesday at Magny-Cours, close to the ORECA workshop where the Russian car has been prepared before its maiden appearance in the World Championship this weekend at the Hungaroring. The test was short and the Granta, driven by James Thompson, ran without any technical problems. “I was very pleased with the results of this first test,” said the Englishman who will drive the LADA Granta Sport at Budapest and then again in the Algarve, “Everybody at LADA Sport and ORECA has worked tirelessly on the project, and it was fantastic to be back behind the wheel. Our first test was very encouraging. Both the engine and chassis performed well and big progressive steps can be made from this point onwards. I'm very excited for this weekend in Hungary, to measure ourselves against the competitors is essential for our development year, especially as we need to be fully prepared for the next season.”  As the Russian car has been accepted according to art 10 B) of the Sporting Regulations, on the basis of a national homologation, Thompson is not eligible to score points in the drivers’ championship, nor to qualify for Q2.

SEAT CARS LADEN BY MAXIMUM BALLAST Following the brilliant performance – and first victory – of the SEAT León WTCC last weekend at the Slovakia Ring, the Spanish car will be laden by the maximum 60-kilo compensation weight at the Hungaroring. This means an increase of 20 kilos compared to the Slovak event and also that the SEAT cars will be on the same weight as the BMW 320 TC and the Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T that remains the reference car according to the calculation based on the lap times set in the three previous events (Spain, Morocco and Slovakia). Time gaps among these three cars are extremely close, with the BMW and SEAT slower than the Chevrolet by one and two tenths of a second respectively. The other cars will benefit from reductions of their minimum weights: 10 kilos for the Ford Focus S2000 and 20 kilos for the SEAT León TDi and SUNRED León 1.6T. The newcomer LADA Granta Sport has been accepted according to art 10 B) of the Sporting Regulations, meaning that it will receive a ballast of 20 kg. Compensation weight Hungaroring+ 40 kg         Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T, BMW 320 TC, SEAT León WTCC± 0 kg           LADA Granta Sport (+ 20 kg, art 10 B)- 10 kg          Ford Focus S2000- 20 kg          SEAT León TDi, SUNRED León 1.6T

EUROSPORT TV PROGRAMMES FROM HUNGARORING * Saturday, 5 May - 14.00/14.45 : WTCC Qualifying – LIVE, Eurosport 2 Sunday, 6 May - 08.45/09.15 : WTCC Warm Up – LIVE, Eurosport 1 Sunday, 6 May - 11.00/12.00 : WTCC Race 1 – LIVE, Eurosport 1 Sunday, 6 May - 14.15/15.15 : WTCC Race 2 – LIVE, Eurosport 1 Tuesday, 8 May - 23.30/00.00 : Inside WTCC, Eurosport 1  * all times CET Fabio Ravaioli/Media Delegate.

Fastest qualifying time for Porsche in the GTE Am class

World Endurance Championship, round 2 in Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium

Fastest qualifying time for Porsche in the GTE Am class

Stuttgart. A good starting position for Porsche at round two of the new World Endurance Championship in Spa-Francorchamps: During qualifying on the demanding Ardennes circuit, Nicolas Armindo (France) achieved the fastest time in the GTE Am class with the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR fielded by IMSA Performance Matmut. In the GTE Pro category, Porsche works driver Marc Lieb (German) planted his Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, which he shares with his factory pilot colleague Richard Lietz (Austria), on the fourth grid spot. In free practice, Lieb posted the quickest time.

“We are not totally satisfied because we were much faster in free practice yesterday,” said Marc Lieb. “In my first two laps, the car’s balance was not so great, and then I encountered quite a lot of traffic on the circuit. Position two on the grid would have been realistic, but over a six hour race it doesn’t play such a big role. Since Sebring our vehicle has generally improved, we made good progress there. We’re now working on those few tenths of seconds that we need.”

The IMSA Performance Matmut squad, who are focussing on the European Le Mans Series this season, regards the Spa round as training for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. “We are very happy with our performance,” said Nicolas Armindo, the 2010 champion of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland. “We’ve shown that we can also match the pace of the leaders in international GT racing. We don’t yet know what the weather is going to do tomorrow, but right now we’re very pleased as pole-sitters.”

The six hour race starts on Saturday at 14.30 hours. Eurosport 2 broadcasts the race live from 19.00 to 20.30 hrs, Eurosport televises highlights on 9 May from 00.00 to 01.00 hr.


Result Qualifying

GTE Pro class
1. Makowiecki/Melo (F/BRA), Ferrari F458 Italia, 2:19.770 minutes
2. Fisichella/Bruni (I/I), Ferrari F458 Italia + 0.343 seconds
3. Fernandez/Mücke/Turner (MEX/D/GB), Aston Martin Vantage, + 0.457
4. Lieb/Lietz (D/A), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, + 0.481
5. Bertolini/Beretta (I/MC), Ferrari F458 Italia, + 1.115

GTE Am class
1. Armindo/Narac/Pons (F/F/F), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 2:21.640 minutes
2. Perazzini/Cioci/Griffin (I/I/IRL), Ferrari F458 Italia, + 0.335 seconds
3. Ehret/Montecalvo/Jeannette (D/USA/USA), Ferrari F458 Italia, + 0.422
7. Camathias/Palttala/Daniels (CH/SF/GB), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, + 2.935
8. Ried/Roda/Ruberti (D/I/I), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, + 3.718


The World Endurance Championship
Sports prototypes and GT vehicles race in the new World Endurance Championship. They are divided into four classes that start together but are classified separately:
LMGTE Pro class: This class is reserved for slightly modified standard sports cars with 440 to 500 hp and a minimum weight of 1,245 kilograms (e.g. Porsche 911 GT3 RSR).
LMGTE Am class: Like the LMGTE Pro, but the regulations stipulate that only last year’s cars are eligible and there must be no more than one professional driver per vehicle.
LMP1 class: Sports prototypes with up to 550 hp and a minimum weight of 900 kilograms.
LMP2 class: Sports prototypes with around 440 hp and a 900 kilogram minimum weight.

Communication Porsche AG
Motorsportpress
Oliver Hilger

The beginning of a new era at Audi

The beginning of a new era at Audi

• Audi R18 e-tron quattro to contest its first race
• Six more weeks to go before the start of the 2012 Le Mans 24 Hours
• Technologies from the Le Mans sports car are relevant for production
vehicles as well

Ingolstadt, May 4, 2012 – The race debut of the Audi R18 e-tron quattro at Spa-
Francorchamps this weekend signifies the beginning of a new era at Audi. For the
first time ever, a Le Mans sports car with diesel hybrid drive and two driven axles
will compete in a race. For Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, this is
arguably the most challenging project in the more than 30-year history of Audi
Sport.
Audi previously marked milestones at Le Mans with TFSI gasoline direct injection
(first victory in 2001) and TDI diesel power (first victory in 2006). Now, at round two
of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) at Spa, the company’s first diesel
hybrid sports car will be contesting its first race. The birth of the idea for an LMP
vehicle with diesel hybrid power and quattro drive at Audi Sport dates back several
years though.
“We started to think about the hybridization of a Le Mans sports car relatively soon
after the first TDI successes,” reveals Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich.
“A concrete opportunity for this materialized when it became clear that the
regulations would be permitting such an option.” In 2008, the Le Mans organizer
ACO announced this forward-thinking approach and since 2009 the regulations have
expressly been allowing energy recovery systems for LMP1 cars. The complexity of
the related tasks is shown by the fact that in 2012 Audi is the first automobile
manufacturer to field such an LMP1 vehicle in a race.
As usual, the project at Audi Sport commenced with concept studies. “Naturally, we
were again able to benefit from the resources of the Technical Development division
at AUDI AG,” stresses Dr. Ullrich. “Right from the beginning of the project, we
intensively liaised with our colleagues on the production side of the house where
concepts are created and examined for future road vehicles. They worked out a
solution in which one of the axles is driven by the power supplied by an internal
combustion engine and the other by the power from an electric motor. This defines
a new form of quattro drive – the e-tron quattro. We’re also pursuing this strategy
in racing, which again puts us on the front row. Not only because we’ll be the first at
Spa to contest a race with such a concept in an LMP race car, but because production
development will be able to benefit from our system in the future as well.”
For the R18 e-tron quattro, Audi has developed a concept in which the V6 TDI
engine drives the rear axle. On the front axle, the energy is electrically recuperated
und fed into a flywheel energy storage system which can return it to the front
wheels during acceleration. This means that there is no mechanical link between the
front and rear wheel drives. The interaction is completely controlled by complex
electronic systems.
“The decision in favor of flywheel energy storage was made based on the specific
requirements relating to racing,” explains Dr. Ullrich. “That’s also why a battery
system is currently out of the question in view of our ultra lightweight design. But I
can safely state that the things we’re testing with flywheel energy storage are of
interest to our production colleagues too. The combination of different systems is
an aspect that will have to be considered in various applications in the future.”
An Audi R8 GT provided the base for the first trials. “In the initial phase of the
concept development for the R18 e-tron quattro when we wanted to get a trial
vehicle off the ground as quickly as possible we came up with the idea of using the
R8 GT as the base for it,” says Dr. Ullrich. “The implementation was possible at
relatively high levels of efficiency and we managed to package all the subsequent
original components of the R18 e-tron quattro at the front end of the R8. That’s
how our prototype for initial set-up and concept work was created.”
In the development phase up to the finished race car, Audi set ambitious goals for
developing the R18 e-tron quattro with support from various partners. Audi Sport
has a track record of successfully managing numerous major technological
challenges – from the brand’s first carbon fiber race car in 1999 through to TFSI
gasoline direct injection and the TDI project. Building a sports prototype with a
conventionally driven rear axle and an electrified front axle is an accomplishment
that ranks at a particularly high level in Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich’s book: “A look at the
timeline for the project since the beginning of 2010 shows that the e-tron quattro
with its highly complex technological content and plenty of new territory was no
doubt one of the most challenging projects we’ve ever had. At the same time, we
should not forget that the R18 ultra as the lightest car ever built by Audi Sport
created the prerequisites for hybridization in the first place. The overall complexity
of this project is enormous.”

Note to editors: Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich will be providing personal insights into all the
new technologies used in the Audi R18 e-tron quattro and the Audi R18 ultra in a
series of six releases before the Le Mans 24 Hours (June 16/17).

Audi Sport.

Successful On Track Debut for New Audi Hybrid / entrée en piste réussie pour l’Audi hybride

Successful On Track Debut for New Audi Hybrid  / entrée en piste réussie pour l’Audi hybride  The cool temperatures (11°C air and 15°C on the ground) and high humidity did not upset the competitors during the first free practice session which took place without major incident, as the drivers made their first laps of the week on this very demanding circuit. The Audi R18 e-tron quattro diesel hybrid, which made its first official appearance this morning made an instant impression on the track with the fastest time achieved by the winning crew of the Le Mans 24 Hours 2011 in car #1. With a lap of 2'04'' 434, Benoit Treluyer certainly did not beat the track record, but showed that the hybrid car already has a remarkable turn of speed. The second Audi hybrid fell between the two conventionally powered Audi R18 Ultra, the new version of the R18 prototype for 2012. The two new Lola-Toyotas of Rebellion Racing and the Dome of Pescarolo Team also had a sucessful track debut. The Ferrari #51 of AF Corse set the fastest time in LMGTE Pro with a lap in 2'20''915, in the expert hands of Gianmaria Bruni and Giancarlo Fisichella. However, Porsche and Aston Martin were not far adrift; Marc Lieb for Felbermayr-Proton and Adrian Fernandez for Aston Martin Racing finishing only a few tenths behind. In LMGTE Am, however, Porsche took control with a time of 2'23''135 set by Paolo Ruberti and the Felbermayr-Proton team (who are also entered in LMGTE Pro), followed by Nicolas Armindo and IMSA performance Matmut. A Ferrari, the 458 Italia #81 of AF Corse, completes the top three. RESULT FREE PRACTICE ONE 1 1 AUDI SPORT TEAM JOEST M. Fässler / A. Lotterer / B. Tréluyer Audi R18 e-tron quattro LMP1 M        2:04.434 2 3 AUDI SPORT TEAM JOEST R. Dumas / L. Duval / M. Gené Audi R18 Ultra LMP1 M                              +0.044 3 2 AUDI SPORT TEAM JOEST D. Capello / T. Kristensen / A. McNish Audi R18 e-tron quattro LMP1 M     +0.382 4 4 AUDI SPORT NORTH AMERICA M. Bonanomi / O. Jarvis Audi R18 Ultra LMP1 M                                 +0.403 5 13 REBELLION RACING A. Belicchi / H. Primat Lola B12/60 Coupé - Toyota LMP1 M                               +2.433 6 12 REBELLION RACING N. Prost / N. Jani / N. Heidfeld Lola B12/60 Coupé - Toyota LMP1 M          +2.615 The second free practice session, which began 25 minutes late due to an incident in Radical Masters, one of the support races, was also been shortened after the Lola-Judd of Status GP left the track at the top of the steep slope of Eau Rouge. The Audi hybrid #1 driven by Fässler, Lotterer and Treluyer, the winning trio of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2011, once again set the fastest time of the session with a lap of 2'03''075, credited to the German speaking driver, well known to fans of Japanese championship Formula Nippon and SuperGT. Allan McNish, Oliver Jarvis and Loïc Duval complete the top four, followed by former Formula 1 driver Nick Heidfeld in the Lola-Toyota #12 of Rebellion Racing. Olivier Pla led the way in LMP2 with the Morgan-Judd #24 of OAK Racing with a time of 2'10'058, improving by nearly six tenths of the time achieved by Soheil Ayari before the lunch break. The Lola-Judd of Status GP occupied second place, (as it did in the first free practice session), before leaving the track. Third was the Oreca-Nissan #26 of Signatech-Nissan driven by Nelson Panciatici, a rookie in endurance racing who has adapted quickly to his new discipline. Porsche took control of LMGTE Pro, with factory driver Marc Lieb, who set a lap time of 2'19''668. The German driver who holds a PhD, was the only driver in the class down below 2'20 despite repeated efforts of Darren Turner for Aston Martin and Gianmaria Bruni for Ferrari (AF Corse). The domination of Porsche in the GT classes was total at the end of the afternoon, Nicolas Armindo climbing to the front of LMGTE Am for IMSA Performance Matmut with a lap of 2'21'' 874 or more a second ahead of the #70 Corvette of Larbre Competition. The #88 Porsche Team Felbermayr-Proton was demoted to third position, having been fastest after the first session. The cars and drivers take the track tomorrow morning for a final practice session before tackling qualification in the afternoon. RESULT FREE PRACTICE 2 1 1 AUDI SPORT TEAM JOEST M. Fässler / A. Lotterer / B. Tréluyer Audi R18 e-tron quattro LMP1 M               2:03.075 2 2 AUDI SPORT TEAM JOEST D. Capello / T. Kristensen / A. McNish Audi R18 e-tron quattro LMP1 M           +0.336 3 4 AUDI SPORT NORTH AMERICA M. Bonanomi / O. Jarvis Audi R18 Ultra LMP1 M                                        +0.345 4 3 AUDI SPORT TEAM JOEST R. Dumas / L. Duval / M. Gené Audi R18 Ultra LMP1 M                                     +0.794 5 12 REBELLION RACING N. Prost / N. Jani / N. Heidfeld Lola B12/60 Coupé - Toyota LMP1 M                         +3.237 6 17 PESCAROLO TEAM S. Bourdais / N. Minassian Dome S102.5 - Judd LMP1 M                                      +4.438                                                                                                  CLICK HERE for full results from Free Practice 1 and Free Practice 2 entrée en piste réussie pour l’Audi hybride Les températures fraîches (11 degrés à l’air et 15 degrés au sol) et l’humidité ambiante n’ont pas perturbés les concurrents au cours de la première séance d’essais libres qui s’est déroulée sans incident particulier, les pilotes prenant leurs marques sur un circuit très exigeant en termes de pilotage. L’Audi R18 e-tron quattro à moteur diesel hybride, qui faisait sa première apparition officielle n’a pas manqué son entrée en piste avec le meilleur temps, réalisé par l’équipage vainqueur des 24 Heures du Mans 2011 sur la voiture n°1. Avec un tour en 2’04’’434, Benoît Tréluyer n’a certes pas battu le record de la piste, mais a montré que la voiture hybride possède déjà une pointe de vitesse remarquable. La seconde Audi hybride s’intercale entre les deux Audi R18 Ultra à moteur diesel classique, le prototype version 2012 du constructeur d’Ingolstadt. Les deux nouvelles Lola-Toyota de Rebellion Racing et la Dome de Pescarolo Team ont, elles aussi, réussi leur entrée en matière. En LMP2, l’Oreca-Nissan de Pecom Racing a signé le meilleur temps en 2’10’’646 grâce à Soheil Ayari, mais la Lola de Status GP a échoué à moins d’un dixième de l’équipe argentine. Les quatre premières voitures sont regroupées dans la même seconde, ce qui promet une bagarre des plus intéressantes pendant la course. La Ferrari n°51 d’AF Corse s’est montrée la plus véloce avec un temps de 2’20’’915 dans la catégorie LMGTE Pro, aux mains expertes de Gianmaria Bruni et Giancarlo Fisichella. Porsche et Aston Martin n’ont toutefois pas donné leur dernier mot puisque Marc Lieb pour Felbermayr-Proton et Adrian Fernandez pour Aston Martin Racing finissent à quelques dixièmes seulement des pilotes transalpins. En LMGTE Am, en revanche, Porsche a pris les commandes en 2’23’’135 grâce à Paolo Ruberti et l’écurie Felbermayr-Proton, engagée aussi bien en LMGTE Pro qu’en LMGTE Am, mais aussi à Nicolas Armindo et IMSA Performance Matmut. Une Ferrari, la 458 Italia n°81 d’AF Corse, complète le trio de tête. RESULT FREE PRACTICE ONE 1 1 AUDI SPORT TEAM JOEST M. Fässler / A. Lotterer / B. Tréluyer Audi R18 e-tron quattro LMP1 M        2:04.434 2 3 AUDI SPORT TEAM JOEST R. Dumas / L. Duval / M. Gené Audi R18 Ultra LMP1 M                              +0.044 3 2 AUDI SPORT TEAM JOEST D. Capello / T. Kristensen / A. McNish Audi R18 e-tron quattro LMP1 M     +0.382 4 4 AUDI SPORT NORTH AMERICA M. Bonanomi / O. Jarvis Audi R18 Ultra LMP1 M                                 +0.403 5 13 REBELLION RACING A. Belicchi / H. Primat Lola B12/60 Coupé - Toyota LMP1 M                               +2.433 6 12 REBELLION RACING N. Prost / N. Jani / N. Heidfeld Lola B12/60 Coupé - Toyota LMP1 M          +2.615 La deuxième séance d’essais libres, qui a débuté avec 25 minutes de retard suite à la sortie de piste d’un pilote de Radical Masters, l’une des courses support, a de plus été raccourcie après que la Lola-Judd de Status GP a quitté la piste en haut du raidillon de l’Eau Rouge. L’Audi à moteur hybride n°1 du trio Fässler/Lotterer/Tréluyer, vainqueurs des 24 Heures du Mans en 2011, a une fois encore réalisé le meilleur temps de la session avec un tour en 2’03’’075, à mettre au crédit de l’Allemand francophone, bien connu des fans des championnats japonais SuperGT et Formula Nippon. Allan McNish, Oliver Jarvis et Loïc Duval complètent le quatuor de tête, suivi de l’ancien pilote de Formule 1 Nick Heidfeld sur la Lola-Toyota n°12 de Rebellion Racing. Olivier Pla s’est illustré en LMP2 avec la Morgan-Judd n°24 d’OAK Racing en réalisant un temps de 2’10'058, améliorant de près de six dixièmes le temps réalisé par Soheil Ayari avant la pause méridienne. La Lola-Judd de Status GP occupait la deuxième place du classement, comme lors de la première session d’essais libres, avant de sortir de la piste devant l’Oreca-Nissan n°26 de Signatech-Nissan de Nelson Panciatici, rookie en endurance, qui s’est adapté rapidement à sa nouvelle discipline. Porsche a repris la main en LMGTE Am puisque Marc Lieb, pilote usine du constructeur allemand, a signé un tour en 2’19’’668. Le pilote allemand titulaire d’un doctorat a été le seul pilote de la catégorie à descendre sous la barre des 2’20 dans la catégorie, malgré les efforts répétés de Darren Turner pour Aston Martin et Gianmaria Bruni pour Ferrari (AF Corse). La domination de Porsche a été totale en GT en cette fin d’après-midi, Nicolas Armindo se hissant aux avant-postes pour le compte de l’écurie IMSA Performance Matmut avec un tour en 2’21’’874, soit plus d’une seconde devant la Corvette n°70 de Larbre Compétition. La Porsche n°88 de Team Felbermayr-Proton occupe finalement la troisième position, alors qu’elle pointait au premier rang à l’issue de la première session. Les pilotes et les voitures prendront la piste demain matin pour une dernière séance d’essais libres avant de s’attaquer aux qualifications dans l’après-midi. RESULT FREE PRACTICE 2 1 1 AUDI SPORT TEAM JOEST M. Fässler / A. Lotterer / B. Tréluyer Audi R18 e-tron quattro LMP1 M               2:03.075 2 2 AUDI SPORT TEAM JOEST D. Capello / T. Kristensen / A. McNish Audi R18 e-tron quattro LMP1 M           +0.336 3 4 AUDI SPORT NORTH AMERICA M. Bonanomi / O. Jarvis Audi R18 Ultra LMP1 M                                        +0.345 4 3 AUDI SPORT TEAM JOEST R. Dumas / L. Duval / M. Gené Audi R18 Ultra LMP1 M                                     +0.794 5 12 REBELLION RACING N. Prost / N. Jani / N. Heidfeld Lola B12/60 Coupé - Toyota LMP1 M                         +3.237 6 17 PESCAROLO TEAM S. Bourdais / N. Minassian Dome S102.5 - Judd LMP1 M                                      +4.438                                                                                                  CLICK HERE for full results from Free Practice 1 and Free Practice 2  Jeff Carter/Media Delegate.

Toyota TS030 Photographed at Spa

Toyota TS030 Photographed at Spa

This weekend Round 2 of the FIA World Endurance Championship will take place at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, with the race debut of the new hybrid Audi R18 e-tron quattro.  Unfortunately the Toyota challenger for the World title suffered a setback in testing a few weeks ago and the Japanese manufacturer was forced to delay the race debut of its hybrid challenger, the TS030, until the 24 Heures du Mans in June. 

However the Toyota TS030 made a small detour to Spa when travelling from the team base in Cologne on the way to the next test at Magny Cours and was photographed with its rival, the Audi R18 e-tron.

Today at 3pm a press conference will be held at Spa-Francorchamps to discuss the new hybrid technology and representatives from Audi and Toyota will be present including Dr Wolfgang Ullrich, Head of Audi Motorsport and Mr Yoshiaki Kinoshita, Toyota Motorsport Team President.

La deuxième manche du Championnat du Monde d’Endurance de la FIA, qui se déroulera le weekend prochain à Spa-Francorchamps en Belgique, verra les débuts de la nouvelle R18 e-tron quattro à moteur hybride d’Audi. Malheureusement, un incident lors d’une séance d’essais en avril dernier a contraint Toyota, son principal rival pour le titre mondial, à repousser les débuts de la TS030, son nouveau prototype hybride, aux 24 Heures du Mans en juin prochain.

Toutefois, la Toyota TS030, partant de sa base de Cologne et en route vers Magny-Cours pour une nouvelle séance d’essais, a fait un détour par Spa pour une séance de photos avec sa rivale, l’Audi R18 e-tron.

Une conférence de presse portant sur la nouvelle technologie hybride aura lieu cet après-midi à 15 heures à Spa-Francorchamps avec des représentants d’Audi et de Toyota, notamment, le Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, directeur d’Audi Motorsport, et M. Yoshiaki Kinoshita, président de Toyota Motorsport.

Jeff Carter/Media Press Delegate/FIA-WEC.

Photos: MacLean Photographic

World Endurance Championship, round 2 in Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium Porsche pilots look forward to a very special challenge

World Endurance Championship, round 2 in Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium

Porsche pilots look forward to a very special challenge

Stuttgart. On the storied Spa-Francorchamps race track in Belgium round two of the World Endurance Championship is held on 5th May. Porsche works drivers Marc Lieb (Germany) and Richard Lietz (Austria) contest the LMGTE Pro class at the wheel of Felbermayr-Proton’s Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. At the season-opening race in Sebring/USA, the pair finished in second and with this celebrated a great start into the new long distance world championship.

The race

Spa-Francorchamps is one of the classic venues on the calendar of the new World Endurance Championship. The race runs over six hours like all other rounds except the twelve hour race in Sebring and the Le Mans 24 hour race.

The circuit

The 7.004 kilometre Circuit Spa-Francorchamps is one of the most interesting and demanding race tracks in the world. 1954 marked the first sports car race to run on the Ardennes track which stands for fascinating motorsport history with triumphs and tragedies. Spa-Francorchamps is most famous for its daunting Eau Rouge corner.

The Porsche drivers

Porsche works drivers Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz contest the GTE Pro class at the wheel of Felbermayr-Proton’s Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. Christian Ried (Germany), Porsche Cup winner Gianluca Roda (Italy) and Paolo Ruberti (Italy) are keen to repeat their victory from Sebring in the GTE Am class, where only last year’s cars and one professional race driver per vehicle are permitted. The Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Ried and Roda is also entered by Felbermayr-Proton.

The Porsche 911 GT3 RSR

As the top model of Porsche Motorsport’s customer racing vehicles, the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR headed into the 2012 racing season with extensive modifications. Particularly noticeable is the widening of the body by 48 millimetres. The aero kit is supplemented by a new intake air ducting. The particularly efficient six-cylinder boxer engine generates 460 hp (338 kW) with a mandatory air restrictor and drives the 310 millimetre wide rear wheels. The diameter of the front wheels has increased to 680 millimetres.

Porsche successes

On the Circuit Spa-Francorchamps Porsche celebrated not only endurance wins in the glorious seventies and eighties but also in the modern era. In 2006 and 2007, Marc Lieb won the sports car class with the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. In 2009 and 2010, he and Richard Lietz secured two more class wins in the Le Mans Series. In 2003, Lieb claimed overall victory at the Spa 24 Hours with Porsche, and followed up with GT class wins in 2005 and 2007. The Porsche RS Spyder was successful in Belgium, too: In 2008 and 2009, the sports prototype from Weissach clinched LMP2 class honours.

The schedule

The six-hour race in Spa-Francorchamps starts on Saturday, 5 May, at 14.30 hrs. Eurosport 2 broadcasts the race live from 19.00 to 20.30 hrs, Eurosport televises highlights on 9 May from 00.00 to 01.00 hrs.

Comments before the race

Hartmut Kristen, Porsche Head of Motorsport: “The new World Endurance Championship began very well in Sebring for our Felbermayr-Proton team. With this performance the squad will also hold their own in Spa-Francorchamps, although the opposition will be even stronger. The Ardennes race track is closely tied to historic Porsche endurance racing successes. It’s a very demanding challenge that our works drivers Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz have already mastered extremely well with class victories in the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR in the past years.”
Marc Lieb: “I’m looking forward to contesting the new World Endurance Championship in Spa. Aside from the Nürburgring-Nordschleife, the Spa circuit is my absolute favourite. The track is flowing and very challenging, not to mention the fantastic corners. It’s simply great fun to drive the 911 GT3 RSR there. We made a great start to the season in Sebring and now we want to continue in the same vein. I’m feeling very confident that we’ll manage it.”
Richard Lietz: “I really like the circuit and Marc is one of the Spa specialists, so for that reason alone I’m feeling very optimistic about this race. We know we can be fast with the new 911 GT3 RSR. Our second place in Sebring has put us in a good position for the rest of the season. The race in Spa runs over six hours, in Sebring we led for six hours – perhaps that’s a good omen.”

The World Endurance Championship

Sports prototypes and GT vehicles race in the new World Endurance Championship. They are divided into four classes that start together but are classified separately:
LMGTE Pro class: This class is reserved for slightly modified standard sports cars with 440 to 500 hp and a minimum weight of 1,245 kilograms (e.g. Porsche 911 GT3 RSR).
LMGTE Am class: Like the LMGTE Pro, but the regulations stipulate that only last year’s cars are eligible and there must be no more than one professional driver per vehicle.
LMP1 class: Sports prototypes with up to 550 hp and a minimum weight of 900 kilograms.
LMP2 class: Sports prototypes with around 440 hp and a 900 kilogram minimum weight.

Communication Porsche AG
Motorsportpress
Oliver Hilger

Hockenheim Historic 2012

Hockenheim Historic 2012 – Report and Photos

Report and photos by Marcel Hundscheid

Around 21,500 spectators saw 218 participants divided into eleven different categories during the 2012 Bosch Hockenheim Historic – Jim Clark Revival, from April 13-15th on the Hockenheimring in Germany.

Changing but dry weather conditions over the weekend treated spectators and drivers to some interesting and challenging action. Unique was the “Race History on Track” presentation, featuring former single seaters from no less than six decades of race history. Besides the racing action on the track spectators found their way to special presentations about Jim Clark, Stefan Bellof as well as historic race car transporters.

Kamp der Zwerge (Battle of the Dwarfs)
The tiniest cars on track during the event were the different Autobianchi, Fiat, Mini’s en NSU’s gathered in the ‘Kampf der Zwerge”. The Abarth Coppa Mille, British Car Trophy and the NSU TT Trophy are three different historic categories combined into the Battle of the dwarfs. Fifty two historic dwarfs entered the first regularity race on Saturday won by the nr. 44 Autobianchi A-112 Abarth of Frenchman Oliver Leibel. German driver Peter Walter (Fiat Abarth 1000 TC) and fellow country man Patrick Hug (NSU TT) completed the winners podi-um on Saturday. On Sunday it was Briton Phil Harvey in a Austin Cooper who scored best in front of Olivier Leibel (Autobianchi A-112 Abarth) and German driver Thomas Bohlmann in a very tiny Steyr-Puch 700C.

FIA Historic Formula One Championship
Thirteen historic Formula 1 cars entered the qualifying session giving pole position to Spaniard Joaquin Folch in a former Nelson Piquet Brabham BT49C with a fastest lap time of 1:34.860. Three different constructors claimed the top three claimed by a victory of Joaquin Folch. Briton Steve Hartley finished second in his Arrows A4, fellow countrymen Richard Eyre drove his Williams FW08 to a third place. Just ten cars saw action on Sunday giving victory the Richard Eyre in the epic looking Williams FW08. Joaquin Folch could only try to follow the very quick Briton as he finished second with a gap of no less than one minute! Frenchman Patrick D’Aubreby drove his former Martin Brundle Tyrrell 012 to a third place.

BOSS GP
Fastest and loudest cars of the weekend were the different single seaters of the BOSS GP series, Europe’s fastest single seater category featuring Formula 1, Champcar, GP2, Formu-la 3000 and World Series by Nissan and Renault cars from the nineties. Dutchman Klaas Zwart was without doubt a class of its own in his very quick 2004 Jaguar R5, formerly driven by Mark Webber. Zwart scored a unbeatable pole position with a lap time of 1:24.993. The only driver who tried to get as close as possible was Austrian Ingo Gerstl in a Dallara GP2 car, facing a gap of 3.740 seconds.

Seventeen agile looking single seaters entered the first race on Saturday afternoon. Remarkably Ingo Gerstl got the better start and took the lead in front of Zwart. During the first two laps spectators saw a great battle between the two of them, won by Zwart. A few laps later Zwart got off track as Gerstl regained the lead. Zwart started his interception regaining the lead, claimed by a overwhelming victory with a gap of almost forty-seven seconds in front of Gerstl. Dutchman Henk de Boer completed the podium in his Panoz DP01 Champcar. On Sunday it was once again Klaas Zwart who settled the score claiming his second victory of the weekend finished 1:08.659 earlier than Ingo Gerstl. Henk de Boer scored his second third spot of the the weekend.

Historic Formula 2 Championship
Spectators could relive the good old days of classic Formula 2 racing. The championship is managed by the Silverstone-based Historic Sports Car Club and open to cars built to period regulations for Formula 2, Formula Atlantic and Formula B, starting from 1967 and running right to the end of the 1978 season. The first race on Saturday was a true demonstration of keen driving performed by Martin Stretton. The Briton claimed pole position in his March 742 by setting a lap time almost four seconds quicker than Philip Harper. As expected, Stretton took victory in race one, finishing 12.2 seconds ahead of Philip Harper (Ralt RT1) and Hans Peter (Ralt RT1). The second race on Sunday was almost a copy of race 1 as Stretton demonstrated once more how to drive a classic Formula 2 car. The Briton claimed victory with a gap of 31 seconds in front of Philip Harper. Briton Philip Gladman finished third in a Chevron B34D.

FIA Lurani Throphy
The FIA Lurani Throphy was the first FIA championship to be permitted to be run by its own group in 1995 and is open to Formula Junior cars such as the Lotus 22 or 27, Alexis, Lola Mk.2 and Elva. Pierre Tonetti was the quickest in qualifying in his Brabham BT6 claiming pole position. Race 1 on Saturday saw an exciting battle between Tonetti and Urs Eberhardt (Lotus 27) won by the Italian. Race 2 on Sunday saw a fierce battle between the brothers Checco and Pierre Tonetti along with Briton Jonathan Hughes. In the end however it was Checco Tonetti crossing the finish line first, only 0.3 second quicker than his brother Pierre. Hughes had to settle for a third place on the podium.

Youngtimer Touring Car Challenge
No less than 44 historic touring cars, GT’s and a handful sports cars filled the grid for the Dutch Youngtimer Touring Car Challenge, open for cars before 1990. Frenchman Nicolas Maurel was quickest during qualifying putting his March 73S on pole position. He claimed victory on Saturday during the first race of the weekend in front of German Daniel Schrey in a 1977 Porsche 911 RSR and Frenchman Franck Metzger in a Cesca Grac. The second race on Sunday saw almost the same results as scored during Saturdays race. Maurel was once again quickest and his second victory of the weekend in front of Daniel Schrey. Third place went to Dutchman Johan Beekman in a Porsche 964 RS.

NK HTGT
The Dutch historic championship for touring cars & GT‘s was established in 1997 and had been growing in popularity ever since. The championship is open to touring cars and GT‘s built between 1947 and 1965 and provides one of the biggest fields of cars seen in Europe. Fastest car on the track was the Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport of Matthijs Baker, claiming pole position. Victory on Saturday went to a similar car but in the hands of Michiel Campagne. He finished fifteen seconds quicker than German Georg Stummeyer in a Ford GT40. Bert Du Toy van Hees drove his Lotus Elan to the final spot on the podium. Campagne scored his second consecutive victory of the weekend on Sunday, three seconds ahead of the Porsche 911 driven by Thijs van Gammeren.

STT HR Cup
The STT (Spezial Tourenwagen Trophy) HR Cup is a championship originally established in 1986 and open for Gran Turismos and touring cars from 1968. However, taking a closer look on the entry list showed much more cars from the modern era than from the late sixties, seventies etc. Nevertheless the two races over the weekend showed some fierce battles giving victory on Saturday to the Ford GT of Finnisch driver Pertti Kuismanen. With a gap of only 2.1 seconds, Ulrich Becker scored a second place in a splendid looking Porsche 997 GT3 RS. Rüdiger Klos finished his flame-throwing Oreca Viper GTS-R in third. On Sunday Kuismanen and Becker battled it out once again. The Finnish driver claimed his second victory of the weekend in front of Ulrich Becker. Sven Fisch drove his VW Passat silhouet V8 STAR to a third place on the podium.

SuperSports Festival
Fans of former Can-Am and two-litre prototypes could eat their hearts out with the combined fields of the Can-Am Challenge Cup, Martini Trophy and the Super Sports Cup. During race 1 Italian Matteo Tulio made the best start in his March 707 but sadly he didn’t made it to the finish line. Timo Scheibner scored a victory in his Lola T222, just 5.7 seconds ahead of the two litre March 76S of Silvio Kalb. The podium was completed by Peter Schleifer’s Lola T310. Just 9 out of the 22 cars started for the second race on Sunday. This time the battle for the top three was fought between the tinier two liter sports cars. Scottish driver Martin O’Connell scored a victory in his Chevron B19, with a gap of no less than thirty-eight seconds in front of Kent Abrahamsson from Sweden, also in a Chevron B19. Swiss driver Beat Eggimann finished third in his Daren Mk.3.

Race History on Track
One of the highlights over the weekend were the more than thirty historic single seaters presenting over 60 years of racing history in just one starting field. It presented cars like the 1948 Maserati 4CL, several Formula 2 and Formula 5000 cars, but also a former Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 312T as well as a 2004 Toyota TF 104 Formula 1 car.

Over the three days lots of exciting cars and racing could be seen from the golden years of motorsport. The Bosch Hockenheim Historic – Jim Clark Revival is truly an event not to be missed. The organisation of this great event will be ready to host the 2013 edition.