British Touring Car Championship FIA GT3 European Championship British GT Championship International GT Open
Noted drivers
Frank Biela John Bintcliffe Yvan Muller Guy Smith Stéphane Ortelli Andy Wallace Butch Leitzinger Eric van de Poele
Teams' Championships
1 (1996 BTCC)
Drivers' Championships
1 (1996 BTCC)
Apex Motorsport, formerly known as Audi Sport UK, was a British auto racing team founded in 1996 by former racing driver Richard Lloyd in partnership with the Volkswagen Group.[1] Formed to bring Audi into the British Touring Car Championship, the team won the teams and manufacturers titles in their debut season, as well as the drivers championship for German Frank Biela with eight victories over the course of the season. Biela and Audi Sport UK finished the 1997 season in second for all three championships before the series banned the four-wheel drive systems that Audi utilized, forcing the team to redevelop a new car for 1998. The 1998 BTCC campaign was winless, and Audi Sport UK left the series at the end of the season to concentrate on sports car racing.
Frank Biela's 1996 British Touring Car Championship Audi A4
Audi Sport UK, in conjunction with Racing Technology Norfolk, developed and campaigned the Audi R8C for Audi's first attempt at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The team failed to finish, in part due to a rushed schedule to complete the two cars. The team spent 2000 building cars for the American Speedvision World Challenge series[2] but remained involved in Volkswagen's sports car program as Bentley, another Volkswagen Group brand, began developing their own entry for Le Mans.[3] The team changed their name to Apex Motorsport and debuted the Bentley EXP Speed 8 in 2001 and finished with one car on the race podium. A fourth-place finish followed in 2002 before Apex joined with Joest Racing, who had been running Audi's continued Le Mans program, to campaign two cars in 2003 at the 12 Hours of Sebring as well as Le Mans. Third and fourth places were earned at Sebring, while Team Bentley scored a one-two finish at Le Mans, with Tom Kristensen, Rinaldo Capello, and Guy Smith driving the winning car.[citation needed]
Bentley's program ended after the Le Mans victory, and Apex Motorsport was left without any Volkswagen Group programs and remained stagnant for two years. The team's assets were put up for auction in 2006 to no avail.[4] Lloyd, along with racing driver and entrepreneur Harry Handkammer, approached Jaguar Cars to develop a Group GT3 sportscar program.[5] Built around the Jaguar XKR, Apex and Jaguar agreed to build cars for the team as well as cars to be sold to customers to justify the cost of the program. The team first raced the cars late in the 2007 season for the international FIA GT3 European Championship and British GT Championship. While developing the Jaguars in March 2008, Lloyd and team member Christopher Allarton, along with racing driver David Leslie were en route to Nogaro Circuit for testing when their aircraft crashed near Biggin Hill. All three, plus two pilots, were killed in the crash.[6] Despite the loss for the team, they continued their FIA GT3 campaign for the season, and pushed with further development of the car in 2009. However the project came to an early close in 2009 after no cars had been sold to customers and the team was dissolved by 2014.[1]
^ abNewbold, James (30 March 2018). "Remembering a racing pioneer and deal-maker". Autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
^"Audi to Provide Turnkey S4 Competition Racers". Motorsport Network. 24 March 2000. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
^"Bentley Motors returns to Le Mans". Motorsport Network. 3 November 2000. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
^"Apex Motorsport assets up for sale". Autosport.com. Haymarket Press. 7 February 2006. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
^"Jaguar XKR GT3". Racecar Engineering. 19 December 2007. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
^"Leslie and Lloyd killed in plane crash". Motorsport Network. 1 April 2008. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
ApexMotorsport, formerly known as Audi Sport UK, was a British auto racing team founded in 1996 by former racing driver Richard Lloyd in partnership...
sixth Forza Motorsport and eighth overall installment in the Forza series, and available worldwide on September 15, 2015. Forza Motorsport 6: Apex, a free-to-play...
initially created in 2005 by the SRO Motorsports Group as a third rung in the ladder of grand touring motorsport, below the Group GT1 and Group GT2 categories...
Gear, relieving. Finally, the Chad Motorsport Porsche 997 GT3 Cup leaves the pit lane just as the ApexMotorsport Jaguar does after a pit stop longer...
The following is a glossary of terminology used in motorsport, along with explanations of their meanings. Contents A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R...
In motorsport, the racing line is the optimal path around a race course. In most cases, the line makes use of the entire width of the track to lengthen...
known as Forza Motorsport 6: Apex, was released on September 6, 2016, as "a focused and curated single-player tour of Forza Motorsport's best content"...
driver who currently competes in the European Le Mans Series for JMW Motorsport. He is the winningest driver in British GT history, having three times...
Richard (21 December 2023). "Max Verstappen: Record-breaker". The ApexMotorsport. Retrieved 16 February 2024. "F1 Grand Slams". Salracing. 17 July 2023...
driver and APEX team co-owner; and Chris Allarton, a data engineer. They were travelling to the Nogaro Circuit in France to test for ApexMotorsport in preparation...
with six points. The first GT3 iteration of the XKR was developed by ApexMotorsport, which ran these cars in the FIA GT3 European Championship (from 2007...
earned the AE86 an early and enduring international prominence in the motorsport discipline of drifting. The AE86 was featured centrally in the popular...
and team owner of ApexMotorsport. Lloyd left a wife and three daughters. Christopher Allarton, 25, Data Analyst & ApexMotorsport employee. A memorial...
suggested that Sydney Motorsport Park was not up to modern standards and needed to be upgraded. On 28 April 2008, it was announced that Apex Circuit Design Ltd...
Audi Sport UK ApexMotorsport A4 quattro M 44 John Bintcliffe All 7th 113 45 Frank Biela All 1st 289 1997 Audi Sport UK ApexMotorsport A4 quattro M 1...
only competed in one event in the 2012 British GT season, racing an ApexMotorsport run McLaren MP4-12C GT3 at Silverstone where they finished fifth. Geddie...
develop the Forza Motorsport series for Xbox platforms. The most recent game developed solely by Turn 10 is the eighth Forza Motorsport, released in 2023...
The Bangsaen Street Circuit is a 3.700 km (2.299 mi) motorsport circuit in Bang Saen, Chonburi. The circuit was opened in 2007 and it hosts Speed Festival...
Willow Springs International Motorsports Park (commonly referred to as Willow Springs) is located in Willow Springs near Rosamond, California, about 80 mi...
the apex of each of the corners mentioned. The Apex Great Britain was built in two left- and right-hand drive cars each, while the Apex Germany, Apex France...
successful in many branches of motorsport of which most have been in long-distance races. Despite their early involvement in motorsports being limited to supplying...
Hendrick among the victims. All aboard were killed. 30 March 2008 ApexMotorsports Auto racing Charter flight Cessna Citation 501 Farnborough, London...
The Zhejiang Circuit is a motorsport circuit in Shaoxing, China. It was designed by Apex Circuit Design Ltd and opened in 2016. As of November 2022, the...
Bushy Park Circuit is a motorsport race track in the parish of St. Philip, Barbados. The circuit features a 2.012 km (1.250 mi) FIA Grade 4 course and...
the first corner called Big Red—the highest point of the circuit—with the apex of the corner positioned on the crest of the hill, similar to Turn 4 of India...
Global Information
Frank Biela
John Bintcliffe
Yvan Muller
Stéphane Ortelli
Butch Leitzinger
Eric van de Poele