Audi victorious, campaign back on the rails

Reigning LMP1 champions Audi seized back the initiative in this year's American Le Mans Series Class 1 championship with a thrilling victory at St. Petersburg thanks to an auspicious charge from three-time champion Lucas Luhr in the dying laps.

Luhr took the lead of the Acura Sports Car Challenge with three laps to go after storming past Romain Dumas' Porsche on the main straight at the third and final race restart.

The 29-year-old German had already led the incident-packed race after pulling off a breathtaking overtaking manoeuvre on Dumas at the end of the second yellow flag phase. But after losing the position to his rival while negotiating backmarkers the Koblenz-born ace was forced to re-take the lead all over again at the third restart, which he did effortlessly with the help of his TDI power down the straight.

Luhr's team-mate Marco Werner, who set the stage for victory on Friday with a mightily impressive pole lap, was full of praise for his team-mate's last minute assault.

"A great day for Audi," the 42-year-old exulted, "at the end it was a thriller. I'm proud of Lucas as he did an excellent job, especially after the restart. That's why we drive TDI!"

Luhr himself meanwhile acknowledged that it had been a difficult day behind the wheel of his Audi.

"It was a tough race for us. We struggled a bit in the heat," confessed Luhr after the race, "but at the end, we got it and that is what counts."

Audi's triumph on Saturday makes of up the team's disappointment at Sebring where both cars failed to finish as a result of mechanical problems and on-track accidents.

"I feel very pleased, particularly after the disappointing result in the first round at Sebring," confirmed Dr Wolfgang Ullrich, Head of Audi Motorsport.

"It is all the more surprising that we managed to clinch the victory on a street course which is normally not so well-suited to the strengths of the Audi R10 TDI. This is a great motivation for the next races as well as for the whole 2008 season."

by Chris Hayes:Crash.net

Audi TDI Power remains triumphant in St Petersburg

ALMS: Audi celebrated the first victory of the 2008 season with the Audi R10 TDI at the thrilling second round of the American Le Mans Series in St Petersburg (US state of Florida). Lucas Luhr, who shares the cockpit with Marco Werner, won with a 0.818-second margin after taking the lead again from Porsche driver Romain Dumas in the last three laps of the race. It was the 14th overall victory of the diesel-powered sportscar and the first overall win clinched by Lucas Luhr in the series. Last year, Audi had won the city street race in St Petersburg as well. The second R10 TDI retired following a collision.

Audi takes Le Mans Series lead:

LMS: Less than 24 hours after its victory in St Petersburg Audi clinched another podium result with its R10 TDI sportscar: the two Audi youngsters Alexandre Premat and Mike Rockenfeller finished the 1000-kilometre race at Barcelona (Spain), which marked the debut of Audi Sport Team Joest in the European Le Mans Series, in second place overall following a flawless drive. Dindo Capello and Allan McNish finished fifth with the second R10 TDI despite losing six laps due to a broken alternator belt. After the first race, Audi is leading the Manufacturers' Championship of the Le Mans Series with twelve points.

Audi Motorsport going Green

Amoung the speakers at the recent MIA Cleaner Racing Conference, Ulrich Baretsky of Audi and Patrick Symonds of Renault F1 shared the view which Baretsky said
" ..that our industry cannot stand idly behind the arguement that we are a minor contributor. Perception as they say, is reality and unless motorsport is seen to be part of the solution it will be considered part of the problem." and "the OEMs have alot of money and alot of fear but no solutions".

The MIA's Chris Aylett pointed out that " in the last decade, the cost of fuel in the US has trebled and in the UK it now costs eight times as much." He also quoted a discussion with a CIA officer that pointed out "..the war in the Middle East is the first where the US is funding both sides through its dependence on Iraqi oil."

The use of bio-derived fuels was discussed largely and Lord Drayson who gave up a British government job to go racing went in depth on his reasons for competing with Bioethanol.
Pat Symonds voiced the use of first generation bio fuels on a large scale could not be justified due to the effects on food production vs the miniscule savings.
Richard Karlstetter of Shell Racing Solutions revealed that the 08 WRC will be using what is known as 2nd Gen Bioethanol produced by the biomass to liquid process.

Judging from the motorsport heads and advocates for ecosystem impact the MIAs Cleaner Racing Forum will become a serious annual event to voice how the motorsport industry can improve positive conservation and changes geared through realistic goals aimed at showing the world how Motorsports Racing standards will be the future of how cars can be powered and cleaned up without losing the thrill and excitement of this 100 yr old sport.

Audi dominate Oschersleben test

Audi had the upper hand over Mercedes in the three-day test DTM at Oschersleben this week, filling four of the top five places.

Timo Scheider set the quickest time in the final test before the season begins at Hockenheim next weekend. The German was the only driver to break into the 1:21s and finished nearly half a second clear of teammate Markus Winkelhock who was second fastest.

Scheider set his best time on the second morning and nobody was able to beat it in the afternoon session or on the final day of running. But he did not want to read too much into times in the testing.

"Obviously you realise the lap times aren't of any significance while testing, apart from making me and my little boys feel good," he said.

"The situation is close, even within our team, so we will have to wait until the Saturday of the Hockenheim weekend to get the first hint of the true balance of power."

Tom Kristensen was one of several drivers to experience the 2008-spec machinery for the first time, and was pleased with the development from last year's Audi A4.

"It was the first time that I had the opportunity to drive my new car and I realised as early as the first laps that there is a big difference between this year's car and its predecessor," he said.

"We tested different setups and the car responded very well to the changes - that's what testing is about."

Reigning champion Mattias Ekstrom finished the test fourth overall, after going quickest but also crashing heavily on the first day.

The Swede suffered a brake failure at the end of the pit straight and ploughed into the barriers at turn one. He suffered a mild concussion, while the car was too badly damaged to be repaired at the circuit and was taken back to the team's base at Ingolstadt.

Bruno Spengler was the only Mercedes representative in the top five, with Britons Paul Di Resta and Jamie Green finishing sixth and seventh overall.

Ralf Schumacher ended the test in 16th place, 1.5 seconds slower than the quickest Mercedes, but around the same pace as fellow rookie Maro Engel, who was frustrated to lose a day of running when a steering failure for Schumacher prevented him from getting on track until the last half hour of the second day.

Pos  Driver                  Team                        Time     Laps
1.  Timo Scheider           Audi A4 DTM                 1:21.644  139
2.  Markus Winkelhock       Audi A4 DTM                 1:22.000  126
3.  Bruno Spengler          AMG Mercedes C-Klasse       1:22.162  168
4.  Mattias Ekstrom         Audi A4 DTM                 1:22.297  128
5.  Mike Rockenfeller       Audi A4 DTM                 1:22.305  258
6.  Paul Di Resta           AMG Mercedes C-Klasse       1:22.330  210
7.  Jamie Green             AMG Mercedes C-Klasse       1:22.341  200
8.  Oliver Jarvis           Audi A4 DTM                 1:22.422  217
9.  Martin Tomczyk          Audi A4 DTM                 1:22.650  129
10.  Alexandre Premat        Audi A4 DTM                 1:22.653  189
11.  Bernd Schneider         AMG Mercedes C-Klasse       1:22.776  148
12.  Tom Kristensen          Audi A4 DTM                 1:22.835  154
13.  Gary Paffett            AMG Mercedes C-Klasse       1:22.931  139
14.  Christijan Albers       Audi A4 DTM                 1:23.303   94
15.  Maro Engel              AMG Mercedes C-Klasse       1:23.579  100
16.  Ralf Schumacher         AMG Mercedes C-Klasse       1:23.796  251
17.  Katherine Legge         Audi A4 DTM                 1:23.893  179
18.  Susie Stoddart          AMG Mercedes C-Klasse       1:24.141  209
19.  Mathias Lauda           AMG Mercedes C-Klasse       1:24.163  204

By Steven English:Autosport.com

Audi favors Diesel over Hybrids for the Q5 & Q7

Audi of America chief Johan de Nysschen is hoping plans for the hybrid variant are pushed back at least two years in the hope the dollar gains strength so as to squeeze some profit out of a vehicle with a pricey powertrain.

In the case of the Q7 TDI, the launch is tentatively set for February 2009, but its model year has not been decided. In an interview with Car and Driver, de Nysschen says his preference is that it be denoted a 2010 model, but to qualify, production cannot start until after January 1, 2009, which would push back the sales date to next March at the earliest. Audi would prefer to begin assembly at the end of this year to ramp up supply, but such action would make the crossover a 2009. De Nysschen says the decision will be made within weeks.

As for the outrageous Twinturbo Q7 Diesel V12 engine is slated for sale in Europe in the second half of the year, de Nysschen says the business case to make it available in 50 states is a hard one to make. The concept, with 500 hp and 738 lb-ft of torque may make the hearts of enthusiasts flutter, but Audi needs to be able to support it in the market and the reality is, “there probably is not enough volume for it to come.” When you amortize the cost over the projected volume, it adds up to a very expensive vehicle, he says. “It would have to be a $130,000 car.”
Putting the V-12 into a production R8 would be less price sensitive, he argues, but he questions whether the hot sports car needs that many engine derivatives.

What de Nysschen would like to see is the new Q5 SUV with a diesel for North America. The all-new Q5, and no formal decision has been made for the diesel in the U.S., de Nysschen says.

Clearly a proponent of oil-burners, de Nysschen says the 3.0-liter diesel could also go in the A4, the A6, and even the A8. A four-cylinder mill could also go in the A4, as well as the A3. He says a diesel A4 for North America is “under consideration.”

As for Audi’s hybrid strategy, de Nysschen says he wants to delay the launch of a hybrid Q7 as long as possible—if not indefinitely—given today’s currency exchange rate and the low projected volumes for the vehicle. The price premium of the hybrid under these conditions would negate the savings to consumers, he says, as well as eliminating any profit margin for the automaker.

As a result, “I’m not pushing engineering to hurry up,” he says, and he is not pushing for hybrid versions of any additional Audi vehicles at this time. “We don’t need hybrids for all segments for Audi in the U.S.”

“I’d like to see hybrids pushed out two more years.” Like many German carmakers, Audi sees diesels as a better option in the U.S. than hybrids. But the automaker also recognizes the well-entrenched perception by American consumers that hybrids are a better solution.

And when Audi is ready to introduce a hybrid, “the Q5 would be a better volume hybrid,” he says. Technically the switch would be easy. “What we can do to the Q7, we can do to the Q5,” de Nysschen says.

Audi celebrates its 1,000,000th A3

Audi has recently finished producing its 1 millionth second generation A3, a model that has has been manufactured since early 2003. The car to hit the million mark was a 2.0-liter TDI A3 Sportback in Brilliant Red and is destined for a customer in Franconia, Germany. Audi's A3 model production started in 1997 and in total has made over 1.9 million first and second generation examples. Currently over 800 redesigned A3's are produced and shipped everyday to customers worldwide.

Much of Audi's recent financial growth can be attributed to entry-level and large volume models like the stylish A3 that give customers an intial stepping stone into the larger four-ringed family.

Audi's smallest offering is available to global markets with five different gasoline engine variations, in addition to three diesel power plants. US customers are limited to two gasoline powered engines: a 2.0-liter turbocharged four cylinder and a 3.2-liter V-6.

Future plans for the A3 model include a new European-only convertible version that will be manufactured this spring in Hungary.

Motortrend by Nate Martinez

Audi S-Tronic AKA "DSG system" to be in the newer A4 Q5 models

The newely developed Borg-Warner derivative transmission system used by Audi is to be packaged in a longitudal format to add the option to the A4 lineup and upcoming Q5 platforms. The DSG system will offer Drive, Sport and Manual modes, with the latter upgrading from six to seven fixed ratios as previsouly announced, and boasts a higher torque threshold of 550Nm. With the development of this new system whereas the older tranverse transmission would only wistand upto300ilbs-ft but tuners have been pushing the system even further than Audi has blueprinted. The new system is to be setup with Audis new 40/60 rear bias setup for better handling and to be rid of the infamous "Audisteer". The new system should be popping up in Europe by the end of this year and the US by 2009/2010.

"Audi has no timetable for US Diesels"

Audi spokesman Christian Bokich said the thinking behind pulling out of the Q7 hybrid launch was
"to launch the diesel properly and also a weak U.S. dollar". Also he is quoted as saying the Audi Q5 hybrid, "probably makes the most business sense because of sheer volume, and Diesel versions of the A6 & A8 for the U.S. are less likely".
"Diesel has always been a main focus and expertise of Audi, and in the future, we won't rule out hybrids, but everything we do needs to prepare the way for a financially sound Audi. The backbone is a strong financial business case. In this case, we're willing to take a look at a hybrid in the future. We have been working on hybrids. But our core competency is diesel cars. We love diesel, even more than our customers."
But considering all US bound Audi vehicles are petrol only, Audi needs to play catchup in America. Mercedes, and Audis parent VW have had diesels for years but the competition is just starting in the US with GM, Toyota considering sharing a diesel platform engine. Honda is also developing a US bound diesel, and has stated newer Type-R's could possibly have a 2.2-2.5 litre turbo diesel engine.

Audi adds 7th gear to the ratio

Audi and Volkswagen have had great success with BorgWarner’s dual-clutch transmission. And now, with the appearance of BMW and Lexus's 7th gear in the U.S. later this year, Audi’s upping its gear count to stay competitive.
Audi is set to introduce a seven-speed S-tronic gearbox, intended for use with the quattro system. The high-performance gearbox is capable of handling torque output as high as 406 lb-ft. With the 6speed Gearboxes only having a torque capacity of 350-400ilbs-ft.
The new geabox should appear in the new Audi Q7 crossover in Beijeing next month.

Audi invests largely in India

German luxury car maker Audi has grand plans in India and is going to invest Euro 30 million (Rs 192 crore) by 2015 in production alone. Audi India, Audi's national sales office, was set up in Mumbai last year.

Currently, Audi's India portfolio has a limited range on offer: TT, A8, A6, A4 and Q7.

Local assembly of the A6 has started from the company's plant in Aurangabad and the same will begin for A4 by this year end.