Audi’s latest Le Mans challenger, the R18, has been revealed as a coupe. The car, which will replace the Le Mans-winning R15-plus, was unveiled at a launch in Ingolstadt tonight.
The R18 will be powered by a 3.7-liter six-cylinder turbodiesel and will soon begin an extensive testing program.
Audi’s motorsport chief Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich confirmed that  … Details & Pictures
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Mini will contest next year’s Dakar with an All4 Racing developed and run by the Monster Energy X-Raid team. The car, which has been built in just 90 days, will be driven by Dakar expert Guerlain Chicherit. The project was first discussed in the summer of 2009, when X-Raid team director Sven Quandt began looking at the feasibility of the project.
Quandt then held initial discussions with automotive engineering and manufacturing company Magna Steyr and BMW to see whether the new model was a realistic replacement for the BMW X3 CC, which has earned the team three successive FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rally titles since 2008Â …Â Details
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The 32nd edition of the Dakar Rally, which was staged previously in Africa and will be run for the third time in South America, kicks off on New Year’s Day and ends on January 16.
South Africa will again be well represented in the world’s longest and toughest offroad race, headed by 2009 Dakar winner Giniel de Villiers who is again behind the wheel of a factory Volkswagen Touareg turbodiesel shared with German navigator Dirk von Zitzewitz.  … Details
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Rick Hendrick started out with the simple life working on the family farm in Virginia, but he was always interested in cars and speed. He worked with his father building cars and went drag racing in an old Chevy.
While still in high school he won a contest for building engines. His thoughts of becoming a baseball player faded and he attended North Carolina University in a program that had him also working at Westinghouse Electric Company in Raleigh, N.C.
He then decided to purchase a used car lot with the help of an established new car dealer and it was named Hendrick Automotive Group. In 1976 he sold his assets to … Details
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