APR Motorsport Launches All New 2010 KONI Sports Car Challenge Contenders in Grand Sport and Street Tuner!

Opelika, AL: After a record setting sophomore year, APR Motorsport has officially announced plans to compete in both categories of the 2010 KONI Sports Car Challenge. The team’s highlights from 2009 are stunning; 4 race wins, 5 pole positions, 38% of all 2009 laps were led by an APR VW, and on 3 occasions the team qualified 1-2. The launch was held Saturday at APR’s Performance Campus in front of a huge crowd consisting of international press, sponsors and enthusiasts.

Dubbed by journalists as “The most exciting Audi related announcement to hit the North American racing scene in recent years”, the staff and owners of APR Motorsport pulled back the cover on its 2010 GS class entry, the all new Audi S4. Power from a potent 3.0L Supercharged V6 will be put to the ground using Audi’s patented Quattro technology, all of which the APR engineering staff is diligently refining for competition. “This is a landmark for our company and Audi enthusiasts alike. The GS Class is the next logical step for the team and our relationship with Audi made the progression a simple choice. Even in factory trim, the balance, handling and power of the new S4 are miles ahead of the previous generations of this car” said Stephen Hooks, President and Founder of APR LLC. The team is already well into the development process and the results are encouraging. Jeff Mishtawy, Director of Motorsport for APR, said, “We tested the new S4 at Barber Motorsports Park a couple of weeks ago and the drivers were quite positive, especially for this early in the development cycle.” The team is working with Grand-Am technical staff to finalize the set of rules for the car and the initial specifications are anticipated to be finished shortly. Several of the team’s technical partners from BBS, Status, IAV and Motul were on hand to develop equipment for the all new car.

Also launched at the event was the team’s new ST entry, the 2010 VW GTI. The 6th generation GTI represents evolution rather than revolution. The APR Motorsport fully expects to hit the track at Daytona picking up where the team left off in 2009. Although the GTI MK6 is drastically different in appearance, the team has been able to directly apply the chassis and brake tuning learned in the past two years of competition to the new entry. APR’s engineers have been working on tuning of the powertrain for the past 4 months and have made some significant progress. The biggest update to the GTI will be the all new engine in which VW has greatly improved its reliability while maintaining excellent power output. “The transition to the new chassis should be seamless. The team has been busy tweaking the car for a while now and with the data we have been able to gather from 2009 we will be competitive very quickly” said APR Motorsport driver Ian Baas.

To match the stunning livery applied to the exterior of each car, the team vows that the technological growth will be every bit as impressive. The entire staff of APR and APR Motorsport are already designing the equipment and components necessary to take the team to victory lane in 2010.