The Queen of the Nürburgring, Sabine Schmitz, was sent out to lap the Nordschleife in a new Porsche 911 GT3 by the folks from RSR Nürburg. Her conclusion is not really much of a surprise, but the clip is worth a watch nonethless. And for the females viewing, make sure you catch Sabine’s pro-tip for tackling the Karussell.
Mark Webber must love the Nürburgring. Back in 2009 he cracked his maiden Formula 1 victory in the Eifel mountains and early this morning he, along with his Porsche teammates, won the 6 Hours of Nürburgring. It was Mark’s first WEC race win.
It was a huge day for Porsche too, who dominated with 1–2 victories in both the LMP1 and GTE Pro categories.
Full results available HERE.
Ferrari assembled 40 owners of the immensely desirable F12 berlinetta and took them to the Nürburgring Nordschleife for a private track day. It was the largest gathering of F12s in Germany.
These photos and brief video can’t really begin tell you how much fun that would have been. They can’t put you in the moment.
They can’t replicate the experience of first nervously exiting the TF gates and shooting towards the famous Bilstein bridge at Antoniusbuche. It can’t make you feel your heart flutter as you decide when to lift the accelerator at Quiddlebacher Hohe so you can make it around Flugplatz. Or the thrill and sensory delight of firing down Füchsrohre.
But they’re the best we’ve got. And hopefully those words helped more than the rather modest video from Ferrari. They took 40 F12s to the Ring and that’s all they could come up with?!
Australia is one of the best countries in the world to live. If not the best. But there are two things we can’t do and that’s buy a fast Seat wagon and we can’t drive our own cars around the Nürburgring Nordschleife.
Yes, I’m sure that second part can be done, but not without a lot of red tape, a lot of hassle and, importantly, a lot of money.
Dale Lomas from Bridge to Gantry just bought himself a new car—a Seat Leon ST Cupra 280 estate—and on day one of ownership he ducked around to his favourite local road for a run. Bastard!
Oh yeah, that Harry’s Lap Timer setup seems pretty cool too, even advising of a yellow flag via the mobile phone app.
Settle in and enjoy the lap.
The new BMW M2 has been getting out and about lately putting in some good miles at the Nürburgring. And the latest word is that it won’t be too long until we get to see the car without its fancy swirly graphics.
Frank van Meel, BMW M boss, spoke to Dutch publication Autovisie recently and shared a few of his company’s upcoming plans.
First, there was Bad Frank. Boo, we don’t like Bad Frank, because he told us there are no current plans to make an M3 Touring. Bad Frank says there wouldn’t be enough demand for such a car.
“Is this clown f@%king kidding himself!” was the loud exclamation heard at AUSmotive HQ when we first read that news.
But it’s okay, because once Bad Frank mentioned that about an M3 Touring and something else about an M7 being a waste of time, he quickly transformed into Good Frank. Now, Good Frank only deals in the good shit.
Good Frank said the new M2 will be on show at the Frankfurt Auto Show in September. And, even gooder, Good Frank reckons the M2 details and photographs will be revealed in full before the car makes it show debut.
So there you have it, indisputable proof that Good Frank is way better than Bad Frank.
For your added viewing pleasure there’s a couple of M2 videos after the break showing a couple of F87 M2 prototypes in action.
[Source: WCF & BimmerPost | Thanks to John for the tip]
It’s Volkswagen’s answer to the Megane RS275 Trophy R and it’s one step closer to reality, as these pics show. It, of course, is the Golf GTI Clubsport, which was presented in concept form at the Wörthersee show earlier this year.
The show car had semi slick rubber and the promise of a power boost to 195kW (265hp). Latest talk suggests that power could rise to as much as 215kW (290hp), which would be driven to the front wheels through a VAQ diff.
This test mule is fitted with a roll cage, but that’s pretty standard for cars lapping the Nordschleife during industry pool sessions. However, there is a suggestion that a half cage may be available as an option when the Clubbie is released next year to celebrate the GTI’s 40th birthday.
Pleasingly, the trackside report from BTG also claims this test car was fitted with a manual gearbox. Happy days!
Follow the link below for more pics.
[Source: Bridge to Gantry]
Chris Harris and his cameraman Neil Carey take us deep into the world of the 2015 Nürburgring 24 Hour race. The star of the show is the production-based Aston Martin GT12.
“Watching a car being driven fast around here is one of the great spectator experiences,” claims Harris.
I believe him.
I’m yet to watch an N24, but I have seen cars be tested within an inch of their life during Industry Pool sessions. It is a pleasure to watch. Witnessing a grid full of GT3 cars fighting for every inch of tarmac would be awe inspiring.
Enjoy this clip. It’s a good one. And how awesome does that GT12 sound!
[Thanks to Jono for the tip]
While I was driving around Germany in April Car magazine published this rendering of the new Bugatti Chiron. It will be the replacement for the iconic Veyron.
What can we expect from the Mk2 Veyron? Let’s start with a reworked version of the 16-cylinder engine found in the old car. Power is expected to peak at a mammoth 1500hp (1100kW), matched by a staggering 1500Nm of torque. There’s also rumours of some electric hybrid gubbins featuring to help achieve that eye-watering headline power figure.
The Chiron’s v-max is predicted top out at licence-wrecking 463km/h (288mph) and the increasingly irrelevant 0–100km/h sprint will be all over in just 2.0 seconds.
Oh mama!
Maybe the Veyron I saw lapping the Nürburgring during an Industry Pool session (pictured below) was a precursor to the Chiron?
[Source: Car]
Lamborghini has shown with its outrageous Aventador LP 750-4 SV that you don’t need a tricked up über hybrid to break seven minutes at the Ring. You just need a 750hp normally aspirated 6.5 litre V12.
Some pointers to note, the indicated peak speed at Schwedenkreuz was 297km/h, a staggering a 285km/h down the Fuchsröhre and 325km/h into Tiergarten.
You won’t find too many cars able to top those speeds. But with a final lap time of 6:59.73 that should come as no surprise!
[Thanks to Wayne for the tip]
In case you missed it the WTCC crews have been to the Nordschleife and even better they will be holding a full on race meeting there as part of this weekend’s Nürburgring 24 Hour support program.
With thanks to Citroën here’s a full lap of the Grand Prix track and Nordschleife with motorsport icon Sebastien Loeb at the wheel. The low angle of the camera is awesome, even if it flattens out the dramatic elevation of the Nordschleife.
For what it’s worth Loeb’s Nordschleife time is a bit over seven minutes, while his best time during the official test day for the full 25+ kilometre lap, including GP track, was 8:40.517. That’s fast for a FWD racecar and within around 20 seconds of the fastest GT3 machines.
It’s also worth noting that Sabine Schmitz will be racing a Chevy Cruze in the two WTCC races this weekend as well.
[Thanks to Stu for the tip]
Viktor Kharitonin is a name you may not have heard of before. He’s a Russian business tycoon with connections to Roman Abramovich and has made his cash in pharmaceuticals, among other things.
According to recent reports Kharitonin has stepped in to save the Nürbrgring by buying a controlling stake in the Capricorn consortium which won the rights to the Ring earlier this year. The new owners are set to take control of the famous track on 1 January 2015.
Capricorn teamed up with German-based Getspeed to form the winning bid back March, with Capricorn comitting to around two-thirds of the required cash. It’s understood Getspeed is still in the frame for its one-third share and that Kharitonin has taken over Capricorn’s component.
German media has reported that Kharitonin’s business NH Holding came to the rescue by covering two payments owed by Capricorn, one due earlier this month and one due in December.
If those payments weren’t made there was a very real risk that the Ring could cease it’s daily operations with near immediate effect. So, on the one hand it’s great that the Nordschleife is safe; at least for now.
But what of Kharitonin and the longer term future and security of the Ring?
Well known Save The Ring campaigner Mike Frison had this to say: “It’s the worst case come true. So many times the administrators and politicians kept saying that the Ring would be taken care of. That it would never fall into the hands of some Russian oligarch. Never trust a politician, QED. For me it’s so sad to be right again.”
Hopefully, Mike’s worst case scenario doesn’t hold true and we can all look forward to enjoying the Nürburgring for many years to come.
[Source: Pistonheads | Pic: Siberian Times]
