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Felix Baumgartner parachutes into racing at N?rburgring 24

There are plenty of commonalities to be found between astronauts and racing drivers. Both are daredevils by definition (if not by trade), both subject themselves to unfathomable G forces and both face very real risks when strapped into machinery that makes the very best use of advanced propulsion, aerodynamics and composite construction technologies. Yet you don't find much crossover between the two. There was talk of Niki Lauda, himself an experienced pilot, training to go into space with Virgin Galactic (which itself was sister to an F1 team for a while in Richard Branson's empire), but that didn't seem to materialize. Now we're receiving news that Felix Baumgartner will contest the Nürburgring 24 Hours this year.
Felix Whomgartner, you ask? Felix Baumgartner. He's more of a skydiver than an astronaut, but he made history in 2012 when he jumped out of a space capsule and set the record for the highest altitude in a manned balloon, the parachute jump from the highest altitude, and the highest velocity freefall as part of the Red Bull Stratos initiative. In other words, he may as well be an astronaut, because he fell down to the earth's surface from the stratosphere.
For his next challenge, Baumgartner will be climbing into an Audi R8 LMS Ultra in an attempt to tackle the Nürburgring. Having contested a handful of spec races under the VW Group umbrella, he'll undertake several test sessions and practice races before the main event in June, in which he'll alternate behind the wheel with professional racing drivers Frank Biela, Marco Werner and Pierre Kaffer. The initiative is part of the Audi race experience program that allows gentleman racers to team up with seasoned pros to take part in real races. Baumgartner will undoubtedly prove its highest-profile participant.

Volkswagen pushed back against Takata airbag recall

Volkswagen and Audi will recall about 850,000 vehicles in the US to replace their Takata-supplied driver side airbag inflators, but the automaker doesn't believe the safety campaign is entirely necessary. In a letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the company pushes the agency to re-evaluate the recall's scope because the parts are allegedly safe, it claims. VW asserted in the letter, which NHTSA posted online (as a PDF) with other documents about the company's safety campaign, that the vast majority of the automaker's recalled vehicles used Takata inflators from the supplier's factory in Freiburg, Germany. Only the US-built Passat had components from Takata's plant in Mexico. VW's argues to NHTSA that its recall is unnecessary because there are no reported airbag ruptures in the German-made parts, and the plant has better quality control than Takata's factories in the US and Mexico. In addition, the Mexico-manufactured components in the Passat are also allegedly safe because they come from a time after significant upgrades to the plant to address humidity and welding concerns. "We do not believe the facts known to date support the scope as defined in the Takata defect notification," VW's letter says. To be clear, VW is not refusing the Takata recall and plans to fix the affected vehicles. Instead, this letter shows the automaker expressing an opinion that NHTSA's scope for the campaign is too broad. VW now plans to do its own analysis on the inflators to strengthen that case, according to The Detroit News. "We respectfully request that, should such results be shown, the agency work with Volkswagen and other manufacturers to revisit the scope of these recalls," the letter said. Takata's recalled inflators use ammonium nitrate as a propellant, and experts believe that long-term exposure to high humidity can make the chemical more likely to cause a rupture during airbag deployment. The spray of metal shrapnel from the exploding parts has links to at least 10 deaths. Related Video:

VW, Mobileye to bring new automated tech to series production

Volkswagen will bring new automated driving technologies to series production as it deepens its partnership with Mobileye in automotive driving technologies, Europe's biggest carmaker said on Wednesday. Israeli automotive tech company Mobileye will provide driving assistance software based on its SuperVision and Chauffeur platforms to VW's luxury brands such as Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini and Porsche. The technologies, which later will be integrated by VW's software unit Cariad, include assistance systems for highway and urban driving, such as automated overtaking on multilane highways, automatic stopping at red lights and stop signs, and support in intersections and roundabouts. "New automated driving functions will significantly boost convenience and safety," VW Chief Executive Oliver Blume said. Mobileye is also set to supply further automated driving software to Volkswagen's commercial vehicles unit. In future, the German carmaker aims to rely on its own complete in-house software system. (Reporting by Christoph Steitz, writing by Andrey Sychev, Editing by Miranda Murray and Madeline Chambers)