Former Audi Sports chief Roland Gempert and former F1 driver Heinz-Herald Frentzen are teaming up to race a hybrid racer on the notorious Nurburgring. The Gempert Apollo race car will race in the 24 Hours of Nurburgring using a hybrid drive train that produces up to 800 horsepower. The race team states that the vehicle could travel up to 31 miles on electrical power if the gas engine putters out.
Gempert commissioned the drive train from Lithium Technology Corporation to show that hybrid power can be as sexy as traditional race cars. The Apollo race car will race against German and international automakers in the day-long contest of vehicle endurance. There is a 3.3 liter V8 twin turbo engine under the hood coupled with an electric motor powered by a Li-ion battery.
The combination of Gempert and Frentzen in this event lends credibility to the performance level of hybrid vehicles. Gempert’s success at Audi Sports included two victories in the World Rally Championship for vehicle innovation and maintenance. Frentzen’s past success on the F1 circuit will ensure that the Apollo gets a fair shot at succeeding in Nurburg, Germany.
The Nurburgring is a 3.2 mile track with 15 turns that challenges high-performance vehicles from Audi, Lexus and other automakers. Proponents of the Apollo and other hybrid sports cars will point out that there is no greater test of the technology than Nurburgring. There are significant elevation changes, sharp turns and the challenge of navigating around the competition that will show the promise of Gempert’s vehicle.
Gempert is following the example of the Indy Racing League (IRL) and F1 when it comes to cleaner race cars. The IRL is running completely on ethanol-based fuel instead of gasoline partially because of the sport’s roots in the agricultural South and Midwest. F1 officials have promised kinetic recovery systems on vehicles in 2009 that will increase fuel efficiency. The biggest question facing Gempert in the face of success or failure is whether the Apollo proves anything about performance hybrid vehicles. The use of a high-power V8 turbo engine in a sport where acceleration is key may make energy savings a wash by the end of the 24 hours of Nurburgring.
