Touring car series proliferate in countries around the globe. The UK has the British Touring Car Series, Germany has DTM, Australia has V8 Supercars, Japan has Super GT and Italy has the Superstars Series.
Most of these national championships are contested by grids limited to just a handful of manufacturers, but like the BTCC, the Superstars series is made up of cars from a seemingly endless array of automakers. BMW, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Jaguar, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche are all represented in a grid of some 34 contenders, but while Maserati is the team to beat, the newest entry is coming from Audi.
Just as Audi has replaced its A4-based touring car in the DTM series with a new one modeled after the A5, so has its Superstars series effort switched from the RS4 to a new RS5 that will challenge for wins this season. Considering that the outgoing RS4 seized the drivers’ title in 2007 and both titles in 2008, the new RS5 has big shoes to fill, and hopes to fill them with its 450 horsepower V8 and what looks like it will be a suitably aggressive body shell to maximize airflow to the engine and over the car.
Three cars will be entered in the series, including one from Audi Sport Italia driven by 2007 series champion and former grand prix driver Gianni Morbidelli, another fielded by German turner MTM and driven by Thomas Schoeffler, and a third piloted by Swedish driver Johan Kristofferson and fielded by his own team KMS. Follow the jump for the press release, and stay tuned to see how their new touring car shapes up.
Continue reading Audi preparing RS5 touring car for Italy’s Superstars series
Audi preparing RS5 touring car for Italy’s Superstars series originally appeared on AudiMobiles on Fri, 02 Mar 2012 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.