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Adrian Newey: Audi flirted with four-cylinder F1 future

July 1, 2011 at 2:08 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Audi, Formula 1, Motorsports

Earlier today, we posted about FIA ratifying the adoption of 1.6-litre V6 turbo engines, which will be used in F1 from 2014. This overrides the previous direction announced last December, which would have made F1 cars use four-cylinder engines from 2013. Now, Adrian Newey reveals that the party behind this flip flop drama is Audi, which flirted with four-pot F1, only to walk away in the end.

Red Bull Racing’s chief technology officer said that the FIA World Motor Sport Council decided on the four-cylinder turbo direction after Ingolstadt had hinted that it would consider an entry. But in the end, it turned out to be just a “test the water” move by the four rings. That, coupled with opposition from current teams, forced the U-turn.

“The initial decision from the engine working group was for a four-cylinder turbo to be introduced for 2013. The big driver behind that was Audi. They said they would come into the sport if there was a four-cylinder turbo, and that’s what everyone agreed in order to get Audi in. They subsequently decided that they won’t bother after all, thank you very much, and we were lumbered with a four-cylinder turbo,” Newey said.

“Certainly from an engineering point-of-view, a four-cylinder turbo is not a nice engine to install – you’ve basically got to put a space frame around it; you can’t make it properly structural. A racing V6 is a much nicer engine to package. That will now be the 2014 engine,” he added.

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F1 to use V6 turbo engines from 2014 instead of four-pot

July 1, 2011 at 10:02 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Formula 1, Motorsports

Late last year, the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) approved new regulations which will see 1.6-litre four-cylinder engines replace the current 2.4L V8s from 2013 in Formula 1. It didn’t really go well with Bernie, the teams and the fans, with some fearing that F1 will be much less of a spectacle with the “green move”. Now it looks like everyone will meet in the middle.

The WMSC has ratified the adoption of a 1.6-litre V6 turbo engine to be used in F1 from 2014 onwards, in place of the four-cylinder plans. FIA says that “the engine will sound different, but will remain representative of Formula 1″ and the redline has been increased from the initially mooted 12,000 rpm to 15,000 rpm. It will also feature direct fuel injection up to 500 bar, and not more than one turbocharger is allowed.

Efficiency is still a key target, though. The governing body says that the V6 will be a “dramatic step forward in both fuel efficiency and in energy management”. Kinetic and exhaust energy recovery will feature.

FIA’s communications department has released a Q&A that explains the move, read it after the jump.
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“Monster” Tajima breaks 10 minute barrier at Pikes Peak

June 29, 2011 at 3:54 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, International News, Motorsports, Suzuki


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Nobuhiro “Monster” Tajima has become the first person to break the fabled 10 minute barrier at Pikes Peak. The 60-year-old steered his SX4 race car to a record time of 9 minutes, 51.278 seconds to record his sixth consecutive outright win at the international hill climb.

Tajima had to overcome serious mechanical issues on his record-breaking run, in this case a blown radiator and a sudden loss of power steering in the final part of run up the 19.9 km-long course.


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A fixture at the event since 1988, Tajima has now won the unlimited division a record 11 times, all behind the wheel of Suzuki vehicles.


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This year’s win in the turbocharged 912 hp and 890 Nm 3.0 litre V6 Monster Special Pikes Peak SX4 maintains an unbeaten run that now stretches back to 2003.

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P-G finishes treacherous Ypres Rally in 19th, Basso falls

June 27, 2011 at 6:02 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Malaysian Makes, Motorsports, Proton, Proton Satria Neo

The Geko Ypres Rally happened over the weekend as the fifth leg of this year’s Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC). The Belgian asphalt rally was a treacherous one that claimed many big names, including local favourite Thiery Neuville and Skoda drivers Andreas Mikkelsen and Jan Kopecky. Proton’s Giandomenico Basso also failed to finish but teammate P-G Andersson managed to complete the rally in 19th place.

Proton’s Swede was among the 61 finishers of 124 cars that started the two-day 18-stage rally. 31 entrants were S2000 cars. Racing across narrow farmland roads, the extreme wet, cold and slippery conditions made the event extra challenging.

The rally was won by home boy Freddy Loix, who led from start and did not put a wheel wrong. The Skoda man is now top of the IRC driver standings. Peugeot’s Bryan Bouffier was second and debutant Hans Weijs completed the podium in a Fabia.

Proton pilots Basso and Andersson had both come within nine seconds of creeping into the top 10 places before being struck by misfortune. Pushing hard after finishing the first day in 11th and just nine seconds adrift, Basso’s rally came to an end in SS7 when he hit a low brick wall hidden in tall grass. That knock put his Satria Neo S2000 in a ditch.

Meanwhile, P-G began to pick up his pace in the rally and shot from 18th in the opening stage (SS7) to move up to 17th and then 16th over the next two SS. By SS10 he was 12th and with one stage to go in SS17, the double Junior WRC had brought the Satria Neo S2000 to 11th and within 8.9 seconds of a top-10 finish.

But it was not meant to be. Proton’s valiant charge was dealt a cruel blow when P-G’s final push saw him went wide 2km into the 10km final special stage (SS18). The Neo’s left rear wheel was damaged, but Andersson was still able to continue, losing 24 seconds in the process to eventually finish in 19th.

Despite the heartbreak, the team sees the encouraging pace as a “real competitive assessment of where we are currently in terms of development and how much more we need to do in the IRC” according to Datuk Abdul Razak Dawood, Head of Proton Motorsports.

“Although this is Proton’s first full year in the IRC, we are certainly making valuable progress and heading in the right direction as far as development of the Satria Neo S2000 and the brand is concerned,” he added. Chin up guys, better luck next time!

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Vettel wins European GP, home boy Alonso finishes 2nd

June 26, 2011 at 11:30 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Formula 1, Motorsports

Normal service resumes in F1 as defending world champ Sebastian Vettel stormed to a convincing victory at the European GP. The young German started from pole, had an untroubled lights to flag victory, and bagged the Valencia race’s fastest lap with 1:41.852. Home boy Fernando Alonso was a distant second for Ferrari, 10.89 seconds behind Vettel. Red Bull’s other driver Mark Webber completed the podium.

Behind them were Lewis Hamilton, Felipe Massa and Canadian GP winner Jenson Button in fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively. Mercedes GP Petronas’ Nico Rosberg scored points with seventh, 10 places ahead of teammate Schumacher, who clashed with Petrov to incur an extra stop for a wing.

The other top ten finishers are Jaime Alguersuari (great drive with just two stops, he started 18th), Adrian Sutil (Force India) and Lotus Renault GP’s Nick Heidfeld. Three of them were a lap down.

Vettel’s chasers never had a look at victory after he stormed away from the get go. Webber held on to second till lap 22, when Alonso, who had been putting great pressure on the Aussie, finally overtook him under DRS. Both were on three-stop plans, and Webber retook second after the second round of stops, when he pitted before Alonso.

In the third round, Webber again pitted first, this time for the slower medium compound tyres. Alonso stayed out awhile more (three laps) on his worn softs and managed to jump Webber when he came out of the pits for the final time.

It was a relatively quiet afternoon for Hamilton after the past few races, and he never really found the pace to challenge the front men. It was similarly uneventful for Button, whose KERS went faulty. Most did three, Alguersuari made two work, but Sauber’s Sergio Perez failed to convert his weird one-stop strategy into points – he was 11th.

Team Lotus finished 19th and 20th with Heikki leading Jarno, the same position they started with. Interestingly, all 24 cars finished, and no one retired.

Vettel is fast running away with the title. With this latest victory, he is on 186 points, 77 ahead of Button and Webber. His team has an equally comfortable 89 point lead over McLaren in the constructors’ table. Anyone who wants to have a say better rise up fast, otherwise it’s going to be Sebastian Vettel, two time world champion, in no time!

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Vettel on pole again, Webber completes Valencia front row

June 26, 2011 at 1:24 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Formula 1, Motorsports

Defending world champion Sebastian Vettel has been near unbeatable on Saturday this season. Now, he has made it seven poles out of eight races with a time of 1:36.975 in Valencia, Spain. The German will line up alongside his Red Bull teammate Mark Webber, whose best effort was 0.188 slower than the benchmark. McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton was third, four tenths slower than Vettel.

Behind the temperamental Brit is the two Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa. Jenson Button, who drove a sensational race to win the previous race in Canada, is in sixth. The other men who got into Q3 were Nico Rosberg, Michael Schumacher, Nick Heidfeld and Adrian Sutil.

Q3 wasn’t that action packed as both Mercedes GP Petronas cars made minimal runs, while Heidfeld and Sutil did none. These guys who choose to preserve their faster soft tyres for the race (since they won’t be fighting for pole anyway) may not get to do this for long.

“At the moment if you don’t set a time, for example in Q3, then you are able to choose the tyres that you start on. It means people could be saving a set of tyres because then they would be better off in the race. I’ve made a suggestion to put to the Sporting Working Group to say that actually in those circumstances, you should be made to use your Q2 tyres in that situation, so there is no advantage from not setting a time,” Pirelli’s director of motorsport Paul Hembery said. Just do it, FIA.

Team Lotus is in their usual 19th and 20th position, with Heikki leading Jarno, who spun in Q1. Kovalainen was 3.251 behind the fastest time of Q1, a big gap behind the slowest midfield man, Jaime Alguersuari, who was 1.819 behind the same benchmark.

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MINI John Cooper Works Coupé Endurance – all set to premiere at the 24 Hours Nürburgring

June 24, 2011 at 12:10 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under BMW, Cars, International News, Motorsports

Joining the fray at the 24-hour race at the Nurburgring-Nordschleife this weekend will be a new offering from MINI – the John Cooper Works Coupé Endurance is set to make its world debut at the race.

The car is powered by a specially-tuned version of the series-production MINI JCW engine – the 1.6 litre direct injection, twin-scroll turbocharged mill, mated to a six-speed sequential gearbox with electronic differential lock, offers 250 hp and 330 Nm with overboost, with a top speed in excess of 240 kph.

The John Cooper Works Coupé Endurance will be equipped with an independent race suspension from KW Suspension, with adjustable compression and rebound and an adjustable front strut brace. Also featured is a JCW Aerodynamics Package, consisting of a front spoiler, rear diffuser and adjustable rear wing to generate downforce.

The 965 kg race car will wear 17-inch racing wheels from Borbet and 215/45 R17 slicks (or alternatively, 205/620 R17 wets) from Dunlop.

Other elements include a roll cage welded to the body and a sports bucket seat with a six-point safety harness, Recaro seat and a F1-style HANS (Head And Neck Support) system. There’s also a MINI Challenge braking system with Race ABS and a specially tuned DSC dynamic control system, likewise optimised for the race track.

Additionally, in the interests of safety – and rapid pit stops – the JCW Coupé Endurance is kitted out with an integrated pneumatic jack.

Gallery after the jump.
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Proton’s Neo rally car heads to Belgium for IRC round 5

June 23, 2011 at 8:50 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Malaysian Makes, Motorsports, Proton

Proton will be competing in the Geko Ypres Rally in Belgium for round five of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, which will take the team through an asphalt course through the Belgian countryside, alongside a total of 31 S2000 rally cars.

The course will run over 18 special stages totaling 287km. Apparently this particular rally is often made difficult due to unpredictable weather, and it is expected that 5 of the 18 special stages will be run in fading light or complete darkness.

“I’m looking forward to this event, I have won here before and it’s always a big challenge with a lot of really fast local drivers. The last rally we did (PRIME Yalta rally) with the car showed that we have made tremendous progress with the Satria Neo S2000. The car is getting better and better, we are really improving. I want to come out and be fast in Ypres,” said two-time European Rally Champion Italian Giandomenico Basso.

“I have never done this rally before, but I have seen the stages and the number of people out there spectating is just incredible. I think we’re in for a rally with a lot of atmosphere!” said P-G Andersson, Basso’s team mate.

“We have put in a lot of effort to develop the Satria Neo S2000 since the last round in the Ukraine. These improvements have so far worked in favour of better performance and reliability which we hope will see both Basso and Andersson being competitive in Belgium. We’ve still limited experience competing on asphalt but with Basso’s experience and the determination of the entire team, we look forward to Belgium becoming a good hunting ground for PROTON,” said Head of Proton Motorsports Datuk Abdul Razak Dawood.

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Volkswagen Golf24: 450 hp beast set to take on Nürburgring

June 22, 2011 at 3:23 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, International News, Motorsports, Volkswagen


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Volkswagen is set to challenge for honours at this coming weekend’s 24-hour race at the Nürburgring, with no less than five factory-fielded VW Motorsport entries. Leading the charge are three 450 hp Golf24 cars, a thoroughbred racing version of the world’s highest-volume production car.


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Powered by a 450 hp 2.5 litre five-cylinder turbocharged engine, the four-wheel drive Golf24 features a sequential six-speed gearbox with paddle shifters and wears a rather spectacular body shell.


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The three cars will be piloted by an assortment of drivers, ranging from seasoned Nordschleife drivers such as Peter Terting and Patrick Simon, ex-Formula 1 veterans Johnny Herbert and Mark Blundell right through to the likes of Volkswagen junior René Rast and DTM rookie Edoardo Mortara.


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The two other VW factory cars are 330 hp Scirocco GT24-CNG versions, which will contest for honours in the class for vehicles with alternative powertrains. Of note is the three-man crew for one of the vehicles – Nasser Al-Attiyah, Carlos Sainz, Giniel de Villiers, the three Dakar Champions from 2009, 2010 and 2011, who will take on the Nordschleife together in a blue and orange Scirocco GT24-CNG. They will be joined by former DTM racer Klaus Niedzwiedz, who will be the fourth driver for both Sciroccos.

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Top five finishes for Jazeman Jaafar at Brands Hatch

June 20, 2011 at 4:45 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under International News, Motorsports

A fourth place finish in the first race, fifth place in the second race and a storming drive from a tenth position start to fourth place at the chequered flag in the third and final race at Brands Hatch in Kent over the weekend has kept Jazeman Jaafar in the championship hunt of the 2011 Cooper Tires Formula 3 International Series after four events.

The first race on Saturday afternoon featured ever-changing weather conditions. The race started on a wet track, after a sudden shower just before the cars went to the grid, with all the teams opting to start on wet tyres.

Jaafar, one of the six drivers racing with the championship-winning Carlin team, maintained position in the first half of the race and then, along with the majority of the drivers, opted to pit for slick tyres when the track dried. The Petronas-backed Malaysian dropped to seventh after his stop, but fought back to cross the line in fourth place.

The second race of the weekend, in dry conditions, saw Jaafar off the line cleanly and into sixth position, but a start line shunt behind brought out the safety car for five laps to clear the stricken cars. Having used up half the time available for racing, it left few laps for Jaafar to improve on his position, and in the end he finished fifth.

In the last race, a torrential shower prior to the start meant wet tyres, and Jaafar once again showed his prowess in the wet conditions – starting in tenth, he’d moved up to eighth spot by the end of lap one and was up to sixth by half distance, eventually finishing fourth.

“It’s been a good weekend, but all three races were pretty tricky, especially the last one when we had a torrential downpour in the middle of it, so I’m pleased with that result and to have finished all three races in the top five,” said Jaafar. “I’m lying fourth in the overall drivers’ championship, just one point off Carlos Huertas in third, so we’re mixing it at the front.”

The fifth of ten events in the British F3 International Series takes place at the Nurburging on July 2–3.

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