With concerns over the future of the Industry Pool at the Nürburgring settled last year, it’s great to see an assortment of exotic machinery circulating in the name of ongoing development. Thanks to Bridge to Gantry you can enjoy a selection of six cylinder engines as well as an appearance from a V8, a V10 [...]
Word on the street, via Bridge to Gantry, says the McLaren MP4-12C had a bit of an off at the end of an industry pool testing day last week. Apparently the 12C went out at the end of the session, with the track to itself and a TV crew in chopper chasing overhead, indicating a [...]
Awesome has a new definition. And that comes in the form of this BMW M3 ute prototype lapping the Nürburgring Nordschleife. Maybe BMW has taken inspiration from the equally awesome E39 M5 ute conversion by Australia’s own Stuart Appleby (yes, the pro golfer). Maybe it’s a crazy April Fool’s Day stunt in the making? Or [...]
A modest tweet from the official Nürburgring GmbH account indicates a satisfactory resolution has been reached in regards to the manufacturer’s industry test pool. Translated to English the tweet reads: “Nürburgring GmbH and automotive industry pool reach agreement over the next 3 years.” Fears were raised about the future of the industry test pool, featuring [...]
Despite a strong rumour that Aston Martin had pulled out of the Nürburgring industry test pool we can reveal this is not the case. Speaking to AUSringers, Kim Palmer, Aston Martin Product and Motorsport, said, “It’s not the case that Aston Martin has pulled out of the industry test pool days. “Aston Martin is currently [...]
Unconfirmed reports suggest that at least two manufacturers and one tyre company have opted out of the industry pool that use the Nürburgring as a test facility. If true, this would be the first tangible sign that concerns over the controversial plans by the Nürburgring’s private managers to increase costs have come to fruition. In [...]
Official confirmation of a release date for Audi’s R8 Spyder is no closer to being locked away. However, the 5.2-litre V10 rag top is not shying away from Nürburgring testing, as this video shows. The sight and sound of the 525bhp V10 powered R8 is one well worth watching. According to autoblog, pencil in a [...]
Is this the new über Golf GTI ‘R’ being tested at the Ring? One thing is sure to be certain, it is unlikely to be a 2.0 TDI as the rear badges suggest. For one, the centre mount twin exhaust hint at a far more potent powerplant. While not likely to be final, the extended [...]
Here’s some video footage of the Focus RS lapping the Nürburgring Nordschleife courtesy of BridgeToGantry.com. Rumour has it that Ford are chasing Renault’s FWD lap record set by the Megane R26.R and are hoping to announce a new time by April. The time to beat is 8 minutes 16.9 seconds, check out the cR26.R setting [...]
While no official details about the RS5 have been made public, it appears as though there are now a few pre-production examples getting around. Here is a clip of what is believed to be an RS5 lapping the Nürburgring Nordschleife. The deeper lower vents on the front grille certainly indicate this is an RS5 model, [...]
A short clip from BMW-web.tv showing the X5 M being put through its paces around the Nürburgring. It doesn’t show a lot, but there’s some in-car footage, with commentary, at Klostertal and the Karussell.
A Holden Commodore SS, or more correctly, a Pontiac G8 GXP has been spotted testing at the Ring. The Aussie derived saloon, sporting Victorian number plates, has set a lap time of 8 minutes 30 seconds. The time was set by a GM engineer, not a professional racing driver, and looking at a list of [...]
Audi’s awesome R8 GT3 has recently been spotted in wet weather testing at the Nürburgring Nordschleife. Despite the presence of the small quattro badge on the front grille, GT3 racing regulations stipulate the car must be rear-wheel drive only and the purpose-built customer racecar is expected to produce at least 375kW (500bhp). The car is [...]
Last month pictures of the new Renault Mégane III were revealed. Now, the Coupé model has been spotted in testing on the Nürburgring Nordschleife. Styling cues such as bigger front air dams and centre exhaust point to this being a Renaultsport model in development, which is due to be shown at next year’s Geneva Motor [...]
This is a question Dale Lomas from RSR Nürburg asked himself on his BridgeToGantry website. It’s a great read. I’ve included a small extract below: “But the importance of this 20.8 kilometre tarmac rollercoaster (whose infield section alone contains four complete villages and a population of nearly 2500) runs deeper than it being a summer [...]
