The most powerful Audi racing car in the company’s 11-year history of its customer racing program makes its debut at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend. With a base price of 338,000 euros (around RM1.6 million), deliveries of the new Audi R8 LMS GT2 will start from December.
From the 2020 season on, they will be able to compete in the new GT2 class that will open up a new stage in racing to the world’s most beautiful super sportscars.
“This sportscar with its emotive high-performance V10 engine marks the top end of our customer racing program. The legendary event at Goodwood is the ideal venue for unveiling such a fascinating sports car,” said Oliver Hoffmann, CEO of Audi Sport GmbH.
Created for the new GT2 category
The racing car has been created for a future racing category which will come to life in Europe and North America in 2020. It will fill a gap between the existing GT3 and GT4 categories and specifically feature cars with high longitudinal dynamics.
Consequently, this type of car addresses gentleman drivers who have been the backbone of GT racing for decades. It is the fourth model for customer racing from Audi Sport.
When Ford Performance first developed the modern Ford GT, the focus was on giving customers a street-legal GT supercar which would also be capable on the race track. Now, with the GT Mk II, the full performance potential of the car is available – without any artificial performance limitations dictated by racing sanctioning bodies.
The GT Mk II is a limited-edition, track-only GT that represents the next stage in Ford GT performance. With a 700 bhp 3.5-litre EcoBoost engine, race-proven aerodynamics and competition-oriented handling, it has been co-developed by Ford Performance and Multimatic based on competitive learnings from Ford’s successful FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship campaigns with the GT racing car.
“It’s the closest GT owners can get to the Le Mans-winning performance and exhilarating feeling of crossing the finish line in the Ford GT race car,” said Hau Thai-Tang, Ford Chief Product Development and Purchasing Officer.
Only 45 cars at almost RM5 million each
Limited to just 45 cars, with a starting price of US$1.2 million (almost RM5 million), the GT Mk II joins the GT racing car that won the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Ford GT supercar.
“The true off-the-hook performance capability of the GT hasn’t yet been fully showcased,” said Multimatic’s Chief Technical Officer, Larry Holt. “The road car is obviously limited by the many global homologation requirements that it must comply with, and the race car suffers from the restriction of the dreaded Balance of Performance, resulting in it being 150 bhp down to the road car. The Mk II answers the regularly asked question of how would the car perform with all the limitations lifted: the answer is ‘spectacularly’!”
Originating from a standard GT
The Mk II begins life at the main Ford GT plant before being transferred to a specialist facility at Multimatic Motorsports where it is crafted into the Ford GT Mk II. The GT Mk II is focused around aerodynamic and engine improvements and shares key features with both the street-legal GT supercar as well as the GT racing car. Many of its components have been track-proven in the world’s most challenging endurance racing events.
The large dual-element rear wing exceeds what the Ford GT race car offers in terms of downforce. An all-new front racing splitter and diffuser have been incorporated along with new fender louvres and dive planes, which help balance out the extra rear downforce.
These aggressive aerodynamic changes enable the GT Mk II to generate over 400% more downforce than the Ford GT while fixed aerodynamic elements along with its race-proven suspension and Michelin Pilot Sport racing tyres enable the car to pull more than 2g of lateral grip.
The GT Mk II is also lighter and more agile. The street car’s adjustable ride height and drive modes have been removed, providing weight savings of over 90 kgs while 5-way adjustable DSSV shock absorbers work with a lowered and fixed ride height to improve handling and keep the Mk II as aerodynamically efficient as possible.
Unrestricted EcoBoost engine development
The 3.5-litre EcoBoost engine is not limited by any racing sanctioning body and is able to generate 200 bhp more than the racing car, making this the most powerful version of the Ford GT. The 3.5-litre EcoBoost is paired with the same 7-speed dual-clutch transmission from the Ford GT but specially calibrated for this track-exclusive application.
To add stamina to power, the GT Mk II adds innovative engine cooling technology, including a high capacity air-to-air outboard mounted charge air cooler with water spray technology. The water spray automatically activates in high temperature situations to provide cooling by applying atomised water on the charge air cooler allowing a consistent level of power at high temperatures.
A roof-mounted intake reminiscent of the race car engine air intake has been added for the Mk II to feed auxiliary engine, clutch and transmission coolers, giving the Mk II optimal cooling for the most extreme track day duty.
Increased engine power is paired with improved stopping power. The Mk II features braking performance beyond that of the GT race car by utilising the street car’s carbon ceramic brakes, including 15.5-inch front and 14.1-inch rear Brembo brakes. Unique forged aluminium 19-inch wheels cover the massive brakes with race-proven Michelin Pilot Sport GT tyres.
Joining a winning GT family member
The Ford GT production car, which made its first Goodwood appearance in 2017, is the most advanced and exclusive Ford road car ever, limited to volumes of no more than 250 a year, globally. Built for the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, the Ford GT racing car has been a great success for Ford, winning the GTE Pro class at Le Mans on its first attempt in 2016, exactly 50 years on from the first of 4 successive Le Mans victories for the original GT40 at Le Mans.
The production Ford GT. Although the original plan was to make 500 cars, 1,350 cars will be produced over 6 years from 2017 to 2022.
Lexus has confirmed that it will soon offer a convertible version of the LC flagship coupe. The open-top model was shown as a concept car at the North American International Auto Show in January this year to gauge its potential as a production model.
When displaying the concept model, Lexus said the design goal was to express ‘Ultimate Beauty’, and it provoked an enthusiastic response from both industry experts and the public. Like the LC itself, the concept car was honoured on its debut with a prestigious EyesOn Design Award.
In action at Goodwood Festival of Speed
The first public viewing will take place this weekend in England. Visitors to this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed will be able to see a LC convertible prototype in action when it appears on the famous hill course. Nick Cassidy, who competes for Lexus in the GT500 class of the Japan Super GT series, will be behind the wheel.
Though camouflaged, the public will be able to see that the car is long, low and lean. It will share the coupe’s athletic proportions but project its own distinct identity.
Motorsports being what it is in the Malaysian context, news and publicity of our racers who compete outside the country tends to be limited. Their fans and enthusiasts will know about them but by and large, most Malaysians don’t realize that we do have some talented drivers winning races and championships.
Our new contributor, Gary Khor, talks about 6 Malaysian drivers and 1 Malaysian race team who will be participating in 3 race events spanning China and Japan this weekend. He also provides an overview of the races they will be in.
TCR ASIA : ZHEJIANG CHINA
Douglas Khoo with his all-Malaysian crewed Viper-Niza Racing team will be contesting in Zhejiang China in Rounds 5 & 6 of the 2019 TCR Asia Series (which will include the TCR China Series this weekend). This is the 4th leg in the series which has already visited Sepang (April), Zhuhai (May) and Shanghai (June).
Douglas is in his fourth season in TCR Asia and shown he has the pace to mix it with the best having out-qualified even Luca Engstler in TCR Malaysia.
Another Malaysian in the series is the winner of the 2019 Sepang International Circuit Talent Development Driver, Adam Khalid. 21 years old, Adam (below) will be in the Team Engstler VW Golf TCR. Adam came from karting, Formula 4 Asia and MCS.
The Zhejiang International Circuit, built in 2016, is in the South Eastern province of China and just South of Shanghai. It’s an undulating circuit made up of 16 corners with interesting elevation changes.
The news this weekend will also be the introduction of the latest addition into the TCR family albeit under temporary homologation. Chinese group SAIC Motor will be entering a pair of MG6 TCR’s with popular China-based racer Rudolpho Avila and Zhang Zhen Dong.
MG6 TCR
Points-leading TCR Asia and last season’s TCR Malaysia & Middle East champion, Luca Engstler with team mate Diego Moran will spearhead the TCR Asia contingent joined by WTCR campaigner Pepe Oriola, all in Hyundai i30N cars.
China TCR’s top contenders will be UK’s Daniel Lloyd, who races in TCR UK and once raced for Craft-Bamboo in the Aston Martin GT3. He will pilot the Dongfeng MacPro Racing Honda Civic FK7.
After this round, TCR Asia will head to the famous Bangsaen street Circuit in Thailand for the final rounds in late August.
BLANCPAIN GT WORLD CHALLENGE ASIA : FUJI JAPAN
A record 4 Malaysian drivers are entered in 3 race teams participating in what is arguably Asia’s best series for GT3 & GT4 cars. World-class racing cars in a world-class event with our very own world-class drivers.
After the first rounds run in Sepang and then Buriram in Thailand, the series goes to the iconic Fuji Speedway nestled in the hills. This circuit is famous for its long fast front straight and downhill section and often has changeable weather as fog and sometimes snow can descend.
Weiron Tan, who debuted last year in the WEC (World Endurance Championship) in a Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), will be sharing an Absolute Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 with the very quick and seasoned Martin Rump and contesting in the GT3 PRO class.
Weiron Tan
Melvin Moh needs no introduction as he is easily Malaysia’s leading Endurance Race driver with several victories in 12 & 24-hour endurance races recently. In 2018, he was on the podium in all these races – the Dubai 24-Hours in a Leipart Lamborghini Huracan; the Fuji-Tec 24-Hours in an Audi R8; and the China Endurance Championships in a Mercedes-AMG GT.
He will partner Gentleman driver Daniel Au in a Craft-Bamboo Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the PRO-AM category.
Melvin Moh (Car 55)
H.H. Prince Abdul Rahman Ibrahim from Johor is making his debut in Asian GT racing in the Australian Triple Eight run Mercedes-AMG GT3. It’s his first year and he is proving to be a quick learner in these very difficult cars when driven at their limits.
Australian Triple Eight Mercedes-AMG GT3
Jazeman Jaafar, another name that needs no introduction, having raced many years overseas in F2 and other machinery, recently partnered Weiron in the JC Racing LMP2 car in the WEC. Jazeman brings with him enormous experience in many types of racing machinery and will partner H.H. Prince Abdul Rahman Ibrahim in their Triple Eight GT3.
LAMBORGHINI SUPER TROFEO ASIA 2019 : FUJI JAPAN
This is a very high-speed one-make race featuring the Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo which has a similar engine to the Huracan GT3.
Afiq Ikhwan Yazid winning the 2018 Lamborghini Super Trofeo World Final in Italy in March this year.
Afiq Ikhwan Yazid, fresh from winning the 2018 Lamborghini Super Trofeo World Final held at Vallelunga, Italy in March this year and podiums in the Suzuka round in June, will be contesting this round again. This is a PRO-AM class team and Afiq has shown blinding pace all season and has often been the fastest in qualifying.
This year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed is getting more and more amazing by the day. The latest to join the hype at the iconic race event is Lotus as they’re planning to reveal their latest hypercar and guess what? It’s called the Lotus Evija and it is a full-electric beast. (more…)
