Automotive fanatic or not, there is no one in this world that hasn’t heard the name Ayrton Senna. He is considered by many as the greatest Formula 1 driver ever. He entered Formula 1 in 1984 and from 1989 until 2006 held the record for most pole positions.
In 1989, when he raced at Suzuka, he was driving for McLaren. At the Suzuka Circuit in Japan that year, he had a little collision with Prost - also working for McLaren. After the collision, Senna pitted to replace the damaged nose of his car, and rejoined the race in which he inevitably ended up crossing the finish line in first place. Unfortunately, he was disqualified by the FIA for cutting the chicane after the collision and for crossing into the pit lane entry. Senna’s disqualification caused Prost to be given the win. Senna finished the season second with six wins and one second place.
The Ferrari 458 Italia and the McLaren MP4-12C are currently natural born enemies in the sports car segment. Both models have had problems at the beginning - the Ferrari was recalled last year and the McLaren recently had to stop production due to safety concerns - but all that aside, they are both fantastically superior machines with killer engines to exploit.
There will always be a competitive vein connecting these two sports cars which is why a video displaying both of their strengths is always a must see. This video shows a black Ferrari 458 Italia chasing a MP4-12C into a tunnel. If you want to see the beautiful curves of both models, find another video. But if you want to hear the glorious and thunderous sound escaping the exhausts, turn the volume up.
The Ferrari 458 Italia is powered by a 4,499 cc V8 engine that delivers a total of 570 HP at 9,000 rpm and a peak torque of 398 lb-ft at 6000 rpm. The engine is mated to a F1 dual-clutch gearbox and sprints the sports car from 0 to 60 mph in under 3.4 seconds while top speed goes up to an impressive 201 mph.
The McLaren MP4-12C is powered by a 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 weighing only 439 lbs. The engine produces 592hp at 7,000rpm and 443 lb-ft. of torque between 3,000 and 7,000rpm. It will reach 60mph in 3.3 seconds and an even faster 3.1 seconds with the optional high-performance tire option. The new team made sure the top speed of the 12C would be formidable topping out at 205mph.
So which supercar would you prefer, Italian or British?
The Gold Rush 3 Rally is all about fast cars, beautiful women, and amazing music, but since many of us will never get the opportunity to take part in a race like this, we can revel in a little trailer action. This new trailer for Gold Rush shows us just what we missed at the race that took place in June 2011 which took supercar-driving participants from Denver to Los Angeles. The video shows drag strips, high speed driving, girls with tattoos, police cars, and the wildest parties imaginable. Pretty much anything and everything to make us all green with envy.
The GoldRush Rally "gR3" is completely packed with key check-points, scenic roads, luxury hotels, track fun and parties throughout the route for Denver, Park City, Las Vegas, Scottsdale and LA. The gR3 took place from June 14 to 18, 2011.
Porsche has announced that they will be entering an improved version of the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid into the upcoming Nürburgring 24 hour race on June 25, 2011. The hybrid system will combine the same 480 HP 4.0 Liter flat six engine delivering the same 480 hp with two electric motors that each produce 100 HP, as opposed to the original 75 HP each. The weight has also been lowered from 1,350 to 1,300 kilograms, or 2976 lbs to 2866 lbs.
"We’ve collected a great deal of information from our races on the Nürburgring, at the ALMS race at Road Atlanta in the USA, as well as from the ILMC race on China’s Zhuhai circuit, which was an invaluable help for the further development of our racing laboratory," says Hartmut Kristen, head of Porsche motorsport. "The emphasis of our work was on improving efficiency. That means we want to keep the lap times consis-tent with 2010 but use less energy, hence less fuel. In this way, we support future developments of road-going, sporting hybrid vehicles."
UPDATE 10/06/2011: The new GT3 R Hybrid made its debut at this year’s Laguna Seca, racing its way to a victory! Check out Porsche’s new video showing off the GT3R in action during the race by clicking on the image above. Enjoy!
Hit the jump to read more about the 2011 Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0.
If you are one of those gamers that have circled November 15, 2011 in red ink on your calendars then this next bit of news may rattle your composure some more. The new version of the famous Need for Speed game has just gotten itself another teaser trailer, but this one is not showcasing hot sports cars. This teaser trailer shows off the assets of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit models, Irina Shayk and Chrissy Teigen.
Apparently, these two young ladies were given the SIMS treatment and will be getting behind the wheel and battling it out in the illicit $25 million cross-country race from San Francisco to New York. They aren’t your allies, but some damn good-looking competition. We’re not sure what type of driving skills these girls have, but anyone that has seen the original Cannonball Run can get a pretty good idea as to how they will handle the competition. Have we mentioned their assets?
"There are only a few companies that deliver upon the promise of excitement and innovation with every new product launch and EA stands at the top of that list. This is why it is very exciting that SI Swimsuit will be part of the latest edition of the Need for Speed franchise," said Frank Wall, vice president and publisher of Sports Illustrated. "I’m sure that the millions Swimsuit fans will be excited to see Irina and Chrissy behind the wheel and millions more will be introduced to franchise in a fun and unexpected way."
Sex sells (even in cartoon form) and EA, as well as SI Swimsuit, aren’t shy about pimping out their contacts.
