BMW Z4 GTE Debuts this Weekend in the ALMS Series

This weekend the 12 hour race of Sebring will mark a new beginning for the BMW Motorsport program in North America: this will be the first time the BMW Team RLL will go against opposition in the GT class with the new BMW Z4 GTE.

The BMW M3 GT left some big shoes to fill. It was most successful, especially at Sebring, winning in 2011 and 2012. That means that this year's performance will serve as a starting point and benchmark for future endeavors of the RLL Team.

The team will have two complementary cars: one Z4 GTE finished in Frozen Black, wearing number 55 will be driven by Bill Auberlen (US), Maxime Martin (BE) and Jörg Müller (DE). The other Z4 will be dressed in a classic Alpine White BMW Motorsport livery and will be driven by Dirk Müller (DE), Joey Hand (US) and John Edwards (US).

"After all the months of development and preparation with the new BMW Z4 GTE, we are obviously now looking forward to testing ourselves against the opposition for the first time in Sebring. We have been very successful at this 12-hour race in recent years. I am excited to see whether the BMW Z4 GTE will cope as well with the specific demands of this race as its predecessor the BMW M3 GT did. We would like to start the season with a good result. However, the priority is to capitalise on the potential of the new car. This will obviously take a while,” said Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director).

“I’m always excited to start the season, especially at Sebring. This year almost everything is new, from the car and tyres to my two new team-mates. We are obviously well aware it will be very difficult to win the GT class three years in a row, especially with a new car. However, I know everyone in the team is extremely motivated to do well," said legendary BMW driver Dirk Müller.

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Mastretta MXT-R at Autosport International 2013

Mexican builder Mastretta has officially revealed its MXT-R at the 2013 Autosport International carshow in Birmingham, UK. The sports car has a slightly modified specification and features a few updates in the styling department as well as under the hood.

First and foremost, the new Mastretta MXT-R features a new aerodynamically-inspired body kit including a new front splitter and rear wing. The car is then expected to feature a 2.0-liter four-cylinder EcoBoost engine developing just 285hp, which is an increase of 35hp over the standard MXT.

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Mazda6 diesel to race at Rolex 24, team and drivers announced

Mazda is getting serious about showing off the Skyactiv-D turbo-diesel four-cylinder engine in the Mazda6. The automaker has just announced it will campaign three diesel Mazda6 racers in the Grand-Am GX class of the upcoming 2013 Rolex 24 at Daytona in a quest to walk away with the company's 24th class win. Mazda partnered with SpeedSource to develop the race version of the new sedan, with Japanese and American engineers lending a helping hand where needed. Meanwhile, Freedom Autosport and Visit Florida Racing/SpeedSource/Yellow Dragon Racing will helm teams of their own.

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Chevrolet Camaro tours overseas as new safety car for World Touring Car Championship

Seeing a Chevrolet Camaro setting the pace at a NASCAR or Indy race is not uncommon, but its latest tour of duty has taken GM's modern ponycar to another form of racing altogether: the World Touring Car Championship.

The WTCC pits race-prepped sedan and hatchback touring cars against each other on tracks across Europe and around the world. Considering that the factory-backed Chevrolet Cruze has emerged over the past couple of seasons as the car to beat in WTCC competition, perhaps its only fitting that another Chevy act as safety car.

The Safety Ca(r)maro, as it's been dubbed, appears pretty much bone stock, though we'd assume it has had the necessary safety gear fitted, like a roll cage, five-point harness and fire supression system. But as it stands, its 430-horsepower V8 is about 40% more powerful than the restricted engines in the touring cars it's keeping at bay.

 

WTCC Pace Car Stronger Than A Race Car

Safety Ca(r)maro Becomes A Video Star

In the past two years' FIA WTCC seasons, Chevrolet always was "one wheel ahead" of its peers and with the Cruze ended up No. I plus an additional place on the podium in 2010 and 2011.

In 2012, the world-famous American car manufacturer presents another race car for the
World Touring Car Championship that will leave its competitors far behind: the official Camaro Safety Car. The coolest pace car in the WTCC history is portrayed in its own video clip, which also shows its predecessors and the most emotional scenes from the 46-year Camaro history – outperformed by Chevrolet Europe Motorsport Director Eric Nève.

Even the first Camaro generation, built from 1966 onward, showed a huge motor sports potential. Special racing versions of the pony car won quite a number of trophies. And the Camaro was used as the famous Indy 500's pace cars for many, many years, too. Although as the WTCC safety car the Camaro features a serial engine, it is still always in the lead. After all, with its 432 V8 hp it outraces the touring cars of the series by about 40 percent. In its new video clip, Chevrolet depicted this muscle car's character in a glorious manner.

And just as it should become such a car with a long and successful motor sports history, Bruno Correia, an experienced race driver, will be at the Camaro's wheel. Correia has driven in more than 350 races. To be sure, the Portuguese driver is not supposed to outrace the field, but rather to make the races safer with his aplomb. In the five-minute video clip, he casts a light on the life of a pace car driver and looks back upon an accident in 2009, when the safety car's crew was acting rather rashly and collided with Franz Engstler's race car, thereby causing a serious accident. Engstler, the leading driver, also lost the race, through no fault of his own.

What during a safety car phase you better not do with the Camaro is then shown by WTCC world champion Yvan Muller. After all, this Chevrolet top pilot has a very emotional relationship with the fifth-generation Camaro.

via  Chevrolet

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Top Gear finishes its Nissan Deltawing knockoff, looks surprisingly good

If you've been keeping tabs on the crew at TopGear.com, you know they recently embarked on the ambitious task of building a replica of the new Nissan DeltaWing prototype race car. After enlisting the help of custom-car builder Andy Saunders, the crew looks to have succeeded, and the machine is on its way to cover this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans. The finished product looks no more ludicrous or phallic than the real deal. Surprisingly enough, the creation will have no part in either the actual race or even the "Top Gear" television show we all know and love.

Power comes from a 1.6-liter Ford four-cylinder engine, and the rear wheels are borrowed from a Ford Mondeo. The steering rack originally belonged to a Hillman Imp, and the body work comes from such eclectic nameplates as the Peugeot 207, Fiat 126 and Morris 1000. All told, the machine took Saudners 337 work hours over fewer than 40 days to stitch together. Not too shabby. 

via: autoblog

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Ferrari 2008 F1 Car - Brutal Launch and Burnout

Formula One is a very serious sport, for serious people. It is at the pinnacle of automotive technology and many other auto clichés, both good and bad, but we won’t get into that now. Ferrari are an equally serious brand, which take their racing very seriously and invest millions upon millions in research, development, testing, driver contracts etc.

Them being serious, translates into very competent Formula One cars year after year, always at least as good as their competition, usually better (historically-speaking). Their F60 F1 car from 2008 was a monster, a trait due mainly to its 2.4-liter V8 engine, which produced in excess of 800 hp and revved to 19,000 rpm. This meant that the 605 kg car is propelled from 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in around 2 seconds, with 200 km/h (124 mph) coming up in around 4 seconds and 300 km/h (186 mph) arriving in around 9 seconds - extreme numbers, to say the least.

Well, Ferrari’s F60 F1 car was driven as it should, recently, at a recent event which took place on the Vairano di Vidigulfo circuit, located in Italy. The car did a few quick starts and a couple of burnouts - a spectacle well worth watching.

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Le Mans starting grid set, Audi hybrid takes pole but Toyotas break up the pack

There were times during the past two days of qualifying when it looked like Audi might own the first two rows of the starting grid for this weekend's 24 Hours of Le Mans. The R18 e-tron quattro hybrid cars were running the quickest lap times, with the two diesel R18 Ultras following close behind. The two Toyota TS 030 hybrid cars were also quick, but it seemed they were always nipping at the heels of an Audi's lap time, much like the Audis used to trail the faster Peugeots during qualifying for Le Mans races of the recent past. And we all know how that usually ended for Peugeot.

So when the third and final qualifying session ended last evening, we were surprised to learn the starting grid had ended up as anything but expected. An Audi will have pole position, and a hybrid car at that, which marks the first time such a powertrain has earned the honor. The No. 1 R18 e-tron quattro beat all comers with a fastest lap of 3:23.787, nearly two seconds quicker than last year's pole.

Next to the first R18 e-tron quattro will be another R18, but not a hybrid. The No. 3 R18 Ultra will be starting second, followed by the No. 8 Toyota TS030 hybrid starting third, the other R18 e-tron quattro starting fourth, the No. 7 Toyota TS030 hybrid starting fifth and the final R18 Ultra starting sixth. So not a single car of the quickest six will start next to its twin, which suggests that none of the three powertrain technologies has a lock on leading the race.

In LMP2, the No. 25 Oreca Nissan led the field with a fastest lap of 3:38.181, followed closely by the No. 24 Oak Racing Morgan Judd and then four more Oreca Nissans. The Nissan DeltaWing, racing in an experimental class of its own, wound up near the back of the LMP2 field with a fastest lap of 3:42.612 set on the first day of qualifying.

The GTE Pro class promises to be as exciting as ever this year, with the pole being led by the No. 71 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia, which recorded a particularly quick lap of 3:56.484 during the final qualifying session. The Ferrari will be followed by Aston Martin Racing's No. 97 Vantage V8 and the first of two Corvette Racing C6 ZR1s.

Lastly, the GTE Am class will be lead by the No. 79 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 RSR with a leading lap time of 3:57.594, followed by another 911 from Prospeed Competition and the No. 99 Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage.

via: LeMans.org

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