Audi 2008 Annual Report Download - page 16

Eifel Mountains is considered to be the world’s most diffi-
cult racetrack. Looking down at the R8, Appel seems almost
like a child about to unwrap his presents at Christmas. He
waves to the man standing beside the car, Martin Tomczyk,
and relays his time of 7:50. Tomczyk smiles – the smile of a
man undaunted by that achievement.
And what are the two of them doing here? It depends on
who you ask. Tomczyk is a professional racing car driver on
the Audi German Touring Car Masters (DTM) team and an
avid hobby gamer. Today is not the first time he’s had the
chance to drive a real R8. After all, he was involved in test-
ing the car. Now he wants to see what it feels like to drive
the virtual version. Appel, on the other hand, is the Ger-
man manager of the GT Explore Studio at the video game
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Reality and illusion
Smoking tires, roaring engines. Two Audi R8 cars charge around the track.
Professional drivers are at the wheels. The one chases points in the DTM series;
his opponent is a professional gamer and develops car racing games. They storm
around the Nordschleife – real and virtual. An unusual couple; an unusual race.
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he engine roars briefly one last time before the
car comes to a stop and Sascha Appel lets his gaze
linger over the digital display, as if he wanted to
burn his time into his memory: 7:50 – less than eight
minutes – is pretty good even for a virtual lap around the
Nordschleife (Northern Loop). He drags himself out of
the racing seat. Stressful? Not really! “Each time is just
as much fun as the first!” Appel walks to the window.
Parked below is the car he has just driven virtually on a
PlayStation 3 (PS3): the real Audi R8. He’ll hit the real as-
phalt this afternoon: nearly 21 kilometers, 73 curves, a
290-meter change in elevation – the “Green Hell” in the
Copy Stefan Nink
Photos Frithjof Ohm
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