Home » Posts filed under audi a4
Showing posts with label audi a4. Show all posts
Showing posts with label audi a4. Show all posts

N24: Preview of the Audi Competitors at the Nürburgring 24 Hours

Posted by just sharing Friday, May 17, 2013 0 comments

By Johan Laubscher

The 2013 Nürburgring 24 Hours is taking place this weekend. The race itself will be running from Sunday until Monday, over the Whitsun long-weekend in Germany. Phoenix Racing returns as the reigning champions with the Audi R8 LMS ultra. 2012 was the first Audi victory at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, and no less than eight Audi R8 LMS ultra cars are entered this year from, five different teams.

A total of seventeen Audi cars have been entered, including a number of Audi Sport customer racing cars (Audi R8 LMS ultra & Audi TT RS), as well as a variety of privately developed Audi race cars. The Nürburgring 24 Hours always provides a tremendous spectacle and this year, with the projected difficult weather conditions, should provide another great race. Good luck to all of the Audi teams, and we cross our fingers for a repeat of the success achieved in 2012.

1. Preview of the Audi Competitors:

1.1. Audi Sport customer racing teams:

1.1.1. Audi R8 LMS ultra Teams:


G-Drive Racing by Phoenix
#1 Audi R8 LMS ultra
Mike Rockenfeller 
Marcel Fässler
Frank Stippler
Markus Winkelhock

G-Drive Racing by Phoenix
#3 Audi R8 LMS ultra
Frank Biela
Christer Jöns
Luca Ludwig
Roman Rusinov

Phoenix Racing
#4 Audi R8 LMS ultra
Michael Ammermüller
Frank Stippler
Ferdinand Stuck
Johannes Stuck

Prosperia C.ABT Team Mamerow
#2 Audi R8 LMS ultra
Christian Mamerow
Thomas Mutsch
René Rast
Marc Basseng

Audi race experience (TKL Motorsport)
#14 Audi R8 LMS ultra
Marco Werner
Christian Bollrath
Pierre Ehret
Ronnie Saurenmann

Audi race experience (TKL Motorsport) 
#15 Audi R8 LMS ultra
Rahel Frey
Dominique Bastien
Peter Venn
Alexander Yoong

Twin Busch Motorsport
#16 Audi R8 LMS ultra
Marc Busch
Dennis Busch
Manuel Lauck

Belgian Audi Club Team WRT
#29 Audi R8 LMS ultra
Laurens Vanthoor
Edward Sandström
Christopher Mies
Christopher Haase

1.1.2. Audi TT RS Teams:


Besaplast Racing Team
#105 TT RS – SP4T
Franjo Kovac
Martin Tschornia
Frederik Lestrup

Raeder Motorsport
#111 TT RS – SP3T
Elmar Deegener
Jürgen Wohlfahrt

1.2. Privately built/developed Audi teams:


Dupré Motorsport
#74 Audi RS 5
Christoph Dupré
Gunther Ofenmacher
Claus Dupré

Hömberg Motorsport
#101 Audi TTS
Bernd Hömberg
Alexander Streit
Torsten Platz
Bernhard Henzel

Brandl Motorsport
#106 Audi TT RS
Christian Kranenberg
Stefan Michels
Benjamin Weidner
Jochen Hudelmaier

pro Handicap e.V.
#112 Audi TTS
Wolfgang Müller
Oliver Rudolph
Partel Aditya

MSC Sinzig e.V. im ADAC
#118 Audi TT
Professor Jörg Wellnitz
Manfred Krammer Junior
Steffen Höber

#119 Audi TT
Prof. Jörg Wellnitz,
Manfred Krammer
Steffen Höber

#160 Audi A4 B7
Thomas Hanisch
Bastian Goercke
Stefan Gies

We wish the best of luck to all of the Audi competitors this weekend as they prepare for 24 Hours of racing at the Green Hell. 

Photo credit:
Stuck³ website
Audi Sport Communication / Media
DUPRÉ Motorsport

BTCC: Race 3 at Donington brings a hard day to an end for RAR

Posted by just sharing Sunday, April 21, 2013 0 comments

By Johan Laubscher

BTCC round two at Donington has proven to be a difficult event for Rob Austin Racing. The first two races saw the two Audis well outside of the top ten and race three was not to turn out any better.

Only one of the RAR Audi A4 cars lined up for the third and final race of the day. Rob Austin retired from race two due to engine related issues and unfortunately he did not take part in race three. This left teammate Will Bratt as the lone Audi in the field.

Bratt started the race in nineteenth and managed to move up through the field. He had moved up to thirteenth by half distance. Ultimately he finished in fourteenth after having gotten as high as twelfth during the race.

It was a very difficult weekend for Rob Austin Racing and the issues surrounding their straight-line speed hampered their progress as well. Regardless of the result it was great to see both RAR Audi cars on track this weekend, following the herculean rebuild of the #13 Audi A4 following the crash at Brands Hatch.

The next round of the British Touring Car Championship will take place Thruxton in May.

Race 3 results can be seen HERE.

Photo credit: Phil Laughton Photography


BTCC: A hard day continues for Rob Austin Racing in Donington Race 2

Posted by just sharing 0 comments

By Johan Laubscher

The first BTCC race at Donginton proved to be very difficult for the Rob Austin Racing team, and their fortunes unfortunately remained the same during race two. 
Rob Austin worked his way up from his fourteenth place starting position up to just outside the top ten. He then unfortunately dropped back to twentieth where he was ultimately classified as a non finisher. Rob’s teammate Will Bratt had recovered well during race two. He started in twenty-fifth and recovered all the way up to sixteenth, but he was off the track on the final lap when he lost his left rear wheel. Bratt thus crossed the line in nineteenth place.

It has been a very difficult weekend for Rob Austin Racing, hampered by their straight-line speed as well. The RAR pairing rounded out the top twenty during race two with nineteenth and twentieth (DNF).

The third and final race of the day will take place in a few hours. We wish the best of luck to the Rob Austin Racing team, hopefully a good result can be attained during race three. 

Race 2 results can be seen HERE.

Photo credit: Phil Laughton Photography


BTCC: Race 1 at Donington for Rob Austin Racing

Posted by just sharing 0 comments

By Johan Laubscher

Rob Austin Racing arrived at Donington after a massive repair job on the #13 Audi A4 NGTC. Despite the crash last time out the team were confidant following the strong performances at Brands Hatch. 

At Donington it became apparent that the RAR Audis had a straight-line speed disadvantage and this has hampered them all weekend. The pair of Audis lined up in seventeenth and eighteenth for race one. The race was one that saw the Audis battling outside of the top ten. Rob Austin fought hard and progressed up to fourteenth as he crossed the finish line. His teammate Will Bratt finished in twenty-fifth .

The second of three races will take place later this afternoon. We wish the best of luck to Rob Austin Racing and hopefully they can continue to move forward through the pack.

Race 1 results can be seen HERE.

Photo credit: Phil Laughton Photography


Audi included in the new South African V8 Touring Car Series

Posted by just sharing Thursday, April 18, 2013 0 comments

By Johan Laubscher

An exciting new formula is being born in South Africa. A V8 Touring Car Series, similar to that of the Australian V8 Supercars, is being planned for 2014.

The series will use a spec chassis with a number of planned manufacturer bodies available. The vehicles have been designed in Australia and are closely based on the new generation of Australian V8 Supercars. The manufacturer engines will all be controlled at 410 Kw. Thus far Ford and now Audi body shells have been confirmed, with more manufactures expected to be included.

A render of the Audi version was released today, and it looks very impressive. The first prototype car will arrive in South Africa very soon, and will complete testing on the local circuits. Up to sixteen cars are expected to be manufactured this year with a maximum of twenty taking part in the series next year.

VMP Motorsport’s Vic Maharaj has confirmed that they will be running cars in the series. The VMP team are currently running two Audi S4 quattro race cars in the South African Production Cars Championship, but it remains to be seen which cars VMP will run next year. But hopefully VMP will be seen with the beautiful Audi vehicles, as pictured in the render.

This is a very exciting development in South Africa. 

The Press Release from Motorsport South Africa can be read HERE. 


Photo credit: Motorsport South Africa

Race cars finding new homes - Audi A4 race cars in SA

Posted by just sharing Sunday, February 17, 2013 0 comments

By Johan Laubscher

Every race car has a story, a life time of competition, and for many cars a number of owners as well. Most race cars are built for a specific reason and run by their original team and driver. After a car gets replaced it may be sold on to another team to be used again, maybe in the same championship with a smaller private team or somewhere else. This opens up new opportunities and stories for these second-hand vehicles.

Audi A4 B7 testing during 2005 
Today we are going to look at three Audi A4 B7 race cars from South Africa, which have all received new homes and duties after their national racing careers. During 2005 the B7 A4 3.2 quattro race cars debuted in South Africa, competing in the South African Production Car Championship. By 2006 four of these Audis were taking part in what is arguably South Africa's premiere racing category. The B7 was a very potent race car and claimed the 2007 Class A championship with Shaun Watson-Smith and the 2008/2009 titles with Johan Fourie. Three teams campaigned the Audis: Terry Moss Racing, Johan Fourie Racing and VMP Motorsport. VMP retired their car at the end of 2009, but TMR and JFR continued racing with the three remaining Audi A4s. 2010 was the turning point for the faithful old A4. The new generation of turbocharged Class A cars from BMW and Subaru had almost made the normally aspirated cars, like the Audi A4, obsolete over night. With increased pace from their rivals the Audi teams introduced the Audi S4 race cars (during 2011) which went on to claim the 2011 and 2012 Class titles with Michael Stephen.

When the Audi S4 race cars were introduced it sealed the fate for the older Audi A4 cars, but not quite yet. Here is where the story of a race car comes in. After a race car's "official life span," or in other words its original intended purpose, it can move on to other things. In most cases smaller teams normally purchase ex-factory or ex-professional private team cars. This allows smaller teams/privateers to get their hands on previously professional and competitive machinery. It is a natural trend of events which can be seen in championships around the world. 

Michael Stephen - Audi S4 - Terry Moss Racing (2011)

A perfect example of this exchange of ownership can be seen with the ex-Audi Sport Italia Audi RS4 cars in Italy. A new private team, PRS NOS Racing, will use the RS4s in the 2013 Italian Superstars, more about that can be read HERE. Returning to the cars in South Africa, shortly after the introduction of the Audi S4 race cars both Terry Moss Racing and Johan Fourie Racing put their older cars up for sale. Two of the three (one JFR car and one TMR car) were purchased and headed to Cape Town during mid-2011. Here the cars are used very successfully in the regional Midas Clubmans Championship, based at the Killarney race track. The cars also regularly compete in Class A of the South African Production Car championship, when the national series has its Killarney race meetings. The cars have had a number of drivers in Cape Town but they remain in use today.

The one remaining Audi A4 from Terry Moss Racing, the car last used by Michael Stephan at the beginning of 2011, finally found a new home. At the end of 2012 the Zwartkops du Toit family purchased the car from TMR and almost immediately debuted it in the Zwartkops Raceway based Extreme Supercar Championship with driver Jonathan Du Toit. This completed the sale and new life of these three Audi A4 cars which are all still competing today: two in the Western Cape and the other in Gauteng. Whilst the Audi S4 cars remain at the sharp end of the national championship, these older Audi A4 cars can regularly be seen at regional events. 

Below we have included two columns of photos, which show these three Audi A4 race cars in SA. On the left are photos of the cars from when they last competed in the National South African Production Car Championship, and on the right are the cars in their current configuration and driver/owner for the 2013 season.

Johan Fourie - Audi A4 - Johan Fourie Racing
Nieyaaz Modack - Audi A4 
Tschops Sipuka - Audi A4 - Terry Moss Racing
Andre Johnson - Audi A4
Michael Stephen - Audi A4 - Terry Moss Racing
Jonathan Du Toit - Audi A4

More details regarding these Audi A4 and S4 race cars in South Africa can be read in our Audi Motorsport Blog Audi Racing in South Africa article series (Parts 8 to 10)
Audi Racing History in South Africa Part 8: The return of the rings
Audi Racing History in South Africa Part 9: The reign of the A4 quattro
Audi Racing History in South Africa Part 10: The S4 supercharged arrival

Photo credits:
Street Motion
RacePics
MotorPics

Video: Onboard Pikes Peak with Randy Pobst in the 034 Motorsport Audi A4

Posted by just sharing Saturday, August 11, 2012 0 comments

By Johan Laubscher

034 Motorsports have entered their Time Attack Audi A4 in the 2012 Pikes Peak International Hillblimb. The team have ace driver, and previous Audi champion Randy Pobst driving for them this weekend. Randy drove for Champion Racing from 2003-2004 and he was seen behind the wheel of the RS6 Competition and S4 Competition cars. Here is the first onboard video from the team. It was during a practice run on a section of the course. The Audi sounds great and clearly there is more potential in this car for the actual run up the mountain. Best of luck to 034 Motorsport! 

For more information see QuattroWorld.com’s story on the event so far, read it HERE


More information:

Audi S4 quattro racers set for Zwartkops action‏, South Africa

Posted by just sharing Sunday, May 20, 2012 0 comments


Press Release from Audi South Africa


ROUND four of the WesBank Super Series is another opportunity for the Audi S4 quattro brigade of racers to show just why these race cars are thoroughbreds perfect for competition.

The defending champion in class A of the Bridgestone Production Car series is Michael Stephen (A1 – Engen Xtreme / Tsogo Sun) who had an excellent outing at the previous round of the championship. Stephen grabbed pole position points for race one and a fastest laptime bonus point for race two.

This puts Stephen in fourth place in the championship at this point as he makes up the ground lost at round one when an engine fire prevented him from finishing the second race. Those missing points have Stephen fighting at every round for as many points as he can possibly get to close the 18 point gap to the championship leader, Anthony Taylor.

The second of the Audi S4 quattros is the Mueller Sport Medicine of Melvill Priest (A7). Priest and his team have been working at full pace to ensure his car development takes place as quickly as possible as this is his first season in the Audi S4 quattro. By comparison, the other teams have had their race cars for nearly a full season already and this means Priest must work doubly hard in order to be on pace with the competition.

Priest is doing well to overcome his challenges and is 13 points behind Stephen and currently holding on to fifth. The Audi S4 quattro competitors are currently in sequence in the points standings, in fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh.

Sixth spot is held by Johan Fourie (A9 – EPS / IndyOil) who did not compete in the first round of the 2012 championship. Fourie has not let missing round one slow him down and he has already shown he means business by winning three races of the six in which he has competed.

Tschops Sipuka (A2 – Engen Xtreme / Tsogo Sun) claimed a third place finish at round one of the season which took place at Zwartkops – and repeated this finishing position at round three. With the series back at Zwartkops for round four, it could again be Sipuka's opportunity for a podium position on the day. This will be a good boost for his championship hopes and a strong result here will provide the points he needs for the battle ahead.

Zwartkops Raceway will host some of the hottest racing talent in South Africa when the WesBank Super Series comes to town on Saturday. By far the hottest property on track will be the quartet of Audi S4 quattros and the race pilots who will be racing for the chequered flag.

Audi South Africa


Photos hosted at www.motorpics.co.za

More information:

Audi S4 quattro a tough act to follow in PE‏, South Africa

Posted by just sharing Monday, April 30, 2012 0 comments

Press Release from Audi South Africa

THREE races meant three chances to earn points at round three of the national WesBank Super Series round for the 2012 season. For three of the Audi S4 quattro competitors this event took place at their home circuit – or at least the home circuit for their car.

Defending champion Michael Stephen (A1 – Engen Xtreme / Tsogo Sun) looked to be in dominant form, making the very best of his home track advantage. Stephen charged into the lead, posting the fastest qualifying time and claiming pole for the first race by 0.3 of a second over his nearest rival, Johan Fourie (A9 – EPS / IndyOil) and his Audi S4 quattro which is garaged and prepared in Port Elizabeth.

“It was a good day at the track,” says Stephen. “The Audi S4 quattro was strong and everything was working well from Friday already. This weekend was a great result.

“The last few race meetings at Zwartkops we have been on the pace – or been the pace – for the series, and we race there next. The previous outing there I had an issue in race three that ended what could have been a weekend just like the one we just had, but I'm confident things will play into our hands again.”

Fourth fastest in qualifying was another Audi S4 quattro, this time that of another Port Elizabeth racer, Tschops Sipuka (A2 – Engen Xtreme / Tsogo Sun). Three places behind Sipuka was the Audi S4 quattro of Melvill Priest (A7 – Mueller Sport Medicine).

“We haven't done enough practise, we spent the time between CT and PE fixing the car so we didn't go in expecting too much since we haven't tested. There has been little time because we just got the car back together again but we've already got a test booked for this week. We're looking forward to Zwartkops and I'm good at the track.

“There's a lot to take into account, both from a driver and engineering perspective, and that's what we're working on now, that's our biggest task.”

PE is the first time we've had a chance to get some proper testing time this year and we've made good use of that, things should go much better from this point.”

Technical infringements in terms of how much turbocharger/supercharger boost is allowed in the series saw three of the Audi S4 quattro competitors sent to the back of the starting grid for the first race – leaving only Stephen to retain his qualifying position.

In the first race Stephen made great use of the power of his Audi S4 quattro to keep his pole position advantage and claim victory. It was his teammate, Tschops Sipuka, however that posted the fastest laptime as he concentrated on working his way through the field. Sipuka finished in seventh, just behind the Audi S4 quattro of Fourie.

For Priest the first race saw him cross the line in ninth place – a result he wasn't prepared to repeat with two more races on the day. Priest proved exactly that, posting a sixth place finish in the second race and claiming fifth in the last race of the day.

Fourie's fortunes also improved with two fourth place finishes to off-set his sixth place in race one.

“I wish we could have swopped Friday and Saturday this weekend,” says Fourie. “We were battling with a small splutter in qualifying and that penalty made the first two races very difficult. The handling also wasn't great on the day so there's lots of work to do for the next round.”

The biggest winner on the day was the defending champion, Stephen. Fastest in qualifying, a race victory in the first and third race and a second place in race two, he is now just a single point behind the current leader, the Subaru of Hennie Groenewald.

This means Stephen is the leading Audi S4 quattro racer and he will enter the Zwartkops round with a good chance of claiming the lead at that event. Priest, Fourie and Sipuka currently hold fifth, sixth and seventh in the series, with the Zwartkops event likely to favour their quattro systems and giving them the opportunity of closing the gap to the leaders.


Audi South Africa


Photos hosted at www.motorpics.co.za

More information:




Tough weekend for Fourie in PE (Audi S4)

Posted by just sharing 0 comments

Johan Fourie Racing Press Release  

TOUGH WEEKEND FOR FOURIE IN PE

After taking home two Bridgestone Production Car wins in Cape Town, Johan Fourie was looking forward to much of the same at the second round of the WesBank Super Series held at Aldo Scribante this past weekend. Unfortunately, this was not meant to be.

Friday's practice sessions looked promising and Johan managed to set a great time in qualifying. A time that would have put him on the front row of the grid. The team were however confronted with a huge problem that put the boost pressure of their Audi S4 above the allowed limit. A problem that did not present itself on Friday. Johan, together with two other competitors were moved to the back of the grid for this technical infringement.

After making some mapping changes, the team were ready for the first race, albeit concerned about their pace and the reason for the sudden boost anomaly. The rolling start did not give Johan any advantage over the rear wheel drive BMWs, but he managed to move into seventh place by the end of the first lap. Two laps later, he was into sixth. He drove hard to keep up with the BMWs, but was unable to improve his position.

Johan did not benefit from a reversed grid after only the top four finishers were inverted for the race two rolling start. He had a good start and was up to fifth place by the end of the first lap. The racing was close and three laps from the end, Johan saw an opportunity to pass Anthony Taylor, he executed the move and made it stick taking the flag fourth.

The final race grid was determined by the fastest race two lap times. This put Johan fourth on the grid for the standing start. The Audi got off the line well and Johan moved up to third. Going into turn one however, he found himself being squeezed by Etienne van der Linde (BMW). The two touched and van der Linde spun in front of Johan. This allowed stablemate Tschops Sipuka to get through and into third. Johan held onto fourth place for the remaining 14 laps.

"It was a difficult weekend filled with unexpected problems which we will need to rectify before the next race. The boost will be lower at altitude, but we are very concerned that we may have a problem with our ECU. I was going for the race win, but at the end of the day, we still took some points home and got to race. It could have been worse," commented Johan.


"Once again, the support from our fans has been amazing. Thank you for your support," he concluded.


The team will be back in action at Zwartkops on 26 May. 


More Information:
Johan Fourie Racing website
Johan Fourie Racing FB page
MotorPics


Photos hosted at Motorpics

FOURIE HOPES FOR FAVOURABLE CONDITIONS IN PE (Audi S4)

Posted by just sharing Friday, April 20, 2012 0 comments

Johan Fourie Racing Press Release



Johan Fourie will be a man on a mission at round three of the WesBank Super Series as he tries to reduce the points deficit between himself and the other Bridgestone Production Car Championship contenders.

Johan is no stranger to Aldo Scribante, putting in many hours of testing in his team’s home town. Whilst his knowledge of the circuit will work in his favour, he will still face some tough opposition.

During the 2012 season, the category made two trips to Aldo Scribante. Michael Stephen (Audi S4) matched Johan in race victories, with each driver claiming three race wins. The other two wins went to Subaru’s Hennie Groenewald. These results indicate that Stephen is likely to be the man to beat, but there is yet another hurdle. The results don’t show what kind of pace the newly launched F30 BMW 335is will have and if the Killarney results are anything to go by, the BMWs will be right on pace.

“It is definitely going to be a challenging weekend with some strong competition. We can’t afford to make any mistakes. At the same time however, we have nothing to lose and everything to gain with a strong set of results. I don’t think I am going to play this one conservatively,” remarked Johan.

As per the 2012 regulations, the pole sitter in all three races can choose whether the race with begin from a standing or rolling start. A standing start together with the tight, twisty nature of the circuit will really swing the results in favour of the four wheel drive cars.

“We always have spectacular racing in PE and I urge all motorsport fans not to miss the action on 28 April,” he concluded.
For more information, please visit www.johanfourieracing.co.za or follow the team on FaceBook (www.facebook.com/JohanFourieRacing) 

Photos by Motorpics (http://www.motorpics.co.za/)

More Information:
Johan Fourie Racing website
Johan Fourie Racing FB page
MotorPics

Johan Fourie - Johan Fourie Racing Audi S4

Nieyaaz Modack - Johan Fourie Racing Audi A4

Copyright © The Vehicles Earth. All rights reserved.

Super SEO created by Blogger Tuts From Jom Kenal Islam