Race Of Champions Round Up: Germany & Albuquerque Win, Kovalainen Drama

Team Germany ran away to success in the Race of Champions Nation Cup last weekend, a victory on home soil in Dusseldorf for the pairing of Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher. The pair overcame stiff competition from top motorsport countries of the world, as drivers from all motorsport disciplines tried their hand in a variety [...]

Heini Walter Rodger Ward Derek Warwick John Watson

Gerhard Berger About Himself

Robin Widdows Eppie Wietzes Mike Wilds Jonathan Williams

Sarah Fisher hangs up Helmet...

Mike Thackwell Alfonso Thiele Eric Thompson Johnny Thomson

AMA SBK: Has Pegram Found A Better Mousetrap?

Larry Pegram and BMW are teaming up in 2011. This is a combination that should not be underestimated.

Vic Wilson Joachim Winkelhock Manfred Winkelhock Markus Winkelhock

IRC: Rally Sardegna tweaks route

Rally Sardegna tweaks route By David Evans Friday, December 17th 2010, 16:26 GMT Next year's Rally d-Italia-Sardegna will not start from Rome as originally planned, but it will feature a number of alterations to its route for 2011. The Olbia-based event had been tipped for a ceremonial start in Rome before the cars were shipped over to Sardinia for the competitive element of the May 5-8 rally. Related posts:

1. IRC: Monte tweaks route for centenary Monte tweaks route for centenary By David Evans Wednesday, September...
2. WRC: Rally Japan route tweaked for this year Rally Japan route tweaked for this year By David Evans...
3. WRC: Rally Finland issues 2010 route Rally Finland issues 2010 route By David Evans Friday, February...

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Desmond Titterington Johnnie Tolan Alejandro de Tomaso Charles de Tornaco

Peugeot EX1 concept setting EV performance records

EX1 concept sets unofficial record for 0 to 100 km/h sprint for all-electric racer coming in at just 3.49 seconds.

Jackie Stewart Jimmy Stewart Siegfried Stohr Rolf Stommelen

A balanced view of the Lotus-Lotus situation

Adrian Sutil Len Sutton Aguri Suzuki Toshio Suzuki

Campaign launched to save Team Lotus

© Save Team Lotus

One side of the Lotus naming dispute has been put forward on a new and in-depth webpage called www.saveteamlotus.com. The basic background is that the Lotus Racing F1 team had its naming rights revoked for next season by Group Lotus and, in order to keep racing under the Lotus name, bought the Team Lotus brand off David Hunt, who had owned it since the original team?s last race in 1994. Group Lotus has now taken Lotus Racing to court to try and stop it using the historic name in Formula One next year. The issue has been a source of constant confusion for many fans and the new webpage offers a breakdown of David Hunt?s and Team Lotus? side of the argument.

Ian Stewart Jackie Stewart Jimmy Stewart Siegfried Stohr

We Are in Valencia

Jo Vonlanthen Ernie de Vos Bill Vukovich Syd van der Vyver

McLaren previews MP4-12C GT3 racer [video]

McLaren has announced plans to return to racing with the MP4-12C GT3. Details inside

Dempsey Wilson Desire Wilson Justin Wilson Vic Wilson

test

Marc Surer John Surtees Andy Sutcliffe Adrian Sutil

OTHER: Albuquerque: RoC win no career boost

Albuquerque: RoC win no career boost By Matt Beer Monday, November 29th 2010, 10:27 GMT Surprise Race of Champions winner Filipe Albuquerque says he is not counting on his victory in the end-of-season event to revitalise his career, though he was pleased to show his capability by beating the likes of Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel and seven-time World Rally title-winner Sebastien Loeb. Albuquerque won all of his RoC heats on Sunday, then knocked out Portuguese compatriot Alvaro Parente in the quarter finals and home crowd favourite Vettel in the semis. He then came up against three-time RoC winner Loeb in the final, and triumphed 2-1 in the best-of-three shoot-out. Related posts:

1. OTHER: Albuquerque takes shock RoC win Albuquerque takes shock RoC win By Matt Beer Sunday, November...
2. IRC: Meeke: Ogier will boost Peugeot Meeke: Ogier will boost Peugeot By David Evans Friday, June...
3. WRC: Loeb set to retire after 2011 Loeb set to retire after 2011 Thursday, September 23rd 2010,...

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Alex Yoong Alex Zanardi

Ideas to help NASCAR regain its edge

Renzo Zorzi Ricardo Zunino Vincenzo Sospiri Stephen South

Sebastian Vettel is World Champion!

Robin Widdows Eppie Wietzes Mike Wilds Jonathan Williams

Red Bull under the spotlight

Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel celebrate with Red Bull boss Christian Horner on the podium © Getty Images

Sections of the international media have questioned Red Bull's strategic approach to the world championship. After Sebastian Vettel won the Brazilian Grand Prix from the team's points leader Mark Webber at Interlagos, Der Spiegel noted: "Red Bull gives (Fernando) Alonso wings". Not switching the places means that Spaniard Alonso can take his Ferrari to just second place this weekend in Abu Dhabi and be champion, whereas the alternative strategy would have set up Webber for a straight fight. "It is not easy for Webber to drive in a team that considers him a burden to be up against Vettel," said La Gazzetta dello Sport. Tuttosport noted that it seems "the Austrian team would be happier to lose than to see Webber beat Vettel". "No team orders at Red Bull. Another own goal," headlined La Repubblica. Joan Villadelprat wrote in his El Pais column: "Had Red Bull opted for Webber a few races ago, the Australian would probably now be champion." Red Bull, however, is unrepentant. Team owner Dietrich Mateschitz told Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper that "second under proper conditions can often be more valuable than a first". But there is a feeling that the team is not simply giving up the fight for the drivers' title. One columnist in Brazil's Globo wondered if Vettel's radio message in Abu Dhabi might sound something like 'So ... Mark is faster than you'. "I'm always in favour of leaving the fight on the track with equal chances for both sides," said Rubens Barrichello. "But I wonder if they would do that if the situation was in reverse. ?Mark has done a great job this year and he has been told by his team what position he is in," said Lewis Hamilton. "Against adversity he has kept at it. I want to see Mark win." Webber believes that, if a strategy is deployed, it will only be on the "last lap" of the season this weekend. "Sebastian is part of a team," said Niki Lauda, who believes Webber should be backed fully by Red Bull. "If he does anything it should be helping Webber and not just on the last lap." Webber is quoted by Bild newspaper: "It makes sense. Otherwise it would mean that Ferrari's team orders would have paid off for Fernando." Red Bull team boss Christian Horner hints that sense will ultimately prevail. "We have already given too many presents to Fernando this year," he is quoted by Autosprint.

Guy Tunmer Jack Turner Toni Ulmen Bobby Unser

Alonso happy with Pirelli after topping times

Fernando Alonso set the fastest time for Ferrari on the second and final day of the Pirelli test in Abu Dhabi as the Spaniard drove a marathon 105 laps, more than any other driver and the equivalent of almost two … Continue reading →

Len Sutton Aguri Suzuki Toshio Suzuki Jacques Swaters

What New Car Models You Would Like to See Released?

..............My list in no particular order..................The 2010 Ford Taurus SHO..............The 73' Buick Riviera with the boat tail roof.............A 1/25 64' and 1/2 Ford Mustang (any body style). A newly tooled version would be an improvement over the back dated eighties 66' Mustang convertible Monogram has released at various times...............The (forgotten) 74-78 Mustang. It may have had only four cylinders and suggested a Ford Pinto on roids, but it was a Mustang. Since the AMT annual was way to over simplified and MPC turned their's into a pro street it is hole in many Mustang collections. It is time to do a new tool................The 73'-78' Chevy Impala coupe/convertible was among the last full size GM  products. There is an MPC  76' annual which many of us have bought for trailer; not the soft on detail Impala. It would be great if Revell could do one with all of the detail of their 66' Impala............The Carbon Motors E7 would be a good light commercial subject with its police warning lights built into the roof line, chassis mounted push bars and enough high tech gear in the dashboard to make the Knight 2000 look like a Yugo................The new (Dark Knight) Batmobile in 1/25th scale...............A 2010-11 Ford and/or Chevy full size vans.  They would be perfect for light commercial subjects..............The 1941 Chavy van/Suburban. Given the extra  door handle in their 41' pickup kit Revell must have thought of it already.

Alberto Uria Nino Vaccarella Bob Veith Jos Verstappen

Formula 1 and Valencia

Francisco Camps, the President of the Generalitat Valenciana, the government of the autonomous community of Valencia, has denied that the region is trying to get rid of the European Grand Prix, because it is costing them too much money. The claims were published at the end of last week. The opposition has claimed that the [...]

Jackie Stewart Jimmy Stewart Siegfried Stohr Rolf Stommelen

Spy Scandal is Closed But Not for Nigel Stepney

Piero Taruffi Dennis Taylor Henry Taylor John Taylor

F1 2011: Tyres, adjustable rear wings, 640 kg and...

June 24 '10

The FIA's World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) announced a raft of decisions after a meeting in Geneva on Wednesday (June 23). Decisions include the rule clarification which involved Michael Schumacher at the 2010 Monaco Grand Prix, where he passed Fernando Alonso on the final lap when the safety car returned to the pits and was handed a twenty-second penalty. Also, repeat of Hamilton's Montreal qualifying stunt wont be allowed.

Others decisions are taken to "improve the show" which involves the use of proximity rear wing.

Tyres

We finally have an F1 tyre supplier for 2011. The FIA preferred the idea of Michelin, as did McLaren and Ferrari in particular. But it is Pirelli who have beaten off competition from Michelin. Pirelli becomes the official F1 tyre supplier from 2011. The Italian tyre manufacturer gets a three-year contract from 2011 to 2013. They last supplied F1 teams in 1991.

According to WMSC:

Pirelli has been selected as the single tyre supplier for the FIA Formula One World Championship for a period of three years, commencing in 2011. The sole supplier will undertake to strictly respect the sporting and technical regulations implemented by the FIA.

Safety Car

In the wake of the controversy involving Michael Schumacher in Monaco, the FIA has ruled that there will be no overtaking even when the safety car pulls in on the last lap of a race.

With immediate effect, no car may overtake until it has passed the first safety car line for the first time when the safety car is returning to the pits. However, if the safety car is still deployed at the beginning of the last lap, or is deployed during the last lap, it will enter the pit lane at the end of the lap and the cars will take the chequered flag as normal without overtaking.

General safety

Lewis Hamilton?s fine and reprimand after qualifying in Canada has resulted in a new rule requiring drivers to stay below a ?maximum time? set by the FIA on in-laps.

With immediate effect, any car being driven unnecessarily slowly, erratically, or which is deemed potentially dangerous to other drivers, will be reported to the stewards. This will apply whether any such car is being driven on the track, the pit entry or the pit lane.

In order to ensure cars are not driven unnecessarily slowly on in-laps during qualifying or reconnaissance laps when the pit exit is opened for the race, drivers must stay below the maximum time set by the FIA between the safety car line after the pit exit and safety car line before the pit entry. The maximum time will be determined by the race director at each event prior to the first day of practice, but may be amended during the event if necessary.

The grid

Next year, the 107 per cent qualifying rule will reappear. Any car not setting a time within 107% of the fastest time in the final part of qualifying, will not be allowed to start the race. This was dropped when single lap qualifying was introduced in 2002. There are exceptions however, whereby if a team sets competitive lap times during practice session, they maybe allowed to race.

From 2011, any driver whose best qualifying lap exceeds 107% of the fastest Q1 qualifying time will not be allowed to take part in the race. Under exceptional circumstances, however, which may include setting a suitable lap time in a free practice session, the stewards may permit the car to start the race. Should there be more than one driver accepted in this manner, the grid order will be determined by the stewards.

An analysis by F1Fanatic: "Had the rule as proposed been in place this year it would have prevented both HRT drivers from starting in Bahrain and Malaysia. Lucas di Grassi would have been out of the Malaysian race as well, leaving just 21 cars on the grid.

"Bruno Senna would have missed out on racing at Barcelona ? by just one-hundredth of a second ? and Karun Chandhok wouldn?t have been on the grid at Canada last week."


Adjustable rear wings

The FIA has banned F-ducts for 2011 and approved the debut of the proximity rear wing. The adjustable rear wing can only be operated by the drivers to overtake the car in front.

McLaren?s engineering director Paddy Lowe said on Wednesday, "In the race, you can?t use it (the wing) for the first two laps at all, but after that if you?re within a second of the car in front then you will be able to deploy it,?

?So that will be very interesting. That?s a FOTA initiative to improve the show and I think it?s very exciting.?

From 2011, adjustable bodywork may be activated by the driver at any time prior to the start of the race and, for the sole purpose of improving overtaking opportunities during the race, after the driver has completed two laps. The driver may only activate the adjustable bodywork in the race when he has been notified via the control electronics that it is enabled. It will only be enabled if the driver is less than one second behind another at any of the pre-determined positions around each circuit. The system will be disabled the first time the driver uses the brakes after the system has been activated. The FIA may, after consulting all the competitors, adjust the time proximity in order to ensure the purpose of the adjustable bodywork is met.

Weight

For the return of KERS, the minimum car-plus-driver weight will increase from 620kg to 640kg.

From 2011, the minimum weight of the car must not be less than 640 kg at all times during the event.

Licences

A ?four-race probationary super license? has been approved for Renault?s official third driver Ho-Pin Tung.

Based on his career r�sum� and comparative F1 testing times, the World Council has approved the granting of a four-race probationary super license to Chinese driver Ho-Pin Tung.

Credit : GMM, fia.com, F1Fanatic Images(C) Daylife, F1Fanatic, F1.com, F1 Aldia

Jos Verstappen Sebastian Vettel Gilles Villeneuve Jacques Villeneuve

My Brazilian Grand Prix review

Hello everyone, the Brazilian Grand Prix was not a great race, but it was a hugely significant one.

Congratulations to Red Bull for winning the constructors' championship, a new star is born in Williams's Nico Hulkenberg, McLaren seem to have lost the plot, and it's all set for a thrilling finale in Abu Dhabi.

I went to the Beaulieu Museum to film my thoughts on the race and you can watch it here.

In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content.

IF YOU ARE OUTSIDE THE UK, CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO

Ricardo Zunino Vincenzo Sospiri Stephen South Mike Sparken

1967 Plymouth GTX HEMI - Completed

 Here are some WIP pictures of my Revel 1967 GTX. Model Master Black with red interior. I used a picture of this car I found on the internet for the details. Will have it completed in a couple days.Enjoy and coments are always welcome.

 

Charles de Tornaco Tony Trimmer Maurice Trintignant Wolfgang von Trips

Attention race fans?

There is to be an online auction in early December with some pretty impressive F1 prizes on offer. These will include a personal VIP tour of McLaren?s Technology Centre in Woking, followed by a three course lunch and one-on-one meet with either Jenson Button or Lewis Hamilton; a tour of the facility for four people [...]

Jarno Trulli Esteban Tuero Guy Tunmer Jack Turner

2012 McLaren MP4 GT3 racer spied on the track

Race-ready version of the McLaren GT3 spotted doing a test run on the track wearing a large rear wing.

Robin Widdows Eppie Wietzes Mike Wilds Jonathan Williams

Johnson knows how it feels to chase a champion

Joachim Winkelhock Manfred Winkelhock Markus Winkelhock Reine Wisell

Porsche boss plays down F1 foray likelihood

Porsche's new boss has played down speculation the marque might soon enter formula one.

Manfred Winkelhock Markus Winkelhock Reine Wisell Roelof Wunderink

Five ways to improve F1

Emerson Fittipaldi in his heyday © Sutton Images

In an interview in the Times, former world champion Emerson Fittipaldi?s outlined his five-point plan to enhance Formula One. Cut costs ?They spend a fortune in wind-tunnel testing alone. Reduce costs and the slowest teams would catch up and make it more even.? Limit downforce ?They need to reduce enormously the downforce in the cars, the only way to bring back overtaking. We need more mechanical grip so that you have longer braking areas, can set up the car coming out of a corner, get in the slipstream and then overtake.? Close the pitlane ?When the safety car goes out they should close the pitlane. Now it?s just a lottery.? Lift ban on team orders ?It is a very stupid rule. It?s why they are called teams, it?s why they have two cars. If a driver is leading in the championship, everything has to go in his favour. What is wrong with that? It?s so easy for teams to camouflage their orders anyway. All they need to do is tell one guy on the radio he has a problem with his brakes. They can bend the rules very easily. In the old days they would even swap cars, so why do we have this ban now?? Retain traditional grands prix ?These places are the soul of racing. The Americas are under-represented. We have Canada back, but there is no USA, no Argentina, no Mexico. We need to stay in the heartlands.?

Mike Sparken Scott Speed Mike Spence Alan Stacey

2012 McLaren MP4 GT3 racer spied on the track

Race-ready version of the McLaren GT3 spotted doing a test run on the track wearing a large rear wing.

Chuck Stevenson Ian Stewart Jackie Stewart Jimmy Stewart

Mercedes-Benz Biome Concept

Posted on 11.26.2010 19:00 by Kirby
Filed under: Mercedes | concept cars | Los Angeles Auto Show | green cars | Cars | Car Reviews | Mercedes

One of the important events that happens at the LA Auto Show that we are all excited about is the Los Angeles Design Challenge, an annual competition at the LA Auto Show that provides up-and-coming designers with the opportunity to collaborate with an automaker to design a futuristic concept vehicle using a few set requirements. This year, the theme of the challenge is to build a safe and comfortable 2+2 compact car that comes with excellent handling and cutting-edge design and weighs in at no more than 1,000 lbs.

This concept comes from Mercedes-Benz, which, incidentally, was built not far from Los Angeles at the company?s US design headquarters in Carlsbad, California. The vehicle is called the Biome Concept and is described as a vehicle that ?grows in a completely organic environment from seeds sown in a nursery?. In layman?s terms, the Biome Concept is pretty much an organic hybrid that was created in complete symbiosis with nature, producing its own oxygen and contributing to the improvement of air quality.

UPDATE 11/26/2010: When the designs for the Los Angeles Design Challenge were entered, no one really expected any of them to see production, but, according to Autocar, Mercedes is looking into using the BIOME Concept as the inspiration for their mid-engined supercar. Mercedes is planning on revealing the concept vehicle in 2015 as a competitor to BMW?s Vision EfficientDynamics? eco-supercar.

Now, we don?t expect the production version to follow the same path as the concept?s creation ? nobody?s silly enough to believe that Mercedes can grow the production version from ?seeds? as how the concept is supposedly born ? but according to Hubert Lee, the man heading Mercedes? California design studio where the BIOME was conceptualized, certain elements of the concept could be translated to the production version. ?We were conscious during its development to ensure it wasn?t too limited or edgy,? he said.

?It had to be do-able without any significant changes.?

Full details and press release after the jump

Mercedes-Benz Biome Concept originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 26 November 2010 19:00 EST.

read more

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Johnnie Tolan Alejandro de Tomaso Charles de Tornaco Tony Trimmer

Turkish GP: Hamilton gains victory by Red Bull collision

May 30 '10

Lewis Hamilton won today's Turkish Grand Prix with a bit of a luck from the collision of the Red Bull mates, Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel. Hamilton's first win of the season. His team mate Jenson Button finished second and Mark Webber who was leading the race before the incident, finished third.

The McLaren duo of Hamilton and Button, who were running first and second after the incident between the Red Bull drivers, were racing against each other despite warnings from their crew about ?critical? fuel shortages.

According to F1Fanatic, The McLaren drivers could scarcely believe their fortune but Button, now up to second, fancied his chances of a third win. He drew alongside his team mate on the outside of turn 12 and scrambled past.

That left Button on the outside of the last corner and Hamilton used his momentum to get back alongside. The pair touched wheels as they dived into turn one side-by-side and Hamilton seized the lead back."

Details of the race below, thanks to the Formula 1 broadcaster and journalist, James Allen's tweets.

Video of the incident between Webber and Vettel

According to iTV, "Winning this race would be about seizing the precious moment. Vettel felt his had come when he got a run on Webber exiting ?Faux Rouge?, the right-hand kink in the back straight.

It was a squeeze but he got alongside and had the inside line for turn 12. He was slightly ahead too, and clearly felt he had earned the right to drift over for a slightly less compromised line.

Webber didn?t see it that way. Perhaps hoping to pinch his team-mate in order to get a run on him through the second part or even the exit of the left-right-left combination, he held his line.

The Red Bulls touched and Vettel spun down the road, almost collecting Webber in the run-off area before marching away from his wreck while giving the universally accepted hand signal for ?crazy?."

Michael Schumacher finished a strong fourth in his Mercedes ahead of his team mate Nico Rosberg in fifth. Kamui Kobayashi scored his first points of the season and also his team's. Both the Saubers finished the race for the first time this season.

Hamilton?s first win of the season moves him up to third place in the driver's standings (84 pts), Webber retains the lead (93 pts). Button moves to second (88 pts). Vettel, who jointly led the championship heading into this race, falls to fifth (78 pts). McLaren lead the constructor's championship, ahead of Red Bull and Ferrari.

Turkish Grand Prix Race times

1. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 58 laps 1hr 28m 47.620s
2. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes +00m 02.6s
3. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault +00m 24.2s
4. Michael Schumacher Mercedes-Mercedes +00m 31.1s
5. Nico Rosberg Mercedes-Mercedes +00m 32.2s
6. Robert Kubica Renault-Renault +00m 32.8s
7. Felipe Massa Ferrari-Ferrari +00m 36.6s
8. Fernando Alonso Ferrari-Ferrari +00m 46.5s
9. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes +00m 49.0s
10. Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari +01m 05.6s

11. Pedro de la Rosa BMW Sauber-Ferrari +01m 05.9s
12. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari +01m 07.8s
13. Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes +1 lap
14. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth +1 lap
15. Vitaly Petrov Renault-Renault +1 lap
16. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1 lap
17. Nico Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth +1 lap
18. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth +3 laps
19 Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth +3 laps
20. Karun Chandhok HRT-Cosworth +6 laps

Rtd Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth 46 laps completed
Rtd Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 39 laps completed
Rtd Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 33 laps completed
Rtd Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 32 laps completed


Fastest lap:

Vitaly Petrov Renault -Renault 1m 29.165s lap 57



Images (C) Daylife, F1Fanatic

Jackie Stewart Jimmy Stewart Siegfried Stohr Rolf Stommelen