MAGAZINE: N24 Special Of Road Magazine

Find 50-pages of ace design, cool pictures and quality journalism 100% FREE in our packed, N24 Special of Road Magazine. When you’ve experienced the Nürburgring 24-Hour – as a mentalist endurance racer or a forest dwelling fan – no motorsport ever comes close to exciting in quite the same, paradigm-shifting way. It’s the best circuit racing experience there is... end of story. It’s a couple of years since we last went out, so we were thrilled when Falken Motorsport (and Nick Bailey, Claire Dumbreck and Tiggy Atkinson of Propel Technology) invited us to sample the unique N24 delights again – and follow the fortunes of their all new Porsche 911 GT3 R. Our massive behind the scenes Falken feature in this N24 special of Road gives a true insight into what this unique racing challenge is all about. We also cover Aston Martin – in their 100th year – making history and breaking records with their Hybrid Hydrogen V12 twin turbo Rapide S and kicking ass in their Prodrive-built GT3 Vantage beast: Ground-breaking stuff. Then there’s the story of Mercedes-Benz’s first ever N24 win with the Black Falcon SLS and the other two Rowe Racing team cars that made the final five in the biblical, bionic SLS AMG GT3’s. And we share the full top 20 N24 results. Finally, we’ve got a round-up of some other items of special interest in the 41st ADAC Zurich Nürburgring 24-Hour – including the sparkling debut of Peugeot’s 208 GTi,Manthey Racing and Sabine Schmitz’s 911’s, the BMW Z4M GT3 beasts, our pal Tim Schrick and rapper, Smudo in a biodiesel Scirocco and the vast fleet of Toyota GT86’s that took part in the ultimate endurance racing challenge. Enjoy our N24 special, and share FREE Road magazine with your mates. See our Social Media for more!

NEWS: Manthey Racing 911 GT3 RSR Legend Limited Edition Model

Are you a Manthey Racing 911 GT3 RSR N24 fan but can't stretch to the real thing? Why not collect this ace, deadly accurate endurance racing model of the legendary 2011 Manthey Racing GT3 RSR – record-holding multiple N24 winner. 

The car that ran to victory that year – making history with five N24 wins in six years – was driven by Marc Lieb, Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Lucas Luhr, aka the 'Manthey dream team.' They drove a blinder and won the 39th edition of the endurance classic in the now iconic yellow-green Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. Team Principal and Green Hell legend, Olaf Manthey recalls the special value of that historic success: "That victory is particularly valuable for me because we made it against so many strong competitors as never before!" 

To celebrate that special victory, Manthey has launched a 1:43 scale limited-edition model of just 500 die-cast models (of which only 450 will go on sale). And it's really rather cool – with the car on the left being what it looked like at the start of the race (all shiny and new) and the car on the right being post-24-Hr-race (all battle-scarred, dirty and on different rims). And there's all the facts and figures from the race printed on the base and display case. Nice work!

You can purchase the limited edition model on the newly created web site – www.manthey-shop.de – for €189. 

And see more images of the model on our Facebook page – and read all about their 2013 N24 campaign in the next issue of Road Magazine, out very soon.

NEWS: 2013 VLN Championship is Go!

This weekend will host the first of the awesome VLN Championship races of the 2013 season – one of only two VLN races before the annual Nurburgring 24h race season highlight, May 17th-20th. The series was initially delayed, due to bad Winter weather.

So, this weekend, more than 214 cars from 28 different brands and 500+ drivers from 30+ countries will participate in the inaugural season race – including many big team and driver names, not to mention car debuts. And our man, Jochen Van Cauwenberge of Frozenspeed Motorsport Photography will be there to capture all the action, in his ninth year of coverage of this incredible race series on the Nurburging Nordschleife: The best circuit in the world.
Top drivers for this weekend include Augusto Farfus, Martin Tomczyk, Dirk and Jorg Muller, Uwe Alzen, Lance-David Arnold and Marco Holzer and many other international GT aces. 

The FIA GT3 specification class has 21 entrants – an impressive number of top cars that would be enough to fill a field anywhere else in the world – such is the VLN's (understandable) popularity.
And the GT cars will be doing battle with the SP7 specials (such as the new Type 991 911 GT3 RSR), on a track loaded with Cup classes (Porsche, Opel, Renault, Toyota) and regular production touring cars.

Other highlights include, VLN and 24Hr regular, Aston Martin CEO Ulrich Bez driving the new Rapide S – in it's racing debut. And Dutch GT legend Cor Euser will debut the Lotus Evora GT4 on the Nurburgring. Meanwhile, Porsche works driver Marco Holzer will be driving the all-conquering Manthey RSR, marking a welcome return to the Nurburgring in the distinctive yellow green Manthey 911 livery.

Other vehicles making their debut are the Porsche 991 (in production class), Hyundai Veloster Turbo, Peugeot 208 GTI and 18 Astra OPC cup cars. And the list of amazing entries goes on and on with cars including Aston Martin Vantage, Audi R8 LMS Ultra, BMW Z4 GT3, Chevrolet Corvette C6, Ferrari F458, Ford GT, Ginetta G50 GT4, McLaren MP4, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3, Nissan GT-R, Porsche 911 GT3 R and RSR.

Keep up to date here on the blog and see more of Jochen's amazing images on our Facebook page.

And find out about the superb VLN at: www.vln.de

NEWS: Type 991 911 RSR Ready To Race

The stunning new Typ3 991 911 RSR is ready to let rip in World Endurance Championship (WEC) at the Silverstone Six Hours, 13-14 April.
Powered by a 460 hp rear-mounted 4.0-litre flat-six engine, the 911 RSR is characterised by its lightweight design and sophisticated aerodynamics – and a special livery to celebrate 50 years of the 911 .
And the Porsche AG Team Manthey works team exclusively runs two 911 RSR race cars in the 2013 season – which includes the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours
This weekend, at the 6 Hours of Silverstone race in Northamptonshire, the new Porsche 911 RSR ‘Type 991’ makes its competition debut in the World Endurance Championship (WEC). At the same time, the livery of this exceptional version of the 911 honours a very special anniversary – 50 years of the Porsche 911.
Based on the seventh generation of the iconic 911 sports coupe, the RSR follows in the footsteps of its successful predecessor, the 911 GT3 RSR (‘Type 997’). The new race car exploits significant lightweight design technology and sophisticated aerodynamics. As with the latest ‘Type 991’ 911 road car, the wheelbase is longer by 100mm. New wishbone front suspension replaces the McPherson struts used previously. Another new development from Porsche Motorsport is the particularly lightweight racing transmission, whose six gears are selected via paddles on the steering wheel. The rear-mounted, 460 hp, 4.0-litre six-cylinder ‘boxer’ engine has been taken from the predecessor and further optimised in detail.
One of the priorities in the development of the new 911 RSR was more evenly balanced weight distribution. The centre of gravity is also significantly lower than that of the prior model. Carbon fibre played a crucial role in the new design. The front and rear wheel housings, front and rear lids, doors, underbody, wheel arches, rear wing, dashboard and centre console are constructed from this very light and strong material. Moreover, all windows are made of particularly thin and light polycarbonate. Also contributing to the weight reduction is the lithium-ion battery, pioneered in the 911 GT3 and RS road-going sports cars.
The appearance of the new 911 RSR is dominated not just by its distinctive livery but also by the flared wheel arches and the deep cooling air intakes at the front. With the new air ducting, the radiator is now centrally-located in the nose and more effective than that of the previous model. At the same time, the cockpit air conditioning has become more efficient. The quick-change concept of the body panels was especially adapted for endurance racing, allowing for easier maintenance and shorter repair times. The front end, front lid and rear panel are fitted with quick release systems and can be replaced within seconds.

The Porsche Drivers
Factory drivers Joerg Bergmeister (Germany) and Patrick Pilet (France) are at the wheel of the number 91 RSR in the GTE-Pro class. At Silverstone, Spa and Le Mans, the duo is joined by Timo Bernhard (Germany).
Competing in the RSR with starting number 92 are Porsche works drivers Marc Lieb (Germany) and Richard Lietz (Austria), who already shared a cockpit together in the 2012 WEC. At the first two races of the season in Silverstone and Spa (4 May), as well as at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (22 June), they receive support from their works driver colleague Romain Dumas (France).
Two customer teams tackle the GTE-Am class with last year’s Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (‘Type 997’). Driving the Proton Competition entry is Christian Ried (Germany) and his Italian team-mates Paolo Ruberti and Gianluca Roda, with an all-French line-up of Raymond Narac, Christophe Bourret and Jean-Karl Vernay competing for IMSA Performance Matmut.

The schedule
The six hour Silverstone race starts on Sunday, 14 April, at mid-day (13.00 hrs CET). Satellite TV channel Eurosport 2 will broadcast the start of the race live at 13.00 hours (30 minutes) and returns to a live broadcast at 15.00 hours (30 minutes). The final hour is aired live from 18.00 hours on Eurosport 1. The race can be viewed live on the internet under www.fiawec.com.

Porsche Motorsport team comments ahead of the race
Hartmut Kristen, Head of Porsche Motorsport: “The whole team is ready and raring to tackle the first race with the 911 RSR. Our squad has worked extremely hard over the last months to make our new car competitive right from the start.”
Joerg Bergmeister (# 91): “I’m looking forward to my premiere in the WEC – in the most beautiful and spectacular 911 ever.”
Patrick Pilet (# 91): “To share the cockpit with such successful Porsche drivers like Joerg and Timo is a great and exciting challenge.”
Timo Bernhard (# 91): “I felt great at the tests in the 911 RSR. We have a good chance to win our class with this car.”
Marc Lieb (# 92): “The new 911 RSR is a significant step forward. I hope that the good test results can be confirmed at the first race.”
Richard Lietz (# 92): “We face very strong opposition from the works teams from Ferrari and Aston Martin. In Silverstone we’ll see where we stand.”
Romain Dumas (# 92): “I’m looking forward to racing the new 911 RSR with Marc and Richard and I’m confident that we’ll make a good start into the season.”

Return to Le Mans: 2014
With 16 overall victories, Porsche is the most successful manufacturer in Le Mans history. In 2014, Porsche will return to the world-famous venue with a works-run sports prototype race car in the top LMP1 category.
At the Porsche Motorsport headquarters in Weissach, near Stuttgart, Germany, preparations for the running of the new LMP1 sports prototype in the 2014 Le Mans 24 Hours and the sports car World Endurance Championship are progressing at high revs.
To support this programme, the infrastructure at the Research & Development Centre has been considerably expanded with a new workshop building and an office complex completed. The first roll-out of the new LMP1 car is planned for mid-2013. 

Can't wait! Go Team Manthey!

See more images of the new RSR here.