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Watch this Audi RS6 go 208 mph... on ice

In and effort to promote the high-speed grip of its new Hakkapeliitta 8 winter tire, Nokian threw a set of its new rubber on a race-prepped Audi RS6 and got moving - very, very quickly. In fact, on March 9 on top of the very frozen Gulf of Bothinia near Oulu, Finland, Nokian's test driver Janne Laitinen set a new world record for the fastest speed recorded driving on ice. If you'll recall, this isn't the first time that Audi and Nokian have played this game, either.
Using the guidelines set forth by the Guinness Book of World Records for such things, Laitinen averaged 208.602 miles per hour (335.713 kilometers per hour) over the course of two runs on natural, untreated ice. Another constraint is that the ice speed record must be done using commercial available tires, which is obviously great PR for the new Hakkapeliitas. The press release doesn't make any mention of how the RS6 was prepared to reach such high velocities, but the images of the car make it clear that this is no stock machine. Scroll on below to see the impressive video evidence of the Audi's record run.

Audi doesn't even need December to set new global sales record

In 2011, Audi broke its previous-year global sales total at the end of November. It did it again in 2012. It did the same in 2013, and it's done the same again this year. The brand sold roughly 1.575 million cars last year. As of November 30 this year - its 47th record-breaking month in a row in the US - it had found new owners for 1.591 million cars around the world. Where is the action happening? Everywhere, with double digit growth year-on-year in China (16.4 percent, led by the Q3), the US (15.4 percent, led by the Q5) and Mexico (10.6 percent), and triple-digit growth in Brazil (105.2 percent). Even Europe, still struggling to break free of its retail lassitude, returned a 4.3-percent gain, with the UK and Swedish markets up by more than 20 percent. In November alone, Audi's deliveries increased 10.8 percent compared to last year, and it broke the company record for monthly sales, getting 146,250 units out the door. You can find more numbers and details in the press release below. AUDI AG: new sales record after 11 months - Full year 2013 volume already exceeded in November - Sales chief Luca de Meo: "Strong year-end sprint for Audi" - New-generation Audi A6* launched in the first European markets Ingolstadt, 2014-12-09 - Audi continues to post double digit growth in November too: Deliveries climbed 10.8 percent to a new record breaking figure for a single month of around 146,250 cars. The company once again grew significantly in all regions around the globe. Demand for the four rings rose in the Asia Pacific region in particular with sales up 17.7 percent. Since January, the premium manufacturer has delivered around 1,591,100 cars (+10.1%) to customers, thus topping last year's sales total after just 11 months. In the whole of 2013, the Ingolstadt based company sold around 1.575 million units. "Our performance in November shows that we are keeping up the pace as we sprint towards the year-end," says Luca de Meo, Member of the Board of Management for Sales at AUDI AG. "Our large export markets in particular are driving the growth of the four rings at this time." In China Audi handed over 52,544 vehicles (+18.5%) to their new owners. The Audi Q3* provided a strong boost, with demand for the compact SUV growing by 49.8 percent. Since January, the Ingolstadt-based company has sold a total of 516,356 cars in the Middle Kingdom – and thus more than half a million units for the first time.

24 Hours of Le Mans an on-and-off love affair

There was little usual about this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans - intermittent rain in the weeks before the race meant cars didn't get on track as much as they wanted, and intermittent rain during the race meant cars went off track a lot more than they wanted. The race started with a wet track, and one of the records broken because of the random downpours was the number of times the safety car led the field - 11 times this year - although the record of two hours and 53 minutes of lapping behind the safety car, set in 2011, was not eclipsed.
None of that served to dampen the action. With little more than an hour left in the race there were cars still only a few seconds apart fighting for position, leads still changing because of pit stops and everyone drafting anyone they could.
Things didn't go the usual way up front, either - well, not exactly...