Link for live streaming Nurburgring 24

http://adac.24h-rennen.de/Live-Streaming-2011.4101.0.html

Live coverage of the Nurburgring 24 at this link... hopefully not blacked out for non-German markets.

Save The Ring!

Save the ring! Its one of those online petitions thing but it only takes 30 seconds and its to rescue one of the world's most well known race circuit! 

From 2007 - 2009 the German government built a huge Leisure Park at the Nürburgring. It is based on fake visitor numbers, over sized and badly executed. Most of the time it is an empty ghost town. Once promised as private investment, it is now based on a debt of 350+ million EUR public money.

Instead of pulling the plug they rented the park, including both race tracks to exactly the same privateers who were driving forces behind the Leisure Park's initial private setup.

Without Racing experience they are since experimenting with events completely unrelated to Motor-sport all under the iconic "Nürburgring" brand name.

They now want Nordschleife to pay for the huge losses. Tourist drives are at a record high, plus a 5 times increase in rent for the automotive industry for their prototype testing sessions.

What Needs To Be Done?

• Separate Nordschleife from ring°park.
• Let Nürburgring be Motor-sport.
• Value the great heritage and tradition, rather than Roller Coasters.
• Let the Ring be run by Motor-sport experts.

Sign the petition here: http://www.gopetition.com/petition/41698.html

To learn more, refer to this Jalopnik entry:

Save The Nürburgring!

 

Germany's Nürburgring is the world's automotive playground. A public park for gearheads. Sadly, it's been handed over to privateers who've put the entire 'Ring at risk. Michael Frison of 20832.com explains why we need to save the Nürburgring! — Ed.

You might be surprised by reading this headline and I'm aware the subject has not gained much awareness abroad, but there's currently a serious threat to the Nürburgring.
 
Since it's opening in 1927, the Nurburgring has been under complete public ownership and administration, but in May of this year the complete Nurburgring race track and park was rented out to two privateers (Kai Richter, Jörg Lindner). They have no motorsports background whatsoever, but are the driving forces behind the makeover, which includes the addition of a theme park with a new roller coaster that doesn't work, more hotel capacity than the area needs, a 3,000-seat event arena, and a shopping mall. Everything appears to be far too big and remains empty most of the time.

 

They promised private financing, but this soon turned out to be a fake. The Minister of Finance had to resign as a consequence. Despite lack of funding completion of the project continued.
The heavy burden now sitting on Nordschleife's shoulder is the debt of approximately 400 Million Euros, which seems completely unnecessary considering complete race tracks have been constructed for a fraction of this amount.

The issue is complex and has kept fans of the 'Ring busy, but I want to share with you what just happend last week: Nürburgring officials always claim a total of two million visitors per year, but in true Wikileaks style we got ahold of an older internal document (PDF) telling a different story. Promoters always engage in number polishing, but this is of different quality. It appears there's double bookkeeping for real vs. published visitors for all events held at the Ring. Have a look at the graph summarizing the figures:

Who would dare to claim two million spectators while only 370,000 actually turned up? The Nürburgring did and they based the business plan of the new leisure park on these numbers.

You don't believe me? Ask Sabine next time you meet her. Several investigations have already been triggered by the Department of Public Prosecution, a governmental board of inquiry and the competition department of the European Commission.

And anyone who criticizes the current direction of the 'Ring is answered with force. Wilhelm Hahne — the oldest of the racing Hahne brothers (his brother Armin finished 6th last weekend at the track) — had his house searched in June of last year and as recent as last week received again a warning letter from the Nürburgring lawyers for speaking the truth.

 

It really hurts to get sucked into politics and to witness how they treat the heritage we all love. The worst that could happen is enthusiasts be forced to pay the price of a privateer's blunder in the form of higher prices or worse. Threats to the track include reduced maintenance of the track to reduce costs, less motorsports, and restrictions on small clubs running events in the area. Enthusiasts could also be required to book at the new hotels to race at the track.

Please spread the word if you care about Nordschleife and its heritage. Follow ringumbau.de (the documentary community site accompanying the development) and question the information shared by officials.

Michael Frison founded the 20832.com Nurburgring site 10 years ago (ever seen the red-and-white-N logo when at the 'Ring?). He's also the person behind the renn.tv movies (you have probably seen Hans Stuck / BMW M3 GTR / Nordschleife Onboard), and donated the engine/idea of the Gixxerkart. He wears a Che Geuvara T-Shirt when he drives the 'Ring.

The author of this post can be contacted at tips@jalopnik.com

Tic Tac anyone?

Toyota test driver dies in accident in LFA on Autobahn

Numerous reports have mentioned that Toyota’s chief test driver, Hiromu Naruse, died in a head-on collision on Wednesday in Germany. Video shows the accident scene reportedly near Toyota's shop near the Nurburgring.

Video is in German but you get the gist of it.

BMW M3 GTS laping the Nurburgring - M Power at its best

The car is so flat going through the corners and the engine doesn't even sound strained.

The BMW M3 GTS is powered by a 4.4-litre V8 unit that develops 450 horsepower (331 kW) and 440Nm of torque. The car has gone on a diet, shedding 190 Kg, when compared to the regular M3 Coupe which weighs 1,680 kg. You add in improved aerodynamics and you've got a lovely example of German engineering.

BMW Z4 video... Lovin' the lap of the 'Ring

Lovin' the BMW Z4 at the 'Ring... 10 minutes of racing goodness!

Porsche 911 Hybrid

Exactly 110 years after Ferdinand Porsche developed the world’s first car with hybrid drive, the Lohner Porsche Semper Vivus, Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, is once again taking up this visionary drive concept in production-based GT racing: During the Geneva Motor Show, a Porsche 911 GT3 R with innovative hybrid drive is making its debut, opening up a new chapter in the history of Porsche with more than 20,000 wins in 45 years scored by the extremely successful Porsche 911 in racing trim.

The innovative hybrid technology featured in the car has been developed especially for racing, standing out significantly in its configuration and components from conventional hybrid systems. In this case, electrical front axle drive with two electric motors developing 60 kW each supplements the 480-bhp four-litre flat-six at the rear of the 911 GT3 R Hybrid. A further significant point is that instead of the usual batteries in a hybrid road car, an electrical flywheel power generator fitted in the interior next to the driver delivers energy to the electric motors.

The flywheel generator itself is an electric motor with its rotor spinning at speeds of up to 40,000 rpm, storing energy mechanically as rotation energy. The flywheel generator is charged whenever the driver applies the brakes, with the two electric motors reversing their function on the front axle and acting themselves as generators. Then, whenever necessary, that is when accelerating out of a bend or when overtaking, the driver is able to call up extra energy from the charged flywheel generator, the flywheel being slowed down electromagnetically in the generator mode and thus supplying up to 120 kW to the two electric motors at the front from its kinetic energy. This additional power is available to the driver after each charge process for approximately 6 - 8 seconds.

Energy formerly converted – and thus wasted – into heat upon every application of the brakes, is now highly efficiently converted into additional drive power.

Depending on racing conditions, hybrid drive is used in this case not only for extra power, but also to save fuel. This again increases the efficiency and, accordingly, the performance of the 911 GT3 R Hybrid, for example by reducing the weight of the tank or making pitstops less frequent.

After its debut in Geneva the 911 GT3 R Hybrid will be tested in long-distance races on the Nürburgring. The highlight of this test programme will be the 24 Hours on the Nordschleife of Nürburgring on May 15th and 16th. The focus is not on the 911 GT3 R Hybrid winning the race, but rather serving as a spearhead in technology and a “racing laboratory” providing know-how on the subsequent use of hybrid technology in road-going sports cars.

The 911 GT3 R Hybrid is a perfect example of the Porsche Intelligent Performance philosophy, a principle to be found in every Porsche: More power on less fuel, more efficiency and lower CO2 emissions – on the track and on the road.

Nissan GT-R's at home on the 'Ring

TOKYO (May 14, 2009) - The NISSAN GT-R, winner of the 2009 World Performance Car of the Year, has improved its lap time at the renowned Nurburgring Nordschleife circuit in Germany to 7min 26 seconds 70 on April 23.

This new time underlines Nissan engineering team's commitment to constantly challenge the GT-R's performance. Previous recorded lap times at the 'Ring' were:

• 7 minutes 27 seconds 56 on April 15, 2009
• 7 minutes 29 in April 2008
• 7 minutes 38 in September 2007

"This record demonstrates our commitment to the continuous evolution of the Nissan GT-R," says Kazutoshi Mizuno, Chief Vehicle Engineer and Chief Vehicle Specialist. "We would like to continue delivering the passion and pride of ownership to our customers by improving its performance every year."

The Nissan GT-R has won more than a dozen awards globally including Car of the Year from CAR Magazine in the UK, and Car of the Year by both Motor Trend and Autombile Magazine in the US.

While the Nissan GT-R benefits from a strong image and heritage amongst performance car aficionados, its updated 2010 version will be the first to be sold globally. It was launched:

• in Japan in December 2008,
• in the US in March 2009
• in Europe, GCC, Australia, New Zealand, and Taiwan in April 2009

Europe is currently in the process of delivering the first GT-Rs to more than 2,200 pre-order customers.

The model R35 GT-R was first launched in Japan in December 2007, selling 5,900 units until March 2009. It went on sale in the US in July 2008, where 2,100 have been sold so far.

News and photo used with permission of Nissan.

Porsche-heavy field to compete in Nurburgring

A total of 31 Porsche race cars roll to the start of the 35th running of the 24 hour race on the Nuerburgring on 9th June. With this, Porsche is one of the most popular marques at Germany's largest motorsport event. And one of the quickest: the Manthey Racing team returns as title defender with a 911 GT3 RSR. Also amongst the favourites for overall victory are the Land Motorsport squad and a pack of competitors running Porsche vehicles.

With a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR in the latest spec (382 kW/520 hp), team principal Olaf Manthey is eager to repeat last year's victory. Alongside title defender Timo Bernhard, two of his works driver colleagues, Romain Dumas and Marc Lieb, take the wheel of the Weissach-developed and built GT racer. The fourth pilot is Marcel Tiemann, who belonged to the victorious team last year. “We are well prepared for the race. Our win last year of the Nuerburgring Long Distance Championship gives us extra motivation to claim the victory again. But the competition this year is incredibly tough,” analyses Timo Bernhard, who normally shares driving duties with Romain Dumas at the wheel of a Porsche RS Spyder run by the Penske Motorsports team in the American Le Mans Series. Manthey Racing, with its headquarters in Meuspath a stone's throw from the 'Ring, fields a four-car team this year.

Having already claimed three victories in the Nuerburgring Long Distance Championship, the Land Motorsport team, based near the German town of Siegen, has proven the speed and reliability of the Porsche GT3 RSR lap after lap on the Nuerburgring Nordschleife. With Marc Basseng, Marc Hennerici, Dirk Adorf and Frank Stippler four of the top Nordschleife experts man the Porsche cockpit.

Konrad Motorsport has also signed on a strong driver contingent for its Porsche GT3 RSR with pilots Patrick Huisman, Wolfgang Kaufmann and Dennis Rosteck. Paragon AG team entered Pierre Kaffer, Joerg Hardt, Patrick Bernhardt and Klaus Frers for its 911 GT3 RSR.

The Porsche squad to have travelled the farthest is the VIP Petfoods team with drivers Tony Quinn, Klark Quinn, Craig Baird and Kevin Bell who regularly contest the Carrera Cup Australia. With the same line-up last year, the quartet saw the chequered flag in ninth position overall racing a GT3 RSR. With a new GT3 RSR the team is hopeful for overall victory this year. “Of course you need a bit of luck over such a long distance, but with the new Porsche GT3 RSR we definitely have a winning car,” says team boss Tony Quinn.

The 35th edition of the Nuerburgring 24 hour race gets underway on 9 June 2007 at 3pm with the flag dropping on 10 June 2007 at 3pm.

News used with permission from Porsche.

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