Nurburgring 2010

As the sun creeps over the distant hill tops we can not wait for it to begin warming the land and us up. We have all had a very cold and emotional night and it's an unfortunate update, but the RS4 has crashed out of the race. The wind is up today, and still the temperatres are near freezing as the clock ticks passed 6am.

During the night, the cars and drivers were settling in to a good rhythm. Sleep was hard to come by due to the very low temperatures overnight and everybody is a little weary to say the least. The Honda's are performing incredibly well and still holding 1st and 2nd in the class, and after 14 hours of racing, are only 3 seconds apart. The engineering on the vehicles is absolutely outstanding and is a true testament to the preparation from Lodge Auto Centre. The drivers also are due praise for their skill in balancing great controlled driving and protection of the vehicles. The Honda's are currently sitting 101st and 102nd overall.

The final lap of the Audi RS4 was driven about an hour ago with Ali Taylor behind the wheel. On a very fast part of the track which has claimed the most lives, 2 quick vehicles approached in blind spots for the driver. There was contact and control of the vehicle was lost resulting in a side to side pinball effect down the race track from armco to armco. When the car finally came to a halt, it caught fire and track marshalls were quick to respond. Fortunately Ali was completely unharmed from the accident, but is very dissappointed with the end of the road. The car is not recoverable until the completion of the event so photos will not be posted until then.

Once again the 24 Hours of Nurburgring is delivering every ounce of excitement that is promised since the team arrived together 5 days ago. The team is now well in its groove and hitting it’s straps as the dawn fades to black and the party keeps on pumping. The weather has held out all race providing a dry track with very cold air around 10 degrees and expecting to drop a few over the next few hours.

Honda 244 started its first stint at the hands of driver and team manager Brian McGovern. Both Brian and car 243 driver Rod Hicks tailed each other the entire first 2 hours of their drives in heavy traffic. With the heavy traffic and close quarter driving, both cars have had very minor touches with other vehicles and have come away effectively unscathed. Greg Spark, Mat Noonan and Nick Chester have all had their first 2 hour drives in the race and really loving the vehicle.

Rod Hicks lead the 243 Honda off the starting grid, and with Brian they muscled their way through the starting traffic together. Having driven the Honda’s in previous years, both Brian and Rod are very pleased with the performance improvements the cars have made since last year’s race. As Rod entered the pits after his first lap, the Norwegian Honda Civic in their class screamed in before and created chaos at the pits. Second driver David Glasson experienced radio problems and so to time the refuelling stop, he pitted in ten laps. Unfortunately car 244 was in the pits at the same time, and 243 had to wait a minute and a half to refuel.  

Both vehicles have been slowly clawing their way through the field and again it’s the consistent performances of the team drivers, and the well prepared cars which see both vehicles sitting 1^st and 2^nd in their class currently.

The Audi RS4 got off to an interesting start with Andy Booth experiencing a small fire in the cockpit caused by the illuminated number sign on the side of the car. Smoke filled the vehicle and Andy was forced to pit to extinguish the fire and move on. Lewis Scott got behind the wheel and performed very consistently to maintain the class placing for Alistair Taylor to take over. Alistair had a hair raising few laps as the steering arm had broken in the vehicle and naturally he lost a lot of control of the vehicle. On his pit stop the mechanics repaired the damage and sent the car back on the circuit at the hands of Stu Owers. The Audi is currently 5^th in class behind an Aston Martin V12 Vantage, Lexus LF-A, Aston Martin Rapide, and an Audi R8.

The first round of drivers have switched up for Kiwi Team Nurburgring and the excitement of the start begins to fade. The first round of rotation is usually very hectic as cars will often roll in together and this year was no exception as the Norwegian team sharing our pits came screaming in only seconds before our Honda. As our first driver exited and the second driver entered, KTN unfortunately experienced a minor hiccup and the radio wiring was pulled from its casing and we lost radio contact between pits and drivers.

In the Audi Andy Booth pitted early with a cockpit of smoke. A small electrical fire begun by Andy's left foot caused by exposed wiring of the illuminated number plates on the outside of the doors. The wiring arced across the floor pan and the fire was just out of the reach of Andy's foot so he pitted to extinguish the flames, had a refuel and carried on for another few laps.

Finally the time has come when the engines can roar in to life and get the greatest endurance motorsport event on the planet begin! Once again thousands of spectators and fans filled pit boxes, pit lane and the starting grid to get close to the cars and their driver heroes. The weather today has finally cleared up, the sun has come out and the conditions could not be better for motor racing.

Andy Booth took the Audi RS4 out for lap number 1, with Rod Hicks and Brian McGovern leading the charge in the 2 Honda's. All 3 drivers having considerable driving and Nurburgring experience for the daunting first lap.

Audi dominated the front of the grid this year perhaps due to a rule change which had put the restrictions on their biggest competitor, Porsche. The new law came in to effect this year which limited the amount of horsepower the Porsche's could reach. As a result, the top 4 qualifying vehicles were V10 powers Audi R8 cars. To the roar of the crowd however, local favourites Manthey Porsche sliced the field to bits on the very first lap to lead the pack in to lap 2 and has been increasing and increasing it's lead ever since.

Kiwi Team Nurburgring drivers have all switched their first drivers out and are on to the second round. All drivers reporting very good conditions, very good lap times and the team is comfortable.