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Mark Webber wins the British Formula 1 Grand Prix - Even with some in-team conflict
Rigval posted a blog entry in MyAutoBlog
After becoming airborne in the European GP due to a massive crash with a Lotus, Red Bull's Mark Webber wins this edition of the British Formula 1 Grand Prix held last Sunday. This time, aggressive driving and a bit of luck, his tussle with his team mate, and pole position holder, Sebastian Vettel, somehow caused Vettel to go a little wide and got a puncture. That gave him the lead over Lewis Hamilton of McLaren by the first few corners, who ended the race in second. Third place went toward Nico Rosberg, driving the Mercedes. Ferrari had an early incident with Massa colliding with Alonso and Massa suffering a puncture too. The race pace of the Red Bull is as good as the pace it had during qualifying. Webber managed to pull a lead over Hamilton and this somehow held even though there was a Safety Car incident, due to Pedro de la Rosa's front wing debris on the track after a small accident. The drive of the day could be handed to Jenson Button of McLaren though as he started all the way down in P14 and worked his way through the field. His storming effort, like a knife through nice soft butter, was effectively held back by Nico Rosberg. Button's 4th place must have felt like a bigger victory altogether. The biggest loser in this British GP is Fernando Alonso. He was given a drive through penalty due to overtaking Robert Kubica of Renault wrongly. This was as all four wheels of his Ferrari was off the track and this constitutes an offence. I suppose Alonso's argument was that Kubica had defended his position aggressively and that caused him to veer off the track. The race stewards thought otherwise and gave his that penalty. He started in 3rd and finished 14th due to this. Mark Webber's win was not without any incidents off the track. It seems that Red Bull had handed Webber's new specification front wing to his team-mate, Seb Vettel, even though the wing was already fitted on his car. It is safe to assume that he wasn't very pleased with the incident. When he won, his response on the radio to team principal Christian Horner was -
Aston Martin launches the Nurburgring 24Hours inspired V8 Vantage N420
Rigval posted a blog entry in MyAutoBlog
[extract] In 2007 Aston Martin launched its limited edition (480 units in total) motorsport inspired N400 V8 Vantage based model to celebrate its achievements in the Nurburgring 24Hours Endurance Race. Now three years later, Aston Martin has decided to do the same again. Another limited edition Aston Martin called the V8 Vantage N420. Based on the V8 Vantage, the smallest of the Aston Martin coupes, bar that abomination -
The European F1 at Valencia: Red Bull's Vettel takes his 2nd win of the season
Rigval posted a blog entry in MyAutoBlog
[extract] Right. It has been a tiring weekend for me with the World Cup and all. This had nearly made me forget that the European Formula 1 Grand Prix was held over the last weekend in Valencia and Sebastian Vettel claimed his second victory of the season. This race -
[extract] For those Audi fans out there I am pleased to report that Audi has achieved their third 1-2-3 all out win at Le Mans within this last ten year period. The 2010 Le Mans 24hours endurance race held over the last weekend was one that basically pitted Audi against Peugeot for the LMP1 category and was actually led by Peugeot. But Le Mans being an endurance race, one by one the competitors including the last surviving Peugeot 908 HDi (
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Formula 1 at Montreal, Canada: Another 1-2 for McLaren Mercedes
Rigval posted a blog entry in MyAutoBlog
Formula 1 in Canada was interesting and McLaren gets another 1-2 win with Lewis Hamilton taking 1st after starting on pole position (his second win of the season) and Jenson Button taking 2nd place. Fernando Alonso driving the Ferrari rounded up the top three by coming in 3rd place. This also makes McLaren taking the lead in the manufacturers championship too. The race was thrilling as even at the start, we get to see Formula 1 race cars bumping into each other as we got to see Liuzzi of Toro Rosso Ferrari taking up to three bumps at the start. By lap 2 Kobayashi hit the wall and limped back to the pits joined by Felipe Massa of Ferrari. Before that Liuzzi of Force India and Pedro de La Rosa entered the pits for the starting scraps. Laps 4 to 13 was really happening as everyone was overtaking or trying to overtake someone. In lap 13 Michael Schumacher driving the Petronas Mercedes pits from third place and comes out in seventh place and is dicing with Robert Kubica of Renault. The two are fighting collide, not heavily, bouncing across the kerbs. Kubica's front wing appears to be damaged and pits. It is still bumper car like in the start. The reason for this is that the tire choices and tire change strategy seem to be assisting some better than the other. Some chose to run the softer compound earlier and this seems to be the best choice, as shown by Schumacher in the earlier part of the race (of course he later seemed to have suffered from tire wear right at the end). Lap 40 was also fun to watch at Liuzzi and Massa were dicing it out and Massa came out the loser and was forced wide. Lap 44 and 45 was also fun as Mark Webber had to fight it out to gain a few positions by Hulkenberg and Sutil, which were having their own tussle. Even the final 10 laps were interesting, as everyone in the top 12 were fighting for position. And ultimately, a big loser in this was Michael Schumacher as he had defended, and lost positions to Buemi, Liuzzi and Sutil. The latter two taking the final points positions of 9th and 10th. It could be very bad tire wear making Schumacher's car uncontrollable right at the end. The actual final results, though, will only be confirmed after the stewards investigate an incident between Robert Kubica and Adrian Sutil and another between Schumacher and Felipe Massa for all those bumper car maneuvers and other overtaking encounters. And that will only be done after the race. As I write this, nothing has been confirmed as yet but it shouldn't change the top three positions anyway. So many events had happened during this race in Canada and this from a track that was dropped from the Formula 1 Grand Prix last year. Somehow for 2010 it was brought back. And it seems it was worth it as there were lots of thrills, overtaking and spills. The next race is European Grand Prix at Valencia in two weeks time Results 01. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1h33:53.456 02. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 2.254 03. Alonso Ferrari + 9.214 04. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 37.817 05. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 39.29 06. Rosberg Mercedes + 56.084 07. Kubica Renault + 57.300 08. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 09. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap 10. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap 11. Schumacher Mercedes + 1 lap 12. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 13. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap 14. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap 15. Massa Ferrari + 1 lap 16. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth + 2 laps 17. Petrov Renault + 2 laps 18. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth + 4 laps 19. Di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth + 5 laps Did Not Finish Glock Virgin-Cosworth 50 Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 43 De la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 31 Senna HRT-Cosworth 14 Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 2 -
The youngest human being to ever join an F1 team is 11 year old Canadian Lance Stroll. Believe it or not, he has been inducted into Ferrari's Driver Academy program and will be going under training and supervision to possibly become an F1 driver for Ferrari in future. The talented young individual won twice at the Canadian national championships in the Rotax Mini Max category as well as the Coupe de Montreal and Coupe du Quebec Micro Max Championship in 2008 and both Mini Max Championships in 2009. He was also nominated by the Federation Sport Automobile du Quebec as the Rookie of the Year in 2008 and Driver of the Year in 2009. Formula 1 driver in the making? At least he has the opportunity to make it! Luca Baldisserri, who runs the Ferrari Driving Academy said: "We are pleased to welcome Lance to our group, he is very young, but he has already shown in karting that he is exceptionally talented". If Singapore ever wants to have our flag on the F1 circuit, other than being the host for an F1 event, this is what we're going to need. A talented driver, some wins under his belt and of course, talent spotters. You can drive as well as Michael Schumacher without anyone looking and you're never going to get anywhere. Sponsors need to come in to pump much needed financial aid to support the driver and once spotted, he could possibly become Singapore's first ever Formula 1 driver. Of course, all this is just talk. But if it really gets down to business, hopefully we can have a representative in an F1 car in the near future if there is talent on our tiny island..
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Announce to all buddy of sg motorsport...customer fix the car then did not pay money..RUN AWAY.. Do you believe or...? The story is start beginning from my friends whom own a shop in JB town.Last week,his staff fix a car,model:AUDI A4 year 2004 (4Door) black colour with number plate:SFL 49x2H at 2 Jun'10.After finished install the thing(cost around RM7xx,just SGD300).When they try to testing the car,the chinese guy just blow and run away.... I heard my friend said that he already report to malaysia police and singapore police.Really hope the guy will go back to my friend shop and settle this.maybe he will close the case,or..cancel the SUE. God pless him..SFL49x2HAudi A4 black colour
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BMW M3 art car by Jeff Koons: How to make a car look fast while standing still
Rigval posted a blog entry in MyAutoBlog
BMW will be competing in the GT2 category at this years Le Mans this 12-13th June, 2010. The chosen car is the M3 GT2, which if you remembered a version of it had a glorious outing at the recent 24hrs Nurburgring Endurance Race by winning it. The unique this about this race car is that it is the 17th BMW art car of which famous contemporary artists like the late Andy Warhol and the late Roy Lichtenstein have put their touches on previous art cars. These previous art cars are famous and have traveled the world, going from art display to art display. I was fortunate to see a few when some of these cars were displayed at the PETRONAS art gallery in Suria KLCC in Kuala Lumpur sometime ago. But I like this particular model as it really looks fast while standing still. This latest BMW art car has been worked on by Jeff Koons. While he has previously collaborated with BMW on an art car in 2003, this latest one took him months as he started working on it in February of this year. 'These race cars are like life, they are powerful and there is a lot of energy,' said Mr Koons. 'You can participate with it, add to it and let yourself transcend with its energy. There is a lot of power under that hood and I want to let my ideas transcend with the car .......it's really to connect with that power.' I think he succeeded doing so pretty well. It looks like the colours came from the Speed Racer movie. The speed emulating design was first created on a computer and then into a digital print on car wrapping vinyl for a painstaking application to the M3 GT2. The process of using vinyl stickers is exactly the same all the cars the matte black or matte grey cars that is popular in the market today. Those days everything was actually painted, painstakingly by the artists and their assistants. Look at how technology has made things much easier, even art. This 500bhp M3 GT2 is presumed to be prepared only for the upcoming Le Mans as by September, this car will be displayed at the BMW museum in Munich. -
Red Bulls skewer each other allowing a McLaren 1-2 at the Turkish F1 GP
Rigval posted a blog entry in MyAutoBlog
Time flies when you're having fun and befor you know it, another Grand Prix race has come and gone. This time, Lewis Hamilton driving for McLaren-Mercedes claimed victory at the Turkish Formula 1 Grand Prix held at Istanbul last weekend. It was Mr Hamilton's first victory in a while (ten races). It was also a nightmare for Red Bull even though their drivers started in pole and in third position too. Hamilton started the race in second position. The nightmare was basically due to an overly enthusiastic Sebastian Vettel trying to overtake his teammate and pole sitter Mark Webber resulting in a crash. Now before we get to that let's start with a bit of trivia. Istanbul F1 Grand Prix of 2010 was Ferrari's 800th race in Formula 1 by the way and they started it badly by qualifying in 8th and 12th place. So critiques and fans are thinking about what is wrong with both Alonso and Massa before the race started. it was a good race for Lewis Hamilton as from the start he kept up the pressure on pole sitter Mark Webber only losing out to third position holder, Webber's Red Bull teammate, Sebastian Vettel moving into second when the McLaren pitstop crew had a small problem during the tire change. Now being someone who's young, fired up and already a world champion, Hamilton continued the chase and kept up the pressure on Vettel. I suppose it was this relentless pressure and also the fact that Webber won the last two F1 Grand Prix races prior to this made Vettel try something drastic, like try fit his Red Bull into Webber's Red Bull. This impulsive action basically caused him to crash out of the race and made Webber limp his way into the pits for repair work. This unfortunate turn of events (if you looked at it from Red Bull's camp) was capitalized by both Hamilton and his team mate Jenson Button which took over first and second positions respectively. Now these two world champions somehow nearly did some similar damage themselves by actually racing each other instead of pacing themselves to the end. Button actually too the lead on one occasion and they did rub into each other. But in the end, Hamilton pulled through and stayed in top position till the very end. Amazing. If both drivers of McLaren did the same mistake as the Red Bull ones then it would have been a real tale of not learning from other people's mistakes. Actually I do not think they learnt from other people's mistakes (in this case Red Bull's blunder) as they still fought for the lead. McLaren was just plain lucky in my opinion. Anyway, Lewis Hamilton claims his first victory of the 2010 season. Mark Webber somehow manages to still make third, looking a little depressed ahead of Michael Schumacher (it seems that the new modifications on the Mercedes-Brawn-Petronas made recently paid off), Nico Rosberg, Robert Kubica, Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso. Not a bad 800th outing for Ferrari considering they started in 8th and 12th as stated above. Next race: Canada 13th June 2010 Results 1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1h28:47.620 2. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 2.645 3. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 24.285 4. Schumacher Mercedes + 31.110 5. Rosberg Mercedes + 32.266 6. Kubica Renault + 32.824 7. Massa Ferrari + 36.635 8. Alonso Ferrari + 46.544 9. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 49.029 10. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1:05.650 11. De la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari + 1:05.944 12. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:07.800 13. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap 14. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap 15. Petrov Renault + 1 lap 16. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 17. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap 18. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps 19. Di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth + 3 laps Did not finish Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 53 -
A surprise victory for BMW Motorsport at the 24hr Nurburgring Race
Rigval posted a blog entry in MyAutoBlog
[extract] We've recently written in here that the Lexus LFA, the Peugeot RCZ as well as the 4 door Aston Martin Rapide were entering the Nurburgring 24 Hours Endurance Race to prove their worth. Well folks, the race was held last weekend and the results were a surprise victory for Team BMW Motorsport with the M3 GT2. Car Number 25, a BMW M3 GT2 driven by J -
Who says Monaco will be a race where it becomes a procession or a 'follow the leader race'? This time the 2010 Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix was action packed and there was action down to the wire. The final two laps were run under a safety car and just before the end of the final lap, the safety car pulled in and there was even an overtaking move made by Michael Schumacher on Fernando Alonso, which he somehow managed to pull off. Pole sitter Mark Webber won this race which was totally action filled. Sebastian Vettel made it a 1-2 finish with Robert Kubica of Renault coming in third. The Monaco street circuit is a yearly glamour event for the F1 circus. You get to see movie stars, billionaires and pop singers aside from the usual motorsport people. The tight circuit is somehow loved by the drivers as it requires a lot more concentration due to the narrow track and the barriers. The race started with Webber blasting away from the lead while Robert Kubica of Renault tries to hold off Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull, but he can't do it and it's a Red Bull 1-2 through the first corner. Ferrari's Massa is fourth ahead of McLaren's Hamilton followed by Barrichello, Schumacher, Rosberg, Liuzzi, Sutil, Button. Although everyone made it past the first corner, Nico Hulkenberg, crashed at the exit of the tunnel causing the safety car to come out and also causing Jenson Button of McLaren to retire from a cooked engine (pic above) (caused by the slower safety car speeds and an error by the McLaren team on failing to remove an engine cover). This was the first of four safety car incidents. The second one was in lap 32 when Rubens Barrichello decided to stuff his Williams into the barrier. The third was when a drain cover coming lose at around lap 44. The final one was a real stunner in itself but it also caused another interesting event to happen, which I will get to right after this. The final safety car incident was caused on lap 76, two laps before the end. Jarno Trulli of Lotus tried to take Force India's Chandhok but hit him and the Lotus was airborne and landed on Chandhok's car. By this time everyone thought that the race would end with a safety car and with all the positions already settled. But Michael Schumacher had other ideas and right at the end, just after the safety car had pulled in he overtook Fernando Alonso to clinch sixth. I mean, if you blinked or started to rush for the loo, you'd miss it. Alonso must be miffed, as he started last from the pits, made his way though all the backmarkers and then at the last corner get taken by Schumacher. Then again, being seventh from last is a fabulous result anyway. Webber and Vettel are now tied in the Drivers' standings on 78 points each and Red Bull hold a 20-point advantage over second placed Ferrari in the Constructors' Championship. It was a great race at Monaco this weekend. Four safety car incidents, lots of crashes, tactics and last minute action made it a great race. Actually, having more chances to view that new Mercedes SLS Safety car is a good thing too. POST RACE UPDATE: Michael Schumacher was demoted from 6th to 12th for his overtaking move which was deemed as illegal after a post race investigation. Mercedes will not appeal the result of the investigation. Tough luck Schummi! The Results: 1. Webber -Red Bull-Renault 1h50:00.000 2. Vettel -Red Bull-Renault + 0.448 3. Kubica -Renault + 1.600 4. Massa -Ferrari + 2.600 5. Hamilton -McLaren-Mercedes + 4.300 6. Schumacher -Mercedes + 5.700 7. Alonso -Ferrari + 6.300 8. Rosberg -Mercedes + 6.600 9. Sutil -Force India-Mercedes + 6.900 10. Liuzzi -Force India-Mercedes + 7.300 11. Buemi -Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 8.100 12. Alguersuari -Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 9.100 13. Petrov -Renault + 4 laps Retirements: Hulkenberg - lap 1 - crash Button - lap 3 - engine failure De la Rosa - lap 23 - mechanical Glock - lap 24 - suspension Kobayashi - lap 27 - technical Di Grassi - lap 28 - hydraulics Barrichello - lap 31 - crash Senna - lap 62 - mechanical Kovalainen - lap 62 - technical Trulli - lap 75 - crash Chandhok - lap 75 - crash Petrov - lap 76 - wheel problem Sources: Free TV and PlanetF1.com (for the pics)
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Last Sunday (9th May 2010) marked an event held for the 10th anniversary of a pretty famous Malaysian based website called Zerotohundred.com. Together with High Performance Challenge (HPC), they had organized a time attack shootout at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) dubbed Time To Attack: Sepang. The event was scheduled right after the HPC track day held in the morning and the turnout for both events were pretty great in light of the rain that was almost continuous since 11.45am till about 5.00pm. - Alfa Romeo from SG included a Brera, 156 GTA, these two 147s and a GT There were participants from Malaysia and Singapore for both events and being there was an experience. However, the rain made things pretty difficult for some and exciting for others but it also wrecked havoc with the telemetry equipment resulting in a long waiting period for those participating in the time attack. It was raining pretty heavily as you can see in the pictures. All categories had posted their first run in the rain, providing an equal challenge for all participants. I was there with a group of friends, one of whom happened to be the proprietor of a Subaru specialist garage in Subang Jaya, Malaysia. He and two other garage mates entered for the time attack in the
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Formula 1 at Barcelona: Mark Webber wins from pole position
Rigval posted a blog entry in MyAutoBlog
It seems the three weeks break has done wonders for Red Bull as Mark Webber gets his first win of the 2010 season. He started from pole position and steamed ahead of his team mate Sebastian Vettel at the start of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix at the Catalunya Circuit in Barcelona. The race was basically pretty straightforward as there was no overtaking on the track whatsoever. Fernando Alonso of Ferrari was second (to the delight of Spanish fans as he's Spanish) and third was Sebastian Vettel. I'd have to say that the only pit stop was used by most of the front runners to strategize an overtaking maneuver and only those taking up the rear of the field were taking a crack at each other. Moments of action were when Sebastian Vettel lost out the Lewis Hamilton of McLaren in the pit stop but unfortunately for Mr. Hamilton, he suffered a puncture on the penultimate lap causing him to hit the tire barriers and be classified in 14th. Tough luck. The other McLaren, driving by the reigning world champion Jenson Button lost out to the venerable Michael Schumacher. He spent 40 laps or so stuck behind Herr Schumacher, unable to overtake. It seems the Brawn Mercedes that Michael Schumacher was driving has a few updates. Particularly the longer wheelbase which seems to suit Schumacher's driving style (at the expense of Nico Rosberg's style, it seems) and the aero upgrades -
[extract] It is actually surprising that a volcano that most of us haven't heard of or know how its pronounced have affected millions of people indirectly. The Eyjafjallajokull volcano located in Iceland which had erupted on or around the 17th of April 2010 spewing volcanic ash and the winds taking it all over Europe. As a result of the unpronounceable volcano deciding to erupt, many flights were canceled as well as causing many airports in Europe to close as volcanic ash is destructive and corrosive to aluminium and other metal used in aircraft, making airlines lose up to
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The Raging Bull goes racing: Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo
Rigval posted a blog entry in MyAutoBlog
The ultra luxury watch company Blancpain (a part of the Swatch Group, Switzerland) is the series title sponsor for one of the world's fastest one make series, the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo. 2009 was the first year that the race was run and this year, a lot of Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo, lightweight versions of the Gallardo LP560-4 will compete at the opening race at the Hockenheimring in Germany on 24-25th April 2010 at the supporting race for the German Touring Car Championship or in short, the DTM. Motorsport fans would know that the DTM is a race series where you can find heavily modified Audis, BMWs, Mercedes' and so forth. To some, it is the pinnacle of touring car racing. Or in my opinion, a racing series whose cars still look like those we drive, albeit with wings, slats, large spoilers and more. The LP560-4 based Super Trofeo has a reworked chassis and a power output of 570 hp. The V10 engine is a -
Formula 1 at Shanghai: Button and Hamilton make it a one-two for McLaren
Rigval posted a blog entry in MyAutoBlog
Jenson Button wins the 2010 Shanghai F1 Grand Prix. The 2009 World Champion started fifth on the grid and his decision to stay on slicks when everyone else pitted for intermediates as well as Nico Rosberg spinning saw him move to P1 on lap 20. He maintained in that position till the end and insisted after the race that his victory was down to the team's ability to make the correct decisions when it mattered. The Shanghai race ended with Button 1st, his teammate Lewis Hamilton in 2nd and Nico Rosberg of Brawn Mercedes Petronas in 3rd. The bad news of the day was that Red Bull may have started the race in P1 and P2 on the grid but that's not where they finished after falling foul of the changing (quite wet) conditions. The other Brawn Mercedes Petronas driver, a certain Michael Schumacher finished 10th, behind Ferrari's Massa who somehow managed to slip pass Schumacher somewhere at the end of the race. After starting ninth on the grid, Schumacher nearly had a top-five finish following a row of pit stops due to the changing weather weather. However, aside from a small battle with Lewis Hamilton, he quickly slipped back to the middle of the pack and was even grappling for grip at times. Schumacher admits it wasn't a good weekend for him all-round, but says he enjoyed his battle with Lewis Hamilton. It was a pretty interesting race with the safety car coming out twice. The weather playing an important part in making things interesting and nearly everyone, with the exception of Jenson Button went in and out of the pits. Good decision making from the team and from him. Mclaren were really good in that the fastest lap of the race was also snapped up by Lewis Hamilton. Things should get even better as the teams now head to Europe -
Maserati competes in the 2010 FIA GT1 Championships: First race, 17th April 2010
Rigval posted a blog entry in MyAutoBlog
The 2010 FIA GT1 World Championship will start off on Saturday, 17 April at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi with six manufacturer entries consisting of twenty-four cars. The defending champions, the Maserati MC12s, are expected to be at the forefront, even if they are slightly penalized in terms of performance by new FIA GT technical modifications. This is actually nothing new as when the racing versions of the MC12s first came out in 2004, the GT1 rules were somehow changed and the cars were already penalised for their extra range. One of the major changes to the GT1 Championship is the race formula itself, with two separate sprint-type one-hour races instead of a single two-hour race. It could be more interesting as spectators get to watch two races instead of one. And we all know that the most exciting stuff happens during the start of every race. Especially at the first corner. Maserati will participate in the GT1 Championship with four cars manned by two teams. Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini, winners of the driver title for the past two years running, will be driving Vitaphone Racing Team's lead Maserati MC12 once again, while Miguel Ramos and ex-F1 driver Enrique Bernoldi will helm the second MC12. The other MC12s are from the German racing team Triple H Team Hegersport and will be driven by a Belgian, Bert Longin and an Italian, Matteo Bobbi . This is in addition to the team's owner MC12, where Alftid Heger will be paired up with Alex Margaritis, a German driver of Greek origin. There will be ten championship rounds, four of which outside Europe and again a middle eastern country starts off the racing season (which shows you where the actual customer base for expensive GT cars is located nowadays). The championship will conclude in Argentina on 5 December 2010. For those who are not familiar with the Maserati MC12, the car is actually an Enzo Ferrari in race clothing. It shares the same Ferrari V12 engine with slight modifications (for more torque), the same gearbox and the same chassis and track. The Maserati MC12 has its own bodywork which is wider, longer and slightly taller leaving the windshield as the only externally visible component shared with the Enzo. This extra size allows for greater downforce across the whole body, adding to that of the two metre wide spoiler. It is harder to drive yet is faster than the Enzo on most race tracks. This is supposedly due to its more focused nature, more racer than road car compared with the Enzo. It is because of the focused nature that the car is still competitive five years after its launched. For those who may be in or around Abu Dhabi, the schedule for the race at Yas Marina is as follows: Practices: Friday, 16 April, from 7:30 pm to 8:30 pm (local time) Race: Saturday, 17 April, from 4 pm to 5 pm and from 7:45 pm to 8:45 pm (local time) -
Peugeot takes part in the Nurburgring 24hrs for the first time with two diesel RCZs
Rigval posted a blog entry in MyAutoBlog
[extract] Now for more N -
Aston Martin to compete the 4 door Rapide at the Nurbugring 24hr race.
Rigval posted a blog entry in MyAutoBlog
[extract]Aston Martin has announced that they will compete for the fifth consecutive time at the 38th ADAC N -
Finally, Sebastian Vettel wins for Red Bull at the 2010 PETRONAS Malaysian GP
Rigval posted a blog entry in MyAutoBlog
[extract] And Sebastian Vettel finally wins a race in 2010, after three Formula 1 GPs. His win and Mark Webber -
In motor sport, a privateer is usually an entrant into a racing event that is not directly supported by an automobile manufacturer. Privateers teams are often found competing in rally and circuit racing events, and often include competitors who build and maintain their own vehicles. In previous Formula One seasons, privately-owned teams would race using the chassis of another team or constructor in preference to building their own car; the Concorde Agreement now prohibits this practise. Increasingly the term is being used in an F1 context to refer to teams who are not at least part-owned by large corporations, such as WilliamsF1. Many privateer entrants compete for the enjoyment of the sport, and are not paid to be racing drivers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privateer_%28motorsport%29
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Yes, things are much better this time around in Melbourne, Australia. The Quantas Australia Formula 1 Grand Prix 2010 saw Jenson Button of McLaren Mercedes taking the chequered flag, Robert Kubica of Renault taking second and Ferrari's Phillipe Massa coming in third. But the good thing was it rained and there was racing instead of a procession of cars. This fact played a real part in Button's victory as he gambled on an early tire change from intermediates to full race slicks very early on. It wasn't like Bore-rain, where I almost fell asleep while watching the telly. It had the racers maintain their track position lap after lap. It had overtaking this time unlike Bahrain, the rain in the early part of the race. As it was a wet start, entertainment happened from the start. Car crashes and all. Pole Sitter Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing had a decent start, as did Felipe Massa from fifth splitting the Red Bulls (who started in pole and in second) by Massa. Fernando Alonso who started in position 3( P3) dropped back. Michael Schumacher, Jenson Button got into a predicament as Alonso closed the door at the corner. Michael Schumacher got nudged and his front wing damaged (for which he had to pit). Button lost ground as he took avoiding action and cars passed by. A Toro Rosso (Buemi) headed for the gravel as the Sauber driven by Kamui Kobayashi which lost a front wing on the way to Turn 3 pitched him right into the barriers, then his car bouncing off across the track and taking out both Nico Hulkenberg and Sebastien Buemi. Three car casualties and not even one lap completed the Race Director Charlie Whiting called for the safety car. You see, rain makes entertaining racing. It was Jenson Button's decision for a very early pitstop (lap 6) that allowed him to win. After deciding that the intermediate tires were not doing well for him, he came in for slicks and it nearly cost him as upon leaving the pits, he lost control and went straight on turn 3. Two laps later almost all of the front runners came in for slicks with the exception of the Red Bulls which seemed okay on intermediates. Sebastian Vettel's seems to have gotten into an unlucky streak of starting on pole and then the car letting him down. In Bahrain, engine trouble was the cause and this time, the brakes had locked up and he ended in the gravel. The reliability of the Red Bull in question. Lewis Hamilton of McLaren also had bad luck and bad team decision. McLaren, had decided to call for a tire change without consulting the driver and according to Hamilton, this cost him a podium finish. Maybe it was down to inexperience on Hamilton's side and a bad mistake by the team. As some said that as driver he would have a choice to say 'no' to his race engineer. Even an experienced team like McLaren can make bad decisions. On the point of bad luck, Hamilton tangled with Mark Webber not once, but twice, the second time costing him to end his race at P6 instead of P5 and Webber a front wing and getting P9 with a possibility of a penalty at the next race in Sepang. Nico Rosberg of Mercedes Petronas capitalizing and getting P5 instead. It was fun. Even at the tail end of the race Michael Schumacher on the last 10 laps had overtaken two cars clinching P10 for the last point scoring position. Rain equals unpredictability in Formula 1 and this is a good thing. Maybe we don't need the Gatling Guns, batterin rams and missiles after all. Just add water to the race track instead. Sepang would be equally fun if it rains. I just hope it does not rain till all racing was stopped like last year. Results 1. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1h33:36.531 2. Kubica Renault + 12.034 3. Massa Ferrari + 14.488 4. Alonso Ferrari + 16.304 5. Rosberg Mercedes + 16.683 6. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 29.898 7. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes + 59.847 8. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1:00.536 9. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 1:07.319 10. Schumacher Mercedes + 1:09.391 11. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:11.301 12. De la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari + 1:14.084 13. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth + 2 laps 14. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth + 4 laps Did Not Finish Glock Virgin-Cosworth 41 Vettel Red Bull-Renault 26 Di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 25 Sutil Force India-Mercedes 12 Petrov Renault 10 Senna HRT-Cosworth 5 Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1 Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1 Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1 Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1
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[extract] Looks like there will be another Mad Mercedes is on the way. But only for GT racing. Coinciding with the official market launch of the road going AMG SLS on 27 March 2010 Mercedes-AMG has showcased the SLS AMG GT3 for FIA GT3 Racing teams to consider. The SLS AMG GT3 is designed as a racing car for customers competing in sprints and long-distance races. These race series for near-series GT cars are noted for their very varied participants and great excitement. Not least because of their comparatively favorable cost structure, they are enjoying increasing worldwide popularity. Oh yes, favorable for those racing Aston Martins, Maseratis and Ferraris in those GT races most popular in the United States and in Europe. How favorable it is for any small time South East Asian motor racing team is questionable but that
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A Kia breadvan is the official 2010 U.S Touring Car Championship safety car
Rigval posted a blog entry in MyAutoBlog
[extract] It seems a Kia Soul has been chosen to be the safety car in the United States Touring Car championship for 2010. The Kia is the official safety car of the U.S. Touring Car Championship series, which is modelled after European touring car races and features modified production-based sedans. Of course this news is not very relevant to Kia enthusiasts here (if there are any) since this model isn -
Gazoo Racing 'seasons' the Lexus LFA for the 2010 Nurburgring 24hours Race
Rigval posted a blog entry in MyAutoBlog
Toyota has decided to enter its only sports car in the Nurburgring 24 hours Endurance Race. By that I mean that Toyota has decided to let its luxury brand Lexus compete. As such, the actually amazing production version of the Lexus LFA will compete in the above mentioned race, prior to this; Lexus had twice entered the Nurburgring 24 hours with development mules competing in the prototype category. Now the full fledged production version will do the same. The cars will be prepared by Gazoo racing and will be driven by a total of four Japanese and three German drivers that have GT racing and endurance driving experience. The production Lexus LFA has a 552 bhp mid-mounted V10 engine which sounds really unique, and is capable of 0-100 km/h in 3.7 seconds and a top speed of around 320 km/h. I wonder how much modification will go into the car as in endurance racing, reliability is paramount. Maybe the power output will remain the same, with additional oil coolers for the rear differential and gearbox. The other major change might be to the gearing, making it suited for racing and partly fuel economy as its an endurance race. Refueling, tire change as well as driver changing stops play a main role in endurance racing too. Now who are Gazoo Racing you may ask. It seems that Gazoo Racing is a Japanese tuner with a Toyota specific tuning business. They have entered Lexus/Toyota Altezzas in 2007, the Lexus IS250 in 2008 and the prototype LFAs in 2009 in the Nurburgring 24hour races So far their road specials were/are limited to the Toyota IQ and the Vitz in Japan. They are experts in
