Volkswagen will present its broad-scale motorsport commitment for the 2008 season, which kicks off for the automobile manufacturer from Wolfsburg with the start of the Dakar Rally on 05 January. The commitment encompasses seven programmes for the USA, Europe and cross-country rally sport, which is being staged in the international arena.

“From junior projects for rookies in Formula or Touring Car racing and professional commitments like the Formula 3 engine programme, all the way to top-calibre sport in the area of cross-country rally racing, Volkswagen as one of the leading manufacturers is proving its motorsport competence,” emphasises Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. “There is hardly another automobile manufacturer with as diverse an offering for junior drivers, customer teams and professional racers. This means that the motorsport commitment supports the brand’s mission, namely the provision of extremely reliable and absolutely competitive products for various uses.”
 
Dakar Rally – the big challenge
 
At the 2008 Dakar Rally Volkswagen will have the opportunity to write history again: The four driver/co-driver pairings of the factory line-up – Carlos Sainz/Michel Périn (E/F), Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (RSA/D), Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/RSA) and Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk (D/D) – as well as the private Lagos team – Carlos Sousa/Andy Schulz (P/D) – could be clinching the first overall victory powered by the Race Touareg’s TDI diesel technology – and in the 30th anniversary event of the rally at that. As a manufacturer who has experienced the Dakar Rally in its early days Volkswagen, with three top achievements to its credit, is already inseparably tied to the desert classic. In 1980 the brand, as the first automobile manufacturer with a factory-level commitment at the Dakar Rally, celebrated overall victory with the Iltis. In 2003 Volkswagen, after numerous exploits in other disciplines, returned to the Dakar Rally and has since shown pioneering achievements with the TDI diesel engine. 2005 saw the first ever podium position – third place overall – being clinched by a diesel-powered car, and one year later Volkswagen finished as the runner-up, thus improving the previous result. In addition, in the past 2007 season, Volkswagen in the course of their preparations for the Dakar Rally won the title in the FIA Cross-Country Rally World Cup with Carlos Sainz/Michel Périn, in the drivers’, co-drivers’ and team classifications. Previously, in 2005, the top title in this discipline had gone to Wolfsburg as well.
 
High-grade offering for rookies – Formula ADAC and Polo Cup
 
In its entry-level programme, as well, Volkswagen is up to par with professional standards. Junior racers planning a career in circuit racing are now being offered as many as two lucrative racing career opportunities by the Wolfsburg-based automobile manufacturer. Touring car drivers aged 16 to 26 have the chance to qualify for the ADAC Volkswagen Polo Cup in two qualification courses. For ten years, Volkswagen’s “touring car school”, which is being staged in front of a large audience as part of the DTM’s supporting programme, has been highly popular with junior racers. Maximum equality of opportunities is guaranteed by the central fielding and swapping of the cars among the drivers. But now touring car racing has ceased to be the only pillar of Volkswagen’s entry-level programme. From 2008 forwards, the brand – as an engine supplier - will also be a favourite with future Formula racing aces. With a professional “monoposto”, the new Formula ADAC Masters powered by Volkswagen will offer young drivers from 15 years of age onwards the opportunity to switch from the kart to professional motor racing at a fair price. A 1.6-litre FSI engine from Volkswagen delivering 145 hp will power the single-seaters made by the Italian manufacturer Dallara.
 
Club sport in the style of the brand – the Golf GTI for endurance racing
 
At the 24-Hour Race at the Nürburgring Volkswagen managed a real feat in June 2007: With a slightly modified production Golf GTI, which represents an ideal, forward-thinking club sport vehicle, the factory team, at the début event, clinched eighth place overall behind seven thoroughbred GT sports cars, and class victory in the field of 220 contenders. In future, Volkswagen will directly share its findings and technical progress with its customers in endurance racing: The Golf GTI powered by about 300 hp and fitted with a DSG six-speed gearbox can now be purchased for customer sporting events from Volkswagen Motorsport. This provides an attractive opportunity for private teams competing in the increasingly popular endurance races to seriously start “shocking the favourites” at affordable costs and with a proven technology package.
 
Stepping stone for Formula 1 – Formula 3 Euro Series with Volkswagen engines
 
In the 2007 season Volkswagen returned to its roots: With a newly developed Formula 3 engine, the brand continued a truly proud tradition. Between 1979 and 1994, drivers competing with Volkswagen engines clinched 92 victories and seven champions’ titles in Germany alone, around the world as many as 44 titles were credited to this race-winning engine. Volkswagen has yet again accepted the challenge of the world’s toughest Formula 3 competition and therefore opted for the Formula 3 Euro Series. The calibre of the series that was only launched in 2003 is proved by the statistics: As many as seven regular drivers in the 2007 Formula 1 season and eight drivers from the previous DTM season completed their “training years” in this high-class series. Volkswagen started its 2007 commitment by partnering with two teams, RC Motorsport and Holzer Motorsport, in four events. In the 2008 season all the rounds of the Formula 3 Euro Series will be on the agenda. In addition, the commitment has been extended to a larger number of partner teams as well as six to eight vehicles. In the realm of technology Volkswagen is planning a new development stage of the engine while securing future “personnel” through talent evaluations.

Intensified presence in the U.S. marketplace – Jetta TDI Cup and Baja 1000 project
 
Fans in America will be able to witness Volkswagen in two competitions from now on. The newly launched Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup contested with the brand’s most popular model in the U.S. will be offering an attractive platform to junior racers from 2008 onwards. This much is clear already: The calendar will include major circuits and events in the USA. In terms of technology the one-make cup is pursuing an all-new direction: The 170-hp two-litre TDI engine conveys the message of “clean diesel” technology more effectively than any other racing series, as the Jetta TDI Cup will be the first one-make cup in the United States to be contested exclusively by cars with diesel engines. With regard to organisational aspects the series will benefit from the findings which Volkswagen has gained in Europe during the ten years of its “touring car school”. The fact that all cars are centrally prepared and fielded by one partner guarantees optimum equality of opportunities. Success is strictly determined by talent, and not – as is in many other one-make cups – by the size of one’s wallet. At the same time, Volkswagen will take on the challenge of the most popular offroad competition in the crucial U.S. market: For the legendary Baja 1000, which on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean enjoys the same status as the Dakar Rally does in the rest of the world, Volkswagen is developing a Touareg TDI. The thoroughbred prototype will be built for the “Unlimited” category of the Trophy Truck class – the fascinating class of vehicles whose participants fight for overall victory in the event staged each November on the Mexican peninsula of “Baja California”.

AUDI AG makes a clear commitment to motorsport for the 2008 season with the most extensive factory involvement in the company’s history. In addition to defending the DTM title with the new A4 and the entry of three diesel-powered sportscars in the 24 Hour of Le Mans, Audi Sport plans the continuation of its involvement in the American Le Mans Series and its entry in the Le Mans Series in Europe.

As a result, Audi competes on a factory level in a prospective 30 races and three championships with two different types of car in 2008. The near 460-hp race version of the new Audi A4 celebrates its debut in the DTM. The third generation of the revolutionary R10 TDI diesel sportscar is developed by Audi Sport in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm.

“Without its successes in motorsport, Audi would not be the most sporting and fastest growing brand in the premium segment,” stresses Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of AUDI AG. “Everybody at Audi knows just how important motorsport is for the brand. We will continue to concentrate on racing series that bear a close relationship to production and which accelerate the development of our production car range. This is the case with the DTM and the Le Mans sportscars.”

Proven driving squad in the DTM

Audi starts the 2008 DTM season as defending champions. The well-proven partner teams of Abt Sportsline, Phoenix and Rosberg enter a total of eight factory cars for Audi. The customer team, Futurecom TME, brings two additional A4 cars to the grid. Audi remains loyal to the motto “Never change a winning team” where its driver squad is concerned: The four latest generation Audi A4 DTM cars are driven by DTM Champion Mattias Ekström, Tom Kristensen, Timo Scheider and Martin Tomczyk.

Also on board again are youngsters Alexandre Prémat and Mike Rockenfeller who impressed from the word go and were able to claim podium positions in their debut DTM season.

The identity of their team-mates and the line-up within the Phoenix and Rosberg teams will be revealed following driver evaluations in December. The same applies to Vanina Ickx’s successor at Futurecom TME. The occupant of the second seat in this team will again be allocated by the Bavarian-based Audi customer outfit itself.

Three Audi R10 TDI prototypes at Le Mans

Audi Sport also backs proven teams and drivers for its sportscar programme: The entry of the three cars at the 24 Hours of Le Mans will once again be undertaken by Audi Sport Team Joest, which has already taken five victories for Audi in the French long-distance classic. At the wheel of the three Audi R10 TDI prototypes are the same drivers as in June 2007: Frank Biela/Emanuele Pirro/Marco Werner, Dindo Capello/Tom Kristensen/Allan McNish and Lucas Luhr/Alexandre Prémat/Mike Rockenfeller.

Audi plans to enter two cars in the American Le Mans Series and the Le Mans Series in Europe through Audi Sport North America in the USA and Reinhold Joest’s team in Europe. “Stable regulations with the clear positioning of the LM P1 sportscar as top category and good TV marketing in Europe are conditions for Audi’s factory involvement in both of the Le Mans series,” explains Head of Audi Motorsport Dr Wolfgang Ullrich.

Lucas Luhr jumps from the DTM to the R10 TDI

Regular drivers for the sportscar project in the 2008 season will be Dindo Capello, Allan McNish, Marco Werner and Lucas Luhr, the latter moving from the DTM to the Audi R10 TDI. Meanwhile Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro, the two longest serving and most experienced Audi factory drivers, compete again with the R10 TDI. Audi also wishes to commit the experienced duo to the brand for the long-term as a result of their unstinting service and loyalty to Audi after their active careers.

Detail-optimised Audi R10 TDI

The Audi R10 TDI is further developed for its third season. The Audi Sport technicians, under the direction of Technical Director Dr Martin Mühlmeier, concentrate on detail improvements to the 650-hp TDI engine and the transmission and aerodynamic areas. The first race for the 2008 model R10 TDI is scheduled to be the 12-hour race at Sebring on 15 March which acts as a dress rehearsal for the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Audi Sport Team Joest.

DTM car based on the new Audi A4

Significantly larger than the R10 TDI “facelift” is the step between the old and new Audi A4 in the DTM. Emerging from within the framework of the relatively restrictive DTM regulations is a new car which will have a new outer skin and new aerodynamics. The development started in June 2007 immediately after Audi’s latest victory in the 24-hour race at Le Mans. Components of the new A4 DTM, named “R14″ internally, have already been tested successfully. The roll-out of the 2008 car will be held before the New Year. An extensive test programme then follows before the first race at the Hockenheimring on 13 April.

“Quite obviously the target in the DTM is to make a successful title defence,” says Head of Audi Motorsport Dr Wolfgang Ullrich. “The new A4 road car is a big step forwards and it had already won many benchmark tests and important awards before its market launch. We will do everything possible to put a race car on the track that will do justice to the production car’s reputation.”

While Audi goes head-to-head again with Mercedes-Benz in the DTM, the Audi R10 TDI’s main opponent will be Peugeot. “We are sure that Peugeot will make a big step forward in its second season and are expecting a hard fight at Le Mans,” says Dr Ullrich. “Generally, with such an extensive programme, the 2008 season will be an enormous challenge for Audi Sport. However, Audi has never been shy of a challenge.”

15 days through the desert, on hard tracks and through soft sand, temperatures between freezing and over 40 degrees centigrade: The Dakar Rallye that will start in Lisbon on 5 January and will end in Senegal on 20 January, after 15 legs covering a total distance of 9,273 kilometres, is one of the toughest tests in motorsport. Not only for the four Volkswagen factory driver/co-driver pairings, Carlos Sainz/Michel Périn (Spain/France), Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (South Africa/Germany), Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/South Africa) as well as Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk (Germany/Germany), but, above all, for their competition vehicle, the Volkswagen Race Touareg 2. To meet the rally’s tough demands, the Volkswagen factory team has subjected the 280-hp TDI diesel prototype that won the Cross-Country Rally World Cup in November with Carlos Sainz and Michel Périn to further optimisations in an intensive development and testing programme as well as having adapted the prototype to the changes in the “Dakar” regulations.
 
Intensive, detailed work for optimum performance
 
“While preparing for the 2008 Dakar Rally we concentrated on detailed optimisations of the Volkswagen Race Touareg 2,” explains Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. “For this reason, intensive tests with endurance runs took priority over the participation in selected competitions.”
 
Preparations for the 2008 Dakar Rally started as soon as they arrived at the finish of the “Dakar” in January 2007. “The last ‘Dakar’ showed that our speed is very good. After all, ten of 14 legs went to us. Now the objective was to optimise numerous details,” says Eduard Weidl, Technical Director of Volkswagen Motorsport. “We embarked on a so-called clean-up process during which we reviewed and improved about 400 items. From rerouting individual cables to installing new parts, we performed a lot of highly detailed work.”
 
Hence attention to detail instead of achieving major evolutions was the motto of preparing for the 2008 Dakar Rally. “An important aspect was to make the job in the cockpit easier for the drivers and co-drivers,” explains Kris Nissen. “We were now able to implement the things that used to have a lower priority.” For example, air conditioning can now be used on particularly hot stages of the rally, as better sealing of the vehicle hardly allows the intrusion of dust any more. In addition to ergonomics and comfort, the Race Touareg’s performance was fine-tuned as well. “We worked on the rear suspension kinematics and improved the distribution of weight yet again. This enabled us to achieve progress in terms of handling as well. The Race Touareg’s handling is now even more neutral than before,” summarises Eduard Weidl.
 
Rule changes require modifications of gearbox and air restrictor
 
For the 2008 “Dakar”, the Technical Regulations were changed: rally prototypes like the Race Touareg may now only be fitted with a five-speed gearbox instead of the six-speed units previously permitted. This posed an additional challenge to the Volkswagen engineers as the load is now distributed to fewer gear wheels and the steps between the gears are bigger. “We managed to develop a transmission with the same durability. After the first tests the drivers even felt the new gearbox was more pleasant, as they do not have to shift gears as frequently,” explains Kris Nissen. “However, the new gearbox reduces the top speed by about five kph, but this affects our competitors as well.”
 
The Volkswagen Race Touareg 2 is powered by an innovative 2.5-litre TDI turbo diesel engine. “This powerplant offers a number of advantages for use in cross-country rally racing,” comments Donatus Wichelhaus, Head of Engine Development at Volkswagen Motorspoort. “The engine develops very good torque, which is particularly positive on sand. Due to its low fuel consumption a diesel-powered vehicle can start to a longer leg with less fuel, the weight advantage compared to a car with a petrol engine can amount to as much as 200 kilograms.”
 
The current regulations prescribe a reduction of the air restrictor from 39 to 38 millimetres. “Reducing the size of the air restrictor was not an easy task for our engine department, but we came up with a good solution,” says Kris Nissen. “The total number of the optimisations we performed on the entire vehicle should almost completely offset the restrictions resulting from the regulations. At the 2008 ‘Dakar’ we shouldn’t be notably slower than last year.”
 
Successful tests and competitions
 
As early as in August the development work for the 2008 Dakar Rally was finished: During a 6,000-kilometre endurance run in June a whole “Dakar” distance was covered, while on another 4,000 kilometres at Volkswagen’s test track in Ehra the team simulated the driving on liaison stages. In September the Volkswagen Race Touareg proved its reliability yet again on 6,000 trouble-free kilometres in Tunisia. “After this run we just performed some brief maintenance on the car and then fielded it in the Morocco Rally,” says Eduard Weidl. Giniel de Villiers and Dirk von Zitzewitz finished the rally in the vehicle that had more than one “Dakar” distance under its belt with a highly impressive result: victory.

Η Ανάβαση Ριτσώνας επιβεβαίωσε με τον καλύτερο δυνατό τρόπο, τη φήμη της πιο αγαπητής ανάβασης στην Ελλάδα. Ο αριθμός των συμμετεχόντων ξεπέρασε κάθε προσδοκία και προηγούμενο ρεκόρ, όχι μόνο για τη Ριτσώνα αλλά για όλες τις αναβάσεις αφού στην τελευταία ανάβαση του 2007 θα συμμετέχουν 196 οδηγοί! Στη λίστα των συμμετεχόντων υπάρχουν οδηγοί που συμμετείχαν σε ολόκληρο το φετινό πρωτάθλημα, οδηγοί που έκαναν επιλεκτικές εμφανίσεις αλλά και άλλοι που δε συμμετείχαν σε κανέναν άλλον αγώνα και δε θέλουν να χάσουν την ατμόσφαιρα που δημιουργούν οι χιλιάδες θεατές στη φημισμένη Ριτσώνα. Υπάρχουν συμμετοχές σε όλες τις κλάσεις ενώ όπως έχει ήδη ανακοινωθεί, πριν το κάθε σκέλος δοκιμών και αγώνα, θα ανεβαίνουν στη διαδρομή οι Ιάπωνες drifters, Tanaka και Kumakubo, με τα δυνατά και εντυπωσιακά Nissan Sylvia των 450 ίππων. Συμμετοχές, συναγωνισμός και θέαμα στο μέγιστο βαθμό στη Ριτσώνα και κάτι αντίστοιχο προβλέπεται και για την προσέλευση των θεατών.

Η ΑΛΑ είναι έτοιμη να ανταπεξέλθει στις αυξημένες απαιτήσεις του αγώνα και να θέσει και πάλι νέα πρότυπα. Στην προσπάθεια της ΑΛΑ συνεισφέρει καθοριστικά ο Δήμος Ανθηδόνος που μεταξύ άλλων παραχωρεί το κλειστό γήπεδο Basket στη Δροσιά για να πραγματοποιηθεί η απονομή. Στο προαύλιο του γηπέδου, ο Δήμος Ανθηδόνος θα φιλοξενήσει τα αγωνιστικά αυτοκίνητα όσων συμμετεχόντων επιθυμούν, το βράδυ του Σαββάτου ώστε να αποφύγουν τη μετακίνηση τους μακριά από το χώρο του αγώνα. Η ΑΛΑ προσφέρει τη φύλαξη των αυτοκινήτων από security χωρίς καμία επιβάρυνση των αγωνιζομένων. Τέλος, λόγω του εξαιρετικά μεγάλου αριθμού συμμετεχόντων και λαμβάνοντας υπόψη ότι λόγω εποχής νυχτώνει νωρίς, η ΑΛΑ θα ζητήσει από την ΕΘΕΑ την έγκριση για την διεξαγωγή μόνο 2 σκελών στις δοκιμές αφού η πραγματοποίηση και 3ου σκέλους δύσκολα θα επιτευχθεί. Αν οι δοκιμές κυλήσουν ομαλά και υπάρχει χρόνος, θα πραγματοποιηθεί και το 3ο σκέλος δοκιμών. Η Ανάβαση Ριτσώνας του 2007 πραγματοποιείται με την υποστήριξη του Δήμου Ανθηδόνος και τη χορηγία της Opel Καλτσούνης ΑΕ

Pole sitter and Sprint race winner A1 Team Switzerland took its second win of the day in this afternoon’s incident-packed Feature race at Sepang in scorching weather conditions, moving the team into the championship lead by 10 points. Jani was joined on the podium by Brazilian rookie Sergio Jimenez, who started the race sixth and led for 15 laps, in second position and French driver Loic Duval in third.

Jani made a perfect getaway in the Swiss car as Great Britain’s Oliver Jarvis held second off the grid and further down the pack five cars tangled going into turn one. Jani pulled out a 2.5 second advantage by the end of lap one as third and fourth-placed France and Brazil concentrated on making their way past GBR, demoting Jarvis to fourth.

After a second lap tussle for 10th position, New Zealand’s Jonny Reid and local hero Malaysia’s Alex Yoong were forced to pit for repairs, rejoining the action at the back of the field. Lap five saw German rookie Michael Ammermüller snatch fifth from Ireland’s Adam Carroll, who had made another superb start to make up two places from seventh on the grid.

Two laps later eighth-placed South Africa’s Adrian Zaugg made a mistake going into turn seven and spun off into the gravel before returning ‘Vulindlela’ to the track, forcing Canada’s Robert Wickens to run wide to avoid him.

The incident brought out the safety car and as the first pit stop window opened on lap eight, 20 of the 22 nations decided to pit under yellow. The crowds watched in amazement as the pack was then held at the end of pit lane for an unusual standing start as they waited to rejoin behind the safety car.

Brazil’s Jimenez took the lead and pulled away as Switzerland, GBR and France went side-by-side in a battle for second place, Jani taking position followed by Duval and Jarvis in third and fourth place.

By lap 16 the order had settled behind the top four to Germany, Netherlands, India and China, followed by Mexico and Ireland in ninth and tenth. Race leader Jimenez did an incredible job to hold off the Swiss driver who was all over the back of the Brazilian car while Germany’s Ammermüller received a drive through penalty for hitting GBR when he tried an ambitious move on Jarvis at turn two on lap 19.

The second pit stop window opened on lap 22 and Brazil decided to stay out while Switzerland pitted from second on lap 23. Jimenez pitted one lap later and rejoined the action behind Jani, as the Swiss driver regained the lead and started to pull away once again. GBR continued to endure a difficult race as the team struggled with a sticking wheel nut in their second stop on lap 24 and then received a drive through penalty three laps later for speeding in the pit lane.

With seven laps remaining, Ammermüller launched the German car ambitiously into turn two for the third time this weekend, taking out the Czech Republic’s Erik Janis on his way.

Meanwhile at the front of the pack, Jani continued to pull away from Jimenez and went on to cross the line in first position, giving the Swiss team a perfect end to the weekend with its first double victory and Feature race win. Jimenez, who has been improving all weekend, brought the Brazilian car home in second place, scoring the nation’s first podium finish since round four of season one. Third place went to Duval in the French car, promoting the team to second in the championship while the Netherlands’ Jeroen Bleekemolen crossed the line a well-earned fourth.

A1 Team China’s CongFu Cheng put in a strong performance to finish fifth, having started from eighth on the grid while India’s Narain Karthikeyan crossed the line sixth. Ireland’s Adam Carroll finished seventh while the final three point-scoring positions were taken by New Zealand, Australia and Great Britain, as Jarvis snatched tenth from USA in the closing seconds of the race.

Jani was clearly delighted to take Switzerland’s first Feature race win and can’t wait to get back on track at the next round in China:

‘I mean how many times have I lead a Feature race when something happened in the last lap, the pit stop messed up everything, it was just a horrible dream so far of a Feature race for us. And now finally we got that win and the first time in the championship lead for the A1GP for Switzerland, so it’s really great and I’m really looking forward to Zhuhai.’

Jimenez, who crossed the line second and gave Brazil its first podium since season one, said:

‘I’m really happy but it was a very tough race for me. I had a very good start - we jumped to third and I could keep Switzerland and France in my sights. After the first pit stop we had red lights but it was lucky for me because I could stop side by side with Neel and go to the front, and after that I was with new tyres so I was able to put some distance between us and we were on a different strategy. It was good, but it could be better though!’

Duval, who has impressed all weekend, brought the French car home in third place, moving his nation into second in the championship:

‘It was a very difficult race for me, quite tough. I had a good fight with Oliver, good overtaking before the fast corners and then I overtook Jimenez before the main straight. So I was quite OK during the first stint. I had the same problem as Neel during the first pit stop on the safety car when we arrived at the end of the pit at the red light. So like him, I don’t know if it’s allowed to overtake under the safety car in the pit. So I was fourth again and I had to overtake Oliver again, and then I couldn’t follow the guys because I had massive understeer during the second stint. We put the new tyres on for the last stint which was good, the car was much better like this so I could catch the Brazil car but not enough to finish second. It’s quite a good weekend.’

Switzerland now leads the title challenge on 61 points, ahead of France on 51, as the series heads to Zhuhai, China for the first time on 14-16 December 2007.

Home nation Malaysia scored its first point by default this morning after A1 Team Netherlands was given a 42-second penalty for jump starting the Sprint race. The penalty dropped them from eighth to 20th in the Sprint race classification, stripping the team of the three points it scored. The penalty also meant that Ireland and Italy received an extra point.