Home / Motorsports (Page 13)

  • Petronas Syntium Team’s Merc SLS tops MMER qualifying

    In Mercedes Benz, Motorsports / By / / 11 comments

    Happy Malaysia Day, everyone! Even as this year’s national Merdeka day celebrations was combined with Malaysia Day celebrations this morning, the 2011 edition of the Malaysia Merdeka Endurance Race (MMER, formerly known as Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race), normally held in end August, started today.

    And with the end of qualifying, Petronas Syntium Team’s Mercedes SLS driven by Fariqe Hairuman, Tatsuya Kataoka and Bernd Scheider ended up at the top of the charts. Lining up alongside it tomorrow is the sister Gullwing driven by Nobuteru Taniguchi, Masataka Yanagida and Dominic Ang. The latter replaces Imran Zaharias from last year. This is the first time Petronas Syntium Team is fielding the SLS, after previously competing in BMW Z4M Coupes.

    “Oh no, no rain! I hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow (today). We have prepared our strategy for tomorrow (today). If it rains tomorrow, we just have to think about a new strategy for our tyres and set-up. Hopefully this time we will go a step further and win the MMER as a present for our beloved country this Malaysia Day,” said Hairuman.

    Hot at the tail of the two Gullwings is the Le Mans champ trio of Marcel Fassler, Frank Biela and Marco Werner in the Audi R8 LMS. Belgian Fassler is the current Le Mans champion with Audi and Biela was last year’s MMER runner up with Audi Race Experience Team Joest.

    “The race starts at lunch time and it’s unbelievably hot. For this reason, we have fitted in air conditioners. No matter what, it’s still hot with the temperatures around 35-40 degrees Celsius,” said Biela, referring to tomorrow noon start time. The 12-hour race ends at midnight. Here are the top ten qualifiers:

    1. Tatsuya Kataoka / Fariqe Hairuman / Bernd Schneider (Mercedes SLS) 6:16.346s
    2. Nobuteru Taniguchi / Masataka Yanagida / Dominic Ang (Mercedes SLS) 6:17.231s
    3. Frank Biela / Marcel Fassler / Marco Werner (Audi R8) 6:18.421s
    4. Mok Weng Sun / Gianmaria Bruni / Matthew Griffin (Ferrari F458) 6:18.829s
    5. Siu Yuk Lung / Keita Sawa / Dominik Schwager (Lamborghini LP560) 6:19.413
    6. Darryl O’Young / Seiji Ara / Alex Yoong (Audi R8) 6:19.753s
    7. Frank Yu / Alain Jacques Gilbert Li / Stefan Johansson (Ford GT3) 6:22.946s
    8. Jeffrey Lee / Alexandre Imperatori / Aaron Lim (Audi R8) 6:24.476s
    9. Billy Fung / Christian Jones / Akihiro Asai (Lamboghini LP560) 6:24.662
    10. Franz Engstler / Dominik Kraihamer / Andrei Romanov (BMW Z4) 6:31.997s

    No need to pay for tickets – the MMER is free for the public, so head down to Sepang for a different kind of weekend activity!

     

  • Frankfurt: Ford reveals the 2012 Focus ST and ST-R

    In 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show, Cars, Ford, International News, Motorsports / By / / 12 comments

    Ford has taken the opportunity at the Frankfurt Motor Show to unveil its latest iterations of the all-new Focus. Say hello to the Focus ST and ST-R! The Focus ST is based on the ST concept which was shown at the Paris Motor Show. This production version which is available as a 5-door and as a wagon is motivated by a retuned 2.0 litre 4-cylinder EcoBoost unit which makes 250PS and 360Nm of torque.

    Interestingly, the 2.0 litre EcoBoost offers more power and is 20% more fuel efficient than the 2.5 litre 5-pot unit which was used in the previous ST. The engine is connected to a 6-speed manual cog box and it comes with a sports suspension that is made up by uprated shock absorbers, lowered springs (by 10mm) as well as unique parts for the rear suspension. The wagon variant features a slightly different setup at the back, with angled shock absorbers which are also used in the standard wagon.

    Other goodies include a Sport Steering System (electric) with variable ratio depending on speed, Torque Steer Compensation and Electronic Stability Programme (ESP) which is tuned to be less intrusive to the driver. There is also an Enhanced Torque Vectoring Control system which is a revised version of the Torque Vectoring Control found in the base Focus.

    The conventional version of the Torque Vectoring Control system basically applies brakes to the inner wheel of the Focus through a corner, reducing understeer and giving more traction. In the ST, the system implements this more aggressively and also adds on Cornering Under Steer Control (CUSC) which applies torque to create yaw torque based on the vehicle’s understeer behavior right before ESP kicks in, both in power-on and power-off conditions. Not bad huh?

    In the aesthetics department the Focus ST is treated to a full body kit, 18-inch light alloy wheels shod with Goodyear Eagle F1 rubber, a functional roof spoiler and a centre-exit exhaust. The ST is also available with a new colour called Tangerine Scream.

    The inside is finished with specially designed pedals, steering wheel and gearshift to the unique Recaro seats, darker headlining, a special rear bench seat sculpted using special foam to help secure the rear passengers and so on. The Focus ST is being positioned as Ford’s first global performance car and it will be sold in over 40 markets following a worldwide launch in 2012.

    Ford also revealed the Focus ST-R which is a track-only variant and will be used in various racing series including the Canadian Touring Car Series, Grand-Am ST and World Challenge TC. It comes with a race-tuned suspension, beefier brakes and a stripped out interior along with an FIA-approved roll cage.

    Continue reading to check out an image gallery of the Focus ST and its demonic sibling.
    Read more ›

     

  • Double retirement for Proton in IRC’s Hungarian Rally

    In Cars, Malaysian Makes, Motorsports, Proton, Proton Satria Neo / By / / 14 comments


    Click to enlarge

    The International Rally Challenge (IRC) was in Hungary over the weekend for the inaugural Canon Mecsek Rallye. The event was previously an IRC Supporter Event upgraded to a fully-fledged round of the IRC this year. Based in the town of Pecs – named the 2010 European Capital of Culture – in the south-west of Hungary, the 2011 event is the 44th edition of the rally.

    After a very close fight, Jan Kopecký from Skoda won the rally, which was led by Skoda UK’s Andreas Mikkelsen right till the penultimate stage. But the Norwegian slid wide on gravel in a fast right-hand corner in SS13, damaging his Fabia. Peugeot’s Thierry Neuville made a great late charge to finish second, just short of overall victory by a slim 0.8s. Freddy Loix was third in a Skoda.


    Click to enlarge

    As for Proton, both the Satria Neo S2000s were forced into retirement. PG Andersson began the two-day rally conservatively, finishing the opening special stage in 17th. His charge however, was dealt a blow when he hit a kerb and severely damaged a wheel through the 28km second special stage.

    This forced him to make an unscheduled wheel change that cost almost 8 minutes, dropping him to 42nd overall. The car’s rear differential was also damaged. The Swede then fought back up to 39th place in SS5 before a technical problem eventually ended his rally in SS6.


    Click to enlarge

    It wasn’t much better for PG’s two-time FIA European Rally Champion teammate Giandomenico Basso. The Italian was also forced into retirement due to an abnormal mechanical issue on the first day. The extremely rare failure of the oil filter seal caused all the engine oil to leak out, giving Basso no choice but to stop.

    With a competitive distance of 251.86 km, the Canon Mecsek Rallye was run mainly on high-speed roads with more than 100 teams and 20 IRC regulars taking part. Next up, IRC will head to the beautiful Italian Riveira for the Rallye Sanremo on 22-24 September.

     

  • Jarno Trulli signs deal to stay with Team Lotus for 2012

    In Formula 1, Motorsports / By / / 2 comments

    There have been some speculation on Jarno Trulli’s position in Team Lotus when he was rested for the German GP, only to reclaim his race seat in Hungary. The Italian himself admitted that he couldn’t adapt well to the car, and started to lose confidence and question his own abilities as a result. Well, things are improving, and his contract has been extended for another year.

    “I am very pleased that we have been able to confirm today that my contract with Team Lotus has been extended into 2012. The challenge I first accepted when I joined the team is becoming more exciting every day, and I am very proud that I can keep helping the team take steps forward for at least another year,” said Trulli, who finished 14th in yesterday’s Italian GP.

    “We are all delighted that we have been able to reach an agreement to keep Jarno on board for at least one more year with our team. He has shown in qualifying in Monza just how much pace he has and how he can wring every last drop of performance out of his car and since day one with us he has brought a level of professionalism, insight and raw speed to our team that has helped accelerate our development on and off track.

    “Today’s announcement will give us the benefit of his experience and knowledge into 2012, another very important year in the growth of our team,” said team boss Tony Fernandes.

     

  • Vettel wins the Italian GP, Button second, Alonso third

    In Formula 1, Motorsports / By / / 7 comments

    Sebastian Vettel has won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, ahead of McLaren’s Jenson Button and Ferrari’s double world champ Fernando Alonso. The reigning world champ was unusually emotional and shed some tears on the podium.

    This means a lot to the German, as Monza is the place where he tasted his first pole and first victory back in 2008 for Toro Rosso. That win made him the youngest ever pole sitter and winner in F1. For Red Bull, today’s result is their first ever Italian GP win – last year’s fourth place was the team’s best ever at Monza.

    Starting from pole (Red Bull has been on pole for every race so far this season), Vettel lost out in a three abreast battle with Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso; the Ferrari man made a super start to jump the front row cars.

    Sitting in second, and clearly faster than the scarlet car, Vettel put pressure on Alonso and took the lead on lap 5 despite being pushed to the grass by the Spaniard, a lead that he never gave away till the finish. That was the last anyone saw of him, and today’s win was a comfortable one for the young champ.

    Everyone else had to work harder, but none harder than Hamilton. Second on the grid, the Brit lost out in the three abreast battle to Seb and Fernando, with great starter Michael Schumacher right behind his tail.

    There was some first corner drama when Tonio Liuzzi lost control of his fishtailing HRT and slid the length of the straight right into the first corner, collecting the innocent Vitaly Petrov (LRGP) and Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), who both retired. Barrichello was also caught in the melee, but managed to carry on. This brought out the safety car.

    After the Gullwing dived in, Schumi passed Hamilton, and was a huge source of frustration for the McLaren man, who was faster in the bends, but couldn’t get past the Merc, which was faster on the straights. Michael used every trick in his thick book and every ounce of his rich experience to block Lewis. By now, Button, who had a poor start, was right behind the big scrap. Jenson passed both of them with ease on lap 17, though, and pushed ahead to catch Alonso.

    It was now time for the first round of pit stops, but the order of BUT-MSC-HAM remained. Hamilton continued to push Schumi and finally succeeded on lap 28. But by now, his race was already ruined.

    Things were looking brighter for Jenson, who overtook Alonso on lap 36 for second, a place he maintained till the end. Lewis must have been super relieved that he came out of his second pit stop ahead of Schumacher! Where’s Mark Webber? The Aussie collided with Felipe Massa early on in lap 5. Without a front wing, he fell out the following lap.

    Further down the field, the sole Lotus Renault GP car of Bruno Senna had quite an active afternoon, overtaking a few other midfielders to finish ninth for some points. We didn’t see much of Jaime Alguresuari, but the Toro Rosso man did very well to finish seventh – great stuff for someone who started 18th on the grid! The Team Lotus boys finished 13th and 14th, both two laps down.

    With today’s win, Vettel is leading the Driver’s championship over Alonso by 112 points. A further five points behind are Button and Webber. This means that there’s a possibility of Vettel wrapping up the title by the next race – Singapore – with six races to spare!

     

  • Tony Fernandes to rename Team Lotus to Caterham F1?

    In Formula 1, Motorsports / By / / 35 comments

    The Formula 1 fraternity is currently at the 2011 Italian GP in Monza and this congregation has churned out an interesting rumor about the Tony Fernandes-led Team Lotus. According to James Allen’s website, a middle ground has been reached between Tony Fernandes and Proton-owned Group Lotus over the naming conflict.

    Apparently Fernandes has agreed to give up the Team Lotus name and is currently applying to use the name Caterham F1 Team via the FIA and FOM. As you would know, Caterham was recently added to Fernandes’ umbrella along with the Queens Park Rangers football club.

    According to the website, this will also trickle down to the GP2 team with the name of Caterham Team Air Asia. You can safely expect Fernandes to use the Caterham brand in all of his motorsport endeavors and perhaps you might see a Formula 1-inspired road car by Caterham too.

    With the new name, it is said that the yellow-green colour combo will be retained, minus the Lotus badge of course. This would definitely make Group Lotus boss Dany Bahar a very happy man who would be able to rename Lotus Renault to Team Lotus in the future.

    You might wonder how all of these came about. James Allen revealed that the deal was part of the MAS-Air Asia partnership that was struck recently. Apparently, ending the Lotus fiasco was part of the government’s end of the partnership requirement which makes sense.

    Regarding the issue of renaming the chassis, Fernandes should be able to do it as long as he receives a unanimous agreement by the competing teams. There is also news that Team Lotus will be relocated to Leafield in Oxford, away from Norfolk where it calls home at the moment. Leafield houses a former TWR facility which could be used by the squad.

    It is also said that the team is currently expanding its man power. In my perspective, this is a very sensible move if there is any truth behind the rumor in the first place. It would put the naming conflict which started last season to a peaceful end and confusion over two Lotus brands in Formula 1 will come to a stop as well.

     

  • Veteran drifter Tan Tat Wei signs for Team Goodyear

    In Local News, Motorsports / By / / 7 comments

    Transfers. The word brings to mind the recent football transfer deadline day that saw plenty of wheeling dealing and shocking deals. Personally, I still can’t get over the fact that Arsene Wenger actually splashed some cash on not one, two or three, but five players. So perhaps the trashing by United was a blessing in disguise!

    In the local drift scene, Goodyear Malaysia has made a great new signing as well. The team recently welcomed veteran drifter Tan Tat Wei into the fold. Now, as anyone who follows the scene will know, TTW is no stranger to winning and the podium, and is one of the big names in the drift circle. His loud rotary powered AE86 is equally famous.


    Tan Tat Wei’s loud rotary powered Toyota AE86 in previous colours

    The former Bridgestone backed man is a coup for Goodyear, and will join teammates Ariff Johanis Ahmad, Azrina Jane Abdullah, Hanizam Hamzah and Michael Gan. As part of Team Goodyear, drifters receive tyre sponsorships for a predetermined number of drift competitions, partial upgrading of vehicle and maintenance. In return, besides to do their best, they are required to conduct demonstrations at Goodyear events.

    “It is truly an honor and pleasure to be affiliated with Team Goodyear. The association is one that has already begun to create a great deal of opportunity for me and has open many doors since I first joined them eight months ago. My car is now fitted with Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric and since using them, I definitely see an improvement in my performance as demonstrated during FD Singapore 2011 where I came in first,” said the 31 year-old Tan.

     

  • Lotus Renault GP and Nick Heidfeld officially part ways

    In Formula 1, Motorsports / By / / 2 comments

    After replacing Nick Heidfeld with Bruno Senna for Spa, Lotus Renault GP and the veteran German driver have officially parted ways. Senna made his debut for the team and finished 13th in Belgium, but Heidfeld was also present at the circuit, saying that he had a solid contract and will bring the issue to court. That has now been avoided.

    “Our disagreement with Nick has been the subject of much media coverage lately, and we are pleased to have reached a swift and reasonable solution. Our separation process was already a painful one, and neither of us wanted to go through another legal hearing,” said LRGP team principal Eric Boullier.

    “We’re very grateful to Nick for the highly valuable contribution he’s made to the team. We certainly had good times together, in particular remembering our podium finish in Malaysia. He is a very strong and determined racer and we wish him every success in the future,” he added.

    Any last words? “Obviously I’m disappointed to be leaving in the middle of the season. I thought I could still make a big contribution to the team, but I have to see things as they are and I want to turn my attention to the future. We have taken the right decision by choosing to end our collaboration today. I would like to wish all the friends I made at Enstone a successful end to the season. One thing is for sure – I’ll be back racing at the highest level soon,” said the man who replaced the injured Robert Kubica.

    What series might that be? Autosport revealed that Heidfeld is in talks with BMW regarding its new DTM programme for 2012. If that works out, Nick will be reunited with his former employers!

     

  • Proton scores points in Skoda dominated Czech Rally Zlín

    In Malaysian Makes, Motorsports, Proton, Proton Satria Neo / By / / 17 comments

    Proton scored points in last weekend’s Barum Czech Rally Zlin, Round 7 of this year’s Intercontinental Rally Challenge. In front of a 300,000-strong crowd, the Satria Neo S2000 of P-G Andersson finished in ninth overall, but teammate Giandomenico Basso ended the weekend in 13th, after a puncture killed his hopes for points.

    The rally was won by Jan Kopecký in a Skoda. Freddy Loix, also in a Fabia S2000, was just beaten by 1.2 seconds and had to settle for second. Championship leader Juho Hänninen finished third, giving Skoda the entire podium in its home rally.

    The competition in this round was tougher than ever, with 29 Super 2000 cars making the start in a field of 123 competitors. Based in Zlin, the rally is known for attracting big crowds, but with temperatures hovering around 30 degrees for much of the event, attendance hit a record-breaking 300,000 on the bumpy asphalt roads in the south-east of the Czech Republic.

    There were 248.48 km of competitive stages run over a total distance of 619.73 km. 34 cars failed to finish.

    “We’re very pleased with the way the weekend has gone. Although we’ve had some punctures and some minor off-road excursions, but at the end of the event we have shown a significant step forwards in the development of the Proton Satria Neo S2000. From where we were 12 months ago, we have halved the gap to the cars at the front of the field and that represents real progress,” said Datuk Abdul Razak Dawood, Head of Proton Motorsports.

    “We have shown what we are capable of. We also have no illusions here and know that there is still much work to be done with the car. We believe we are on the right track here and know what areas of the car we will focus our attention on next,” he added.

    Buoyed by its improved IRC pace, the Proton team now heads to Hungary for the next round of the series, the Canon Mecsek Rally on September 9-11.

     

  • Indian GP gets Whiting approval, Turkey dropped for 2012

    In Formula 1, Motorsports / By / / 14 comments

    The Buddh International Circuit that will host the inaugural Formula 1 Indian Grand Prix has been given the green light by Charlie Whiting after the latest inspection yesterday. The FIA man is said to be happy with the progress made.

    “He (Whiting) stated that the progress was more than satisfactory and exceeded expectations from when he last visited the site. He also expressed confidence that the inaugural Indian Grand Prix will be a huge success,” said Vicky Chandhok, head of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India in a statement.

    The mandatory final track license will be given the week before the race, when Buddh is complete. The Indian GP, which will happen in end October, will be the third last race of the 2011 season, before Abu Dhabi and the season closing race in Brazil.

    Meanwhile, the Turkish GP has been officially dropped from next year’s F1 calendar. The 2012 omission of Turkey is said to be a result of failed negotiation between local organisers and F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone. This is the first time the race has been dropped since it came onboard in 2005.

     
 
1 … 11 12 13 14 15 … 86
 
 
 
 

Archives