Record Breaker Aiming High With Audi

NOT content with falling out of a balloon from a great height, Austrian extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner is tackling his next big challenge on the famous Nordschleife circuit of the Nurburgring in Germany.

Teaming up with Audi, the Austrian will obtain a racing license and become a driver with the Audi race experience team for the grueling Nurburgring 24 Hours in June. He’ll also be swapping his recording-breaking balloon for a race-prepared Audi R8.

Commenting on the challenge ahead, Baumgartner said: "This task is totally exciting and I'm looking forward to driving races in an Audi.

"During initial tests in the road-going Audi R8 I got to know the Nurburgring, and in the Audi R8 LMS ultra I've clocked a few kilometres on various tracks as well.

“I regard this task as one of the major projects in my life. The environment is perfect, the atmosphere is fantastic, and I feel really well taken care of by the Audi race experience. But it's also clear that I'm basically starting from scratch because this sport is new for me."

By Press Association reporters