Back to the old bank

Only few things are as exciting as classic cars to me and old abandoned racetracks are one of these. Audi and Red Bull seem to share my opinion in this regard and decided to take an R8 LSM to one of the oldest race tracks in Europe, in fact possibly the second ever made. 

But the Autódromo de Sitges-Terramar is far from being legendary for the right reasons. The track was completed just in time to host the 1923 Spanish GP but none of the drivers or teams received any money since the builders didn't get payed for their work and decided to seize the ticket office and take all the money. As if that wasn't enough the drivers complained about the junctions between the scary 60 degrees bank and the straights being apparently not well connected. 

This particular detail is ever so clear in the Red Bull video where some nice slow-mo underline the car trading the rough gap. I don't understand spanish too well but is pretty clear that the point of putting Carlos Sainz and Miguel Molina in the R8 is to beat the 45.8second lap record set by Louis Zborowski Miller in 1923. It is impressive to see that the record is improved only by three seconds with Sainz lowering the bar at 42.6.

The track might have had its troubles but the quality of the construction is incredible and the colossal banks look scarier than ever before. Enjoy.

Getting ready for 24h of Le Mans 2012, Truth in 24 II

This year's 24 of Le Mans is almost here and is worth a little warming up for what it seems to be a very promising year. Last year's battle was one of the best ever, with an amazing battle between Peugeot and Audi. The french bidding on the new 908 and the germans trying to keep up their winning streak on the R18 TDI. Audi dominated for most of the 2000s and Peugeot started questioning them since 2007 managing a victory only  in 2009.

In 2010 Audi replied with a win and record distance of 5410.71km, more than 2000km more than Peugeot managed the year before. 2011's new regulations forced both companies to bring brand new cars to the grid, and Audi decided to change coach style from an open top barchetta to an enclosed cockpit of a more traditional LMP format. The race was on. I would love to tell more about this amazing race but Audi of America for decided to produce and distribute for free an amazing documentary about this race.  They have done it before for the equally amazing 2008 edition but decided to make it available in free streaming only for the american users. They haven't done the same mistake twice and "Truth in 24 II"has been available for download without charge and in HD on itunes from day one. I really recommend downloading it HERE.

Some user made the first episode available in HD on youtube and AUDI did the same for the second one. I will attach both below.

Do yourself a favour and watch them both while getting ready for Le Mans 2012 on the 16th of June. Peugeot will not be trying again but Toyota is back in the equation this year and we can be sure they will do anything possible to forget missing the target in 1998 and 1999. Will Audi keep winning?

ps- don't forget to switch the HD on, go full screen, sit back and enjoy these amazing stories.