Toyota TS030 Hybrid, Roll-Out Test

The New Toyota TS030 Hybrid, Roll-Out Test, Circuit Paul Ricard,
France, 11-13 January 2012.

Toyota Motorsport.

Premiere for Audi at the Daytona 24 Hours

Premiere for Audi at the Daytona 24 Hours

• Debut for new Audi R8 GRAND-AM customer sport race car
• Private teams APR Motorsport and Oryx Racing are on the grid
• Driver line-up includes Audi legend Emanuele Pirro

Ingolstadt, January 24, 2012 – Premiere coincides with anniversary: The Audi R8
GRAND-AM will make its debut on the 50th running of the Daytona 24 Hours
from January 26 to 29. Teams APR Motorsport and Oryx Racing are each fielding
one of the newly developed customer sport race cars in the GT class of the
endurance classic.
The “Rolex 24 at Daytona” ranks among the finest classics in international
motorsport. The event has been thrilling the sports car fan community since 1962.
Some of the greatest racers in history have entered their names on the winners’ list
from Jacky Ickx and Hans Herrmann through to Hurley Haywood, A. J. Foyt or Derek
Bell. Reinhold Joest, the founder of Audi Sport Team Joest has personally won this
classic race in Florida too. Current Audi factory driver Mike Rockenfeller decided the
competition in his favor with an American team two years ago. On the event’s 50th
anniversary the organizer is treating the audience to an unusual and spectacular
experience. A champions party with numerous racing legends, an exhibition of
historic overall-winning cars, a carnival complete with a Ferris Wheel, a 5-kilometer
run on the track for all sports enthusiasts on Saturday before the race, autograph
sessions and pit walks are just some of the attractions featured on the last weekend
in January.
“We are proud to be part of the action for the first time at the event’s special
anniversary,” stresses Werner Frowein, Managing Director of quattro GmbH, which
has developed the Audi R8 GRAND-AM. “Two customer teams have already opted for
our new race car and we are currently in negotiations with other buyers. Following
its appearance at Daytona, the Audi R8 GRAND-AM will also be seen at the other
twelve rounds of the GRAND-AM series. In the future, our customers will be directly
supported by Audi of America. This presence in America is another important
element of developing Audi Sport customer racing.” At the season opener, the Audi
R8 GRAND-AM is competing against about 30 other vehicles in the extremely large
field of the GT class while so-called Daytona prototypes are driving for overall
victories. The Daytona 24 Hours marks the beginning of the 2012 GRAND-AM Road
Racing season. In 2008, Audi was last represented in the United States for a whole
season with a factory commitment featuring the Audi R10 TDI LMP1 sports car and
won the title in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS). This was followed by only
isolated sports prototype commitments at Sebring and Road Atlanta. Now the APR
Motorsport and Oryx Racing customer teams are flying the colors of Audi Sport
customer racing as part of their own commitment.
“Entering the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series is the biggest challenge APR
Motorsport has taken on so far,” emphasizes Stephen Hooks, President of APR. “Our
team prepared for this step at previous runs in the Continental Tire Sports Car
Challenge. APR is known around the world as one of the leading tuners of Audi,
Volkswagen, Seat and Škoda vehicles. We’re looking forward to the Audi R8 GRANDAM
with huge anticipation, our customers and fans are really excited and since the
‘Roar before the 24’ test we’ve just been dying for the 24-hour race to start. The race
team based in Opelika, Alabama, headed by Jeff Mishtawy, is relying on a five-strong
international driver squad. The Americans Ian Baas and Dr. Jim Norman, Nelson
Canache from Venezuela, Dion von Moltke with South African roots plus former Audi
factory driver Emanuele Pirro from Italy form the driver team.
Oryx Racing will compete at Daytona with team owner and driver Humaid Al
Masaood from the United Arab Emirates. He will be sharing the car with his
compatriot Saeed Al Mehairi and the Briton Steven Kane. “2012 is a new chapter for
Oryx Racing and Arabic motorsport,” says a delighted Al Masaood. “We’re entering a
new car in a series that’s new to us. It was important to us to be involved in the
project right from the beginning and help continue to develop this fascinating
customer racing car from Audi to become as competitive as possible.” The team
hails from the United Arab Emirates and has a team base in the United States in
West College Corner near Indianapolis.
After a qualifying session on Thursday the race will start on Saturday (January 28)
and end on Sunday (January 29) at 15:30, local time (21:30 Central European time).

Schedule (local times; CET –6 hours)
Thursday, January 26
10:00–11:30 Free practice
13:30–14:30 Free practice
16:15–16:30 Qualifying
18:30–20:30 Free practice
Friday, January 27
09:00–09:45 Free practice
11:00–12:00 Free practice
Saturday, January 28
15:30 Race (24 hours)

Audi Sport.

DTM monocoque sets new standards

DTM monocoque sets new standards

• New safety cell for Audi A5 DTM extremely efficient and safe
• Audi Board Member Michael Dick compares Audi A5 DTM and V8 quattro
• Rahel Frey at the ADAC Motorsport Show in Erfurt

Ingolstadt, January 22, 2012 – The new, standardized monocoque for every
manufacturer in the DTM has already proven its worth during testing.
Homologation of the race car for the DTM season 2012 occurs in a few weeks.
Beginning of a new era: the innovative safety cell in the DTM is the core component
of every DTM race car. The new Audi A5 DTM is also designed and built around the
new carbon fiber monocoque which is shown for the first time in photos released to
the public. “The DTM sets new standards again with this safety cell,” emphasizes
Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “The component is extremely strong,
assembled very efficiently and, as a consequence, implemented at such a high level
for reasonable cost.”
Unusual task: Michael Dick, Member of the Board of Management for Technical
Development at AUDI AG, experienced more than two decades of DTM development
at an accelerated pace. At a comparison test the Audi Board Member was invited by
Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich to get personally behind the wheel of
an Audi V8 quattro from 1991 and an Audi A5 DTM for 2012. His impressions can be
read in edition 1/2012 of the Audi magazine ‘Dialoge’. Further information available
at: dialoge.audi.com
Appearance in Thüringen: Rahel Frey visits the ADAC Motorsport Show in Erfurt next
weekend. The Swiss lady is available for autographs and discussions in the afternoon
on January 28. The Schaeffler Audi A4 DTM is also on display in Hall 1 at the
Automobilmesse Erfurt. Audi won the DTM last year with the powerful 338 kW (460
hp) racing touring car.

Appearance at Lake Constance: Timo Scheider visits the Motorradwelt Bodensee
between January 27 and 29. Fans can meet the Audi factory driver during four
autograph sessions (Friday 17:30, Saturday 11:15 and 14:15 and Sunday 11:00 hrs)
on the Motorradwelt stand at the exhibition center in Friedrichshafen.
Fabulous result for United Autosports: Ryan Dalziel (GB), Alex Popov (YV) and Enzo
Potolicchio (YV) finished in a strong third place in the 12-hour race in Abu Dhabi. In
their Audi R8 LMS the trio was less than ten seconds behind the race winning car at
the checkered flag after twelve hours and 299 laps.
A word from... Stefan Aicher
As Head of Vehicle Design you are approaching an exciting phase with the Audi A5
DTM: the homologation looms on the horizon. How effective has the innovative
safety cell, which is identical for every manufacturer, proven to be so far?
“New standards are set with the cell. The first components were delivered in
August, since then each manufacturer has always been delivered another chassis at
exactly the same time. We are extremely satisfied after several thousand kilometers
of testing.”
What distinctive qualities does the new cell possess?
“The monocoque weighs only 126 kilograms, the roll-cage 32.5 kilos. At the same
time the safety standards have increased dramatically. The design is extremely
strong when subject to both frontal, longitudinal crashes and also side impacts. The
entire sidewall must withstand a force of 360 kN in the side impact test, this
equates to around 36 tones. By way of comparison this value was 80 kN with the A4
DTM. With various crash tests, for example frontally or laterally at 54 km/h, the
driver’s chest is now exposed to a maximum load of 60g.”
The cell is built in an entirely different way than before. What does this mean for
the teams?
“The result is a very efficient interaction from the planning via manufacture to use on
the track. You notice the excellent cooperation between the three manufacturers. The
responsibilities were distributed among the specific brands, which accelerated the
sequential development enormously. The teams will notice the longer service and
inspection intervals because the monocoque is designed to have a considerably longer
life. This is measurable progress aligned with high cost discipline.”
Coming up next week
28.01. 24 hours Daytona (USA), round 1 GRAND-AM series

Audi Sport

24 Hours of Daytona, USA Strong Porsche showing at 50th anniversary of sports car classic

24 Hours of Daytona, USA
Strong Porsche showing at 50th anniversary of sports car classic

Stuttgart. Happy Birthday Daytona: The sports car classic in Florida celebrates its 50th anniversary. Traditionally, the 24 hour race on the Daytona International Speedway is the first highlight of the motorsport season and year after year attracts the best pilots from all kinds of race series worldwide to the ‘Sunshine State’ of the USA. Spearheaded by title defender Wolf Henzler (Germany), seven Porsche works drivers contest the strongly supported GT class. With 22 overall wins, Porsche is the most successful manufacturer in the history of the race.

The race

The endurance classic, which kicks off the Grand-Am Series season, started out in 1962 as a three hour race. At 1,250 miles in 1964, the race grew to double the distance of the classic 1,000 kilometre races of Spa, Monza and the Nürburgring. The maiden 24 hour event in Daytona took place in 1966. Due to the oil crisis in 1974 the race was not run. Taking their places on the winner’s list are Formula 1 champions like Phil Hill and Mario Andretti as well as legendary Porsche pilots like Hans Herrmann, Rolf Stommelen, Hurley Haywood and Bob Wollek.

The circuit

The Daytona International Speedway is one of the world’s most famous race tracks. The 24 hour race is contested on the 5.729 kilometre track combination of oval with banked corner and the infield. The circuit is also the venue for the famed NASCAR Daytona 500 race with over 250,000 spectators annually.

The Porsche drivers

In the traditionally very competitive GT class, seven Porsche works drivers have victory in sight with the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup: Title defender Wolf Henzler competes for TRG Racing, Joerg Bergmeister (Germany) and Patrick Long (USA) line up for Flying Lizard Motorsports, their winning team from the American Le Mans Series. Alex Job Racing has Marco Holzer (Germany) onboard, with Patrick Pilet (Franc) taking the wheel of the second TRG-Porsche. Magnus Racing competes with Richard Lietz (Austria), whilst his teammate in the new World Endurance Championship, Marc Lieb (Germany), lines up for Brumos Racing. One of the partners of the Porsche works driver is the US racing legend Hurley Haywood (USA). With five overall and six class victories, Haywood is the most successful pilot ever in Daytona. On 4 May he celebrates his 64th birthday. Also taking up the race with the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup is Audi factory pilot Mike Rockenfeller (Switzerland). In recognition of their brilliant performances in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, Porsche AG gave the two-time champion René Rast (Germany) as well as “Rookie of the Year” Kévin Estre (France) the chance to compete at Daytona.

What they said before the race

Hartmut Kristen, Head of Porsche Motorsport: “Daytona is always a very special race for Porsche. Our Porsche teams have already yielded many great results here with the Porsche 911. And with 21 vehicles we are very well represented again this year. For teams like Brumos who compete in 2012 as title defenders of the Grand-Am Series, it is particularly exciting that the most important race of the year is also the start of the season. And it will be particularly interesting to see the new competitors who compete with modified and, in fact, more powerful GT3 vehicles.”
Jörg Bergmeister: “After the long break over winter, this race is a great way to get ready for the new season. Porsche was always very strong in Daytona. I last won the race here in 2009 and I’m feeling quite confident that we’ll be good for a win again this year. The competition was never this strong. It’ll be a tough fight from start to finish.”
Patrick Long: “Our excursion into the prototype class last year was an interesting experience. But now I’m looking forward to racing a 911 again in Daytona. The fact that our GT-class rivals are not only much stronger in sheer numbers makes the task for us and our team even more interesting.”
Marc Lieb: “Our tests ran well in Daytona and I’m sure that we’ll be competitive in the race. The 24 Hours of Daytona is always a cool event, and added to this is the unbelievably big grid for the 50th anniversary. I’m looking forward to driving for such a well established and successful team like Brumos Racing with the legendary starting number 59.”
Wolf Henzler: “When we tested I was really impressed by the strength of our competition. With 42 GT cars on the grid, it’ll certainly not be an easy race. I imagine things will get really tough right from the start flag. I’m driving again for TRG, the team with which I won last year. My teammates are very strong and of course I’ll do my best to repeat my victory from last year.”
Marco Holzer: “It’s a fantastic challenge to start the season with a 24 hour race, and a classic like Daytona at that. I very much like this circuit. It’s demanding but real fun. We did a great deal of work on the car with my team Alex Job Racing. I’m quite optimistic for the race.”
Richard Lietz: “Great that the season finally gets underway. The GT class booms, the competition is stronger this year than ever before. That will surely be an interesting race. We always had a good car in the last years and we are keen to continue the success streak of Porsche in Daytona.”
Patrick Pilet: “Driving in Daytona is something very special for us all. This race is a legend and a great challenge, particularly in its anniversary year. Manufacturers send the best GT teams with very strong driver contingents to Daytona. The fight for victory is open like never before.”

Porsche successes

With 22 overall and 72 class victories, Porsche is by far the most successful manufacturer in the history of the Daytona 24 hour race. The first overall win for Porsche was in 1968 with Vic Elford, Jochen Neerpasch, Rolf Stommelen, Jo Siffert and Hans Herrmann with the Porsche 907. The latest win in 2010 went to Joao Barbosa, Terry Borcheller, Ryan Dalziel and Mike Rockenfeller with the Porsche-Riley. In 2003, Joerg Bergmeister, Timo Bernhard, Kevin Buckler and Michael Schrom clinched a sensational overall win with the near-standard Porsche 911 GT3 RS against more powerful Daytona prototypes. In the previous year, Porsche works driver Wolf Henzler secured the GT class victory at the wheel of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.

The schedule

The 24 hour race in Daytona starts on Saturday, 28 January, at 15.30 hrs local time (21.30 hrs CET).

Other interesting facts

- Marking the longest winning streak in the history of the race, Porsche notched up a total of eleven overall victories between 1977 and 1987. Add the class victories to this and Porsche has 21 wins in succession between 1966 and 1987 (in 1974 the race was not contested due to the oil crisis).
- According to statistics, Porsche veteran Hurley Haywood has turned more than 18,800 laps from his 37 Daytona starts to date and with this has completed almost 110,000 kilometres – that’s far more than two and a half times the circumference of the earth. For this, the Porsche dealer from Jacksonville/Florida has spent 476 hours behind the wheel and used around 1,100 sets of tyres.
- Right behind front-runner Hurley Haywood with five overall wins (1973, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1991) in the all-time list of winners at Daytona are two further Porsche pilots: Rolf Stommelen (1968, 1978, 1980, 1982) and Bob Wollek (1983, 1985, 1989, 1991) each with four overall victories.

The calendar

Thirteen races in the USA and Canada make up the calendar of the Grand-Am Series for 2012:

28/29.01. 24 Hours Daytona/Florida
01.04. Birmingham/Alabama
29.04. Miami/Florida
13.05. Millville/New Jersey
03.06. Detroit/Michigan
10.06. Lexington/Ohio
24.06. Elkhart Lake/Wisconsin
01.07 6 Hours Watkins Glen/New York
29.07. Indianapolis/Indiana
12.08. Watkins Glen/New York
19.08. Montreal/Canada
09.09. Laguna Seca/California
28.09. Lime Rock, Connecticut

Communication Porsche AG
Motorsportpress
Oliver Hilger

FIA WTCC: LUKOIL RACING CONFIRM TARQUINI AND DUDUKALO

LUKOIL RACING CONFIRM TARQUINI AND DUDUKALO
Gabriele Tarquini and Alexey Dudukalo will team once again in the 2012 WTCC.
The 2009 World Champion and the young Russian will race under the banner of the new Lukoil Racing Team at the wheel of two SEAT León cars powered by a new 1.6-litre turbo engine that is going to be homologated by SEAT.
"I'm very happy because Lukoil confirmed me as one of their drivers, and I'm also proud because they appointed me to raise the next generation of Russia's racers. Now I'm eagerly looking forward to the new season. We will race again with the old León, but I expect a lot from the new SEAT engine. I believe we will be a much stronger package than last year, and in the position to fight with Chevrolet," Tarquini said.
Dudukalo added: "Last year our main problem was the engine, not enough powerful and reliable compared to our competitors. This time we will not have this problem, and furthermore we can rely on better experience and technical support."
Team director Evgeniy Malinovskiy concluded: "I am glad that Tarquini remained in our team. He is a professional and victory-focused driver, whose experience will help us to grow stronger. This year will be very important for Dudukalo; he won many Russian titles, but lacked experience in competition at such a high level. Now we expect more consistent results from him. WTCC is one of the most effective marketing and sporting tools for Lukoil; it is an excellent platform to create guest programmes for partners."
Lukoil Racing Team will hit the track for testing in the first days of February.

Lukoil Racing Team's Tarquini and Dudukalo will use SEAT's new 1.6L turbo engine

LIST OF CAR WEIGHTS PUBLISHED BY THE FIA
The FIA has published the list of the starting weights for the cars eligible to compete in the 2012 FIA World Touring Car Championship.
The domination wielded by the Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T during the previous season resulted in its minimum weight being increased by 30 kilos, from 1150 to 1180.
The BMW 320 TC cars was given a weight of 1160 kg, 10 less compared to last year's 1170.
Any other model which took part in the 2011 championship will start on 1150 kg; this includes the 2.0L normally aspirated BMW 320si (-5 kg compared to 2011), Chevrolet Cruze LT and Chevrolet Lacetti, the 2.0L turbo diesel SEAT León TDi and the 1.6L turbo SUNRED León 1.6T and Volvo C30 that had been accepted by national homologations.
These weights take into account the balance of performance set by the Touring Car Committee.
New models such as Ford Focus and SEAT León 1.6 TSi will be added later by the Touring Car Committee.
All the cars will start the season on the maximum compensation weight: 40 kilos added to their minimum weights.

The Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T cars will be 30 kilos heavier than in 2011

ENTRIES OPEN FOR 2012 FIA WTCCFull season entries to the 2012 FIA World Touring Car Championship opened on January 16th, and will close on February 29th.Competitors must submit their applications using the online entry form, downloadable at www.entryforms.fia.com , accompanied by the entry fee of euro 37,700. Conditions for the entry are described in Art. 36 of the Sporting Regulations.Race-by-race entries must be submitted to the FIA at least fourteen days prior to the relevant event; the entry fee is euro 5,170.CHEVY ENGINE'S DESIGNER RECEIVES AWARDArnaud Martin, head of engine design at RML and creator of the 1.6-litre turbo that powered the Chevrolet Cruze cars to dominate last year's WTCC, was the recipient of the Race Engine Designer award in a night of celebration during the RACE TECH World Motorsport Symposium.Martin was awarded the trophy for having produced an entirely new engine from a clean sheet of paper; what was particularly impressive was that him and his small team of engineers produced the winning power plant in just eight months on a very limited budget.On receiving the award from Soheila Kimberley, RACE TECH's Publishing Director, Arnaud Martin said: "I am very grateful that my team's work had been so recognised and honoured, and it makes me especially proud to join such a prestigious list of previous winners." Previous recipients of the award were Rob White (Renault F1), Ulrich Baretzky (Head of Engine Technology, Audi Sport) and Francois Coudrain (Peugeot Sport).

COUNTDOWN: - 51 DAYS
WTCC RACE OF ITALY - MONZA, 11 MARCH 2012

Fabio Ravaioli - FIA WTCC Media Delegate

Peugeot brings down the curtain on its endurance programme so as to ensure the success of its numerous launches in 2012.

Peugeot brings down the curtain on its endurance programme so as to ensure the success of its numerous launches in 2012.

After 14 victories in the last 16 races, including a double at the Le Mans 24 Hours 2009 as part of the ILMC championship won by Peugeot two years running, in 2010 and 2011, the Brand has decided to close its 2012 endurance programme and will not be taking part in the next Le Mans 24 Hours.

This decision has been taken against the backdrop of the challenging economic environment in Europe coupled with a particularly busy year for the Brand in terms of new vehicle launches. In this context, Peugeot prefers to concentrate its 2012 resources on its commercial performance and, in particular, ensuring the successful launches of the 208, 3008 HYbrid4, 508 RXH, 508 HYbrid4 and 4008 which will take forward the Brand's strategy of moving upmarket and extending its global presence.

In keeping with its social responsibility obligations and as part of the GPEC (forward management of jobs and skills) agreement signed by 5 trade unions, all of the employees concerned will be offered redeployment solutions within the Group thanks to a special system set up to oversee and lead occupational training/retraining as well as internal mobility.

Source: Peugeot press information.
LE MANS.org
Photo : P.SAIVET - VSC Pictures

Response by the ACO to the news of the cancellation of Peugeot's endurance racing programme.

Response by the ACO to the news of the cancellation of Peugeot's endurance racing programme.
The Automobile Club de l'Ouest notes the end of Peugeot Automobiles programme in endurance racing. As the creator and organizer of the Le Mans 24 Hours and promoter of the FIA World Endurance Championship, the ACO regret this decision.

After five years at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the Hdi-FAP 908 and 908 programme, marked by a victory in 2009 and two titles in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (2010 and 2011), Peugeot has officially announced the termination of their sports programme.

The Automobile Club de l'Ouest deeply regrets the departure of the French manufacturer, nevertheless with the creation of the new FIA World Endurance Championship, the future of the discipline promises more prestigious than ever.

The grids of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the FIA World Endurance Championship 2012 promise to be well filled. This Wednesday, January 18th marks the closing date for entries to both competitions. Many entries have been registered, some from major manufacturers, proof that automobile endurance racing is healthy and dynamic.

The lists of competitors of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the FIA World Endurance Championship of 2012 will be revealed on the 2nd Feb

Jean-Claude Plassart, Président de l’Automobile Club de l’Ouest : "It is a big disappointment for the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the FIA World Endurance Championship​​, which begins in the year 2012. A competition created at the request of manufacturers in general and in particular Peugeot. No doubt the hundreds of thousands of fans who flock to the 24 Hours of Le Mans each year and millions of viewers who follow will regret the absence of the Peugeot 'lions' ".

LE MANS.org

Photo : Pascal Saivet - P.SAIVET/VSC Pictures