Month: June 2022

With hard work and team spirit, ABT Sportsline and René Rast scored the first podium in the 2022 DTM at the Lausitzring. The three-time DTM champion scored points with eighth place in Saturday’s first race and thus achieved the first personal goal of his comeback season. But Rast was anything but satisfied with his ABT Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II on Saturday. His two team-mates Kelvin van der Linde and Ricardo Feller also reported that their cars were extremely nervous on the undulating Lausitzring.

The ABT Sportsline engineers put their heads together and searched for solutions until late in the evening. On Sunday, the three ABT drivers started with different set-up philosophies. René Rast’s car was modified particularly radically, which is why even the crews of the other two cars helped out.

The night shift was rewarded: René Rast took second place on the grid on Sunday and was able to fight in the leading group right from the start of the second race. The ABT driver crossed the finish line in third place just 1.187 seconds behind double winner Sheldon van der Linde – in a BMW which was dominating at the Lausitzring – and Maro Engel’s Mercedes plus the certainty of having definitely arrived back in the DTM. With 21 points, Rast is now the best-placed ABT driver in the drivers’ championship.

DTM rookie Ricardo Feller again put in a strong performance: The Swiss was the fastest Audi driver in qualifying on Saturday and was also fast in the first race until he suffered a puncture. It is not yet clear why the right rear tyre suddenly lost pressure.

On Sunday, Feller achieved the best qualifying result of his still young DTM career with fifth place on the grid. After a not perfect pit stop and some fierce battles on the track, the Swiss finished seventh and scored points for the third time in four DTM races.

Kelvin van der Linde, who narrowly missed out on victory at the Lausitzring last year, had a weekend to forget. The South African struggled with the handling of his R8 and found himself in grid positions 19 and 15, which were completely unusual for him. This time, he did not manage to fight back as he was able in the first race at Portimão.

Marc Roca (38) is the DTM project manager at ABT Sportsline and the race engineer of Kelvin van der Linde’s ABT Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II. Ahead of the first DTM race weekend of the year in Germany, at the Lausitzring (both races from 1 PM CEST live on ProSieben on Saturday and Sunday), the Catalan reveals how he ended up in the Allgäu region, his driver’s strengths and weaknesses and the close connection between racing and vehicle refinement at ABT Sportsline.

The DTM has a record grid this season. How impressive was it to see 29 cars going into the first corner at Portimão?
It was very impressive, especially with the sound of all these cars! You just hope your car is in one piece after the first corner …

How does a race engineer see the start of a DTM race? Do you have only eyes for your driver?
Exactly. We have around five screens in the corner of the pits where we are working. Your eyes are crossing all the time between different images. Where is your car? What are the gaps? Are we gaining some positions? This is very important on the first lap.

What is your primary job during the race?
We try to help the driver who is alone in the car. Is he trying to gain a position or just trying to maintain his gap? How is the pace of our driver compared to others. What can we achieve in terms of strategy? And we are informing him about things like track limits, if somebody has had a penalty or has already pitted. All of this knowledge is providing the driver with confidence and this is very important.

The DTM rules have changed a little bit from last season. How do you rate the changes after the first race weekend?
I think the rules are clearer, so there is less room for interpretation. This is helping both sides, the organization and also the teams. They did a good job, you can see that they want fair races. The fastest car should win.

You just said the fastest car should win. ABT Sportsline has three very competitive drivers. How do you work together with the other engineers and the other two drivers? In the end each of them wants to win …
It may sound as a cliché, but all three of them are really professional. We are sharing all of our ideas to extract the maximum performance. When the driver has competition within his own team, he can see the potential of the car and can improve and develop himself. At the moment, it is going really well. And you can see that we have people that are really committed and not there to play around.

This is good news for lots of motorsport fans: ABT Sportsline has officially applied to return to the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in 2023 and enter two new-generation Gen3 cars as a customer team. ABT was already part of the Formula E family for the first seven years and is still the most successful team in the all-electric racing series, which made its debut in 2014, with 47 podium finishes and 1,380 points. After a one-year break, preparations for the comeback are now in full swing.

“Formula E has always had a big place in our hearts and we have never made a secret of the fact that we want to be back,” says Hans-Jürgen Abt. The managing partner had already taken a risk in 2014 and led ABT into Formula E as the first German team. Once again, the aim is now to put together a perfect package, together with Head of Sports Marketing Harry Unflath and CEO Thomas Biermaier. “After the internal kick-off, we are now talking to our current and potential partners. The goal is to bring a strong team to the championship, both on and off track.”

The first prerequisite for the comeback is a place on the grid. “We have always been in contact with Formula E and the FIA, had many discussions and have received great support from the whole team around Alejandro (Agag), Alberto (Longo), Jamie (Reigle) and Frédéric (Bertrand),” says Thomas Biermaier. The result: ABT has expressed its intention to take over the twelfth license for Season 9. ABT has also been able to win over one of the manufacturers registered with the FIA as a partner for the acquisition of the powertrains for the Gen3 era of Formula E and will announce this cooperation shortly.

Place on the grid, race cars – race drivers. “As far as our two drivers are concerned, we have very clear ideas,” says Thomas Biermaier. “We will probably start as underdogs, unlike last time as a factory team. That’s why it’s all the more important that we have quick and clever drivers in the cockpit, who fit in well with us. The first talks are exciting and very positive, so I’m sure we’ll have our team together soon.”

“I am delighted to welcome ABT back to where they belong in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship,” says Alberto Longo, Co-Founder and Chief Championship Officer, Formula E. “ABT is a proven success story in Formula E with record-setting points and podium finishes so their return after a season out to be part of the Gen3 era is positive for fans and the sport.”

Webcon is pleased to announce its new manifold that enables twin Weber DCOE 45 caburettors, Dellorto DHLA or twin DCOE pattern throttle bodies to be fitted to VAG 2.0 litre 16v engines.

The manifold is suitable for the engines used in the VW Golf Mk2 and Seat Ibiza.

Order as part number MW4657B at the retail price of £314.21 plus VAT.

Available directly from Webcon and from appointed Webcon dealers around the world.
For further details contact Webcon UK on +44 (0)1932 787100 or visit www.webcon.co.uk

Webcon is delighted to announce the introduction of a throttle shaft end service kit
for the early production Weber DCOE carburettors.

Part number FK0004 is supplied with the correct leather washers, cups, springs, tabs, nuts and is essential for anyone refurbishing these early carburettors. Each kit contains sufficient parts to service one carburettor.

FK0004 is priced at £16.15 plus VAT.

Available directly from Webcon and from appointed Webcon dealers around the world.
For further details contact Webcon UK on +44 (0)1932 787100 or visit www.webcon.co.uk

After years of supplying carburettor service kits for the Weber 48IDA, Webcon is now delighted to introduce the most comprehensive Master Overhaul Kit ever produced for this legendary carburettor.

The kit includes parts such as float, needle valve, gauze cover as well as springs, gaskets, tabs, etc to allow the carburettor to be rebuilt to factory specification at a fraction of the cost of a new carburettor.

Part number 9210500500 is priced at £99.05 plus VAT

Available directly from Webcon and from appointed Webcon dealers around the world.
For further details contact Webcon UK on +44 (0)1932 787100 or visit www.webcon.co.uk

Classic Minis usually have a ‘U’ shaped section formed in the brake servo hose to stop petrol feeding back and contaminating the servo and causing damage.

This section was not supplied in any replacement kit so may well be missing.

Mini Spares offers two alternative non-return valves to remedy the problem:

An original Mini Mk1/2 screw-in in-line brake servo valve which screws into the threaded hole in the 21A1293 servo. Part number 17H2646ORIGINAL (which hasn’t been available separately until now) £14.40 inc VAT.

A genuine AP Product in-line brake servo valve which can be fitted to either end of the servo hose. This valve is suitable for the later AP Servo used on the 1275GT and Cooper S Mk3. Part number 17H2646. £18.60 inc. VAT

For more details contact Mini Spares on
+44 1707 607700 or visit their website: www.minispares.com

Mini Spares now has stocks of original magnolia face analogue clocks as fitted by Rover to Minis with wooden or metal dashes from 1990-1999.

These early clocks were manufactured by Caerbont until 1999 (when the clock manufacturer was switched to VDO who produced a different full numerical figured clockface).

Order Magnolia Face Analogue Clock with fittings as part number YFB100370 at £107.75 inc VAT.

For more details contact Mini Spares on
+44 1707 607700 or visit their website: www.minispares.com

Classic Minis have two, simple stay cables that stop the boot lid from crashing down and damaging the hinges, bumper and paintwork.

When one fails the other one probably won’t be far behind it, so Mini Spares recommend that both are replaced together. This will also ensure that the cables are the same length – the old cables will probably have stretched.

The cables are sold singly as part number 14A6740, but at just £2.82 inc VAT there is no excuse for not replacing them both at the same time.

If the original retainers are also in a dubious condition or the original spacers are missing, Mini Spares also offers a Boot Cable Fitting Kit including Spacers as part 14A6740FK at £5.40 inc VAT.

For more details contact Mini Spares on
+44 1707 607700 or visit their website: www.minispares.com

It’s been a long time coming, but M-Style has finally managed to get its hands on the very new and very exclusive CT Carbon, carbon body styling kit for the F40 BMW 1 Series.

There are already a few options in terms of styling for this car from companies such as Maxton Design, however when it comes to carbon fibre, other than the genuine BMW items, this is probably the first aftermarket carbon fibre kit to appear.

This kit is made up of PRE-PREG dry carbon fibre. PRE-PREG is the process of reinforcing fabric which has been pre-impregnated with a resin. The result of this is reduced production waste and it ultimately forms a lighter and better-looking version of carbon fibre than the more common ‘wet’ production method.

The kit consists of:
A Front Splitter (3 Piece), a pair of Side Blades, a Rear Diffuser and a Roof Spoiler.

The cost of the full kit will retail at £2499 including VAT with the individual components retailing at £699 each including VAT. This may sound a lot but If you’re looking for a roof spoiler, specifically a carbon one, you will be happy to know that this one is £100 cheaper than the genuine BMW version!

­For further details e-mail info@mstyle.co.uk or call 0208 598 9115