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Felix Baumgartner parachutes into racing at N?rburgring 24

There are plenty of commonalities to be found between astronauts and racing drivers. Both are daredevils by definition (if not by trade), both subject themselves to unfathomable G forces and both face very real risks when strapped into machinery that makes the very best use of advanced propulsion, aerodynamics and composite construction technologies. Yet you don't find much crossover between the two. There was talk of Niki Lauda, himself an experienced pilot, training to go into space with Virgin Galactic (which itself was sister to an F1 team for a while in Richard Branson's empire), but that didn't seem to materialize. Now we're receiving news that Felix Baumgartner will contest the Nürburgring 24 Hours this year.
Felix Whomgartner, you ask? Felix Baumgartner. He's more of a skydiver than an astronaut, but he made history in 2012 when he jumped out of a space capsule and set the record for the highest altitude in a manned balloon, the parachute jump from the highest altitude, and the highest velocity freefall as part of the Red Bull Stratos initiative. In other words, he may as well be an astronaut, because he fell down to the earth's surface from the stratosphere.
For his next challenge, Baumgartner will be climbing into an Audi R8 LMS Ultra in an attempt to tackle the Nürburgring. Having contested a handful of spec races under the VW Group umbrella, he'll undertake several test sessions and practice races before the main event in June, in which he'll alternate behind the wheel with professional racing drivers Frank Biela, Marco Werner and Pierre Kaffer. The initiative is part of the Audi race experience program that allows gentleman racers to team up with seasoned pros to take part in real races. Baumgartner will undoubtedly prove its highest-profile participant.

Audi S1 rally car races its RC counterpart

Veteran racer Mattias Ekstrom campaigns the meanest looking Audi S1 on the block in the FIA World Rallycross Championship. With a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder pumping out a claimed 600 horsepower and all-wheel drive, this little hatch can reportedly hit 60 miles per hour in a wickedly quick 1.9 seconds. While those specs are mighty impressive, they don't really matter too much for Ekstrom's latest race in the S1 against a pint-sized doppelganger in the form of an RC replica of the rallycross machine around a warehouse. Despite, the massive gulf in size and power, the two Audis appear fairly evenly matched. The RC version can't quite match the real one in outright speed but can go under obstacles that Ekstrom's S1 is forced to drive around. Check out the clip above to see which S1 makes it to the finish first. Related Gallery EKS Audi S1 Supercar News Source: Audi Deutschland via YouTubeImage Credit: Related images copyright EKS Motorsports Toys/Games Audi Hatchback Racing Vehicles Videos rc car audi s1

Audi recalling 70k TDI models worldwide over braking problem

Audi is issuing a recall covering some 70,000 vehicles worldwide, due to problems with their brake boosters. According to Automotive News Europe, diesel-powered examples of the A4, A5, A6, A7 and Q7 are all being called back due to this issue.
The report indicates that while the brakes in these vehicles still function, the enhancing power from the booster may fail due to a possible leaky membrane.
All of the affected vehicles are powered by the 3.0-liter TDI turbodiesel V6, and were built between March and December of 2012. It is unclear as of this writing how many of these vehicles are in the States, though remember, US customers are not privy to 3.0 TDI examples of the A4 or A5. Autoblog has reached out to Audi for specific numbers, and we'll update this space when we hear more.