Race
All the latest motoring news. Read about what is new in the race car world today.
Mercedes and Schumacher star in new 2011 F1 season advert
Take a look at the new Mercedes GP Petronas TV advert for the 2011 Formula 1 season.
It features Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher with a guest star! and two of the latest models from the Mercedes-Benz range. Read more
Korean Formula 1 Grand Prix ends in spectacular result for Ferrari
An historic and very long race in Korea came to an end in the dark with a great result for Ferrari and opening the Formula 1 championship up yet again! Read more
AirAsia X & Lotus Racing partnership takes off
It’s great news but not a major surprise that AirAsia X has officially announced a partnership with Lotus Racing, during the world famous British Grand Prix held at the home of British Motor Racing, Silverstone from 9th – 11th July. Read more
Audi launches bold new design for the Pikes Peak Autonomous Audi TTS
Audi today launched a bold new design for the Pikes Peak Autonomous Audi TTS, as research surrounding the car that can drive itself enters a crucial stage leading to the goal of a high-speed test up Pikes Peak in Colorado this fall Read more
60 years of Formula 1 at Goodwood Festival of Speed
In just under two weeks, the calm tranquility of the picturesque Goodwood Park will be shattered as the 2010 Festival of Speed gets underway. From 2-4 July more than 90 stars drivers and riders, and over 350 significant competition vehicles, will be in action at the world’s greatest celebration of motoring culture. A key attraction will be the contemporary Formula 1 teams and drivers, as well as a mouth-watering display of the greatest F1 cars from the past 60 years of the F1 World Championship.
Goodwood’s unique ability to attract the top works Formula 1 teams is a key strength of the Festival of Speed – nowhere else in the world can you get so close to the latest and greatest F1 cars and drivers. This year six F1 teams have confirmed their attendance at the Festival, just one week ahead of their appearance at the British Grand Prix.
- Scuderia Ferrari – the incomparable Italian marque will be at the Festival once more, their blood red cars forming a central part of this year’s ‘Viva Veloce!’ celebration.
- McLaren-Mercedes – the MP4-23 will be in action all weekend, with 2008 and 2009 World Champions Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button at the controls. They will also both be driving the ex-Alain Prost championship winning 1986 McLaren-TAG MP4/2C.
- Mercedes GP – one the newest F1 teams in the pit lane will mark its return to full works competition after a 55-year absence with an appearance at the Festival of Speed, with Nico Rosberg in action, as well as Goodwood hillclimb speed record holder Nick Heidfeld.
- Red Bull – after setting the pace through the early part of the 2010 F1 season, Red Bull are amongst the favourites this year, and their car is sure to be a Festival highlight, especially with Mark Webber at the wheel. Red Bull’s engineering genius Adrian Newey will also be appearing in the 2009 Red Bull-Renault RB5.
- Lotus-Cosworth – after a long absence in F1, Lotus makes a welcome return and will be at Goodwood with drivers Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen.
- Williams-Cosworth – the latest FW32, which will appear at the Festival, renews Williams’ relationship with Cosworth, with whom it won four World Titles in the 1980s.
The 60th anniversary of the Formula One World Championship will be celebrated at Goodwood with paddocks full of important Grand Prix cars from the last six decades. Cars from the 1950s will include the championship-winning Alfa Romeo Tipo 159 ‘Alfetta’, Mercedes-Benz W196, Vanwall, and BRM’s first winner, the Type 25. Highlights from the 1960s include the Cooper-Climax T53 ‘lowline’, Lotus-BRM 33, Lotus-Cosworth 49 and Matra-Cosworth MS80.
Be-winged Grand Prix cars of the 1970s include the Lotus-Cosworth 72E, due to be driven by Emerson Fittipaldi and Heikki Kovalainen and the legendary six-wheeled Tyrrell-Cosworth P34. Highlights from the ground-effect and turbo Grand Prix eras will include the Lotus-Cosworth 79, Williams-Cosworth FW08 – the last car to win the World Championship powered by a Ford-Cosworth DFV engine, and due to be driven by Karun Chandhok at Goodwood, plus the Toleman-Hart T183B in which Ayrton Senna mad his GP debut.
Post-Turbo Grand Prix cars will include the Benetton-Ford B192, Bruno Senna at the wheel of his uncle Ayrton’s 1993 McLaren-Cosworth MP4/8, the 1994 Lotus-Mugen 109, 1996 Williams-Renault FW18 and Jordon-Ford EJ13.
Look out in the paddock too for familiar Formula 1 faces, including such legends as Sir Stirling Moss, Sir Jackie Stewart, Damon Hill, Christian Horner and Murray Walker.
If you haven’t got your tickets yet for the Goodwood Festival of Speed then click here
Mercedes SLS AMG and E 63 AMG now at the AMG Driving Academy
At selected events of the AMG Driving Academy, participants can experience two new Mercedes dream cars – the SLS AMG and the E 63 AMG. The programme of events of the AMG Driving Academy, which was founded in 2007, is divided into five different skill levels: EMOTION, BASIC, ADVANCED, PRO and MASTERS.
The choice extends from lifestyle-oriented and also race training events at which participants take their first steps towards physical driving limits, right up to intensive race track training of a competitive nature. The various levels of difficulty are all tailor-made to the individual driving aspirations of the participants. The team of experienced AMG Driving Academy instructors includes the likes of former DTM, ITC and FIA-GT champion Bernd Schneider, as well as Bernd Mayländer, the driver of the Official F1™ Safety Car.
Mercedes SLS AMG now at AMG Driving Academy
Mercedes E 63 AMG now at the AMG Driving Academy
During the events of the AMG Driving Academy, drivers and enthusiasts of AMG vehicles gradually learn to assess and master the physical limits of driving in complete safety, at legendary race tracks such as the North Loop of the Nürburgring or the Grand Prix circuit at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. In this way each of the participants automatically improves their active driving safety.
Experienced motorsport drivers and licensed instructors impart their extensive knowledge in a professional manner. One special event is the AMG Winter Sporting in Arjeplog (Sweden), close to the Arctic Circle: the AMG high-performance vehicles provided are driven exclusively on expanses of ice. All of the vehicles are equipped with special, spiked tyres that ensure a precisely defined level of grip. Prices for the AMG Driving Academy programmes start from just 290 euros.
In addition to the varied event programme which takes place on European race tracks, the AMG Driving Academy is also able to provide Amercian sports car fans with some tailor-made race track training, for example at the Laguna Seca Raceway in California.
Details of event dates and other information may be found at www.mercedes-amg.com/driving-academy
Packed racing weekend for Aston Martin
Aston Martin will be represented all over the world this weekend on race tracks on three separate continents. In California, USA, the works Aston Martin Racing team will contest the second round of the American Le Mans Series at the Grand Prix of Long Beach. In Asia, official customer teams, Hexis Racing and Young Driver will be racing their DBR9s at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates for the opening round of the new FIA GT1 series. In Valencia, Spain, the Open GT Championship begins with Aston Martin being represented by Villois Racing in two DBRS9s and a Vantage GT2.
Following on from the podium finish at Sebring last month, drivers Adrian Fernandez (MX) and Harold Primat (CH) will be driving the Lowe’s sponsored 009 LMP1 car at the Long Beach circuit which has an illustrious past stretching back to the mid 1970s. It is completely virgin territory for Aston Martin Racing, which has never competed at the Californian venue before. Long Beach is also a very different type of race compared to the kind of event that the team normally contests, being a short sprint rather than a lengthy endurance epic.
The Grand Prix of Long Beach qualifying session takes place on Friday 16 April at 18:10 (PDT) with the 100 minute race starting at 16:40 (PDT) on Saturday.
In Abu Dhabi, the two DBR9s of team Young Driver will be driven by Darren Turner (GB), Tomas Enge (CZ), Stefan Mücke (GER) and Christoffer Nygaard (DEN). Hexis Racing’s double DBR9 entry will be driven by Frédéric Makowiecki (FR), Jean-Denis Deletraz (CH), Clivio Piccione (MC) and Jonathan Hirschi (CH).
The first round in the FIA GT1 series takes place with two one hour races starting at 16:00 and 19:30 (GST) on Saturday 17 April.
Live coverage of the Grand Prix of Long Beach can be found at www.americanlemans.com and through Radio Le Mans at www.radiolemans.com.
Video: F1 driver Mark Webber explains the Shanghai Grand Prix race circuit
F1 Red Bull driver Mark Webber explains the main characteristics of the Shanghai track, which hosts the China GP.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Od7TlwuDeWo
Lotus Racing looking forward to Shanghai F1 Grand Prix
Spirits are high as Lotus Racing turns to China and the final race before the European season kicks off in Spain. The team is again focusing on reliability and the challenge of seeing both cars cross the finish line before its first major performance upgrade is unveiled in Barcelona.
Team Principal Tony Fernandes on seeing Lotus Racing on track for the first time in China: “I’m delighted we’ve arrived in China and can’t wait to see the fans’ reaction to us here. It’s an honour to be in Shanghai as China is the home of the new world and has been a very important market for AirAsia, so it’s somewhere I’m always excited about coming to. We are thrilled that we are bringing Lotus Racing, a uniquely Asian – British team, to the Shanghai Grand Prix, particularly as we have a number of people within the team with Chinese heritage who are very proud to see our team here for the first time. I know the whole team will work hard to put on a good show on and off track, and I hope that this demonstrates that we can provide a very good platform for universities, commercial partners and future drivers across China to work with a team whose heart beats close to our Asian home.”
Chief Technical Officer Mike Gascoyne’s thoughts turned to the challenges Shanghai will present, saying; “It’s just a couple of weeks since Malaysia and the last of the early season fly-away races so we’re focusing on getting both cars across the finish line here before we turn our attention to the upgrade package we have planned for Barcelona. The guys back at the factory have worked very hard on the parts we sent back, and have done a great job to turn around everything in time and get it sent back out here. Our car’s race pace has been good so far, and I think we’ll see that again in Shanghai – it’s a technical circuit that will bring out the best in both our drivers, and I think their experience will see us build on the solid start we’ve had so far.”
Heikki Kovalainen is a big fan of China, and is looking forward to the all aspects of the race: “I feel really good coming into the Chinese Grand Prix – I’ve had a few days of solid training and a bit of golf since leaving Malaysia and I love coming to China. We have some great fans out here – they wait at the hotel all night just to get an autograph and always give us really good presents to take home. Last year some girls took a taxi and followed us to the hotel with a Finnish flag hanging out the window all the way! The country has great food and a deep culture; every time I come here I see something new.
“The Shanghai track itself is a good challenge for the drivers. The two straights both provide overtaking opportunities and there are some nice high speed sections. The hospitality area has a fantastic atmosphere and it looks like nowhere else on the calendar, so all in all I’m very excited about being out here.”
Jarno Trulli agreed, saying; “China’s one of my favourite races on the calendar – I’ve not had the best luck at the track over the years, but I like it as it rewards a well balanced car and encourages you to push hard, particularly in the high speed corners. We’ve proved we have good reliability in the car so I’m looking forward to bringing it home and giving the Chinese fans something new to cheer for. The fans here are great – they’re very passionate and I’ve always had great support here, and now with Lotus Racing they have a British team with an Asian core to cheer for so I’m expecting even more support over the whole race weekend.”
Aston Martin show their 4 door Rapide race car for Nürburgring 24-hour
Aston Martin will return to the starting grid of the legendary Nordschleife circuit for the fifth consecutive year at the 38th ADAC Nürburgring 24-hour race on 15/16 May 2010 with the marque’s new four-door sports car; the Rapide.
Further underlining the sporting credentials of Aston Martin’s latest model, the Rapide will compete in the demanding 24-hour race – as has been the case with other recent Aston Martin road cars, the V8 Vantage and V12 Vantage. The Rapide will compete in near-standard specification apart from mandatory changes required to compete in this most demanding of endurance races and will be driven by a team of engineers from the company’s Gaydon headquarters in Warwickshire, England.
Aston Martin Chief Executive, Dr Ulrich Bez who will lead the Rapide driver team, explained: “This race represents the ultimate final engineering durability test for any sports car – it subjects the car to the toughest possible assessment under public scrutiny.
“The Rapide has the capability to carry four people in comfort but first and foremost it is a sports car and we will subject it to the same tests we would our other sports cars. We already have a proven track record at the Nürburgring racing our road cars with limited modification and in recent years we have enjoyed success in winning the SP8 class both in 2008 and 2009.”
The Rapide race car will be close to production standard with only essential race safety modifications, interior trim removed to reduce weight, re-tuned suspension and will run on slick tyres designed for track use.
The Aston Martin Rapide encapsulates the values of Aston Martin in pure four-door sports car form with an unrivalled combination of performance, comfort, craftsmanship and exceptionally elegant design. Since the Rapide’s original premiere at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2009 the car has gone on to win the widespread approval of customers and media commentators alike, prompting strong global demand for the car. Deliveries of the Rapide commence later this month through Aston Martin’s 125-strong global dealership network.
The Rapide race car will be joined by a V12 Vantage – again modified only slightly for racing – which in 2009 swept to a class win on its competitive race debut. The near production standard V12 Vantage – which finished in 21st place overall last year – saw off competition from a field of largely specialist race cars in the SP8 class to claim an impressive debut win.