MARKUS WINKELHOCK ÉLU PILOTE DE L'ANNÉE À ESSEN.

Le Essen Motor Show tenait salon le week-end dernier et plusieurs pilotes ont été récompensés à l'issue de la soirée. Le trophée du meilleur pilote de l'année décerné par Auto Bild Motorsport est revenu à Markus Winkelhock. L'Allemand a remporté cette saison les 24 Heures du Nürburgring sur une Audi R8 LMS ultra/Audi Sport Team Phoenix. Il a également décroché le titre de Champion du Monde GT1 sur une Mercedes SLS AMG GT3/All Inkl Münnich Motorsport aux côtés de Marc Basseng. « Ce prix est un grand honneur pour moi, d'autant plus qu'il y avait un grand nombre de pilotes de talent en compétition » a déclaré le lauréat. « Cela montre que les fans ont de toute évidence vu tout comme moi que j'avais fait du bon travail lors de la saison 2012. Elle montre aussi à quel point les 24 Heures du Nürburgring tiennent une place importante. En plus d'avoir gagné dans l'Eifel, le titre de Champion du Monde GT1 a été un gros point fort et a aussi joué un rôle pour les lecteurs d'Auto Bild. »

La victoire au Nürbugring signifie beaucoup pour Markus Winkelhock : « C'était un week-end fantastique avec une bonne ambiance et une concurrence très forte. La voiture était vraiment bien tout comme l'équipage et l'équipe a fait un excellent travail. La Nordschleife est la piste la plus difficile au monde et y gagner est quelque chose de très spécial. » Il y a quelques semaines, le Champion du Monde GT1 était en piste pour une course de 24 heures d'un tout autre type avec les slotcars : « C'était un événement incroyable. Pour commencer, je ne savais pas à quoi m'attendre. Je n'avais jamais rien fait de tel auparavant. C'était vraiment super fun et nous avons réussi à terminer deuxième avec notre Audi R8. Si le timing me permet d'y participer à nouveau en 2013, je serai ravi de disputer les 24 Heures de Hambourg la saison prochaine ! »

En attendant, Markus Winkelhock prendra part aux 24 Heures de Dubai en janvier sur une Seat Leon Supercopa alignée par All Inkl Münnich Motorsport, le reste de son programme n'étant pas finalisé : « Je devrais connaître mon programme 2013 d'ici les prochains jours voire les prochaines semaines. J'espère rouler le plus souvent possible pour Audi. Audi est une marque fantastique et l'Audi R8 une auto fascinante. »

BY Laurent Mercier(Endurance-Info.com)

BMW M3 DTM Champion Edition announced

Celebrates Bruno Spengler's DTM drivers? title

Following a preview ceremony, BMW has finally announced plans to offer an M3 DTM Champion Edition to celebrate Bruno Spengler's DTM drivers’ title.

Drawing inspiration from Spengler's race car, the special edition features a Frozen Black metallic exterior with carbon fiber flaps, dark chrome accents and matte black wheels. There's also DTM-inspired graphics and plenty of M badging.

Interior changes are limited but the model comes nicely equipped with an Alcantara steering wheel, carbon fiber trim and black Novillo leather seats with contrasting Palladium Silver accents. Other highlights include GPS navigation, heated front seats and door sill plates which "replicate Spengler’s helmet design."

Power is provided by a 4.0-liter V8 engine that produces 420 HP (309 kW) and 400 Nm (295 lb-ft) of torque. It is connected to an M Double Clutch Transmission (M DCT) which enables the coupe to accelerate from 0-60 mph in 4.5 seconds.

The car will go into production in February and only 54 units will be built. German pricing starts at €99,000.00 (including VAT) and buyers will be offered a chance to attend the BMW M Fascination Nordschleife driver training course to get tips directly from Bruno Spengler himself.

Source: BMW

Urban Outlaw by MOS MEDIA | SUPPLEMENTAL

URBAN OUTLAW is a portrait of Magnus Walker, the rebel Porsche customizer who turned a hobby into an obsession, and an obsession into a successful business. From a workshop in downtown Los Angeles, Magnus obsessively harvests fragments from donor 911s, grafting them onto vintage frames to create one-off automobiles with the spirit of Ferdinand Porsche but an ethos entirely his own.

Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo Concept: A ‘peaceful co-existence’

The Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo Concept was launched at this year’s Paris Show. A few weeks on, we have taken the prototype for a drive in Los Angeles to see what it contributes to Porsche’s model line-up.

Porsche's Chief Technology Officer Wolfgang Hatz left no room for confusion: “The Sport Turismo will not replace the Panamera as we know it. Rather, it will complement it.” So it’s not cannibalism, but a peaceful co-existence – one that should take shape within the next four years, although officially nothing is set in stone just yet.
“This is a trial project. We want to test the customer response for station wagons in tricky markets such as the USA and China,” said Hatz. Initial reactions in Beverly Hills have been positive: “A film producer has already offered us an absurd amount of money for this prototype,” designer Mitja Borkert chuckled. But the chic concept is not for sale at any price.



The increased interest is hardly surprising. On the road, it boasts lines that would leave its first-generation ancestor green with envy. And while we’re talking green, the plug-in hybrid has an electric motor providing the equivalent of 94bhp – double that of the electric motor in the current Panamera Hybrid. The result is an electric-only range of just under 20 miles - admittedly only achieved with a restrained right foot. That’s not so easy with the knowledge of the car’s easily accessible 410bhp.


And when your self-restraint gives way, you certainly know about it. As the shooting brake springs forward, the sonorous burbling of the engine changes into a hearty six-cylinder concerto. The reason for this is the lack of an acoustic silencer, a feature likely to be adopted in a possible production version. Also to be carried forward is the impressive fuel economy of 80mpg. However, the installation of a supercharged V6 plus electric motor in Porsche’s current hybrids resulted in patchy power delivery, so we hope the combination will be further developed come the Sport Turismo’s showroom showdown.


It’s not just forward propulsion that’s been under consideration during the car’s development; rearward vision has been re-thought, too. Eagle-eyed readers will have noticed the absence of side mirrors. They’ve been replaced by cameras which transmit images to screens located either side of the circular central display – apparently a feature requested by ‘someone at the top’. But our initial experiences suggest this might not be one of Volkswagen patriarch Ferdinand Piëch’s better decisions. Retraining your brain to instinctively look downwards rather than sideways during lane-changes seems strange and, without the customary blind-spot check, you never feel completely at ease. That said, concepts are all about pushing boundaries, and the swipes and taps required by today’s centre-mounted touchscreens would have felt peculiar 10 or so years ago.


Whereas the interior looks to the future, the exterior uses the tried-and-tested Porsche formula. The strip connecting the rear lights is a nod to the 911 Carrera 4 (as a reminder that the Concept is 4wd), while the front end inherits the shark nose and bulging fenders of its predecessors. But, altogether, the design represents one of the freshest to come from Stuttgart in recent years.

It might share the Panamera saloon’s wheelbase, but in its current form the Sport Turismo Concept sits two inches lower and six inches wider, giving it a much more balanced look. So it’s prettier, more practical and will, we hope, be rid of the current Panamera Hybrid’s dynamics gremlins. Given the sales success of that model, a production go-ahead seems inevitable.
Text: Wolfgang Gomoll (classicdriver.com)Photos: Porsche