Archive for Motorsports

Lots of F1 teams are unveiling their cars this month, following Ferrari’s move to unveil their new racer first. This is the new MP4-25, the 2010 race contender from Vodafone McLaren Mercedes which will be piloted by Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button. Both are World Champions – 2008 and 2009 respectively. The new McLaren is powered by a Mercedes-Benz engine. Mercedes-Benz have their names on two teams this season.

Look after the jump for a video of the unveiling where both Button and Hamilton say a few words about the car and the upcoming 2010 season.

Click here to read the rest of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-25 F1 car unveiled!

Both you and I couldn’t be there at the Mercedes GP Petronas team race car livery unveiling at the Mercedes-Benz Museum, but with the wonders of the internet you can watch a recording unveiling right here, right now, after the jump. There’s much more from the drivers in this video compared to the one posted earlier today, so enjoy!

Click here to read the rest of Mercedes GP Petronas racecar livery launch video

Mercedes GP Petronas has released a new video where Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg talk a little about the new Mercedes GP Petronas team – and Mercedes took the opportunity to put in a little promo for the new SLS AMG in the video as well towards the end. The video reveals that Nico will get first dibs at the wheel of the new 2010 F1 car at the start of February 2010. Check the video out after the jump!

Click here to read the rest of VIDEO: Drivers Michael and Nico talk about the new Mercedes GP Petronas team

Prodrive has launched the Impreza N2010, its latest FIA spec group N rally car. The N2010 uses a new 33mm air restrictor, introduced by FIA to help balance the performance of Group N and the unrestricted Super 2000 rally cars. Enlarging the restrictor diameter from 32 to 33mm, fitting high flow fuel injectors and recalibrating the ECU increases peak power by 20 bhp, but more significantly, improves torque and responsiveness throughout the rev range.

Performance upgrade to the 1,994cc boxer engine have been matched by enhancements to the car’s dynamics. The Ohlins dampers have been revised with extra travel, while the suspension bushes have been strengthened.

“On gravel the Impreza is certainly a match for any Super 2000, but it is on tarmac, that the additional engine performance will really come into its own and make the N2010 a competitive alternative to a Super 2000, but at about half the price and with significantly lower running costs,” said Graham Prew, Prodrive sales manager.

Prices start at £120,000 and for the first time Prodrive has introduced a financing option to enable the car to be leased over two years with an option to buy the car at the end of the term. The package includes insurance and system rebuilds.

More pictures after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Prodrive Impreza N2010 rally car – Super 2000 performance at half the price

The Petronas Syntium Team started 2010 with a memorable result at the team’s first ever outing at the 24 hours of Dubai. Emerging triumphant over the weekend with a win in the A5 petrol class (3,000-3,500cc) and an impressive overall second place were the quartet of Malaysian Fariqe Hairuman, Japanese duo Masataka Yanagida and Nobuteru Taniguchi and guest driver Johannes Stuck of Liechtenstein. They were driving the #40 BMW Z4M Coupé, which completed 605 laps of the 5.39 km Dubai Autodrome circuit in 24 hours.

The team’s other Z4M Coupé (#41) driven by Tatsuya Kataoka, Manabu Orido, Kosuke Matsuura, Hiroki Yoshida and Malaysian youngster Johan Adzmi had to overcome a host of problems throughout the gruelling endurance race to finish third in the A5 petrol class. They did 555 laps and finished in 14th place overall.

Despite tough competition from the A6 petrol class (3,500-4,000cc) factory-backed 997 GT3 RSRs, PST’s inaugural outing at the 24 hours of Dubai got off to a strong start on with both cars qualifying in the top-ten. #40 was consistant throughout the race, eventually losing out to the winning Porsche by three laps, but #41 was saddled with mechanical problems, which reared its head with 40 minutes remaining in the race to force a long stop. They weren’t able to return to the race but were classified as third in class.

Good job guys and girls, congratulations!

Here are pics of the Honda HSV-010 GT race car which will make its competitive debut in this season’s Super GT series. Previously, Honda only released one single picture, while the rest you saw on this site were from eager snappers camping at Suzuka for a closer look while Honda Super GT drivers were having an early feel of the car.

As a recap, the front engine, rear-wheel drive HSV-010 GT competes in the GT500 class and will be powered by a 3.4-litre V8 engine, as per Super GT regulations. HSV stands for Honda Sports Velocity. Super GT is meant for production cars, but Honda has managed to find a loophole in rulebook that permits cars that are production ready (which this prototype NSX is), though not necessarily in production.

The 2010 Super GT season starts on March 20-21 at Suzuka.

More pictures after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Super GT Honda HSV-010 official pics released!

This the race ready Lotus Evora Cup Racer that meets FIA GT4 specification. As its name suggests, it will race in a European one-make Evora Cup series.

The standard car’s Toyota sourced 276 bhp 3.5-litre V6 engine has been enlarged to 4.0-litres, producing more than 400 bhp and over 400 Nm of peak torque. The mid-mounted engine is paired to a six-speed sequential paddle shift gearbox. Serious pace is guaranteed, as the V6 has only 1,200 kg to pull, 200 kg less than the road going Evora.

Other tweaks include adjustable motorsport dampers and six-piston front brake calipers, with two-piece aluminum belled brake discs. The Evora Cup Racer also gets electrical cut off, fire extinguisher and traction control. In addition, a Dallara developed aero package which includes carbon fibre parts significantly improves downforce and cooling. For all that, you’ll need £120,000 excluding taxes.

Looking good in Epsom Green with a Solar Yellow stripe down the centre, the final design and specifications of the Lotus Evora Cup Racer will be revealed at the Geneva show in March. Perhaps Proton’s R3 division should get one of these down for the Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race; with an ace driver like Tengku Djan behind the wheel, it will surely give the Petronas BMW Z4s and 911 GT3s a run for their money!

Former WRC champion Carlos Sainz has won the Dakar Rally for the first time after managing to hold off a late challenge from Volkswagen team mate Nasser al-Attiyah of Qatar. The Spanish driver completed the 9000 km loop in 47 hours and 10 minutes, just 2 minutes and 12 seconds ahead of Al-Attiyah. American Mark Miller finished in third (32 min, 51 sec behind Sainz) to complete an all-Volkswagen podium.

Al-Attiyah had cut Sainz’s lead to two minutes 48 seconds after winning the penultimate stage. The Qatari was again fastest in the final 206 km stage from San Rafael to Buenos Aires but it wasn’t enough to overhaul Sainz. The Spaniard, who had led the standings since stage five, accused his team mate of not playing fair after the two collided while battling in Stage 13. “It was a tough and daily fight against my team mate. I knew it would be like that,” he said.

X-Raid BMW drivers completed the top five. Nine-time Dakar winner Stéphane Peterhansel was fourth (2h17’21 behind winner), almost two hours ahead of his team mate and fellow Frenchman Guerlain Chicherit.

This is the GT1 Spec Nissan GT-R that will run in the 2010 FIA GT World Championship. The GT-R will race in the top tier GT1 class along the likes of the Maserati MC 12, Corvette Z06, Ford GT and Saleen SR7 (GT2 class features lower powered cars like the Ferrari F430, Porsche 911 GT3 RS and Aston V8 Vantage). Nismo campaigned a GT-R last year, but Nissan’s motorsports outfit has found two customer teams for 2010 – Sumo Power GT (UK) and Swiss Racing Team. The season starts in April at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit.

The 2010 spec GT1 GT-R is powered by a 5,552cc V8 engine with 600 bhp (the regulation limit) and “over 650Nm” of torque. Power goes to the rear wheels via a six-speed transaxle gearbox. The race car only weighs 1250 kg, so you can imagine the performance of offer even though Nissan doesn’t give any figures. Brakes have six-piston calipers with carbon discs and pads all round.

Go ahead and download a new wallpaper from the hi-res gallery after the jump!

Click here to read the rest of 2010 FIA GT1 spec Nissan GT-R finds customers

Volkswagen looks set to make a clean sweep of the top three positions in the 2010 Dakar, as the “World’s Toughest Race” enters its final stage from San Rafael to Buenos Aires, the finish point. In the overall lead after 13 stages is VW’s former WRC champion Carlos Sainz, but he’s only leading teammate Nasser Al-Attiyah by just two minutes and 48 seconds. American Mark Miller looks to have secured the final podium spot – he is over 31 minutes behind Sainz but almost two hours ahead of Stephane Peterhansel, the highest placed X-Raid BMW driver in fourth.

The penultimate stage was won by nine-time Dakar winner Peterhansel. With that, the Frenchman has won four stages in this year’s race, extending his record of stage victories to 55. The relatively smooth and fast wrap up stage will start today evening in South America.

Lotus has officially announced that it will reveal the Evora Cup race car at the Autosport International racing car show in Birmingham, UK later today. The race car is developed based on the FIA GT4 specifications and it can be used to compete in various national and international series, with options for endurance racing and sprint racing. It has a Toyota-sourced 4.0 liter V6 that is able to crank out over 400 PS and features a dry sump system.

The mid-mounted unit is paired with a motorsport-ready 6-speed sequential paddle shift dog gearbox. Other upgrades that are evident in this Cup car include a Dallara-developed aero dynamics package, adjustable motor sport dampers, 6-piston front brake callipers with two piece aluminium belled brake discs and so on. The Evora Cup race car weighs slightly lower than 1,200 kilograms which is about 200 kilograms less than the weight figure of the production version.

“The Evora Cup racing car is the first step along the route for Lotus Motorsport to realise its racing ambitions. I am looking forward to seeing the Evora racing this year in the Lotus Evora Cup competition and I am excited by the plans for 2011, where Lotus intends to introduce a pan European one make race series for the Evora Cup,” said Claudio Berro, Director of Motorsport at Group Lotus.

The above mentioned European one-make series will have a €100,000 prize fund and Lotus also revealed that the Lotus Cup race car will cost £120,000 (excluding taxes) and that the final design and specifications will be presented at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show happening in March.

Looks convincing doesn’t it? I was fooled too, but this is just a very, very good rendering of a Super GT Lexus LFA in Lexus Team Petronas TOM’s livery. Toyota has not made any announcement to replace the long serving SC430 race car with its new hero, but wouldn’t it be nice to see the LFA go head-to-head with the Nissan GT-R and Honda’s “new NSX” HSV-010 racer?

These brilliant images are the work of Iain Chandler of Australia, who also came up with renderings of the LFA in other liveries. Do check out the rest of his work after the jump.

By the way, the Petronas backed TOM’s team were the overall champion in Super GT’s GT500 class in 2009 (with a 10-point margin over the Autobacs NSX), while drivers Jyuichi Wakisaka and Andre Lotterer came out tops in the driver’s standings ahead of Autobacs Team Aguri’s Ralph Firman and Takuya Izawa. Nismo’s GT-R was third in the team standings.

Click here to read the rest of Toyota to campaign Lexus LFA in Super GT?

Volkswagen new Amarok pick-up truck starts life by proving itself at the world’s toughest race. The Argentina made truck is part of the Volkswagen Motorsport team currently taking part in the Dakar rally across South America.

A total of 35 Amaroks are being used as support vehicles by the VW works team and Dakar organisers. The rally started in Buenos Aires on New Year’s Day and will make a 9000 km loop across Argentina and Chile before ending at the same city on 16 January. The route includes mountain passes at an altitude of over 4,000 metres, as well as through the world’s driest desert, the Atacama. The Amarok support cars are tasked to keep up with the competitors and be on hand to provide technical assistance.

The Amarok can be had with switchable or permanent 4MOTION all-wheel drive, an electronic differential lock (EDL) and Off-Road ABS to significantly shorten braking distances on loose surfaces. It also has Hill Descent Assist while the ESP Plus system includes Hill Hold Assist which prevents the vehicle from rolling back on inclines. For more info about the Amarok, check out our previous post here.

Volkswagen is doing well in the Dakar so far. After stage 6, Spain’s Carlos Sainz is leading Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiyah and American Mark Miller in the overall standings – all three are VW drivers. The closest BMW is in seventh (Guerlain Chicherit) while Dakar’s living legend Stéphane Peterhansel is eighth in his BMW.

The 2010 Dakar Rally kicked off over the weekend in Buenos Aires, Argentina, but the opening day of racing was marred by the first death of a fan in four years. Unfortunate 28-year-old Natalia Sonia Gallardo was hit by a 4X4 driven by Mirco Schultis and partner Ulrich Leardi, who veered off course. French motorcyclist Pascal Terry died in last year’s Dakar, which is one of motorsport’s most dangerous events.

A spokesman for Rio Cuarto Hospital said four other people were injured. Witnesses report that fans were standing outside the area reserved for spectators.

Back to the race, Juan “Nani” Roma won the first stage of the 9000 km race in a BMW. The ex-Mitsubishi driver, who conquered Dakar on a bike in 2004, raced from Colon to Cordoba 2 minutes, 7 seconds ahead of Spanish compatriot and ex-WRC champ Carlos Sainz in the lead Volkswagen, and 2:50 in front of BMW teammate Stephane Peterhansel. Last year’s winner Giniel De Villiers of South Africa was 4:31 off the lead in a Volkswagen Race Touareg.

With Dakar stalwarts Mitsubishi out of the picture, the stage is set for a diesel powered head-to-head battle between Team X-raid’s BMW and the factory Volkswagen team. The race will end on 16 January in the Argentine capital.

Proton has started pre-season tests for its Satria Neo Super 2000 rally car, which will compete a full season in the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) and selected races of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) in 2010, according to Alister McRae during our recent taxi ride session with him. The team plans to campaign more than one car, so it’s using a test session in Wales as a chance to “audition” new drivers.

Finland’s Anton Alen and Matti Rantanen and Belgian Francois Duval drove the Neo S2000 at the Sweet Lamb test facility in Wales. Chris Mellors, who runs MEM, the outfit that built the car, said: “We had three great drivers who gave us some very positive and valuable feedback. From our point of view one of the most encouraging things is that we put the equivalent of a world championship rally distance on the car without having to do any work to it.”

Alen, who is considering Proton as one of his options for next season’s IRC, said: “The car felt very stable and the engine had a really good spread of torque right from the bottom all the way to the top.”

A couple of days after the test, Duval slipped on some ice back in his homeland and broke two vertebrae in his back. He is expected to recover fully, but will be out of action for at least eight weeks.