NEWS: Kumho-shod Audi R8 LMS Ultra Nürburgring VLN Win

The popular German Busch twins drove their Audi R8 LMS Ultra to an emphatic one minute victory in last Saturday’s (October 12) VLN round on the Nürburgring’s tortuous Nordschleife circuit – with the help of Kumho rubber.
Already top finishers in 2013 and a crowd and competitor favourite at the Green Hell, Dennis and Marc Busch had seemed certain of a second place last time out, when they ran out of fuel on the very last lap of the race!
But there were no such problems this time. They started third on the grid for the four-hour VLN mini-endurance race and were first past the chequered flag by one clear minute – well clear of the pursuing Porsche 911 GT3 R and BMW Z4 GT3, and the other 112 cars that entered the eighth and penultimate in this year’s superb VLN championship.
The distinctive R8 carries the ‘Twin Busch’ livery of the brother’s successful garage equipment business and has been run on Kumho tyres throughout 2013, with increasingly rewarding results.
Kumho’s European Motorsport Manager, Steve Thompson said: “This is a fantastic result both for the team and Kumho. The Busch twins have been getting more and more out of their Audi and our tyres as the season has progressed and thoroughly deserve this win. And, while Kumho has enjoyed plenty of class victories in VLN courtesy of Peugeot and the RCZ, this is our first outright triumph in this ever popular and exciting series. We wish the brothers every success in the final round on October 26.”
For further information on Kumho tyres for track, rally stage and the road, log onto www.kumhotyre.co.uk.
And for more on the VLN, see here.

NEWS: Discounted BMW 325i Racing Opportunity: VLN Nürburgring October 27-28th

How do you fancy racing at the best circuit in the world – Nürburgring Nordschelife? In one of the best race series in the world – VLN? With one of the most experienced teams out there – Jaco's Paddock? In one of the most perfectly balanced, expertly-prepared race cars – a BMW E90 325i (pictured)?
Thought so...! Well, Road Magazine can help you!

We've teamed up with Jaco's Paddock to offer you ONE seat in the superbly set-up, uber-reliable and very rapid BMW E90 325i, racing in class V4 of the VLN on October 27-28th, in less than one month!

You will drive with two other drivers and get two practice lap sessions on October 27th, before you do two laps of qualifying on October 28th – trying to get the best lap time possible – and then it's race time, on the most iconic "Green Hell" circuit, with some of Europe's best race cars, drivers and famous faces, like fellow Road friend, Sabine Schmitz. Tempted? You should be!

This golden drive opportunity is being offered at unreal rates and includes one third of the entire four hour race – so over one hour 20m full-on race time – all the fuel, tyres, event support, hospitality, insurance (600 Euro excess) and everything you need.
All you need to do is arrive, drive and have the time of your life.

NB: Obviously, you also need to be compliant with race licence regulations, which you can read here.

If you are interested, please email proyle@roadmagazine.co.uk ASAP.

Only one slot is available – at a HUGE discount. So, get involved and make yourself some real magic memories...

VIDEO: 2013 ADAC Zurich 24h-Rennen Preview Film. Watch now!

VIDEO: Z Cars GM V8 Supercar Test @ Nurburgring With Tim Schrick. Get Involved!

Our amazing pals at Z Cars have gone and done something rather special. We've been lucky enough to know about this project for many months now, since it was just an idea on paper, then a chassis in development and now it's an R&D 'mule.' And it's special. Really special.

We still can't tell you much (as mum's the word for now), other than it's being built under the terms of a special projects supply from General Motors. But we can show you how unbelievably quick it is in this video of our good pal Tim Schrick (who we put up for the test via Royle Media) putting it through some suspension R&D at the Nurburgring in Autumn 2012. Just watch how fast its going at the end of the lap, after Tim gets into it, not to mention making mincemeat out of two BAC Mono's at the four minute mark! Jees! 

The weapon of a car is going to be a gorgeous, top-spec, bonkers fast V8 mid-engine, street-legal supercar – and Z Cars are looking for a customer to become part of the program. The package includes the lucky customer getting the first finished car and meantime, being invited to test sessions and press events. It's a once in a lifetime experience for 2013. All serious enquiries should go via the Z Cars offices by calling +44 (0)-1964-527725. Fancy it? We do! 

Oh, and here's what it looks like with bodywork on too... lush! 

More details here on the blog, and @Roadmagazine and @Roylemedia on Twitter soon... 

VIDEO: Tim Schrick's New Project Evo IX Wagon Is Go! Sideways!

Happy New Year Roadies!
To launch us sideways into 2013, we have had word from our very good schnell freunde, Tim Schrick – who's finally been bitten by the turbo nutter barge bug. After years of only being a RWD, normally-aspirated, lightweight car man, Tim's got into the AWD, boost junkie phase of his life, and bought himself a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX Wagon load lugger to smoke abut sideways in, with luggage! No doubt, he will be running more boost, upgraded suspension and much more soon, and blasting it around the Ring, four-wheel-drifts at every turn. Meantime, here he is 'testing' one (up against an Audi RS6) for his old TV show, D-Motor. Nice driving, as ever Tim!
Stay tuned here for more of Tim's Project Evo Wagon updates and videos here and at Road Magazine.

NEWS: Final Lexus LFA Rolls Off Production Line

The 500th and last LFA in the production run – a white LFA Nürburgring Package – rolled off the line at the Motomachi Plant, Aichi Prefecture on December 14, 2012, looking ace and marking the end of production for Lexus very first supercar. The incredible 412PS, 480Nm, 200mph, 4.8-litre V10 Japanese beauty made of carbon fibre reinforced plastic and loaded with technology has to be one of the cars of the year. And despite the fact only a lucky 500 will get to own and enjoy the LFA, fear not – as Lexus say they "are learning from LFA engineering to directly influence new Lexus products," and that "production knowledge of Carbon fibre components to be applied to future Lexus vehicles." That is great news.
As the final vehicle left the production line, LFA chief engineer, Haruhiko Tanahashi said: "I’ve lived and breathed supercars for the past decade. Specifically one supercar, LFA. Very few people have the opportunity we had to create a world-class supercar from a blank sheet of paper."
Production at LFA Works started exactly two years ago, on December 15, 2010, and included a team of around 170 hand-picked takumi workers involved in parts manufacturing, vehicle assembly and painting. The LFA was produced at the rate of just one car per day.
Find out more about the LFA here  and read the latest Lexus special of Road Magazine FREE here.

NEWS: Opel Motorsport Back in Rallying & VLN @ Nurburgring

Great news! Opel Motorsport is back in rallying, with the all-new, internationally-focused Opel ADAM Cup. And there will also be a circuit program focused on Germany, the VLN Championship and the Nurburgring-24-Hour with the new Astra OPC Cup! Hooray!

"These new motorsports activities play an important role in the strategic re-alignment of the company; they are a fundamental element of our brand profile," says Dr. Thomas Sedran, Opel’s Deputy CEO.

Opel has a long tradition and heritage in motorsports and is aiming "to create a new competition that appeals to customers which is both technically sophisticated and reasonably priced, while at the same time providing a platform for young ambitious drivers to continuously develop their talent." 

A rally cup version of the new Opel ADAM, which has been closely specified to FIA R2 standards, will be used in the 2013 season. As part of the "ADAC Rally Masters” race series these customer cars will compete in a branded cup ("ADAC Opel Rally Cup"). The allure of the competition is also increased by the fact that the most successful drivers can expect to win cash prizes. In addition, there is a special "junior rally" points system for drivers younger than 27 years. The overall winner of a set of final trials will get special coaching in the next season.
And on the track, the new Astra OPC is being made available from the 2013 season onwards as a racing version for customer sports. The Cup cars are engineered to match the "VLN Endurance Championship" standards which are the most popular grass roots racing series in Europe. The cars will also compete in a brand trophy in their own class ("Astra OPC Cup"). The highlight of the season is expected to be a 24-hour race on the Nurburgring race track. 

Opel say: "An especially attractive benefits package is being offered for private competitors, which is not limited to top performance and affordable cutting edge racing technology. In addition to the rally project, there is a pot of money with attractive cash prizes. Additionally, customers benefit from competitively priced spare parts as well as technical and organisational support on and off the race track." 

We are chuffed to see the brilliant brand back on the stages and out on the Green Hell too, and can not wait to get out in the forests and trackside to see the Opel brand back in motorsport.

See more images on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/roadmagblog

Opel motorsport history:
The most successful era of the company’s rally history began in the mid-seventies. It was quite literally “driven” by the German driver, Walter Rohrl, one of the all-time top rally pilots. During his time with Opel, he and his Ascona A won the European championship title in 1974 and again in with the Ascona B in 1979. The crowning glory of the Regensburg man’s era was his world championship title in 1982. He achieved this with his legendary Ascona 400. Opel is just as at home on the racing circuit. In grass root touring cars competitions, the brand with the famous lightning logo achieved countless successes on its home turf, the northern loop of the Nurburgring race track. From 1993 onwards Manuel Reuter became a favorite with the fan community thanks to his Calibra V6 that competed professionally. He first drove it in the DTM competition and eventually won a title in the subsequent ITC series. Further highlights included the car makers’ championship of the DTM/ITC in 1998 in the STW series with the help of his Vectra. Overall victory in the 24-hour Nurburgring race 2003 was achieved with an Astra V8 coupe.

VIDEO: Porsche 918 Spyder on the Nurburgring

Road & Track look at the Porsche 918 Spyder, testing on the Nordschleife. The mid-mounted 4.6 litre V8 produces 580bhp – which is more than the RS Spyder LMP2 race car it's based on – and the lithium-ion battery feeds 200 kW of power to the electric motor driving the front wheels. All of this resulted in a 7m14s lap... which is good, but in the light of the 2013 Nissan GT-R time of 7:18.6, is it quick enough?

VIDEO: Sabine Schmitz & Klaus Abbelen 2012 Frikadelli Racing VLN Highlights

The best of Sabine Schmitz and Klaus Abbelen racing on the Green Hell this year in the VLN in their awesome Frikadelli Racing RSR. Awesome! Want to know how to race the Ring? Watch and learn... and enjoy the sound of this bonkers fast, incredible sounding, amazingly driven hardcore 911 racer in action. Some incredible pasess to relish...  and just look at the telemetry too! Utterly insane, and we love it! Like them on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Frikadelli-Racing-Official-Fanpage/160145224008529?fref=ts

NEWS: Audi R8 LMS Ultra GT3 Victory @ Nurburgring 24-Hour

Audi have finally nailed their first victory at the awesome Nurburgring 24-Hour – with their epic R8 LMS ultra GT3. And not just a victory, but a 1-2 on the podium and three R8's in the top 10. Congratulations to them! The blue and yellow Bilstein-livery beast of an R8 blitzed to overall victory, lapping the epic GP and Nordschleife circuit some 155 times, driven by Marc Bassend, Christopher Haase, Frank Stippler and Markus Winkelhock, and run by Audi Sport Team Phoenix. The Team Mamerow Racing R8 LMS ultra GT3 came second, driven by Christian Apt, Michael Ammermuller, Armin Hahne and Christian Mamerow. Weather conditions were typically Eifel and challenging and the standard of cars in the GT3 class higher than ever – making for one of the toughest races in recent years. Many cars fell by the wayside, were struck with mechanical issues or, as is the way in this race, crashed... including one of the top Audi R8's, car No.2, running in front at the time (finishing fifth as a result). Previous Porsche winners (five times in six years) of the event and pole position runners, Manthey Racing could not repeat their usual Green Hell form, ending up in the wall of the GP circuit lapping a back marker, dropping them back from a podium place. In fact, the top placed Porsche was our pal Sabine Schmitz and Klaus Abbelen in the Frikadelli Racing Team 911 GT3, finishing sixth and the only 911 in the top 10! The times, they are a-changing...
The 2012 ADAC Nurburgring 24-Hour final results were:
1. Basseng/Haase/Stippler/Winkelhock (Audi R8 LMS ultra), 155 laps
2. Abt/Ammermüller/Hahne/Mamerow (Audi R8 LMS ultra) + 3m 35.303s
3. Frankenhout/Simonsen/Kaffer/Arnold (Mercedes-Benz) + 11m 31.116s
4. Leinders/Palttala/Martin (BMW) – 1 lap
5. Fässler/Mies/Rast/Stippler (Audi R8 LMS ultra) – 4 laps
6. Abbelen/Schmitz/Brück/Huisman (Porsche) – 4 laps
7. Müller/Müller/Alzen/Adorf (BMW) – 5 laps
8. Hürtgen/Schwager/Bastian/Adorf (BMW) – 5 laps
9. Klingmann/Wittmann/Göransson/Lamy (BMW) – 5 laps
10. Zehe/Hartung/Rehfeld/Bullitt (Mercedes-Benz) – 5 laps