This picture shows just what APR Motorsports will be taking to Daytona. Several classes of cars for two big races are shown. Friday afternoon at 1:30PM it’s the Continental Tire Challenge Grand-Am 200. Qualifying for that race and the 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 will take place on Thursday. The newest addition to the APR fleet of rockets is the Audi R-8 (the #51 Car), one of four that are racing in the US this year. It’s a factory built race car version of the street model. Get the street version for about $100,000 and you can get a race car for a cool half million. After the Rolex 24 Hour race begins on Saturday at 3:30PM (end Sunday at 3:30PM) there’s plenty to do for fans along with watching the race. There’s a Chili Cook off, Wine and Cheese Parties, Live Bands and Karaoke till 1AM. The cars continue to race thru the night (the R-8 will have 5 different drivers) and more fun on Sunday beginning at 8:00AM.

You can watch the racing on Speed Channel. The Rolex 24 Hour Races is on Saturday at 1:30PM Central and again Sunday at 8AM Central. The Continental Tire Challenge will actually be rebroadcast on February 4th at 11AM Central

From this weekends testing on the Big Track…

Five-time Le Mans winner and Audi ambassador to join Dion von Moltke, Dr. Jim Norman and Nelson Canache in team’s Audi R8 GRAND-AM… Even as teams arrive in Daytona for practice this weekend, the excitement builds at drivers for the cars are announced. Opelika’s APR made a big announcement today bringing a well known name to their Audi R8. Here’s part of the Speed TV Post today. Read the entire article with the link at the end of the post. Go APR!

Bolstering its first effort on the Rolex 24 at Daytona, APR Motorsport has announced that Emanuele Pirro – a man synonymous with Audi and success in endurance racing – will be behind the wheel of the no. 51 APR Motorsport Audi R8 Grand-Am for this year’s 24 hour classic.

“I would like to thank APR for giving me this opportunity to drive in one of the classic 24 hour races,” said Pirro. “I have a lot to learn and I hope to be able, together with the rest of the APR Motorsport team, to finish the race in a good position to make the best possible introduction of the Audi R8 Grand-Am in the American market.

“I know the race will be super competitive. I am ready for it, I am well trained, I am in very good shape and very motivated. I will have a very open-minded approach, as I have very limited experience in the GT class, although I have overtaken tons of them in ten years of prototype racing!” Read More at Speed TV! (Photo Credit & Story from Speed TV)

It’s countdown to Daytona for APR Motorsports this week as they prepare for testing at the big track this weekend. First up on Friday morning the cars of the Continental Series, followed by the Rolex series at 1:20 and the Continental Series back on the track at 4:15PM. After that, ten more sessions for the cars over the weekend and back home to Opelika to review the results.  This official picture from the “goapr’s“ Flickr Photo feed shows the new Audi R8 after it’s arrival in the shop in late December.  After a quick visit to APR’s garage over the weekend, I can say the transformation from the Snow White look to the full Racing Version is remarkable. Sorry, first official views for the public won’t be until its arrival in Daytona.  The R8 will be APR’s first entry in the Rolex Series and will join the others that already race in the Continental Tire Series.  Both are part of the Grand Am Series.

Okay, so no one at APR called the new R8 Snow White, that’s just me.  Apologies to Audi for the nickname.

So what’s new for 2012 here at the Opelika Daily News? First, some minor changes to this home page, nothing at radical as the Facebook Timeline, but some subtle changes to freshen the look at bit.  Opelika’s South Railroad Avenue, pictured in the header banner has certainly changed a lot in the past two years, so it’s time we do.  A couple of new features will become regulars and you’ve already seen several of those post. First, time to learn about the Rolex and Continental Race Series, as Opelika’s APR Racing will be in the full series of some of those races. Second, time to find that perfect App for your iPhone or iPad. Our mission is to educate you on both!  And finally, some things done in the past will return with a more regular posting.  So with 2012 officially here, let the posting begin! Happy new Year Everyone.

I want to share more of the excitement of racing done by the teams of APR here in Opelika. There are several Links below to learn more and we’re not done yet as we explore the other cars racing in coming days.

APR Motorsport is proud to announce that it will become the first team to compete in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series with the Audi R8 LMS, when the team takes the green flag for January’s 50th Rolex 24 at Daytona on January 28, 2012 – and, hopefully, is first to the checkered flag on January 29.

Passion for the Audi brand runs deep at APR. Stephen Hooks, President and CEO of APR, was an aspiring driver and Audi enthusiast who raced Audis in the Motorola Cup – the predecessor to GRAND-AM. After leaving his driving ambitions to build APR into the largest aftermarket and motorsport company for Audis worldwide, Hooks returned to competition as a principal in APR Motorsport. The team was the first to race Audi’s newest and hottest sedan, the B8 model generation Audi S4, in the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. Being the first team to field the R8 LMS in North America is a natural progression for APR Motorsport. Read more of this original article at Quattroworld.

From Speed TV: The Alabama-based operation, which fields VW GTIs and an Audi S4 in the production-based series, makes the logical step up to the Rolex GT category, where it will face some of its toughest competition yet in the expanding category. Read the entire article here!

And more about the car itself from Speed TV: In just a few short years, Audi’s R8 LMS has become the most successful GT3 car worldwide, having claimed over 100 victories in over a dozen championships around the globe since its debut in 2009. 

While the mid-engined sportscar has no doubt made a mark for itself in some of the world’s toughest endurance races, including the Nurburgring 24 Hours and its recent overall victory in the 24 Hours of Spa, the popular customer-based program had yet to impact one of Audi’s most important markets, until now.  Read the rest here! Here’s the link to the complete Rolex Series for 2012.

More details on this new addition to the APR Racing Lineup in a weekend post coming…