Truth in 24 II - the sequel of all sequels

By Johan Laubscher

For Audi and die hard motorsport fans alike the movie “Truth in 24” stands out as one of the best motorsport films made to date. It was a film which documented the first half of the 2008 season for Audi’s Le Mans sportscar program. It followed all the processes of the Audi team’s preparation and finally covered the 2008 Le Mans 24 Hours as well. The film successfully captured the spirit of Le Mans and portrayed the up and down emotional rollercoaster of the legendary race. The film was produced by InterSports and NFL Films and the American version had non-other than Transporter film series and Audi driving star, Jason Statham for the commentary of the film.

Le Mans 2008

This film, which was the brainchild of Audi America was brilliant. I was lucky enough to be at Le Mans in 2008 and I can personally vouch for this movie. The emotion portrayed was real, the tension of the battle was seen on every spectator. The race was dubbed: “The race of the decade” because of the David versus Goliath fight between the new faster Peugeot and the older Audi R10 TDI. I clearly remember when the rain started falling at about 3am local time, and a smile formed on my face knowing that the race for Audi had just begun. The next two hours saw Mr Le Mans, Tom Kristensen real in Jacques Villeneuve on the increasingly wet track, watching on the timing screens as the gap diminished. In the film that period is perfectly portrayed and it felt like I was reliving those two hours. The film was beyond breathtaking, I had tears in my eyes when the race finished live at the track and I had tears in my eyes again at the end of the film.

The film was clearly one of the best ever in this genre and many people share my feelings regarding the film. Thus it is clear that with the announcement that a sequel has been planned comes much excitement and anticipation. Audi fans will once again be treated to a great documentary, and with the prospect of watching an Audi film based on the 2011 Le Mans is something to look forward to. 2011 was one of the best Le Mans races in history with the battle for the win going straight to the line with only 13.8 seconds separating the top two places.

More information will soon be available at www.truth-in-24.com. At the moment the website only has the red image bellow, but the “coming soon” is consolation enough to the fact that we will be treated to yet another world class film production. The wait until the film's release seems almost unbearable.

Here are some great youtube videos from Truth in 24 "1"

Truth in 24 “1” – 30 second trailer

Truth in 24 “1” – 60 second trailer

Truth in 24: The Back Story by Garage419 and Matt Farah

Truth in 24 “1” (Full length film)

The Audi A4 STW and its reincarnation

By Johan Laubscher

For many of the older motorsport fans the words Super Touring spark excitement in their minds. Super Touring, also known as FIA Class 2 rules was a touring car formula that was born in Britain and quickly spread around the world. It was a two litre formula adopted by the BTCC which proved extremely popular with the fans. The racing in Super Touring was spectacular and fans could watch almost all the showroom sedans battling it out on the track. The age old term, “Win on Sunday and sell on Monday” was very evident and the manufactures came rolling in. All the manufacturers you can think of who build large volume sedans took part, which meant a healthy field of cars all over the world. The formula spread like wild fire all over Europe and the rest of the world, every continent had Super Touring racing.

The Audi A4 STW in the 1996 BTCC

One of the major players in the formula was Audi, who were the only competitor using four wheel drive. The original Audi Super Touring car was the Audi 80 Competition which was very successful and competed officially from 1993-1994. The Audi A4 (B5) was launched to the world in 1994 and would make its race debut in 1995 as the Audi A4 STW quattro (STW = Super Tourenwagen/Super Touring Car). The car was immediately a front runner taking many championships including a 1996 season clean sweep. The 1996 championship list included, the Championships from Britain, Germany, Italy, Australia, Belgium, Spain and South Africa, all of which were won by the Audi A4. The A4 was penalised for an unfair advantage and eventually four wheel drive was banned from this form of sanctioned motorsport in 1998.

Since then Super Touring came to an eventual death as development and running costs became astronomical. The formula was ended in the early 2000s and replaced by the S2000 rules for touring car. Many still consider Super Touring as a golden period for the sport and the S2000 rules never relived the glory days.

After the demise of the formula the second hand race-car market was flooded with old Super Touring machines. Many of the cars were picked up and raced in various national series. One of the most sought after models was the Audi A4, it had brilliant acceleration and grip levels. The Audi A4 has found a new popular home, and that home is on the hills of Europe. The car has become an extremely popular choice of car for hillclimb events as it is perfectly suited to the tight and twisty nature of the sport.

Dozens of the A4 STW cars have been used and are still being used in hillclimbs, often keeping up with and beating other purpose built rally cars, even ex-WRC cars. Audi A4 STW has been a dominating force in the Spanish hillclimb series where many of the cars still take part very competitively. The cars can be found gracing the hillsides all over Europe, from Spain to Greece and even the Canary Islands.

The hillclimb scene has really become the Audi A4 STW’s reincarnation, and by the looks of things the car will continue to be a weapon of choice for hillclimb drivers for many years to come. Hearing that glorious engine note at full power across the picturesque hillsides is enough to make anyone nostalgic to the good old days of Super Touring, long live the A4 STW.

Photos by Race Action

More at:

Race Action Motorsport Fotos & Videos FB Page

Race Action Motorsport Fotos & Videos Website

Just a few video examples of the A4 STW dominating the hillsides of Europe

Andreas Marko – Austrian Hillcimb Series (2012)

Panagiotis Cabilis – Greek Hillclimb Series (2012)

José A. López-Fombona – Spanish Hillclimb Series (2011)

Just go to youtube and search for "Audi hillclimb", you will not be disappointed...

Audi R8 LMS ultra victorious race debut

By Johan Laubscher

A lot of excitement has been surrounding Audi’s latest GT3 race car, the R8 LMS ultra. There has been no shortage of news regarding European teams acquiring and testing their new ultras and also many rumours about who is next in line to receive their new cars. Amongst all the news it has almost gone unnoticed that the Audi R8 LMS ultra has had its race debut and a successful debut at that.

An Audi R8 LMS ultra was delivered to the Chinese and Malaysian based Absolute Racing Team. Absolute Racing is a specialist motorsport team who compete in various championships. The team runs its own race program and also runs client teams. Their client teams receive technical support from Absolute Racing. One such client team is Philip Ma’s Team Hong Kong Racing (HKG).

The R8 LMS ultra had its race debut under the Team Hong Kong Racing banner with Philip Ma at the wheel. The car was entered for round 1 of the Asian GT Series sanctioned by FRD. The FRD sanctioned Asian GT Series is not the same as the AFOS “GT Asia”, these are two different series sanctioned by different organisations. The first round of the Asian GT Series was merged with the first round of the Malaysian Super Series (MSS), a series that runs exclusively on the Malaysian Sepang circuit. The race meeting was scheduled as a support event for the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix.

For Absolute Racing, running the Team Hong Kong Racing effort, it was a race against time. The brand new ultra arrived just in time for the race weekend. The saying “fast right out of the box” was very applicable here, as the car had literally just been delivered, and it was very fast. Philip Ma had strong qualifying performances which he backed up in the races.

During the first race Philip Ma battled hard with Asian GT rival Frank Yu and finished ahead of his rival to claim victory in round 1 of the 2012 Asian GT Series. His Asian GT victory also saw him in fourth overall for the race results. A victorious race debut for the new Audi R8 LMS ultra.

Race 2 would see a chaotic start. The top three cars had a coming together just after the start which saw all three crash into the pit wall and ricocheted across the track. Philip Ma luckily avoided the wreckage and slotted into second place overall. The race remained under safety car conditions until the last lap when the cars were released for a one lap sprint to the line. Philip Ma grabbed the lead and managed to hold off his opposition to cross the line in first place. He was later given a 20 second penalty for passing under yellow. Despite this setback the car’s performance straight out of the box was clear and the car has much potential, and it is very fast.

Audi fans can be happy knowing that the new GT3 car had a victorious debut, and this builds further excitement as we wait for the various other new Audi R8 LMS ultras to debut around the world.

Photos by Absolute Racing

More information:
Absolute Racing website
Absolute Racing FB page
Team Hong Kong Racing
Asian GT Series

Video of Race 2 startline crash

Audi S4 quattros ready for Killarney racing action‏

Press Release from Audi South Africa

THE Audi S4 quattros sprang into action this season – which got the 2012 season off to an exciting start at Zwartkops Raceway. Michael Stephen (A1 – Engen Xtreme / Southern Sun) got into the swing of things from the outset by posting the fastest qualifying time for the Bridgestone Production Cars.

In the process Stephen claimed three bonus points – the highest number available for any one qualifying position. This helped put Stephen at the head of the Audi S4 quattro field of three of these thoroughbred race cars in competition in the WesBank Super Series.

With Stephen leading the trio, he is followed by his teammate Tschops Sipuka (A2 – Engen Xtreme / Southern Sun) and the Audi S4 quattro of Melvill Priest (A7 – Mueller Sport Medicine). The three Audi S4 quattros hold positions four, five and six of class A of the Bridgestone Production Car championship.

Priest joined the Audi marque from the start of this season and has some work to do yet to make his brand new Audi S4 quattro perform on par with the rest of the field. The first outing was still good enough to place him in the top two-thirds of the field.

Round two at Killarney will see the return of Johan Fourie (A9 - IndyOil / EPS) to the field. Fourie did not compete at the opening event of the season as he had still not finalised his sponsor for the year. With this resolved, he will make it to round two – and compete in front of his home crowd.

With Fourie's Audi S4 quattro added to the mix, a quartet of thundering thoroughbred power will thrill the Cape Town crowd and the second round of the WesBank Super Series is sure to be a spectacular event.

Audi South Africa

Photos hosted at www.motorpics.co.za

More information:

Audi South Africa

Audi Motorsport in South Africa FB page

Unofficial Audi Sport FB page

Bridgestone Production Cars Website

Bridgestone Production Cars FB page

Michael Stephen - Audi S4 (Terry Moss Racing)

Tschops Sipuka - Audi S4 (Terry Moss Racing)

Melvil Priest - Audi S4 (VMP Motorsport)

Johan Fourie - Audi S4 (Johan Fourie Racing)

  

Nieyaaz Modack - Audi A4 (Private ex-Johan Fourie Racing A4)

"24 Hours of Audi" : Shakedown great coverage to Audi tests at Sebring

By Tarek Ramchani

Audi won the 60th 12 Hours of Sebring, a great 1-2 victory with the "old" Audi R18 TDI. Right after the endurance classic, Audi Sport Team Joest spent some times testing their new weapons. The Audi R18 e-tron quattro and the Audi R18 ultra. New LMP1 challengers for both Le Mans 24 Hours and the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Shakedown was there too, and they did a great coverage for these private Audi tests. including interviews with Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich head of Audi Motorsport. Allan McNish the 2012 Sebring 12 hour overall winner and Ulrich Baretsky  head of engine development at Audi Sport. A brilliant report worth to watch, waiting the two cars debut at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, round 2 of WEC.

Audi R8 LMS ultra All Over the World

By Johan Laubscher

Audi fans are all very excited to see the launch of the latest GT3 specification race car from the four rings. The original Audi GT3 spec car was the Audi R8 LMS which was shown to the public in late 2008 with much anticipation for the car’s debut. The cars debuted in 2009 and did not disappoint by immediately taking race wins and various titles. Since its introduction the R8 LMS has quickly become one of the most successful GT3 cars, if not the most successful.

For 2012 Audi has introduced the Audi R8 LMS ultra. The latest version of the R8 race car model range which is internally known by the “R16” project code. The car is an evolution of the R8 LMS with many new features such as the improved aerodynamics, more carbon parts and a new cooling system layout. Some of the new designs on the car did not make it past the homologation process such as the new rear diffuser and the DTM styled vents on the front bonnet, but these aside the car is fast.

These cars are sold to private customer teams and hence they are available to buy to anyone/team who want to purchase the car. The ultra is even listed on Audi’s German website (www.audi.de) amongst the other available road going R8 models. The car will set you back a cool 392.581 Euros… That is a lot of money but then again it is a lot of car, an exceptional car.

Deliveries of the new R8 LMS ultra car have started with the teams needing the cars first due to season commitments receiving their cars first. As a fan following the development of the project it almost seems like new ultras are appearing all over the world all the time. It is said that Audi Sport Customer Racing will deliver over 20 of these new cars during the start of this year to customer teams all over the world. The first two cars were delivered to two German teams: Mamerow Racing and Prosperia UHC Speed. UHC has since received its second R8 LMS ultra. Two Japanese teams have also acquired R8 LMS ultras in the form of the GAINER and äpr racing (not the same as APR Motorsport in North America).

Other ultras have also been seen testing in both the Blancpain Endurance Series and German VLN Endurance series test days this past week, both times the cars were in a silver livery with quattro GmbH logos. The Belgium W Racing Team have recently launched their 2012 program and tested their two brand new ultra cars at Zolder. See news abut the WRT tests at Zolder here: WRT testing at Zolder

Yet another ultra appeared this weekend in Malaysia, run by Team Hong Kong Racing (Absolute Racing) in the MSS support races for the Malaysian Grand Prix. These are all the ultras that have been seen to date but more will be seen very soon. It is almost like a wait and see game for Audi fans anxiously waiting to see the next ultra appear.

The R8 LMS ultra looks like an extremely potent race car and will defiantly be a force to be reckoned with in GT3 racing across the globe. If it came down to a beauty contest, the R8 LMS ultra would win hands down, one of the best looking race cars out there. It looks fast standing still.

Team Nova Driver perfect start of the season in Portugal with Audi

By Tarek Ramchani

The 2012 Portuguese GT Championship started this weekend at the Braga circuit. Team Nova Driver entered its successful Audi R8 LMS this weekend and achieved great results by winning both races.

The team's star and regular driver César Campaniço shared the #15 Audi R8 LMS with Carlos Vieira. The duo had two really exiting races, battling with other top GT3 rivals from AMG Mercedes-Benz and Lamborghini.

In Race 1 the Audi started last and finished in second overall after many great battles on the track and a great stint from César Campaniço. However the race winning Lamborghini Gallardo received a penalty after the race for pit stop infringements. The penalty dropped the Lamborghini to third place thus making the Audi victorious in race 1.

In Race 2 Team Nova Driver's car again started from the last position. Yet again a fantastic drive from both César Campaniço and Carlos Vieira with great fights against the #1 AMG SLS and the #4 Gallardo. Brilliant driving stints were enough to give the team its second victory of the weekend. It was the perfect start to the season and already the championship points lead as well.

Next round of the Portuguese GT Championship is set for April 14th and 15th at Estoril. Fingers crossed for more strong performances fromTeam Nova Driver.

Race Results

Race 1:

1 César Campaniço/Carlos Vieira - Audi R8 LMS

2 José Pedro Fontes/Miguel Barbosa - Mercedes SLS

3 Patrick Cunha/José Ramos - Lamborghini Gallardo

4 Pépé/Jorge Queiroz - Lamborghini Gallardo 

5 António Nogueira - Porsche GT2

6 António Cabral/José Carbral - Porsche GT3

Race 2:

1  César Campaniço/Carlos Vieira - Audi R8 LMS

2 José Pedro Fontes/Miguel Barbosa - Mercedes SLS

3 Patrick Cunha/José Ramos - Lamborghini Gallardo

4 Miguel Ferreira/Francisco Carvalho - Aston Martin

5 António Cabral/José Carbral - Porsche GT3

6 Paulo Moreno/Paulo Moleiro - Porsche 997 

More Information:

Team Nova Driver official Facebook

Photo Credits : Team Nova Driver