endurance racing

April182012

auction of the day. 908 V12 HDi

Well this is a bit sad, isn’t it…..recently Peugeot pulled out completely from Le Mans 2012 and as an Audi Sport fan, I was very let down by this news. Peugeot and Audi had such a fantastic rivalry over the past few years, and it really made for great sporting and great racing. Le Mans has been uber exciting to watch the past few years, and last year’s Le Mans will go down in history as one of THE most exciting races ever run at the La Sarthe.

Since then, i’ve heard of Peugeot selling their entire Paris offices, and liquidating lots of their assets. GM now owns a fraction of the company, and It’s hard to figure out exactly how fast Peugeot-Citroen are falling—-however it’s plain to see they are.

Next up on the chopping block? Some of their endurance racers. This is the 2007 Peugeot 908 HDi Fap that is going up on RM Auctions. I’m tired of hearing people long for the ‘older’ Le Mans cars saying that modern Le Mans cars aren’t that cool….nonsense! Modern Le Mans cars are amazing, and this is a great example of why. It is, however, sad to see Peugeot selling their history.

Some notable achievements of this #2 car:

• 2009 Le Mans Works entry
• 1st Overall at Monza, Silverstone and Spa
• Groundbreaking HDi diesel-powered V-12 engine
• Run by the Works-Peugeot factory race team

Auction estimate? 1.5 to 1.8 million Euros. I guess it’s time to cancel my Veyron order….

src: RMauctions via l’Endurance

Tagged 2007 peugeot 908 hdi, auction, audi tdi, endurance, endurance racing, hdi, hybrid race car, hybrid racing, le mans, peugeot 908 hdi fap for sale, peugeot in trouble, rm auctions, rm auctions peugeot, tdi

March132012

8 Comments

automotive, cars, design, iedei, racing, sports

Embrace the weird: Nissan Deltawing.

and YES this is going to be running in the 2012 Le Mans as an experimental prototype, unclassified in any class per se. I have to say that aside from how hideous it is—I will be very excited to see this freakshow rummaging through the field at Le Mans! Let’s just hope it doesn’t cause any accidents….and take over Ferrari’s role of poor driving.

Can it even bloody steer!? see the videos at the bottom to find out..

from Nissan:

“A highly-advanced and hugely-efficient Nissan engine will power the remarkable DeltaWing car as it races in anger for the first time at the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours (16-17 June).

While Nissan DeltaWing will not be classified in the 2012 Le Mans 24 Hours, the Company is looking to showcase the pioneering technology that will show one potential direction for the future of motorsport and will feed into the research and development of future technologies, that filter down to Nissan’s road car product range.

A race-prepared 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine, featuring direct petrol injection and a turbocharger, will power Nissan DeltaWing, which is half the weight and has half the aerodynamic drag of a conventional racer.“

videos:

src: prwire via l’endurance

Tagged 2012 le mans, dan gurney, endurance racing, experimental prototype, experimental race car, le mans, nissan deltawing, racing car, turbocharged, unclassified, weird looking race car

March12012

quattro returns to racing! Audi R18 e-Tron quattro.

I’m so excited about this; the next Le Mans is going to be absolutely wicked! Audi today introduced the latest variation of last year’s Le Mans winning R18, the R18 e-Tron quattro, marking the first AWD race car entry by Audi in a looooooong time. This is a complicated drivetrain, with electric motors driving the front wheels, and the diesel motor driving the rear wheels—-with variation between them, so the front wheels serve as stabilizers depending on when the electric motor is on and what direction the car is turning in. Surely this has added weight as well, but it will be fascinating to watch the TDI R18s running simultaneously with the e-tron R18 quattros! As with most street and prior race-spec’d Audis….the grip gained by quattro will likely make up for any weight difference.

src: Audi

Tagged 2012, audi r18 e-tron quattro, endurance racing, le mans, racing

October162011

1 Comment

automotive, cars, iedei, men, racing, sports

Porsche: 24 hours at the Limit

Since I AM too lazy to actually get my Petit Le Mans photos together (i will try to do some on this fine Sunday)—–Porsche has posted some great photos on their Facebook page entitled “24 Hours At The Limit” in a few different galleries. These photos are comprised of choice photoraphs from the 24 Hours @ Nurburgring and 24 Hours of Le Mans.

(click to enlarge)

Tagged endurance racing, gt-r, gt3-r, hybrid, le mans, nurburgring, photos, porsche 24 hours at the limit, porsche 911, porsche 911 gtr, wallpaper

July312011

3 Comments

automotive, cars, iedei, men, racing, sports

Audi R8 LMS GT3 wins 24 hours of Spa.

Audi have just one their first ever Spa 24 hours race with a GT3-class R8 LMS. The class is HIGHLY competitive, and the R8 beat out Porsche, BMW, Aston Martin, Mercedes and many other manufacturers for their first ever win at the 63rd running of the legendary Belgian endurance race. The 2nd place finishers (BMW) were a full 2 laps behind the R8….

WELL done!

more details about the race here:

http://www.thecheckeredflag.co.uk/2011/07/2011-total-24-hours-of-spa-audi-complete-spa-domination

photos via Audi Sport

Tagged audi r8 lms, audi wins, audi wins 24 hours of spa, belgium, best modern racing marque, endurance racing, spa 24 hour race 2011

June82011

Le Mans week is here!

Rejoice! The finest week in motorsports has arrived—–the race of all races, the 24 Hours Of Le Mans is upon us. For many people this signals the proper start to ‘summer’, including myself. Of course it is no secret that I am an Audiphile through and through—-it is also no secret that Audi and Peugeot have had some fierce battles in the past several years, culminating in one of the great rivalries in motorsports history. Motorsports have these days become numb and unexciting; however Le Mans has retained most of its charm. I still get a buzz every time i see the start of the race, even though it is not nearly as dramatic as the old days when people ran into their cockpits.

So will the new Audi R18 TDI be able to surmount the fierce Peugeot 918 HDi reign? I would like to hope so, but we’ll just have to follow along the best we can!

I know that the entire 24 hours will be broadcasted with continuity in Europe on Eurosport TV, however we are not so lucky in the US. That being said, we live in the age of bootlegged online TV—-and i’m quite sure many many feeds from Europe will surface that day. If they don’t, Audi have set up a fantastic minisite which will go live the day of the race. They will have 24 hour live on-board coverage of the three R18 TDIs which are racing—–accompanied by live telemetry and race data. Fantastic.

http://www.audi-microsites.com/lemans/

I will add some more links and information to other feeds as the race gets closer—–obviously I cannot watch all 24 hours—-but I always watch as many hours of coverage as I possibly can.

Another great source of race day coverage is of course the fantastic Radio Le Mans<

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Tagged 24 heures de le mans, 24 hours of le mans, audi, audi R18 tdi, endurance racing, footage, information, link, links, microsite, online, peugeot, peugeot 908 hdi, streaming, telemetry, ustream, video, watching online, where can i watch le mans?, where to watch

May282011

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Advertising, automotive, cars, iedei, racing, sports

Allan McNish on being an Audi racing driver.

McNish is one of my favourite endurance drivers—-and a great driver. Le Mans is coming on June 11th!

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Tagged 24 hours, allan mcnish, allen mcnish, audi, commercial, driver, endurance racing, le mans

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Tag Archives: endurance racing