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Audi fires head of R&D, Wolfgang D"urheimer

According to Car and Driver, citing a report in Germany's Der Spiegel magazine, Audi has fired Wolfgang Dürheimer, the brand's head of research and development.
Dürheimer had originally signed on as Audi's R&D boss in September 2012. Prior to that, he had served as the head for both Bentley and Bugatti, and was formerly the development chief at Porsche (where he is credited with helping get the original Cayenne into production, a move that ushered a new era of profitability for the company). Dürheimer moved to Audi following a management shakeup within the Volkswagen Group in mid-2012.
During his time at Bentley, Dürheimer spearheaded the brand's efforts to launch an SUV. But at Audi, he reportedly quickly put a stop to costly projects such as the R8 E-Tron and the rotary range-extender engine for the A1 E-Tron. Furthermore, Car and Driver reports that Dürheimer shuffled the reporting structure within the brand's design department, and that VW Group CEO Martin Winterkorn had apparently disagreed with him several times on the styling direction for the brand.

Audi R8 LMX has frickin' lasers for headlights

It might look like just another Audi R8, but Ingolstadt tells us this one is different: it is the limited edition Audi R8 LMX (click image above to enlarge) with laser-enhanced LED high-beam headlights. Audi introduced the laserlight technology on its R18 E-tron Quattro LMP1 race car and then promised a production version of it at this year's Consumer Electronics Show. The eyes on the R8 LMX employ the same method when traveling above 37.3 miles per hour, utilizing a tiny laser module in each headlight that, after conversion to white light, can throw a beam about 1,640 feet down the road.
Because no one should ever stop at lasers, buyers of the limited-to-99 examples of the R8 LMX will also get a more powerful engine, with 570 horsepower erupting from the mid-mounted V10; that's ten more horses than came with the R8 V10 GT introduced last year, but the 0-62 mile-per-hour time hasn't budged from 3.4 seconds. It comes in coupe form only, dressed in Ara Blue paint with carbon accents all around, exclusive wheels, red brake calipers, and a black Nappa leather interior with contrasting blue bits.
The order book is open now, and deliveries will begin this summer for those willing to lay down 210,000 euros for the privilege of using one of Superman's powers for good, as standard (the BMW i8 has laser-equipped high beams, but as an option). We won't see them here, though, for as with Matrix Beam lighting and Audi's sequential turn signals, US laws forbid such shenanigans. The press release below has more info.

2015 Rolex 24 at Daytona pre-race notes

Reigning Indy 500 champion Ryan Hunter-Reay summarized our feelings on every year's Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona when he said, "The 24 kind of kicks off the year and has become part of my calendar... It definitely helps you get in race shape after a long layoff." Speaking of IndyCar drivers, 14 of the 33 pilots who started last year's Indy 500 are driving in Daytona this year, and an IndyCar driver has been part of the overall winning team for the last four years. The race starts at 2:10 pm Eastern Standard Time, here's where you can watch it: 2-4 pm: Fox Sports Network 4-8 pm: Fox Sports 2 8-10 pm: Fox Sports 1 10 pm-7 am: IMSA TV on IMSA.com - commentary available here for the full 24 hours 7 am – 2:30 pm (Sunday) – Fox Sports 1 Timing and Scoring Andy Blackmore's typically awesome Spotter's Guide Video primer on the four classes: Prototype (16 in this year's race), Prototype Challenge (8), GT Le Mans (10), GTD (19), and how to identify them. Daytona International Speedway: tri-oval with an infield road course, 3.56 miles long, 12 turns Entry list Qualifying results We've tagged along with Audi for the 53rd running of the race, which marks the first event in the Tudor United SportsCar Car Championship. After a difficult first year of teething – IMSA president and COO Scott Atherton said, "Everybody on our staff and everybody that raced with us last year would tell you it was the most challenging season on record" – some things are smoother this year, some things aren't, starting with the field: 53 cars are expected to line up, 14 fewer than last year, the smallest field since 48 cars lined up in 2011. The Prototype class shed three teams from 2014 and the GT Daytona class lost ten, so there's a 19-car field in that class (nine Porsche 911 GT Americas, three Ferrari 458 Italias, two each of the Aston-Martin V12 Vantage, Dodge Viper SRT, Audi R8 LMS, and one BMW Z4). Truth be told, last year's number was probably inflated by having the previous American Le Mans Series and Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Championship combined to make the USCC; the field in 2013 was 57 cars, in 2012 it was 59 cars. Another factor in this year's race is that the GT class adopts FIA GT3 rules from next year. Brad Kettler, manager of Audi's customer motorsport program, said they'd sold five R8 LMS cars last year but zero for this year – there are undoubtedly teams waiting on the sidelines for the rules unification before spending the money.