The Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S has been replaced by this new model – the Porsche 911 GT3 R, adding yet another variant to the neverending list of different 911 GT3 models. No matter what kind of 911-beating laptimes Nissan posts with its GT-R, the choice of plenty of small racing teams most of the time is the 911 GT3.

The GT3 R’s 6 cylinder boxer engine has a displacement of 4.0 liters, up from the 3.8 liters you get with the road cars or the Cup model. This same engine size is also found in the 2009 GT3 RSR. The 0.2 liters of extra displacement has been achieved by increasing the cylinder stroke to 80.4mm instead of 76.4mm.

The engine is mated to a 6-speed sequential dog-teeth gearbox. Dog-boxes use gears that are straight-cut instead of the helical-cut gears that we have in our normal road car manual transmissions. Because of the different way the gears engage, a dog-teeth gearbox is much more noisy (that whirring sound that we get when we travel in reverse gear – they have it all the time!), and they also don’t have synchro rings so you basically just slam it with greater force into engagement instead of having to clutch at changes. A dog box has less transmission losses compared to a helical gearbox and is more durable.

Porsche’s focus with this new model is better drivability and easier handling. The GT3 and its race-going variants have always been hardcore cars but this car has ABS, traction control and a throttle blip function built into its e-gas throttle body. These features make it more suitable for an ambitious amateur racer (with deep pockets – the car is 279,000 Euros) to drive the car.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 05:51:07 +0800.

The Proton R3 Malaysia Rally Team’s Satria Neo Super 2000 was making decent progress at the Rally of China last weekend when it had the unfortune of a damaged suspension, forcing the team to retire half-way through the 2nd leg during the 13th stage. They managed to finish 4th overall in the first leg. Interestingly according to Proton over half the field of competitors had to retire due to similiar problems.

With the China Rally over and done with, Alister McRae and the Proton Satria Neo Super 2000 will continue on to the McRae homeland of Scotland, which Alister is really looking forward to. Look after the jump for some shots from the rally.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 05:51:07 +0800.

We should have known this would happen. McLaren and Mercedes-Benz had begun slowly severing their ties, and you can see that from the introduction of the new SLS AMG and the McLaren MP4-12C. And now Mercedes-Benz’s purchase of the Brawn GP team (whom they were supplying engines to this season) will probably mean they could end their partnership with McLaren next season.

The ex-Honda Brawn GP team made history by getting both driver and constructor titles in its maiden race season. The team will now be called Mercedes GP. Mercedes-Benz has taken up a 75.1% stake in the team, while the remaining continues to be held by Ross Brawn and Nick Fry, who will remain as team principal and CEO respectively.

This will be the first time that Mercedes-Benz will have its own team since 1955. They will continue supplying engines to the McLaren team at least until the end of 2015, but I’m not too sure about having their name there. Mercedes currently owns 40% of the McLaren F1 team but McLaren will reacquire it over the next 2 years.

According to the Germans, Mercedes-Benz’s decision to increase their level of F1 involvement was thanks to recent agreements on budget cuts and the higher income share given to teams thanks to a new Concorde Agreement earlier this year.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 05:51:07 +0800.

Tony Fernandes tweeted the above message yesterday, confirming that Lotus F1 has signed on their first driver. He did not mention who the driver is. Our very own Fairuz Fauzy who has been linked with the team ever since it was given the green light to race in 2010 will serve as a reserve/third driver. Former Toyota driver Jarno Trulli was also rumored to join the team although there is no substantial information to back this up. Recently another driver was linked to the team: Kamui Kobayashi, also from Toyota. It looks like Malaysia’s seemingly unconditional love for Toyota (we buy Toyota and Toyota-linked Perodua cars in droves) even extend to our F1 team driver line-up! We eagerly await an official announcement from the F1 team.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 05:51:07 +0800.

The Proton R3 Rally Team is in China this weekend for the Rally of China 2009 in the Longyou countryside. They had their shakedown yesterday and managed to clock the 6th fastest time of the day with their Proton Satria Neo Super 2000 rally car.

6th is a pretty good result considering out of a total of 82 competitors, 50 consisted of turbocharged Mitsubishis and Subarus which have an advantage due to their higher torque in the Longyou countryside’s mountainous terrain. The Satria Neo Super 2000’s 2.0 liter Renault engine is normally aspirated so it has less torque but it makes its 280 horses through high-revving and an aggressive tune instead.

“The main thing is to get a good clean run here, maybe not go as quick as it can go and try and get to the end with no problems,” said driver Alister McRae, who will be racing tomorrow with his navigator Bill Hayes. Leg 1 of the Rally of China 2009 will span a total of 40 kms. Look after the jump for some photos from the shakedown today.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 05:51:07 +0800.

The 2009 Formula 1 season ended at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and it was Jenson Button who managed to clinch the Driver’s Championship two weeks earlier at the Brazilian Grand Prix. His team Brawn GP also made headlines as it also went home with the Constructor’s title.

The entire Formula 1 fraternity is now focusing on the 2010 season. Some familiar faces won’t be around next year like BMW and Toyota and possibly Renault, but there will be new faces. These include teams like USGPE, Manor, Campos as well as Malaysia’s Lotus F1. We have more interesting news to share with you regarding the new team. The term “spygate” may just stick around but instead of McLaren and Ferrari, the term is being associated with Lotus F1 and Force India.

According to Force India, its former wind tunnel operator Aerolab which is owned by Fondtech (an aerodynamics specialist) has leaked vital aerodynamic data that belongs to the team to the newly established Lotus F1. Force India revealed that the front wing assembly on Lotus F1’s wind tunnel model looks similar to the one featured on Force India’s Formula 1 car.

The team also claims that the wind-tunnel tires on Lotus F1’s wind tunnel car have hand-writing that belongs to Force India’s staff. Lotus F1’s technical chief Mike Gascoyne who also served for Force India in the past denied the allegations. At the same time, Aerolab is taking legal actions against Force India but its not regarding the matter above. Instead, its because Force India did not fulfill its “obligations” over a previous three-year deal with Aerolab.

In another development, Kamui Kobayashi, who stunned the motoring fraternity with his excellent drives in Brazil and in Abu Dhabi for Toyota is rumored to join Lotus F1. He recently revealed to the press that if there are still options for a race seat and that he had to choose a team, he would choose Lotus F1. Kobayashi was the third driver for Toyota’s Formula 1 outfit and replaced injured Timo Glock for the final two races of the season.

He showed some ballsy driving moves in both races and even made a sensational pass on World Champion Jenson Button in Abu Dhabi. With Toyota’s withdrawal from the sport, the Japanese driver is now looking for a 2010 race seat. Talking about drivers, Fairuz Fauzy who has been linked with Lotus F1 ever since it was given the green light to join Formula 1 is very likely to become the team’s third or reserve driver. “Fairuz will be in the team probably as a reserve driver or a test driver. He has the talent but we don’t want him to ‘crash and burn’ in the race because of his inexperience,” revealed Mike Gascoyne.

Gascoyne told The Star, “Take (Fernando) Alonso for example. He was signed as a test driver and didn’t get a race seat until after three years with Renault and he went on to win trophies. This is exactly what we want with Fairuz, for him to have enough experience because racing in the Formula One is at a much higher level than he used to.”

Taking that into account, Kobayashi’s move to Lotus F1 as the team’s second driver makes more sense. It is also also a good move to retain Fauzy as a reserve driver until he has more experience under his belt. Lets learn from what happened to Alex Yoong’s drive for Minardi when he raced for the team in 2002. There is no indication who will take the remaining seat but fingers are pointing towards Jarno Trulli, who drove for Toyota along side Kobayashi.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 05:51:07 +0800.

If you’ve been following the updates on the MEM Proton Team that currently runs a Proton Satria Neo Super 2000, you’d probably know by now that Alister McRae is currently piloting the car for both the IRC and the APRC. McRae is off to China for the APRC this morning to prepare for the race coming this weekend (14 to 15 November). There’s some new promo footage of the Proton Satria Neo Super 2000 that I managed to source from the guys at Proton R3 and in the video Alister McRae puts in a few words on what he thinks of the car. Watch the video after the jump, enjoy!

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 05:51:07 +0800.

It’s finally done – after persistent and intense rumours over the past few days Toyota has officially released a statement saying they would be withdrawing from F1 at the end of the 2009 season, which is basically right now with immediate effect.

The following is their press statement:

UPDATE: Here’s Akio Toyoda’s speech:

It would be nice if Lotus F1 Racing picks up Kobayashi.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 05:51:07 +0800.

Kia has already started dabbling in motorsports in Europe but the car above is part of its US motorsports program which it unveiled at the 2009 SEMA tuner car show. Two Kia Forte Koups built together with the Kinetic Group will be racing in the 2010 GRAND-AM KONI Sports Car Challenge Series in the Street Tuner (ST) class.

The ST class uses race cars based on production vehicles and uses weight and intake restrictions to maintain a level playing field for all entrants. The two Kia cars will be piloted by Nic Jonsson, Andy Lally, Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 05:51:07 +0800.

Toyota F1’s race at the Abu Dhabi GP is apparently their last, as strong and intense rumours point to a Toyota board meeting to be held on the 15th of November to come to a conclusion that the company should leave the sport. We could actually know the outcome as early as 8th November 2009.

If Toyota really leaves the sport, this would open a grid position for then new Qadbak Sauber team, the team that used to be the BMW Sauber F1 Team. Toyota was supplying F1 engines to Williams this year but Williams will go with Cosworth engines next year.

Another Japanese company also announced it would be leaving F1 recently. Tyre supplier Bridgestone has announced it will leave at the end of next year’s season to focus its resources on other development. Bridgestone has been the sole supplier of F1 tyres for the past 2 years, and have been a supplier since 1997.

As for Kobayashi who was standing in for Timo Glock who has a back injury, the promising driver says he would most probably have to go back to Japan to work for his father’s sushi restaurant. Maybe he can build the business and then recruit all the chop shop owners here that will be out of a job soon.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 05:51:07 +0800.

If you were able to catch the final two rounds of the 2009 Formula 1 World Championship then you should be familiar with a Japanese driver by the name of Kamui Kobayashi. Kobayashi has been serving as the third driver at Toyota’s Formula 1 outfit since November 2007, after replacing Franck Montagny. The Toyota F1 driver is also competing in the GP2 series which is another feeder series for Formula 1.

Kobayashi’s non-testing driving role in the Toyota F1 team actually started at this year’s Japanese Grand Prix when he replaced Timo Glock for the first two practice sessions, following Glock’s health-related issues. Glock then had a crash during qualifying and did not compete in the race the next day.

Glock’s health advisers then recommended the German not to take part in the remaining two races of the season. Glock’s misfortune was a blessing for Kobayashi as he was then summoned to race in Brazil and in last weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. In his first qualifying session, he managed to secure 11th place although his team mate Jarno Trulli was fourth fastest.

During the race at the Interlagos track in Sao Paulo, he drove a clean race most of the time and spectators started to notice more of him when the Japanese driver performed some gutsy wheel to wheel racing with his competitors on track.

Kobayashi successfully defended against championship contenders Jenson Button from Brawn and Sebastian Vettel from Red Bull during race. Button even labeled the Japanese driver ‘crazy’. The highlight of his race debut was the battle he had with fellow Japanese driver Kazuki Nakajima from Williams. Kobayashi was exiting the pits following a routine pit stop and came out right in front of the Williams driver.

Kobayashi was so determined not to give the position away that Nakajima hit the back of Kobayashi’s car and subsequently lost front wing and eventually hit a tire barrier at Turn 4. Kobayashi managed to finish in ninth place, just a place away from a point finish.

At the season finale Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, he managed to qualify in 12th place and it was later revealed that he did so with a very heavy fuel load. During the race, he was running based on a one stop strategy. He started to shine when everyone else who were running on two stop strategies made their first pit stops. With a lighter car, Kobayashi was charging forward and even made a successful, sensational pass on newly-crowned World Champion Jenson Button.

Although he had a lighter car underneath him, Kobayashi’s aggressive driving style and raw talent were evident. He kept his nose clean through out the race and managed to cross the finish line in sixth place and earned three valuable points. He even finished ahead of his more experienced team mate Jarno Trulli.

I have been following Formula 1 for the past decade and only a handful of drivers managed to push me to the edge of my seat with ballsy moves while being able to keep on racing till the checkered flag is waived. Those few include Michael Schumacher, Mika Hakkinen as well as Fernando Alonso. I must admit that Kobayashi is looking good to be included in that list. With just two races, he has quickly became the talk of town. Furthermore, it is very likely that he will be named as one of the 2010 drivers for Toyota.

I hope he manages to secure a race seat as I would love to see him more in action. Its about time that Japan gets its first Formula 1 World Champion. Recent Formula 1 drivers from the Land of Rising Sun have failed to really shine, but that may change with Kobayashi. So will he be considered as the next Schumacher from Japan? Judging from his performance so far, my answer is: Most likely!

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 05:51:07 +0800.

Group Lotus’s new motorsports ambitions will be spearheaded by its newly appointed Director of Motorsport Claudio Berro, who will report directly to CEO Dany Bahar. Both Berro and his boss Bahar are ex-Ferrari men. Berro was previously the Operations Racing Director for the Speedcar Middle-East International Race Series.

Before that, he held positions at Ferrari, Maserati and Fiat as Formula One Team Manager, Director responsible for all sport activities for Ferrari and Maserati (excluding F1), General Manager Maserati Corse and Director of Fiat Group’s Motorsport Activities, and Racing Operations Director for Abarth. So he’s definitely a man with experience.

“Lotus has a peerless motorsport heritage, not just in Formula One, but we have also won in sportscar racing, saloon car racing, world rally championships, Le Mans and the Indy 500. There is no other car company in the world which can lay claim to so many accolades and championships in such a wide variety of motorsport fields, and I am looking forward to re-introducing Lotus to high level motorsport to not only compete and win but also to demonstrate the shared technology between Lotus sportscars and future racing cars,” said Berro.

Of course, Lotus is also in Formula One, except it actually isn’t. The new Lotus F1 Team is actually run by Litespeed in terms of technical expertise.

Related Posts:
Lotsu eyeing Indy car series, GT and Le Mans

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 05:51:07 +0800.

He then remained with the company with a “special appointment” and left a year later. Todt will be joined by Nick Craw who will serve as the President of the Senate and Brian Gibbons, Deputy President Automobile Mobility & Tourism. Malaysia’s Tunku Mudzaffar bin Tunku Mustapha who is the chairman of the AAM will serve as a Senate Member.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 05:51:07 +0800.

Lotus’ newly appointed CEO Dany Bahar who used to serve for Ferrari revealed that he plans to bring Lotus back into the high-octane world of motorsport. “Lotus will return to motorsport. I believe that this is the perfect platform to showcase our capabilities; racing is part of our heritage and even today the technology in our road cars is derived from racing,” he said when addressing his staff for the first time.

The new boss of the Proton-owned company announced that the group is studying options of participating in Indy car series, GT as well as Le Mans. He also mentioned that the Group Lotus has no direct equity in the Lotus F1 project. Operationally, Lotus F1 will be run separately from Group Lotus and the two parties will liaise. At the moment, Proton is finalising the brand licensing of Lotus for the Lotus F1 team

Bahar also revealed that detailed plans for a product line-up along with plans for the next seven years will be released sometime in December. “Our future lies in aligning ourselves to what the market wants, rather than what we think the market wants; we must concentrate on our customers,” he added.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 05:51:07 +0800.

It was revealed that national auto maker Proton will finalise the brand licensing of Lotus for the Lotus F1 team sometime next month. The auto maker received a draft agreement from the Tune Group over the matter last Friday. Proton Holdings will now go over the agreement before finalising it next month.

Managing Director of Proton Holdings Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir told Bernama, “We are studying the draft and hope to finalise it next month.” Datuk Syed gave the statement at Proton’s Hari Raya open house event at the auto maker’s Centre of Excellence in Shah Alam yesterday. Also to be confirmed next month is the driver line-up.

Source

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 05:51:07 +0800.

According to a recent report by Malaysian news agency Bernama, Lotus F1 has shortlisted six drivers where two will be officially announced sometime next month. Team principal Tony Fernandes further revealed that Malaysian Fairuz Fauzy is one of them.

“What I can say is, Fairuz Fauzy is on the list. We will announce the line-up in November. I hope the Malaysian driver will be selected as either the second driver or third driver for the team,” Fernandes said.

Jarno Trulli who is racing for Toyota is also rumored to be selected, although when asked about the Italian, the man behind AirAsia remained tight-lipped. There is a high possibility that the Malaysian-owned team will select a fresh face like Fauzy and a more experienced Formula 1 driver. Looks like we have got wait for the official announcement!

Source

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 05:51:07 +0800.

Brit Jenson Button from Brawn GP picked up his first Driver’s Championship earlier today in Brazil. 29-year old Button arrived at Interlagos with a comfortable lead but if he failed to score a single point in the two remaining races (Brazil and Abu Dhabi) the crown could go to his team mate Rubens Barrichello or Sebastian Vettel from Red Bull.

With his fifth place finish at the Brazilian Grand Prix, the Brit sealed the championship. Even if the Button fails to finish the season-ending race in Abu Dhabi he will still walk away as the 2009 Champion. During yesterday’s qualifying Button only managed 14th place. His team mate who was also contending for the title grabbed pole position. Vettel on the other hand started the race right behind Button following Vitantonio Liuzzi’s 5-place grid penalty.

As the race progressed the three championship rivals managed to have a clean race despite what happened around them. On the first lap itself two major incidents took place. Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren) spun his car at Turn 2 and nearly collected Giancarlo Fisichella (Ferrari). A couple of corners later Jarno Trulli (Toyota) put a wheel on the grass and spun into Adrian Sutil (Force India). The latter also took Fernando Alonso (Renault) out of the race. Both Trulli and and Sutil were seen arguing after the incident.

Kovalainen made a pit stop for repairs and a re-fuel. Unfortunately the Finn drove off with the fuel rig intact. Fuel was then sprayed on Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari which came in for a new front wing. A dramatic fireball developed at the back of the Ferrari. Raikkonen nearly ended his race and was complaining about burning eyes (sensation felt after getting in contact with petrol) even after the race.

After 71 laps, Mark Webber from Red Bull emerged victorious. BMW’s Robert Kubica and McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton joined the podium as well. Vettel managed fourth place while Button settled with fifth. Rubens Barrichello who started from pole only managed to finish in eight place following a puncture that forced the Brazilian to pit with just a couple of laps remaining.

Along with the Driver’s Championship, Button’s British-based Brawn GP team that took over operations from Honda at the beginning of year also secured the Constructor’s Championship. The Formula 1 circus now heads to the United Arab Emirates for the season finale on November 1st.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 05:51:07 +0800.

A1 GP’s holding company A1 Holdings has officially announced the cancellation of the season-opening race in Surfers Paradise, Australia. The Australian round was supposed to be the first race of season five and the reason behind the cancellation is the inability of the organizer to prepare its Ferrari-sourced single-seater race cars in time for the event that was scheduled to take place between October 22nd and October 25th.

Recently, world motorsport governing body, FIA instructed the A1 Holdings company to perform two safety-related modifications on the cars. However, these cars will not be ready and shipped in time for the event. There’s also the matter of some unpaid monies to certain parties that are preventing the cars to be released from its current location.

Tony Teixeira, chairman of A1 Holdings revealed, “I want to personally apologize to the people affected by this regrettable but unavoidable decision.” It is also unclear if these cars will be ready for the Chinese race that is scheduled to take place on November 15th. “A1GP may be down, but I do not accept we are out. We have had four exciting seasons that have proved we are a force in the sport and now we shall consolidate on what we have achieved to date. My efforts will be on finding a way forward with the support of some very loyal people,” Teixeira re-assured.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 05:51:07 +0800.

The Litespeed-managed Lotus F1 Racing team has released two photos of a scale model of its first Formula 1 racer that’s currently being used for windtunnel testing. There is no name for the new car yet, but more details about the team were revealed in an interview with technical director Mike Gascoyne provided along with the press release.

According to Gascoyne, development has already been on-going for a few months before the team entry was confirmed in mid-September 2009. Gascoyne is currently in Malaysia interviewing potential employees for technical roles. They are also recruiting various other personnel in the fields of admin, marketing and PR. A full list was published as a full page ad in the papers recently.

The team will be based in the RTN facility in UK initially but as previously mentioned the ultimate goal is to have a full technical facility at the Sepang circuit. However, when that happens a small UK base will still be kept to give the team a logistical advantage when the team is racing in Europe.

Lotus F1 aims to get the car up and running for a roll-out by mid-February 2010 in prepration for the Bahrain race in mid-March. The car is currently being developed with a few technical partners including Fondtech for aerodynamics, Xtrac for transmissions, and Cosworth for engines. Malaysian companies are involved in certain areas including some aspects of engineering as well as composites (very likely to be Composites Technology Research Malaysia).

There are rumours currently afloat about Toyota’s Jarno Trulli joining the new team. Trulli will likely take the senior role and be complemented by a more junior driver, possibly a Malaysian. Everyone seems to be looking at Fairuz Fauzy right now.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 05:51:07 +0800.

Apparently Karamjit Singh is not the only one who has parted ways with the Satria Neo Super 2000. Up north in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, the MEM Proton team will be fielding the familiar Alister McRae in next month’s Rally of Scotland. McRae also replaced Karamjit for Rally Indonesia in the APRC, but due to some technical difficulties he and co-driver Bill Hayes did not manage to finish.

“We have decided to go our separate ways. Guy had his ideas on the way the car was working and they were not necessarily the same as our own. The matter is closed now, we’re moving on and looking forward to Scotland,” said MEM’s Chris Mellors.

Source

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 05:51:07 +0800.

Alister McRae’s debut in the Proton Satria Neo Super 2000 rally car at the Rally Indonesia last weekend did not end too well despite setting some very competitive times at first. He had to retire from the race prematurely thanks to some issues with the car’s power steering system, which is to be expected considering the car is still under development by UK’s Mellors Elliot Motorsport.

Source: YouTube

APRC.tv (watch the video above) seems convinced that the car will pose a real threat to the Subarus used by the current Motor Image team domination and personally I certainly hope so. Watch the video for some nice footage of the car’s performance in Indonesia. The next stop will be China on the 14th to 15th of November 2009.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 05:51:07 +0800.

Renault has quickly found a replacement for Fernando Alonso, who will be moving to Ferrari next year. Filling Alonso’s seat will be Robert Kubica, who will be leaving his current BMW Sauber F1 Team.

“I am very happy I will be joining Renault in the 2010 season. I feel I have a special connection with this team because in 2005 I won the World Series by Renault. This gave me the chance to test with the team in Barcelona, which led to my debut in Formula One,” said Kubica. He was testing for the team back in 2005.

“We are very excited to have signed Robert with the Renault F1 Team starting next season. Ever since Robert made his Grand Prix debut in 2006, he has been on our radar as one of the most naturally talented drivers of his generation and he has delivered on that promise so it’s great to have secured him in one of our cars next season,” said Renault’s new team principal Bob Bell.

BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen said: “Robert played an important role for us – and certainly we did the same for him. He joined us in 2006 as a test driver with no Formula One experience, and then we promoted him to be one of our team’s drivers during that season. He never let us down and, with our first pole position in 2008 in Bahrain and first victory the same year in Canada, he set milestones in the history of our team. We are grateful for his strong and constant performances and wish him all the best for his future.“

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 05:51:07 +0800.

Sebastian Vettel was the first driver to cross the finish line at the 2009 Japanese GP after 53 laps and a last minute safety car situation.

Second place went to Toyota’s Jarno Trulli and the final podium position went to McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton. Vettel, after scoring 10 crucial points, is now 16 points behind championship leader Jenson Button who only managed to score one point with his 8th place finish.

Ferrari scored some valuable points today with Kimi Raikkonen’s fourth place. Behind him was William’s Nico Rosberg and BMW’s Nick Heidfeld. Rest of the top ten was made up by Rubens Barrichello, Jenson Button, Robert Kubica (BMW), and Fernando Alonso (Renault).

Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi failed to finish. In addition, Buemi was the only driver with a slow start as his car momentarily stalled. Mark Webber who started from the pits entered the pits three times within five laps. Timo Glock of Toyota did not start the race thanks to an accident during qualifying.

Towards the end of the race with just 5 laps to go, the safety car came in. Almost, if not all drivers maintained their respective positions. Kimi in fourth was right behind Hamilton and nearly overtook him. Button was still trying to make it to seventh place, but failed. Towards the end, he nearly gave his position to Robert Kubica in ninth.

Button currently leads with 85 points ahead of his team mate Barrichello with 71 points. Both Barrichello and Vettel have the chance of clinching the driver’s title, if Button continues to finish down the grid provided Barrichello and Vettel win race or two, and score as much points as possible.

In the Constructor’s Championship, Brawn leads by 35.5 points. Red Bull is in second place. The only chance for Red Bull to win is if it scores 1-2 victories in the two remaining races and at the same time both the Brawn’s don’t score a single point. Both circumstances are very unlikely, so it is safe to say that Brawn GP will win the championship. McLaren is closing in for third, just 2 points behind Ferrari. From the looks of it, Ferrari will lose its third place to McLaren.

With only two races remaining in the season, it looks like the championship battle will go down to the wire at the season-ending race in Abu Dhabi.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 05:51:07 +0800.

And here they are, the first photo of the Proton Satria Neo Super 2000′ with its new driver and navigator – Alister McRae and Bill Hayes. They’ve just completed their Rally Indonesia shakedown and are now ready for the 222km of competitive stages in Makassar this weekend, winding through the sugarcane plantations of Takalar.

“It’s a real honour for me to have the opportunity to drive for a new manufacturer like Proton. We’ve had a good shakedown today and are happy with the performance of the car. The conditions are very hot and dusty, but we’re definitely looking forward to the challenge on the weekend and will give it our best,” said McRae. Let’s see how the Neo does with its new pilots.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 05:51:07 +0800.

I found an interesting Nino Judge interview on racinginside.com last night. You can read the full interview by clicking this link but below are some key relevant interesting points that were revealed. The Lotus F1 Team is backed by Tune, Naza and Litespeed and I know alot of you are wondering who Litespeed are.

• Nino Judge was an R&D engineer at the old Team Lotus which has since quit racing. The new team name is Lotus F1 Team, not Team Lotus.
• He was the first person to make flow visualisation of sub sonic wings using Shear sensitive liquid crystals work, which is now a standard tool used by all F1 teams.

The Litespeed name first cropped up on this site when it was revealed that they submitted an F1 team entry application under the name Lotus, which sparked some controversy later as Lotus released a statement that they had nothing to do with this “Lotus” team and are not very happy with their name being used like that.

Of course later this has all been “settled” as Proton has agreed to license the Lotus name to the Litespeed F1 team, which is one and the same as Lotus F1 Team and the 1Malaysia F1 Team that keeps getting mentioned in the local media.

In another piece of news, Tune’s Datuk Kamarudin Meranun says the team will be able to make money in the first year! They seem very confident in the so-called Midas touch that the Tune Group has, claiming that this is what they have always done with their other ventures. The proposed stakeholding right now is 55:35:10 between Tune, SM Nasarudin SM Nasimuddin (in his personal capacity, not Naza’s), and Litespeed. It was originally 60:40 when Litespeed was not in the picture.

Main revenue drivers will be sponsorship, merchandise sales, and Formula One Management profit sharing. Tony Fernandes pointed out that the Lotus brand can be monetised in many ways and shared that there was one F1 brand that raked in £150mil worth of T-shirts sales.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 05:51:07 +0800.

The Lotus F1 Team put out a press ad in the sports section of The Star yesterday listing various positions to be filled in the team. The list is quite extensive and all you have to do is email your CV and cover letter to 1MalaysiaHR@lotusf1team.com.

A quick glimpse at lotusf1team.com shows it doesn’t really have much content yet. The domain lists ex-Lotus employee and Litespeed co-founder Nino Singh Judge as the admin and technical contact.

• Aerodynamics – Project Leader Aerodynamics, Junior Aerodynamicist, Head of CFD, CFD Engineer.
• Composites Design – Head of Composite Design, Senior / Junior Composite Designer, Composite Engineer.
• Composite – Head of Composite Layup Shop, Senior / Junior Layup Technician, Head of Composite Trim Shop, Senior / Junior Trim Shop Technician
• Electronics – Head of Electronics, Senior / Junior Electronics Engineer, Senior Control Engineer, Control Software Engineer
• Factory – Factory Manager, Senior / Junior Maintenance
• Gearbox Design – Head of Gearbox Design, Senior / Junior Gearbox Design
• Gearbox Assembly – Head of Gearbox Shop, Race Gearbox Technician
• Hydraulics – Head of Hydraulics Shop, Race Hydraulics Technician, Test Hydraulics Technician
• Mechanical Production – Head of Mechanical Production, Senior / Junior Machinist, Fabricator
• Mechanical Design – Head of Mechanical Design, Senior Mechanical Design Engineer, Senior Mechanical Designer
• Pattern Shop – Head of Pattern Shop, Senior / Junior Pattern Maker
• Production, Production Control and Purchasing – Head of Production, Senior Production Engineer, Mechanical Buyer, Composite Buyer, General Buyer, Aerodynamics Buyer
• Quality Control & Inspection – Head of Inspection, Senior / Junior Inspection Technician
• Design Office – Drawing Office Manager
• R&D – Head of R&D, Senior R&D Engineer, Senior R&D Technician
• Race Engineering – Test Engineer, Race Data Engineer, Test Data Engineer, Aero Support Engineer
• Race & Test – Logistic Manager, Race & Test Travel Secretary, Clothing & Team Gear
• Race Team – Race Chief Mechanic, Race Parts Mechanic
• Stress Analysis – Senior / Junior FEA Engineer
• Sub Assembly – Head of Sub Assembly, Sub Assembly Technician
• Test Team – Test Chief Mechanic, Test Part Mechanic, Test Team Truckie, Test Team Mechanic
• Vehicle Science – Head of Vehicle Dynamics, Vehicle Dynamics Engineer, Senior / Junior Software Engineer
• Marketing & PR – Head of Marketing, Marketing Manager, Tri-lingual Website Designers, Graphic Designers, Executive Assistant, Business Development Manager, Sponsorship Manager, Sponsor Account Manager, Head of PR / Tri-Lingual PR Officer, Press Officer, Hospitality Coordinator
• Finance – Financial Controller, Finance Manager, Finance Executive
• Legal – Head of Legal, Legal Manager, Legal Executive
• HR – Head of HR, HR Manager, HR Executive
• IT – Head of Information Technology, CAD Manager, Senior IT Engineer, Race IT Engineer, Test IT Engineer, IT Technician

It’s not really clear at the moment whether all jobs are available immediately. I have a feeling alot of the positions would probably already be filled by Litespeed F3 engineers. The Aerodynamics and Gearbox department will probably have to deal with FondTech and Xtrac respectively as when the team was announced, they were mentioned as suppliers to the team. Cosworth will be supplying the engine. I think what Malaysian can immediately look out for are the Marketing & PR, Finance, HR and Legal departments.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 05:51:07 +0800.

Some very interesting details on the progress of the Lotus F1 team was revealed on ESPN Star’s Race Day TV show by team principal Tony Fernandes. According to Tony, the Malaysian team has started developing its Formula 1 racer, and that the single seater is in its wind tunnel testing stage. When the team was first announced, they said aerodynamics would be supplied by FondTech, so that’s where the car must be now.

So yes, a racecar exists, and I will bet it will look nothing like the rainbow-coloured car that we saw the Prime Minister hold up when he made the announcement about the 1Malaysia F1 Team. It’s too sponsor-unfriendly – the logos would be lost in the sea of colours.

The car will be ready for circuit testing sometime in February 2010. Testing will be conducted at the SIC. The car will use the “default” engine supplied by Cosworth. Litespeed will work on the chassis.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 05:51:07 +0800.

Lewis Hamilton was the first driver to cross the finish line after 61 laps at the 2009 Singapore Grand Prix. He started off with pole position. Hamilton finished ahead of Toyota’s Timo Glock and Fernando Alonso, so that’s at least some good news for Renault after the whole crash-gate fiasco.

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel managed to finish in 4th place ahead of current championship leader Jenson Button despite getting a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pits. Sixth place was snapped up by Button’s team mate, Rubens Barrichello.

The rest of the top ten are made up by McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen, BMW’s Robert Kubica, Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen. The Ferrari boys did not do very well this race. Nico Rosberg from Williams who was challenging for victory before getting a drive through penalty for crossing the white line on his way exiting the pits only managed 11th place.

6 drivers failed to cross the finish line. First to finish prematurely was Romain Grosjean (Renault) due to brake issues. Nick Heidfeld and Adrian Sutil both retired due the same accident. Mark Webber (Red Bull) also retired after suffering a crash due to (again) brake failure, followed by both Toro Rosso drivers.

Vettel was the first to pit with 44 laps to go, followed by Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton. With 41 laps to go, Adrian Sutil had a spin and picked up Nick Heidfeld. The latter lost his rear right wheel and the safety car was deployed. Sutil pitted and changed his front wing, but eventually retired a couple of laps later. The race re-started and Nico Rosberg served his drive-through penalty about two laps later and came out in 14th position, since the penalty was served right after the safety car situation.

With 34 laps to go, Hamilton was up in front, followed closely by Vettel. Vettel, who lost his right rear-view mirror pitted with 22 laps to go, and came out behind Button in seventh. He was then given a drive through penalty for speeding in the pits. After serving the penalty, he rejoined in ninth, in front of Raikkonen.

A couple of laps later his team mate Mark Webber pitted for a re-fuel, but just before that on the way into the pits you could see brake dust from his front right tire, indicating severe wear. Just a lap after exiting the pits, Webber suffered from a brake failure and crashed his car. After all this dram, both Toro Rosso drivers pitted and retired, probably due to the fear of brake failure as well since the Toro Rosso cars would most likely share certain components with the Red Bull cars.

In the Drivers Championship, Button leads with 84 points. 15 points behind him is his Brazilian team mate Barrichello. Another 10 points behind is Sebastian Vettel with 59 points. Mark Webber is fourth with 51.5 points. Raikkonen is in fifth with 40 points and race winner Lewis Hamilton is currently in sixth place, just 3 points behind.

As for the Constructors Championship, Brawn is still leading with 153 points, followed by Red Bull with 110.5 points. Ferrari is third with 62 points, but McLaren is closing in with 59 points now. With 3 races remaining, it looks as though Button and Brawn will bag both titles. All 20 drivers will now head to Suzuka, for the Japanese GP.

In the meanwhile, here’s a bit of juicy rumour. Word from Germany’s Sport Bild is that Ferrari’s new sponsor Santander (a current sponsor of McLaren) is willing to offer the McLaren up to 25 million Euros to take Ferrari’s current front man Kimi Raikkonen. This will make space for Alonso to join Ferrari next year.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 05:51:07 +0800.

More updates on the new 1Malaysia F1 Team / Team Lotus / Litespeed / whatever you want to call it. Alex Yoong is going to be involved, but not as a driver. Tony Fernandes hinted that he would most likely come in as a “deputy team principal” (to handle the team while he is busy with Tune and AirAsia stuff), and could potentially be a candidate for team principal in the future since Tony previously said his intention is to step down before the 2010 season ends. And of course as most of you already know, the RM168 million initial amount invested by the team’s investors (the Tune folks and SM Nasarudin) will not be enough – its currently on an intensive hunt for sponsors. Amongst parties approached include Petronas, Genting, and MAS. The team hopes for the race car to be ready by February 2010 for testing at the SIC.

Source

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 05:51:07 +0800.

Finally some details from the horses mouth – the 1Malaysia name apparently shares nothing more in common with Najib’s 1Malaysia administration other than the similiar name, as a tribute most likely.

• The government announced yesterday that it has no equity directly or indirectly in the 1Malaysia F1 Team.
• Proton will license its Lotus brand to 1Malaysia F1 Team.
• The team will be called Team Lotus.
• It’s actually run and funded by Litespeed, Naza, and the Tune Group.
• The team has a start-up capital of RM168 million and a baseline annual budget of an estimated RM308 million.
• The scope of Proton’s involvement will hopefully go beyond licensing the brand and will include technology transfer, marketing rights and employment opportunities.
• Petronas (so far) will come in through its Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, which will collaborate with the team together with UTM to help develop future Malaysian engineers, etc.
• Composites Technology Research Malaysia (CTRM) will somehow be involved. CTRM is a composites manufacturer with clients like Airbus. It is owned 92% by the government’s Ministry of Finance and 8% by Petronas. They make the composite body shell for Lotus Europa S, and are the official repairer for the teams participating in the Formula BMW Pacific.

So far no concrete mention of Proton or government money being used so far. It doesn’t even look like Lotus will be running the team, instead expertise will come from Litespeed, which is a team participating in F3 founded by ex-Lotus employees Nino Judge and Steve Kenchington. In fact we’ve already readabout this team since June.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 05:51:07 +0800.