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: Audi R8 e-tron Sets Nürburgring Nordschleife EV Lap Record

Audi's exciting new R8 e-tron has just set a new lap record at the ultra-challenging Nürburgring Nordschleife for electrically powered production vehicles. Racing driver, Markus Winkelhock put in a time of 8:09.099 minutes on the 12.92-mile track, in the new all-electric sports car with 280 kW (equivalent to approximately 380PS)... adding another Green Hell accolade to their overall wins at the 24-hour races at the Nürburgring (oh, an and Le Mans!). "The R8 e-tron has given a magnificent demonstration of its potential on the toughest race track in the world," said Michael Dick, AUDI AG Board Member for Technical Development. Dick, who completed a fast lap himself in the R8 e-tron, added: "The record-setting drive confirmed that we are on the right track. To us, electric mobility has never been about sacrifice, but rather is about emotion, sportiness and driving pleasure."A comparison with the current record lap driven by a production car with a conventional combustion engine shows just how impressive the 8:09.099-minute time really is. The record time of 7:11.57 minutes was achieved by a Gumpert Apollo Sport, which is powered by a 700PS Audi V8 petrol engine. The all-electric Audi R8 e-tron was just over one minute behind that. Impressive...
The drive system of the Audi R8 e-tron that Markus Winkelhock drove to the world record is identical to that of the road-going model that will enter production towards the end of the year. The car’s electric motors generate a combined output of 280 kW and 820 Nm of torque; more than 4,900 Nm (3,614.05 lb-ft) is distributed to the rear wheels virtually from a standing start. The Audi R8 e-tron accelerates from zero to 62mph in just 4.6 seconds. Its top speed is normally limited to 124mph (and Markus Winkelhock drove two fast laps in one go in a second R8 e-tron that was limited to 124mph, recording 8:30.873 and 8:26.096 minutes, both well under the important nine-minute threshold); 155mph was approved for the record-setting lap. It has a range of 133 miles, although most likely not at this sort of race pace. And it weighs in at just 1,780 kilograms, despite the large battery, thanks to an all aluminium body.
"The record drives were a fantastic experience for me," said Markus Winkelhock. The 32-year-old, who lives near Stuttgart, has a high standard for comparison – the Audi R8 LMS ultra, in which he, along with Marc Basseng, Christopher Haase and Frank Stippler, won the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring a few weeks ago. "Of course, the R8 e-tron is a production car, not a racing car with the assistance of aerodynamics," Winkelhock emphasised. "But with its low centre of gravity and rear biased weight distribution, it brings with it a lot of sporty qualities. The torque with which the electric motors propel the car uphill beats everything that I know – even if they make hardly any noise in the process, which at the start was really a completely new experience for me. In places where I really need traction, the torque vectoring – the displacement of the torque between the powered wheels – really helps me."
Michael Dick proudly summed up events after the record-setting drive at the Nürburgring. "Within just a few weeks we’ve taken on some big challenges and in the process we’ve shown that we are at the forefront with all of our drive concepts," he said, adding: "We won the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring in May in the Audi R8 LMS ultra with a ten-cylinder engine. In mid-June we triumphed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the Audi R18 e-tron quattro – the first overall victory for a hybrid-electric vehicle in the toughest race in the world. And now we’ve set another record with the all-electric-drive R8 e-tron on the most demanding track there is."

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