Audi Dominates Road America

As a follow up to my recent article about last week’s Generac 500 race at Road America in Wisconsin; Audi and their supremely powerful turbo diesel R10’s finished with the overall first and second place finish in the LMP1 class.  It was the second consecutive time in the American LeMans Series that Audi has come in with the top two spots.

Audi: 1-2 finish in Lemans Series

In case you’re keeping track, the Audi R10 is powered by a 5.5 liter V12 diesel engine with two turbochargers.  This produces in excess of 650 horsepower and 1100 NM of torque. 

Audi TDI Engine

David Brabham and Scott Sharp finished third overall and took their third LMP2 victory of the season for their Acura-based team.  GT1 was won by Jan Magnussen and Jonny O’Connell of Corvette Racing who are also a regular fixture in the winner’s circle.

Corvette Racing at Road America

The Corvette Racing Team has won 6 of the last 7 races in their class.  The Farnbacher Loles Porsche team and their 911GT3-RSR round took home first prize in GT2.

More Results:

Pos Cl  Drivers                                   Car                                           Time
 1. P1  Luhr/Werner                            Audi R10 TDI                            102 laps
 2. P1  Pirro/Fassler                            Audi R10 TDI                            +  2.463
 3. P2  Brabham/Sharp                        Acura ARX-01B                        +  4.336
 4. P2  Dumas/Bernhard                      Porsche RS Spyder                   +  5.203
 5. P2  Franchitti/Leitzinger                 Porsche RS Spyder                  + 15.095
 6. P2  Maassen/Long                          Porsche RS Spyder                  + 15.854
 7. P1  Field/Field/Berry                       Lola B06/10 AER                       + 1 lap
 8. P2  Devlin/Bonilla                           Lola B07 46 Mazda                  + 2 laps
 9. P2  Smith/Dyson                             Porsche RS Spyder                  + 2 laps
10. GT1 Magnussen/O’Connell             Corvette C6.R                         + 5 laps
11. P2  Montagny/Rossiter                   Acura ARX-01B                       + 6 laps
12. GT2 Miller/Westbrook/Werner        Porsche 911 GT3 RSR             + 6 laps
13. GT2 Bergmeister/Henzler                Porsche 911 GT3 RSR             + 6 laps
14. GT2 Farnbacher/Muller                   Ferrari F430 GT                       + 6 laps
15. GT2 van Overbeek/Pilet                  Porsche 911 GT3 RSR             + 6 laps
16. GT2 Melo/Salo                                Ferrari F430 GT                       + 6 laps
17. GT1 Borcheller/Ducote                   Aston Martin Vantage             + 7 laps
18. P2  de Ferran/Pagenaud                  Acura ARX-01B                       + 8 laps
19. P1  Lewis/Faulkner/Fisken             Lola B06-10 AER                     + 8 laps
20. GT2 Bell/Brix                                  Ferrari F430 GT                       + 8 laps
21. GT2 Neiman/Law                            Porsche 911 GT3 RSR             + 8 laps
22. GT2 Pastorelli/Basseng/Pastorelli  Porsche 911 GT3 RSR             +11 laps
23. GT2 Figge/Tafel                             Ferrari F430 GT                      +11 laps
24. GT2 Pappas/Lazzaro                      Doran Ford GT-R                    +13 laps
25. P2  Diaz/Fernandez                       Acura ARX-01B                       +14 laps
26. GT2 Drayson/Cocker                     Aston Martin Vantage             +18 laps
27. GT2 Murry/Robertson/Robertson  Doran Ford GT-R                    +22 laps
28. GT1 Gavin/Beretta                         Corvette C6.R                          +26 laps
29. GT2 Milner/Sutherland/Hand        Panoz Esperante Ford              +52 laps
30. GT2 Feinberg/Hall                         Dodge Viper Comp Coupe      +55 laps
31. P1  Lewis/McMurry/Willman          reation CA07-002 Judd          +67 laps

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Mazda to reveal new crossover concept at Moscow

Among the two concept cars Mazda has planned for this year, the automaker will show the first, a sporty compact crossover SUV designed especially for the Russian market, at the Moscow International...

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Mazda's Latest Wild Concept: Hakaze

We’re looking forward to the Geneva Motor Show next month because a lot of the cars debuting there will come to the U.S. within the next year, like the all-new Audi A5 coupe. We’re not as excited about the usually wilder concept cars that European and other foreign auto shows get, like the Hakaze from Mazda.

The company uses the example of kite surfers to highlight the vehicle’s multi-functionality because, you know, everyone can identify with a kite surfer. Basically, any beachgoer or outdoorsman would enjoy the interior, which is designed to protect against sand, dirt and water. There are also LCD screens and an internet connection so you won’t be far from work, even when you’re out playing.

Yes, this is just another design flight of fancy, and we’ve seen plenty of that from Mazda this year.

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2007 Detroit Auto Show: 2008 Mazda Tribute Hybrid

Like the Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner before it, the Mazda Tribute gets a much-needed face-lift inside and out for 2008, including its hybrid version shown here. The main attraction of the Tribute Hybrid is its pairing of a 2.3-liter four-cylinder gas engine with a 70-kilowatt electric motor. The combined horsepower is rated at 155, but the company says that’s more equivalent to a 200-hp gas engine. The small SUV can travel up to 25 mph on the electric motor alone.

Also adding to the gas savings is a continuously variable automatic transmission. All told, the company says it has improved city-driving fuel economy (over a V-6) by nearly 75%. Using the outgoing V-6 engine’s worst city mileage figure of 18 mpg for the all-wheel-drive model, that would mean the hybrid would get roughly 31 mpg in the city. That seems very high to us, but that’s what the company gets for making automotive journalists do the math without releasing EPA estimates.

The changes inside and out are welcome, but we would have preferred Mazda focus its hybrid efforts on the popular CX-7 SUV instead.

The gas-powered version of the Tribute won’t be shown at Detroit but will go on sale later this winter.

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