Audi The Greatest At Lemans?

For the ninth time Audi has won the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans and thus equalized Ferrari’s position in the roll of honor in the French endurance classic. Only Porsche’s track record reflects more victories.




At the 78th edition of the race, efficiency and reliability were the decisive factors yet again - both are special fortes of the Audi brand which has a reputation of developing highly efficient automobiles. The three Audi R15 TDI cars of Audi Sport Team Joest ran without the slightest technical problems over the entire distance and occupied the top three places after the fastest Le Mans race of all time. After 2000, 2002 and 2004, Audi thus managed to achieve a one-two-three triumph at Le Mans for the fourth time.



"Everyone at Audi can be proud of this historic exploit. Reliability, efficiency and sustainability are particularly important topics for car manufacturers today. And these are exactly the areas in which we have demonstrated our expertise this weekend," commented Audi Chairman Rupert Stadler, who witnessed the captivating race live on location.



"It was one of the most thrilling races in Le Mans history, a do-or-die battle. This one-two-three victory is the fourth 1-2-3 for Audi at Le Mans and no doubt the most valuable victory claimed after the fiercest battle in our company’s history. I express my thanks and great respect to the entire squad. They have performed an incredible and flawless feat of energy. Peugeot was a formidable rival who required us to give everything. We express our respect to the French squad for this."



"After taking third place last year, it was our declared aim to bring the Le Mans trophy back to Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm, and we managed to do this in an impressive way," said Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. "I’m incredibly proud of this squad and sincerely thank the entire team and everyone who has contributed to this achievement."



The ninth triumph - in total - of the brand at Le Mans was also made possible by a technology which Audi Sport developed for racing during the past three years in strict secrecy: the V10 TDI engine of the Audi R15 TDI with an approximate power output of 440 kW has a turbo-charger with Variable Turbine Geometry.



VTG turbo-chargers are standard with Audi TDI engines in production vehicles. Their use at Le Mans helps the Audi engineers to continue to develop the technology for smaller, highly efficient turbo engines to be used in the future.



"At Le Mans we’re dealing with temperatures above 1,000 degrees centigrade which have not been encountered with production engines so far," explains Ulrich Baretzky, Head of Engine Development at Audi Sport. "As a result of downsizing, production development will enter into similar temperature ranges. This makes VTG another good example of how the technology transfer between Motorsport and the production side of the house works at Audi."



In 2010 the demands made on diesel engines were particularly high due to the restrictions imposed by the regulations. "Squeezing higher output out of the engines without sacrificing reliability posed a great challenge which our team mastered in an outstanding manner," said Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich after the race.



"We did not use the full potential of the V10 TDI engine this year in order to be absolutely on the safe side. That’s why it was clear to us even before the race that we wouldn’t have the fastest car - but a very reliable and efficient one. The development objective of the R15 plus was 20 percent higher efficiency. We managed to achieve this. We’ve been working very hard for this exploit over the past few months. This makes this success, which was enabled by a perfect team performance as well, even more rewarding."



The victorious Audi R15 TDI with Timo Bernhard (Germany), Romain Dumas (France) and Mike Rockenfeller (Germany) completed a total of 397 laps in the 24 hours. With the covered distance of 5,410 kilometres, the trio broke the 1971 record set by Dr. Helmut Marko and Gijs van Lennep in the Porsche 917 that was considered unbeatable because the Hunaudières straight at that time had no chicanes - another demonstration of the performance capabilities of Audi TDI technology.



Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Mike Rockenfeller drove an absolutely flawless race on their way to their first Le Mans victory and the new historic record. Except for a slow puncture shortly before the end of the race and a right-hand mirror that had come off, the race went without the slightest problems for the winners. Second place was taken by Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoît Treluyer on whose R15 TDI the front bodywork had to be changed twice after contact with the track barriers.



The 2008 winners, Dindo Capello, Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish, who were the best-placed Audi team in the early phase, were struck by major misfortune. Le Mans record winner Tom Kristensen had to evade a slow GT2 vehicle on Saturday night and slid backwards against the track barrier of the Porsche corners in the process. With fast lap times, Capello, Kristensen and McNish pushed back into the group of the front runners and in the end were rewarded with a podium result.

Following in quick succession is my Blog about the Audi Centre Bruma A8 Launch.

Once again because I live so far away I was up at 04h15 to get ready and get to the dealership by 05h30. We then left in convoy to De Hoek in Magaliesburg. Or the cradle of human kind .

What a very special place.The enteranceto the Hotel was over a bridge!

A truly fantastic facility.

The day was planned and coordinated by the D.P of the dealership


Shaun Michael

The guests were treated to a static display , a drive to Morapeng and also Helicopter flips to and from the venue and Morapeng. Unfortunately I don’t have pics of morapeng but I do of the helicopters
First let me introduce the two gentlemen that were tasked with flying the two helicopters.

The First helicopter

The pilot of this one was the one that gave half of our staff near heart attacks.

The guests were also treated to Archery.

The dining area was set up for Royalty, as one would expect when treating people to an A8 experience. Much effort and teamwork went into the day and it was very successful.
The ambience was completed by a lady playing an electric violin.

The dining area

Just before we got to lunch the staff were treated to a helicopter flip! Below is a pic of one my colleagues Ishmael in the helicopter just short of a change of underpants.

Still pissing myself .



A completely and utterly satisfying day was completed with a fine meal, great company and awesome music.



The car

A pic of the scenery.

Be back soon!!!!!!!

My W.C Exprience

Its been a very long time since my last blog! So let’s get started with a trip to the Germany England game. Yes! That’s how long I have been putting this off! I have been very pre-occupied and have been very busy at work. Basically a 16 hour day has delayed my penchant for writing.

Afore we go though. The day started very early. 05h00 to be very precise, a drive to pick up my brother.

TYRONE

As he’s an avid German fan I decided to go against him and dress up in the best England kit and regalia possible.

The problem was that even though I tried I couldn’t get that English group to join and chant with. Ze Germans were a whole lot friendlier and more accommodating. So with no change of clothes available i put on a brave face and joined a German table and watched them try sip on that piss poor excuse for a beer called Budweiser. According to Fritz or at least that’s what I think he was called there was “nussing wize about it”.

We arrived in time to miss an emergency plane landing on the major road leading into Bloemfontein and parked at that great sporting school Grey College. I literally got goose flesh when I passed this house named after possibly our best ever National cricket captain.

The walk was very close and the stadium was very accessible. What a sight walking down to the stadium.

However ! nothing could prepare me for the sight I was about to see at the waterfront in Bloem. Which co-incidentally is right next to the stadium



To say that I was speechless was an understatement. Wow what an electrifying atmosphere.

I shit you not. There was even a real life Bobby to escourt the B.B.C

There were England flags, banners , people all over the waterfront. We had to queue for a position at the spur at 09h00 in the morning.
The time had come to make our way to the Stadium. Walking down all the signing could be heard from the waterfront.So to sit in the stadium while it was filling for me was the best experience of the day. From empty to full faster than an Ethiopian can run a 10000m race.

And finally full.

The players warming up.

Before we knew it , it was game on. To watch either of these teams in action would have been great, to watch them play each other was a once in a lifetime opportunity. They delivered a great game with 5 goals in it.

Two soccer super powers with one loser.

At the end of the day a great game , awesome atmosphere and even better people!

Here’s to South Africa hosting the best world cup ever.

PPAAAAAAARRRRPPPPPPPPPP!!