I'm not dead. Back from a long hiatus.

Well, as the title clearly says, the blog is at least somewhat back. It's been a few months since I last wrote and a lot has happened in those months. Obviously, I don't really plan on trying to brief you on what has happened because chances are, you already know and in any case, I'm too lazy to write that much. I will however at least kinda give a brief synopsis on what has happened in those few months.

• The Audi R18 debut'd at the 1000 km of Monza, despite qualifying in 1, 2, and 3rd, it failed to achieve a race victory against the Peugeot's
• A couple F1 races here and there.
• That's really about all.

So there you have it. While I was busy slaving away at finals, it seems that everyone else was too.

Holy effing amazing graphics!! Forza Motorsports 4 trailer pt. deux.

The moment we've all been waiting for...

Finally actual video of the R18 has been caught online. Not only that, but it's even HD. I do recommend turning this up.

Audi R18 TDI Testing at Sebring from QuattroWorld.com on Vimeo.

In depth interview with Head of Audi Motorsport and team about the Audi R18 TDI from QuattroWorld.com on Vimeo.

Pirelli's crazy colors explained

Le Mans and Sebring through 8mm Film

Axis of Oversteer Blog

My Obligatory Formula One Post

Yep, there it is. I haven't watched the race yet so I have nothing to right on but considering how much people care about F1, I feel as though I should put at least a picture up.

(NFS) Shift 2 actually good??

So it doesn't take a genius to figure out that I'm kinda a huge fan of Forza. So when I heard that the team over at Need For Speed was eyeing a shot at the racing simulator crowd I was a little bit skeptical. I mean, this is the same Need For Speed that made games where you have to outrun cops and purposefully run into semi-trucks and crap like that. 

This new game is better though. Click after the break for some info, pics and video.

Ride around the 12 Hours of Sebring with the GT race winner

Cadillac CTS-V series

It appears as though Cadillac it quite excited for the race day debut of their new Cadillac CTS-V racer. This newest set of cars from Cadillac is set to be piloted by Johnny O'Connel and Scott Andy Pilgram and will compete in the SCCA World Challenge. Which mean if you live anywhere near where I do, you can see this in April at Miller Motorsports Parks Utah Grand Prix.

Anyway, Cadillac has been so excited, they've been busy filming a Youtube series highlighting these cars. Check in after the break to watch the videos.

Boris Said waking up Joey Hand at the 24 Hours of Daytona

Track to Street, Corvette Racing Series episode 2

Mobil One presents the 12 hours of 'I effing hate the French'.

If you missed it then your stupid. It's that easy. How could you miss it. I mean, granted I didn't watch all 12 Hours but everyone can at least watch a few clips. If you didn't even know it happened then get the f*** off my page.

Just kidding. The truth is though. That I am really too lazy to write up an entire recap of the 12 hour, 300+ lap race. So if you want a recap, go to AutoBlog. If  you want to hear me rant, then stay here.


I'll start it off with the ending results:

Sebastian Vettel explains KERS and the adjustable rear wing

In a new video from Red Bull Racing, F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel is here to explain to us the two major additions for the 2011 F1 season: KERS and the adjustable rear wing. These are set to help improve the amount of passing in F1 and hopefully make it a little more exciting.

From watching the video, it just seems like another continuation of the F1 trend which I despise to much. A competition of which team can afford the best s***.

Also what this video fails to mention is how the adjustable rear wing is borderline useless because drivers are only allowed to use it during certain points in the race. Drivers are limited to only using it in certain designated areas of the course. Even then, they are only allowed to use it when race control allows them too. Race control will base the usage on if a driver is consistently lapping 2 seconds faster then the car in front of them. Drivers will know this because there will be a tiny little light on the steering wheel that will light up notifying them.

Anyway, the F1 season starts this week at Melbourne. Practice begins Friday and you know the rest.

Corvette's newest ad dishes it out towards Ferrari, Porsche and BMW

Around the corner from Sebring

The Twelve Hours of Sebring is less then a week away and boy am I excited.

Sebring is one of the most difficult of endurance races. Most drivers would even label it as the number one most difficult. 

Sebring International Raceway was built on an abandoned WWII airfield. The track is made mostly out of old concrete slabs poured back during the war. Because of this, it's one of North America's oldest operating race tracks. It's rarely, if ever repaved or resurfaced so the track is just squares of concrete. Driving for 12 hours straight on this stuff will shake cars and drivers to pieces. As Alan McNish said, Sebring is like an old man, just getting more and more grumpy every year. Every year the track surface gets rougher and rougher and proves to be more and more of a challenge of driver skills and car design.

Many drivers have said something along the lines of "if you can drive for 12 hours at Sebring, you can drive for 24 hours anywhere else." This is probably true. As I pointed out earlier, the surface Sebring is no joke. To add on top of that,  the track is about 3.7 miles long, less then half the 8.469 miles of La Sarthe. With only 2 major straight aways, this makes passing much more difficult. This year, with no fewer then 57 cars on the starting grid, teams will have to pay special attention to strategy as dealing with traffic will help define the winners and the losers.

On top of all the physical challenges, it makes the race no easier with the fact that Sebring is the season opener for both Intercontinental Le Mans Series as well as American Le Mans Series. This is important because this means teams are scrambling to get the season off to a good start. Teams like Corvette need it in order to recover from a rough previous year. Audi will need it to feel out Peugeots newest diesel workhorse. Ferrari will be putting it's new 458 GT car through the paces.

Overall, it should be one hell of a race. Watching it this year will be easier then ever ALMS has signed contracts to have races broadcast on ABS, ESPN2, and even ESPN3 for all you Xbox people.

Qualifying will be on Friday at 3 PM EST and the the green flag for the 12 hours drops at 10:30 AM EST.

Live timing for practices, qualifying and races can be found on ALMS handy timing page.

McLaren MP4-12C GT3 hits the track and looks damn good doing it.

It's been about three months since McLaren first announced a GT version of its MP4-12C and if you ask me, that an awful long time to be waiting for something so good. Well ladies and gentlemen, the wait is finally over. the MP4-12C GT3 has been hitting Silverstone Circuit for testing and McLaren has been nice enough to make a video and even show us some pretty sexy pictures.

The race-version of McLaren's new coupe is nearly four inches wider than the street version. It also features completely reworked suspension, which was first tested on McLaren's in-house simulator. Power is provided by the same 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 found in the standard MP4-12C. However, in GT3 guise, the setup has been tuned for the track. A paddle-shifted Ricardo-designed transmission takes the place of the seven-speed unit found in the street car. Upgraded brakes have also been fitted to this race-prepped McLaren.

Beyond the mechanical changes, the MP4-12C GT3 gets aero-upgrades in the form of a front-splitter, fixed rear wing, additional door intake blade and new rear diffuser. 


If you ask me though, that's all fine and dandy, but it just seems like the MP4-12C has some rather large shoes to fill left behind the McLaren F1 GTR. You know, that monster of a machine that took the overall championship at Le Mans the year it was released back in 1995. The same F1 that held the record for fastest production vehicle at 240 MPH back in 1992, and still holds the record for fastest naturally aspirated car. Yeah, that McLaren F1. With details like that, it just seems like I will never be able to love this MP4-12C as much as I love the F1, just like I can't love Miracle Whip like I love Mayonaisse. 


Click after the break for pics and video!!

Heilige Scheiße ist dies schnell!

This video proves that shaking your fist at slower drivers is an official motorsports practice. So next time you're driving down the I-15 to meet your buddies at the Gateway and some grandma cuts you off in her Towncar, I better see that fist up in the air.

Why aren't there more bumper cam views in this world?

I'm sure everyone remembers when Rhy's Millen destroyed the Pikes Peak Hill Climb record. Well here's a view from his bumper. Absolutely Amazing.

Pikes Peak 2010 - Jeff Zwart Qualifying

So I was just passing the time clicking the stumble button (my new form of procrastination), when I came upon this awesome video of Jeff Zwart driving his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car at Pikes Peak. He set the new record for 2WD Time Attack on the lower part of the mountain. Fast is an understatement. Enjoy!

Pikes Peak 2010 - Jeff Zwart Qualifying from Will Roegge on Vimeo.

Jaguar XKR-S: The best looking hideous car you've ever seen.

Okay, I'm not a Jag fan. When I first saw the XKR in person at ALMS, both the production version and the GT version, I though it was ugly as sin. Still, a little bit of me loves the way it looks. It looks good in a hideous manor, kinda like the way your farts smell so bad but you kinda like them? I dunno.

Anyway, Jaguar has unveiled their newest XKR-S at Geneva a few weeks ago. Aaron Taylor dropped this video on Facebook and here it is for you.

New Highcroft Racing LMP-1 revealed.

Highcroft Racing has unveiled its new Honda Performance Development ARX-01e LMP1 machine - the new car which the back-to-back American Le Mans Series champions will take into battle at next week’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida.

I wish this was my office.

GT3 in the air!!!

How about some car-porn courtesy of AusRingers to mark 100 posts!?

Pagani Huayra Geneva Promotional Video

It's been about a month since the "Paganini HYYA-RAW" has been revealed and I just learned it's actually pronounced "WHY-ra". The stuff you learn online. Anyway, Pagani has released this pornographic video of sorts to show of it's new wind maker.

Ferrari renames their F1 car once more.

Ferrari's 2011 F1 car was originally unveiled as the Ferrari F150 - a que to the 150th anniversary of Italy's unification. Apparently however, the boys over at Ford didn't take to that too kindly, thinking customers would somehow get the Ferrari mixed up with the number one selling pickup truck in America.


After a brief court battle between the blue oval and the prancing horse, Ferrari caved in and renames the grand prix car the Ferrari F150th Italia. Ford liked that, and declared the matter settled. Ferrari, however wasn't done. Still galled that they had to change the name of the racer in the first place, they decided to make one final change to get it just the way they want it.


Now, Ferrari's 2011 Formula 1 effort will be called the Ferrari F150° Italia. The added symbol is the Italian equivalent of the English "th" suffix, and Ferrari added it to give the name more Italian flair. Maranello announced the move in a biting, sarcastic news release saying, "...Therefore the name will now read as the Ferrari 150° Italia, which should make it clear even to the thickest of people that the name of the car is a tribute to the anniversary of the unification of our country.
"Let's hope the matter is now definitely closed and that we can concentrate on more serious matters, namely ensuring that our car that already seems to be pretty good out of the box, becomes a real winner."

Shotgun with Joey Hand behind Bill Auberlen @ HMS

If you missed it, the Rolex Grand Prix of Miami was today. Here's a view from Joey Hand's BMW during the practice round. The dude in front of him; Bill Auberlen in the #94 BMW went on to win in the GT class.

Go for a ride in the new Red Bull RB7

If you didn't hear, the Evo is dead.

Yep, you read right, after 10 generations, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo is set to end it's long lived and celebrated lineage at the end of this latest gen. 

Mitsubishi's global product director Gayu Eusegi said in an interview with Autocar Magazine: “There is still a demand [for the car],” he said, “but we must stop.” 

Eusegi went on to say: “Our influence now is EV technology,” adding that the decision was a “policy change”. From the sounds of it, it seems that Mistubishi is more concerned with producing lower CO2 emitting vehicles  versus producing full-blown rally cars for a form of motorsport which the company does not compete in anymore.The director went on to say that it would be "easier to understand"  what Mitsubishi was about if it was no longer in a motorsport inspired market.

Officially, it's basically dead. Eusegi addressed the idea that perhaps someday down the road there will be a resurrection by going on to say "Yes. Maybe the world can change, and maybe someday we can do a motor race by electric vehicles, maybe then we can enter the market again."

Although, if it makes you feel any better, you can always go and add this as one of your Facebook Causes.

Aston Martin's new LMP racer goes topless

Aston's brand new racer is intended to compete in the LMP1 category of the Le Mans cup series.


The AMR-One as it will be called it set to be powered by a turbocharged and direct-injected inline-six gas engine resting in an all carbon fiber monocoque chassis. Obviously the huge thing is that it's an open cockpit. You may be scratching your head wondering about that tiny 2.0L engine but sources tell us that the Aston's powerplant was developed with LeMans Cup's new efficiency regulations in mind. Still, that 2.0L packs a punch: a 540 HP punch.


Aston has told us that six AMR-Ones will be built in, with a one-car effort going into the 2011 Intercontinental LeMans series, which includes the 24 Hours of LeMans. Darren Turner and Stefan Mucke plus a third driver (to be determined) will wheel number 007 at LeMans, and Adrian Fernandez, Andy Meyrick and Harold Primat will drive car 009.


Click after the break for a press release and some fancy pictures.

Corvette Racing Season 11 - Episode 1

Proof money doesn't buy you brains

REAL pics of the Lamborghini Aventador

Finally, the moment we've all been waiting for. Complete, un-camouflaged, un-adultereated pictures of Lamborghini's newest bull straight out of the pen. An my my, is it gorgeous.

In case you haven't heard, the new Lamborghini LP700-4 or "Aventador" has a brand-new V12 engine design that is set to push out 690 horses. That coupled with a new 7-speed electronic ISR transmission is going to chuck the 3,400 lb, carbon-fibered monocoque car from 0-60 mph, in a mere 2.9 seconds.

Also, the new Lambo has a fresh pushrod suspension setup to keep its feet planted on the ground.

Bernie calls off Bahrain GP due to civil unrest

With the amount of civil unrest going on over in Bahrain, the F1 community has been waiting for weeks to hear Mr. Ecclestone's decision of whether or not the F1 season opener will continue as scheduled.

Finally, after a couple weeks, it has been decided that he Bahrain GP will no continue as schedules, which mean the F1 calender is set to be pushed back 25, 26, 27th of March in Australia.

Are you the new McLaren MP4-12C's suspension

With more and more retail information being released about McLaren's new supercar; more and more technical specifications are also revealed. Awesome specs like its 3.8L V8 engine block chucking out a steady 600 bhp and 443lb ft which has been said to send the car from 0-62 mph in somewhere around 3 seconds. 

What has really caught my eye though is that, rumor has it, McLaren is abandoning its long time manufacturers connection with Koni to provide suspension components. Supposedly, McLaren has switched to a partnership with Tenneco, of Monroe shocks fame.

Even more interesting, this new car boasts a very advanced suspension design which lacks sway bars by using  some sort of a hydraulic to relate the suspension components with each other. Also, the car has some sort of a passive anti-roll system, again utilizing advanced hydraulics to keep the car planted on the ground without the expense of ride comfort.

Some of the links to some Tenneco brochures are included here and here.

Also here's some up close and personal pictures:

10 years ago this day...

Ten years ago on this day, a racing legend was lost. Dale Earnhardt was a gifted racing driver who held his own. He was very well known for his antics in NASCAR, being forever known as "The Intimidator", whats surprising though is the lack of people who knew him for his career in sports car racing. In 2001, Dale drove the #3 Corvette in the 24 Hours of Daytona; one of the last races he would ever drive in. The story of him in Daytona is a great one which I would highly recommend reading.

Part 1 -  Part 2 -  Part 3

Is the Porsche 917 the greatest racing car ever created?

I think I've known about the 917 before I even understood real racing. Growing up, it was always some sort of a legend of motor racing, a relic of the past that was only talked about in story form. The more I think about it though, and the more my knowledge of motorsports grows, I have to stop and ask; is the 917 the greatest racing car ever made? 

I think yes. Click the break to see why.

Trouble for the Bahrain GP

As political turmoil ensues with thousands of citizens take to the streets  of Bahrain, for anti-government protests; the current status of the 2011 Formula One calendar remains shaky.

Last night, the situation in Bahrain became critical as security forces in tanks took the downtown campsite set up by protesters and several people were killed.

The GP2 Asia event due to take place over the next three days has been cancelled at the request of the Bahrain Motorsports Federation. Thursday's practice was originally just postponed, due to ambulances being required in the city, before the whole event was called off.

With all that, it's obvious that there may be some skepticism toward the 2011 Formula One season opener set to take place in Bahrain in three weeks time. Concerns of personnel safety have the FIA concerned. The Grand Prix would be a clear target for protesters as it is the country's most prestigious international event and also the pet project of the ruling royal family. 

Although the Bahrain GP organizers are seemingly insistent that the GP will continue, F1 chief exec Bernie Ecclestone is set to make a official ruling in the next week prior to the beginning of the practice of March 3-6.

Hate the winter and antsy for track days to start?

Though these videos don't really have the greatest in cinematic quality, it's the sounds that make it. With that, I'll let you listen. Obviously it's best to hit the HD setting and turn up the speakers.

Nick Heidfeld announced to fill Bob's seat.

After setting the fastest time during a recent practice session at Jerez in Renault's very forward thinking new car. Nick Heidfeld has been announced as the replacement driver to fill in Robert Kubica's seat following the Polish drivers rally accident.

The 33 year old German driver's selection comes as no surprise to me considering out of the possibilities that were considered; Bruno Senna, Antonio Liuzzi and Nico Hulkenberg, Heidfeld is by far the most experienced considering his 172 races in the last 11 seasons.

Let's just hope he doesn't take the doors off the safety car this time.

Ride inside the wheel well of the Turner Rolex M3

TMS #94 Rolex GT M3 Suspension from Veloz Media on Vimeo.

Ferrari names new F150, lawsuits ensue, Ford comes out on top.

If you didn't hear about Ferrari's new grand prix racer being names the F150, well you just did. In fact, Ford MoCo happened to hear about it as well and they weren't too pleased about the prancing horse claiming the best selling American pickup ever. Consequently,  Ford decided to take Ferrari to court claiming the "F150" name is theirs and only theirs.

After a few weeks, Ferrari came out with a public statement officially naming the new F1 car the "F150th Italia". Seems like a mouthful; should be interesting to hear those zany British announcers try say that on screen.

Anyway, Ferrari made this additional statement explaining how they don't understand Ferrari at all. 

On the subject of the name of the new Ferrari Formula 1 car, the Maranello company wishes to point out that it has sent a letter of reply to Ford, underlining the fact that the F150 designation (used as the abbreviated version of the complete name, which is Ferrari F150th Italia) never has, nor ever will be used as the name of a commercially available product – indeed there will definitely not be a production run of single-seaters.

In fact, it has always been the case in the history of Scuderia names, that they represent the nomenclature of a racing car project and are linked to a chronological order with a technical basis, or in exceptional cases, to special occasions. This year, the decision was taken to dedicate the car name to a particularly significant event, the 150th anniversary of the Unification of Italy, an event of such great importance that the Italian government has declared, for this year only, a national holiday.

For these reasons, Ferrari believes that its own contender in the forthcoming F1 championship cannot be confused with other types of commercially available vehicle of any sort whatsoever, nor can it give the impression that there is a link to another brand of road-going vehicle. Therefore it is very difficult to understand Ford’s viewpoint on the matter.

Despite this and to further prove it is acting in good faith and that it operates in a completely correct manner, Ferrari has decided to ensure that in all areas of operation, the abbreviated version will be replaced at all times with the full version, Ferrari F150 th Italia.

"Szybkiego powrotu do zdrowia Robert" means "Rapid recovery, Robert"

With one of Renault's drivers, Robert Kubica, taken out in a horrible rally accident, all of the F1 grid has been proudly displaying messages to the Polish F1 driver. 

I think it comes as a great message that in one of the most technical and expensive sports in the world, there is still a renewed sense of brotherhood that emerges every now and then.

As with the rest of the world, I do hope Robert a good and speedy recovery though estimates put him at up to a year out of from behind the wheel.

Pics after the break.

Jeremy Clarkson's view on women in cars

After Top Gear concluded it's 14th season back at the beginning of 2010; Jeremy Clarkson published this article when he was asked on his opinion about women in cars. Click after the link to read his thoughts.

Peugeots new LMP1 contender looks exactly the same, called the same too.

After giving a sneak peak of its second-generation diesel-powered prototype contender in October, Peugeot officially took the wraps off its new 908 Thursday in Paris. Winners in the three-round Intercontinental Le Mans Cup in 2010, the French manufacturer also confirmed a full attack in the seven-round global sportscar championship, which kicks off at Sebring next month.

More after the break.

Let's be honest, everyone wants a car with a sound like this

Thanks Tedrick for the link!

New Corvette Racing C6R ditches barbed wire for blades of death

Well, there it is. Not much to say but that apparently the entire Corvette world hates is because the stripes are ugly. I'm not so sure. The car is redesigned rear end with cutouts allowing trapped air to escape from behind the rear tires. Also there are remodeled front fender flares which I'm not too sure about as far as purpose goes.

Also the car's livery has got badges celebrating Chevrolet's 100th anniversary. 

"We can rebuild him — we have the technology,"

 After suffering a terrible Rally car accident  while racing in the Ronde di Andorra in Italy on Sunday, Lotus-Renault's Robert Kubica seems to be back into a stable condition. 

Following the accident, Robert was airlifted to a nearby medical center where he underwent seven hours of surgery to reconstruct his right forearm. Yesterday, he was able to communicate with medical staff and his family. 

Additional surgery is set to take place on Thursday to stabilise fractures to Kubica’s right shoulder and right foot. After that, another operation will take place to treat his elbow fracture. Kubica is expected to stay at the Santa Corona Hospital for the couple weeks.


In the mean time, with the start of the 2011 F1 Season, LRGP is scrambling to find a temporary driver to fill in Robert's spot. Several reports indicate Bruno Senna as a likely replacement. Other possibilities include Antonio Liuzzi and Nico Hulkenberg.  

New Lamborghini Aventador spied on the way to Geneva with a swirly camouflage scheme

It goes without saying that Lamborghini is truly taking their time on this project. With thousand of of fuzzy, ugly spy shots circulating around the internet; everyone has just been waiting to pounce on any good view of the new Murcielago successor. 

Is this a true spyshot though? The car seems to sport remarkable similarities to the Murc; perhaps too similar, front end appears to be virtually unchanged, ass end looks the same too. The only real noticeable difference are the camel-swallowing side scoops. 

Well, Lamborghini seems to be keeping this held close. There isn't much for cosmetic details but what we do know is that this new car will be sporting a freshly designed 6.5 HP V-12 capable of 690 horsepower and 509 pound-feet of torque. All that couples with a 7-speed ISR transmission is set to launch this modern day sled from 0-62 in 2.9 seconds. Wow. Course, thats not too hard since the car is set to weight a thin 3,472 lbs. 

With all that power, it's still got the shoes to stay on the road. The Aventador is going to join the ranks of the Porsche Carrera GT and Ferrari Enzo with a pushrod suspension set-up. 

I'm quite excited for Geneva now; only a month to go.

Wanna see the 2011 Spec rear movable wing? Well here ya go

Check out this edit of onboards shot from the Sauber C30's first day on track. Pay attention at about the 2:50 sec mark you will see clearly, for the first time, how these movable rear wings will work.

I have to say, it looks pretty dramatic but the idea of its FIA regulated use as an artificial passing aid is fairly repugnant to me. As you may know, in the race it will only be available if a driver is following another closely and only in predetermined part of the track! That is such a lame solution.

Anyway, check out the 2011 Sauber C30 in action

On the wings of Victory, Kubica injured

Fresh from a very successful Formula One testing session at Valencia; the Lotus Renault GP Formula One driver crashed his Skoda rally car into a guard rail.

Kubica has suffered serious damage to his right hand and arm as well as his right leg. The Pole was airlifted to a nearby hospital where he is being overseen by Dr. Riccardo Ceccarelli, the doctor of the Lotus Renault GP team. 

Kubica’s manager Daniele Morelli says it’s too soon to speculate upon the process of recovery.

“Unfortunately the impact with the guardrail caused serious harm,” Morelli told the Italian media outside the hospital. “He has been diagnosed with multiple fractures to his leg and right arm, especially complications related to his right hand. We shall see later if the operation was successful. The clinical picture is not easy. We expect to make the necessary assessments tonight.”

It is currently unknown how the crash might affect Kubica's racing career. Although none of the injuries are life-threatening, a handful of unofficial reports claim that it might just be enough to end his racing career.

“The surgeons are trying to restore the functionality of his right hand. We must now think about the muscle function, but Robert has a very strong temper and will succeed.

“The important thing is that Robert recoveries, as it has already proven to do with the incident in Canada. On that occasion it took him three months to get back on track.”

This won't be Kubica's first rodeo however. In 2007 in Montreal, he managed to recover in several months from a terrible crash when his BMW Sauber F1 car went careening off the track.

It goes without saying that Formula One drivers have a very hazardous line of work and that teams are always taking a huge risk when they let their drivers compete in other forms of motorsport; crashes happen all the time and who knows what can happen. Still that has never prevented Renault from permitting Kubica to participate in Rally on the side. Unlike his counterpart Kimi Raikkonen, Kubica has proven to actually be a competent rally driver.

I do wish Robert a speedy recovery. I've always been at least a little bit of a fan of him. It will be great to see him back to full health soon.

What you've missed the last week that I've been too lazy/busy to write

Quite frankly the world of motorsport has been a busy place for the last week. Formula One has been hammered with the unveiling of a whole slew of new cars at Valencia for the first test session. Red Bull, Ferrari, Lotus, Sauber, Renault, Mercedes, and McLaren have unveiled their new cars. Some impressively innovative, other are keeping it quite simple.

At the end of all the practice session of Friday, the times stood like this:

1. Robert Kubica - Lotus Renault GP - 01:13.14497
2.Adrian Sutil - Force India F1 - 01:13.201117
3.Jenson Button - McLaren - 01:13.553105
4.Mark Webber - Red Bull - 01:13.936104
5.Felipe Massa - Ferrari - 01:14.01780
6.Timo Glock - Virgin Racing - 01:14.207103
7.Pastor Maldonado - Williams - 01:14.299100
8.Vitaly Petrov - Renault F1 - 01:14.458104
9.Michael Schumacher - Mercedes Grand Prix - 01:14.537110
10.Sebastien Buemi - Scuderia Toro Rosso - 01:14.80173
11.Narain Karthikeyan - HRT F1 Team - 01:16.53563
12.Jarno Trulli - Lotus F1 - 00:00.00038




Favorite team or driver not on there? Don't worry, the next test session and Jerez is 4 days down the road and there are still plenty of car unveiling's left to do.

Outside from Formula One; in the sportscar racing world, we've got winter testing going on at Sebring for Le Mans. 


Batman'w own endurance race car, Audi's R18 has been running the paces at the Florida raceway and has been reported to be as strong as ever. Audi is hoping for another successful year in the Le Mans Series.


Along with that, Peugeot has released their new 908 HDI race car. It's a completely different car and yet they still couldn't come up with a new name for it.


In the LMS GT classes, both Risi and Patron have been working on their new Ferrari 458 racers. Also BMW has been spotted with running their new M3 GT with a new front end. Not to so exciting is the news that Robertson Racing will be fielding a 2nd Ford GT race car and that Black Swan Racing will be actually competing in a whole season.

Down south, Audi Sport has kicked off the beginnings to a successful racing season with an Audi 1-2 finish at the Australian Bathurst 12 Hour's. the teams of Marc Basseng/Christopher Mies/Darryl O’Young and Mark Eddy/Craig Lowndes/Warren Luff. Both teams were running in R8 LMS'.

Lastly, there was obviously quite the race last weekend at a little place called Daytona. The Rolex Daytona 24 Hours proved to be quite the race in the end with a close finish in the last hour of racing. For the Daytona Prototype class; the finish podium is as follows:


1-Chip Genassi BMW- Hand / Pruett / Rahal / Rojas
2-Genassi BMW - Dixon / Franchitti / McMurray / Montoya 
3- Porsche Riley - Barbosa / Borcheller / Fittipaldi / France / Papis.


In the GT class at Daytona; 


1-TRG Porsche GT3 - Bertheau / Gaughan / Henzler / Lally / Pumpelly
2-Paul Miller Racing GT3 - Bell / Miller / Sellers / Sugden
3- Patrick Dempsey Racing RX-8 - Dempsey / Espenlaub / Foster / Long

McLaren reveals "very different looking" MP4-26

When Lewis Hamilton was asked this week at Valencia earlier what he thought of all the freshly unveiled cars he said "Our car looks very different from all of these". He was right, very right.  

With a great crowd of McLaren fans, Mercedes-McLaren-Vodafone unveiled their new MP4-26 in Berlin on Friday morning in a rather unorthodox fashion as mechanics assembled the car in front of the crowd.

Check after the break for some better images.