Lowndes and Luff on track for Nürburgring 24 hour drive

The Nürburgring 24 hour race is one of motorsport’s toughest challenges. Earlier this year V8 Supercar drivers Craig Lowndes and Warren Luff got a small taste of what it might be like by driving a factory-backed Audi R8 LMS in the Bathurst 12 hour.

Many Australians have competed at the Nürburgring 24 hour race. Indeed, in days gone by it was as simple as coughing up the cash, packing your car into a container and rocking up to the track. You used to see well-prepped, but outclassed, decade-old Mitsubishi Mirages sharing the track with the latest factory-supported Porsche 911 RSRs.

Rule changes have put an end to such mechanical mismatches, and in further moves to usher the race to a more professional era, drivers now have to compete in at least one four-hour VLN enduro on the Nordschleife before being eligible for the more demanding 24 hour event.

As a result Lowndes and Luff will be heading to the Germany later this month to complete their qualification drive at the VLN race to be held on 28 May.

Scheduling will likely mean the lads will have to wait until 2012 before they can race in the Nürburgring 24 hour enduro. Lowndes hopes to race at the Ring next year, ahead of achieving a further goal to race at Le Mans.

[Source: Speedcafe]

Audi race experience again on the attack

• Audi race experience offers race action alongside Le Mans winner Marco Werner
  
• Manfred Jantke is new team manager for on-track events
  
• Australians Warren Luff and Craig Lowndes contest fourth round of VLN endurance championship around Nürburgring-Nordschleife

Ingolstadt, April 27, 2011 – The Audi race experience enters its second season. Enthusiastic amateur race drivers with relevant experience have the possibility once again to contest a VLN endurance championship race at the Nürburgring with a professional Audi team. On each occasion one or two drivers share an Audi R8 LMS cockpit with a professional driver such as three-time Le Mans winner Marco Werner or pros like Frank Schmickler and Florian Gruber.

The new team manager, who assumes control at the events with immediate effect, is Manfred Jantke. He has a great past in motorsport. His professional career started at the specialist magazine ‘auto motor und sport,’ which he left as deputy chief editor in 1972, in order to join Porsche AG as PR Boss and Race Director. He stayed with the company for 20 years and, among other successes, can lay claim to seven Le Mans victories. He returns once again to racing for the Audi race experience. Jantke will support the team with his experience at four rounds of the VLN endurance championship and at the 24-hour race around the Nürburgring.

The Audi race experience team receives a visit from ‘down under’ for round 4 of the VLN on May 27 and 28. The Australians Warren Luff and Craig Lowndes come to Germany to personally experience the fascination of the Nürburgring-Nordschleife. The two race pros previously raced the R8 LMS in the Bathurst 12 Hours (AUS) where they finished second overall. As a driver pairing, they compete for the first time in Germany.

The Audi race experience calendar

• May 13/14, 2011 VLN (6 hours)
• May 27/28, 2011 VLN (4 hours)
• June 24–26, 2011 Nürburgring 24 Hours
• Aug 26/27, 2011 VLN (6 hours)
• Oct 14/15, 2011 VLN (4 hours)