The video campaign ‘Jump for JOY’ was BMW’s attempt to highlight the character and fun-loving nature of their customers, but couldn’t resist having a poke at boring stuffy Audi in an extended version of the video (below).

The “Jump for Joy” commercial spawned an ‘extended’ version where an Audi A4 owner tries to copy his BMW-owning neighbours – unfortunately he botches the attempt and ends up crushing his privates in the process. Click through to 1:13 to watch the painful moment..

So, with Audi’s current promotion of the R8 GT they’ve obviously decided to return the favour. Produced by Tonic International of Dubai, the message is simple, “..forget all this marketing fluff from BMW, with the R8 GT Joy finally has meaning”.

Audi’s £144,000+ R8 GT is the car maker’s fastest and most expensive model, using a 552 bhp V10 FSI powerplant it can accelerate from zero to 62mph in 3.8 seconds and to reach a top speed of 197mph. And rarity will be one of the reasons for joy if you’ve bought an R8 GT, with a worldwide production of just 333 units they will be a special sight on our roads.

BMW have been slow to respond to the R8 since it arrived on the scene 4 years ago, with nothing even remotely close within its range, so it’s no surprise to see Audi making hay in their latest ads.

Download a copy for your own use by clicking on the links below:

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]]> http://skiddmark.com/2011/10/iotd-audi-r8-gt-jooooy-finally-has-meaning-wdownloads/feed/ 0 http://skiddmark.com/2010/05/mark-blundell-returns-to-racing-with-audis-r8-gt3/ http://skiddmark.com/2010/05/mark-blundell-returns-to-racing-with-audis-r8-gt3/#comments Fri, 07 May 2010 10:57:21 +0000 Steve Davies http://www.skiddmark.com/?p=10615 Last time we saw ex-F1 driver Mark Blundell he was doing an advert for a camping and caravan park. Don’t believe us? Then take a look at the video below. But we’re very pleased to hear that he’s not gone all ‘pipe-and-slippers’ by the announcement that he will drive an Audi R8 LMS sports car for United Autosports in the Spa 24 Hours in Belgium this summer (Jul 31-Aug 1).

The 44-year-old Royston-based Londoner who won the 1992 24 Hours of Le Mans but stepped away from active motorsport after finishing second in the French marathon seven years ago, makes a one-off return to the cockpit for the high-profile American-owned, British operated “customer” Audi team.

Blundell netted three “podiums” during a four year Formula One career and will compete in the annual twice-around-the-clock GT race around the legendary 4.35-mile Spa-Francorchamps track in the heart of the Ardennes.

“I’d thought about returning to the cockpit but wanted to do so at a race I had not done before but also in an environment where it would be fun and professional,” remarked Blundell. “I feel that United Autosports ticks those boxes after being given the opportunity by team co-owner Zak [Brown] which has re-ignited the fire in my belly again.

This is NOT how we like to remember Mark Blundell's contribution to motorsports. Click to view on SkiddPlayer.

“I now have time to commit and focus on the occasional race after eight years involved in ‘live’ television as part of the ITV F1 presenting team and building up my motorsport and soccer management companies while the Spa 24 Hours makes perfect sense with my previous successes in 24 Hour racing.”

Blundell, who drove for Brabham, Ligier, Tyrrell and McLaren in F1 before competing in the American CART World Series for five years, raced at Spa for the first time in 1987, posting his best-ever result at the Belgian track with a second place in an FIA International Formula 3000 race. His last race at Spa was in 1995 and almost signed off from regular on-track motorsport action with a second Le Mans victory seven years ago.

Mark continued: “My last Spa race was at the wheel of an F1 McLaren [1995]. It’s one of my top-three track’s in the world because it offers a massive challenge to a race driver. My last race was in 2003 with Bentley at Le Mans where I finished second overall having led much of the race. I love long distance, round-the-clock racing.”

Yorkshire-based United Autosports, formed last winter and co-owned by American Zak Brown and Leeds-born Richard Dean, is concentrating on successfully defending the FIA GT3 European Championship title for Audi this year but will additionally enter two, Audi R8 LMS sports cars at Spa.

“It’s great to be part of a team of drivers as there is a huge amount of energy in the build-up and lots of emotion in sharing the trials and tribulations of a 24 hour race itself after months of preparation,” added Blundell who sampled the 525-hp Audi R8 LMS for the first time this week (Silverstone, May 4). “The highs and lows are extreme because it’s such a big team effort with everyone involved over such a long period but that is the attraction for me to dust off the helmet again.”

The Spa 24 Hours was first run in 1924 and has seen only seven British driver’s winning the race – the most recent 15 years ago. Blundell teams-up with Brown in the Remington sponsored Audi, which will include two other co-drivers, bidding for GT3 honours.

Zak Brown added: “It’s very exciting to have someone of Mark’s calibre and experience joining our young team. Mark has raced and won at the highest level in motorsports and I consider it to be a huge privilege to share a racecar with him.”

“Everyone who knows Mark well understands what he will bring to a team,” stated Richard Dean. “He is fast, the guys here love him and he has won the biggest 24 hour race there is. Everything we need for United Autosports’ first shot at the Spa 24 hours!

“We’re under no illusions that Spa is a very difficult race and we are excited to be part of it. Our preparations start with putting together the very best people for a very serious effort,” concluded Richard.

We told you it would look good in black.

Whilst Audi’s official press photos do a good job of highlighting the contrasting carbon-fibre aerodynamic changes, we believe that a car at this price point needs to ‘speak quietly but hit with a big stick’, so the more stealthy matt black paint of this development car would be precisely how we’d specify our R8 GT.

What about you?

You can take a closer look at the R8 GT at www.audi.com however we’re still waiting for an online configurator to be available to test out all of our favourite options.

Photos: 

Priced at $110,000 (you can pick up a road-legal SRT10 ACR for $103,000), The Viper is powered by the infamous 8.4 litre V10, producing 640 bhp, which is 40bhp more than the regular SRT10 ACR (American Club Racer).

The suspension is tuned and upgraded specifically for on-track usage, whilst the weight is reduced by a full 71 kg (160 pounds) compared to the standard production Viper to take on even the most challenging tracks. Additional aerodynamic upgrades improve downforce, while enhancing stability and significantly improving grip in high-speed cornering.

Last month, the SRT team used a testing session at Laguna Seca raceway to shake down the Viper ACR-X for the first time. Behind the wheel was professional driver Kuno Wittmer from the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Championship series, who was able to run consistent 1:31.00 lap times around the 2.238-mile, 11-turn track. Wittmer’s lap times were more than 3 seconds faster than the street-legal Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR that holds the production car track record at Laguna Seca raceway.

“The Dodge Viper ACR-X is incredible,” said Wittmer. “After a short warm up, I was running lap times as quick as exotic GT race cars. I was blown away by the power and acceleration, and even more surprised at how the ACR-X navigated the challenging Laguna Seca corners and how friendly it was to drive at the limit.

“All aspects of the car work together perfectly to plant all that horsepower and torque without issue,” Wittmer added. “This will be a great package for someone coming out of grassroots racing with a desire to step-up to GT level competition. Dodge nailed it with this one!”

The Viper SRT10 ACR-X is designed to compete in the Viper Racing League, Sports Car Club of America and National Auto Sport Association events.

Rossi was invited to experience some fast laps in the new M3 GTS, but in the end he wanted to drive it. The nine times MotoGP champion took to the Valencia track in the lightweight M3 GTS together with MotoGP boss Carmelo Ezpeleta in the passenger seat. Rossi was supposed to stop at the end of his first lap, but he decided to do another lap even more quickly.

Rossi was eventually prised out of the M3 GTS so that he could be presented with his M3 Saloon, but said, “It was amazing in the GTS. Just amazing. It was great, especially under braking with the light weight that it has.” In fact Rossi was already enquiring about how he could get hold of one for himself, but apparently there have already been more than 300 serious enquiries about the car since it’s launch three days ago.

Thomas Schemera, the Director of Sales and Marketing for BMW M Power who handed over the keys of the M3 to Rossi said, “It was our intention for Valentino to have a seat in the M3 GTS, but in the end he wanted to drive it, so he did! I think he is very convinced about the features and the abilities of the car and we would be very happy to let him have one of the hand built cars that echoes the iconic 3.0 CSL racer from the mid 70s.”

BMW will continue to supply Safety Cars, Official Cars and VIP Shuttles to the Moto GP series until 2013, using vehicles from BMW’s M Power stable.

Rossi finished 2nd in today’s Moto GP round in Valencia, followed home by team mate Jorge Lorenzo. Spain’s Dani Pedrosa won this final race of the 2009 season.

Photos courtesy of BMW & Moto GP.