April 7, 2010
(Jakob Ebrey Photography)
Less than one month since the American-owned, British-based, United Autosports team took delivery of its 2010-specification Audi R8 LMS sports cars, the Zak Brown and Richard Dean-led outfit made its debut on Easter Monday, April 5, at Oulton Park, in Cheshire, England. The opening two races of the Avon Tires British GT Championship took place on the 2.692-mile “International” circuit, with United Autosports scoring two fourth-place finishes, a fifth and an eighth in the British series debut of the mid-engined R8 LMS. Drivers include Zak Brown (Carmel, Indiana) and Richard Dean (Leeds, England) in the No. 23 Remington-sponsored entry, and Michael Guasch (Walnut Creek, California) and Mark Patterson (Bronxville, New York) in the No. 22 Molecule/Cerutti team car. The Audi R8 LMS sports cars are configured according to FIA GT3 regulations. That means a 5.2-liter V10 engine with 4 valves per cylinder and direct fuel injection, emissions control by two racing catalytic converters, rear-wheel-drive with traction control (ASR), sequential pneumatic-activated 6-speed sport gearbox with shift-paddles, Audi Space Frame (ASF) made of aluminum with bolted steel roll-cage, carbon-fiber composite/aluminum bodywork and racing radials. The cars were developed by Audi Sport in cooperation with quattro GmbH. The Audi R8 LMS won the FIA GT3 European Championship, ADAC-GT Masters and Belgian GT Championship plus the Nürburgring 24 Hours and Spa 24 Hours class victories in its 2009 debut season scoring a total of 23 victories.
(BMW)
Like the imaginative works of Calder, Stella, Lichtenstein, Warhol, and Holzer, BMW announced today that its 17th Art Car created by Jeff Koons will race where the first rolling pieces of art by legendary artists raced – at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France, June 12-13, 2010. Koons’ canvas will be a BMW M3 GT2 and he will present his work - and sign it - at the world premiere at Paris’ Centre Pompidou on June 1, 2010, just as Roy Lichtenstein did in 1977. Adding to the occasion, Koons released for the first time his preliminary design concept (above) for the car today (4/6) at a press conference in New York City. As part of his creative process, "the artist collected images of race cars and graphics, vibrant colors and speed. He layered them into a digital collage depicting his sources of inspiration. The resulting graphic conceived by Koons – evocative of power, motion and light and rendered in the artist’s signature saturated hues on a black ground set against the car’s silver interior – will impart a dynamic appearance to the race car even when it’s standing still," according to BMW. “These race cars are like life, they are powerful and there is a lot of energy,” said Koons. “You can participate with it, add to it and let yourself transcend with its energy. There is a lot of power under that hood and I want to let my ideas transcend with the car – it’s really to connect with that power.” Paris’ Centre Pompidou is one of the world’s most prestigious cultural institutions for modern and contemporary art. Also, the Koons car number, “79,” pays tribute to the 1979 Andy Warhol car. The Warhol car was assigned the number “76,” an homage to the 1976 Frank Stella car, both of which raced at Le Mans.
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See another live episode of "Autoline After Hours" hosted by Autoline Detroit's John McElroy, with Peter De Lorenzo and friends this Thursday evening, at 7:00PM EDT at www.autolinedetroit.tv. By the way, if you'd like to subscribe to the Autoline After Hours podcasts, click on the following links: Subscribe via iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=311421319 http://www.autolinedetroit.tv/podcasts/feeds/afterhours-audio.xml
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