Merry Christmas, here's a treat for your eyes and ears.

TURN IT UP!!!




Shown here is the fantastic Aston Martin V12 Vantage. This beast is large and in charge, loud and proud thanks to its 6.0-liter V12 cranking out 510 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque. The exact same powerplant; the 6.0-liter unit can be found in the DB9, Rapide, DBS and even the amazinginly gorgeous One-77, and it's also the hamster wheel that powers the Lola-Aston Martin B09/60, better known as the Aston Martin DBR1-2 LMP1 racecar.

Now, the V12 Vantage is certainly an impressive car, however the DBR1-2's power tuned in to around 650 hp for its track day fun. That 140-hp raise is means a lot more when you factor in the weight difference between the two cars – the V12 Vantage weighs 3,700 pounds and the DBR1-2 comes in at just 2,000 pounds.

Source: Aston Martin via YouTube

Virgin Racing and Lotus Renault GP fill in their seats for the 2011 F1 season

As the very last few days of the 2010 calender year are winding down, some of the last seats in Formula One are getting filled.

After whats been a crazy time for Lotus Renault GP, they have some of their drivers selected; Russian driver Vitaly Petrov will stay with the team alongside Robert Kubica for another two years. 


Marussia Virgin Racing, formerly known an just Virgin Racing has also filled us in on who's going to be driving for them. Timo Glock is set to stay with the team. Alongside Glock, Jerome d'Ambrosio is set to fill in the second seat. The Belgian driver won the International Formula Master in 2007 and placed second in the GP2 Asia Series in 2008as well as 2009. As a former Renault reserve driver, d'Ambrosio will replace Lucas di Grassi.


Ironically, di Grassi made some sound in the community by taking the checkered flag at Felipe Massa's charity karting ahead of none other then Massa himself. Kinda makes you wonder if Virgin is really doing the right thing. 


With this news, theres still another 6 seats to be filled for the 2011 season. We'll try to keep you posted on what else is going on before then. The first race is set for March 13 in Bahrain.


Source: Lotus, Virgin Racing via Autoblog