Canada’s newest, or only, supercar is making its way to the production line and attempting to ruffle the feathers of the big three and smaller sports car manufacturers here in North America and abroad. The De Macross GT1 is a newly developed supercar designed by the founder of the company, Jahong Hur, and proves that if someone wants something bad enough; it’s always possible.
It’s no secret that designing your own car and getting it to market is difficult – having that car be a formidable competitor to the most extreme machines on the planet is darn near impossible. Some American companies have managed to do this throughout our racing history and recent past. Two of the biggest names would be Shelby and Saleen. The Shelby race cars of yesterday were so dominant that the great Enzo Ferrari did not even have an answer for them. Shelby went on to design more road going versions of his vehicles and today they are admired by collectors. The Saleen S7 showed us that a small shop with a lot of knowledge and money can create the ultimate supercar.
By incorporating some of F1’s best technology and using an American V8, these Canadians were able to develop and are now producing the GT1. Its performance is not off the charts, but it’s most likely faster than anything we’ve ever owned.
Hit the jump for more details on the De Macross GT1. Full story
While other teams coming off of a championship season can just sit on their laurels and soak on their success, thinking that the following year would yield the same results, there are those that aren’t satisfied with tasting the sweet taste of victory just once. These are the teams that are never satisfied and as soon as the hangover fades, they’re back to work for the next championship run, determined to prove that their success isn’t a one-year fluke.
While the jury is still out on what side Red Bull Racing is, it should be comforting for their fans to know that the team’s preparation for the 2011 Formula One season has been the same as it has always been: meticulous, determined, and unsatisfied.
In this video, Red Bull shows the painstaking lengths the entire team – from designer Adrian Newey all the way down to the engineers – goes through in preparing their 2011 rocket ship, the RB7.
Don’t think too much about how they presented the video, going the old school, black-and-white, grainy film with a high-pitched narrator route.
Instead, focus on how the RB7 evolves from Newey’s design sketches, all the way to Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber’s "go! go! go!" test runs.
In a sport as privy and guarded as Formula One, it’s a refreshing take on what goes on behind the scenes of a full-fledged F1 team, without the scandals and controversies.
Canepa design is offering an opportunity to own one of the most famous Formula One race cars in American history. The 1985 Tyrell Formula One is one of the last Cosworth machines to ever compete in this race series. Its 3-liter Ford V8 made plenty of power helping to propel this race car into the history books at the U.S Grand Prix and the Constructors Championship in 1985. These 012-series race cars are often found in vintage races throughout the world and have remained a popular choice in inspiring future designs.
The Scott’s Valley, California company, Canepa Design, has put this car through an intensive restoration lasting 3,000 hours. This company has always been known for its styling and performance upgrades to various manufacturers’ vehicles as well as the care and sale of collector vehicles. The history of this specific Formula One race-car is well documented and has a rich history with the Tyrell racing team – for more information on its availability contact Canepa at 831-430-9940.
Hit the jump for more details on the 1985 Tyrrell.
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Of all the teams from the 2010 season, we could make an argument that the most disappointing of them all was Mercedes GP. Fresh off dismantling the competition during the 2009 season when it was still Brawn GP, Mercedes GP started the 2010 season with high expectations, only to see Red Bull, McLaren, and Ferrari stand out as the three powerhouse teams. Whether it was a case of bad luck or sitting on their laurels, or maybe even a combination of both, Mercedes’ 2010 season was disastrous to say the least. This year, the team is hoping to return to their perch as a true contender, giving the aforementioned three teams another team to worry about for the 2011 season.
On that note, Mercedes officially debuted the MGP W02 race car with the hopes of erasing the painful memory of the 2010 season and returning back to their 2009 form when they literally smoked everyone else on their way to winning the Driver’s and Constructor’s championship. If the MGP W02 ends up being a lot better than its predecessor, we expect nothing less of a return to contender status. After all, they’ve got a young hotshot driver in Nico Rosberg in one of the seats. Oh, there’s also that Michael Schumacher fella driving the other Mercedes race car. We heard he’s pretty good, too.
Details on the Mercedes GP MGP W02 after the jump.
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The Lotus-Renault team became the fourth Formula One team to present their 2011 race cars to the media. The R31, as it’s being called, was presented at the pit lane of the Valencia race track ahead of its first pre-season test session that’s been scheduled for next Tuesday at the same circuit.
In addition to the presentation of the black-and-gold R31, Lotus-Renault also presented their 2011 driver line-up, featuring Robert Kubica and Vitaly Petrov. Together with technical director James Allison, team principal Eric Boullier, and chairman Gerard Lopez, Kubica and Petrov personally pulled the covers off of the R31, marking the return to partnership of two companies - Lotus and Renault - that last worked together in the 80s.
“Words like ‘aggressive’ and ‘innovative’ are very much in vogue in Formula One at the moment, but where the R31 is concerned we feel those adjectives are appropriate,” Allison said.
“It’s true to say that the car has been designed in an ambitious manner and a quick glance at the layout will confirm that its entire concept differs considerably, not just from last year’s car, but from any car this team has ever produced.”
Details on the Lotus Renault R31 after the jump.
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