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.

Burned!

What happens when a Ford GT and a Maserati MC-12 start going at in the FIA GT1?

Someone's gonna get burned.