If Aston Martin is going to install its largest engine in its smallest car, then of course it will the car racing. The Aston Martin V12 Vantage got a few minor tweaks to get ready for the Nürburgring 24 hour race on May 23 and 24.
Aston says the V12 Vantage race car will be close to production model, with only essential safety modifications, reduced weight and re-tuned suspension. The car has not had any additional aerodynamic enhancements.
It will be powered by the same 6.0-liter V12 engine that can be found in the road-going V12 Vantage and the DBS. It produces 510 hp and 420 lb.ft of torque, which is a 100 hp improvement over the V8 N24.
We had no complaints when we got Jaguar’s new V8 on the track, so it’s no surprise a full-on racecar is making its debut. Rocketsports Racing (RSR) revealed the XKR GT2 racing car that will compete in the American Le Mans Series.
This Jag will take on cars such as the Corvette C6R GT2 and Aston Martin Vantage GT2. This means although RSR will be using the naturally aspirated version of the 5.0-liter V8, the engine will likely be modified to make more than the 385 hp it generates in cars like the 2010 XK.
The XKR GT2 will not be ready for the track until this summer and will only run a partial season in 2009. So even if it is a contender this year, this is just a practice run for 2010.
More pics and full breakdown in the press release after the jump.
BMW doesn’t want the Maserati GranTurismo MC to get all the spotlight at the 24-hour race on the Nürburgring’s Nordschleife this year. The May 23rd race will be the premiere run of BMW’s M3 GT4 car.
BMW is importing Augusto Farfus, Jorg Muller and Andy Priaulx from the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) to give the M3 GT4 a workout. While BMW has been a dominate force of the WTCC circuit, it has an uphill battle in the GT4 class. It’s been won by an American car, the Ford Mustang FR500C, for the last two years (the driver was German.)
The GranTurismo MC won’t be the only Maserati hitting the track soon. The Quattroporte is getting a makeover for the touring car Superstars Series. To help it along the track, the sedan gets a bump to 450 hp and loses a gut-busting 1200 lbs.
Nissan has just unveiled their GT1 spec R35 GT-R that is scheduled to compete in the full 2010 FIA GT1 season. Debuting at the FIA’s media days at the Paul Ricard circuit in France, the race spec GT-R was a joined effort between Nissan’s in house motor sport division Nismo and the Essex based GT1 racers Gigawave Motorsports.
Audi Sport, the motorsport division of the brand with four rings began deliveries of their latest racing car this week. The Audi R8 LMS is a rear drive, 500+ HP, ten cylinder GT3 racecar that is the company’s third line of production alongside the factory DTM and LeMans Prototype racers.
The symbolic handover of the first car took place in Italy, where Emilio Radaelli, Team Manager of Audi Sport Italia, accepted the R8 LMS with chassis number 101 from the Head of Audi Motorsport, Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich.
Audi Sport will deliver 12 examples of the R8 LMS to six different teams in the upcoming weeks in time for their racing debut in April. For 2009 ABT Sportsline, Argo Racing, ORECA, Phoenix Racing and Team Rosberg will also run two car teams in the FIA European GT3 Championship as well as the 24 Hour race at the Nürburgring. In order to conquer the Nordschleife Audi Sport has developed an endurance package for their LMS racers.
At this time the R8 LMS is a dedicated privateer program, Audi Sport has not planned for any factory backed racing efforts for the 2009 season.
Forty years ago at the Geneva International Motor Show an animal was unleashed upon the world, the Porsche 917. As the years went on and regulations were relaxed the car evolved. The engine grew to become more and more powerful; and the body would take the shape that best suited the challenge of the moment.
The Porsche 917 earned its reputation racing around the world in the early 1970’s. The car won multiple World Championships, earned the German carmaker their first overall victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and with the aid of a pair of turbochargers boosting to the song of 1,400 HP the Porsche dominated the Can-Am series here in North America and before its demise Mark Donahue would set the FIA speed record in a closed circuit averaging 221 MPH around Talladega.
The 917 even made it to Hollywood, starring alongside Steve McQueen in the racing epic, Le Mans.
For all these reasons and many more 50 international motor sports experts from the British trade magazine Motor Sport have nominated the Porsche 917 as the “greatest racing car in history”.
The FIA GT3 European Championship will have a new competitor this season. The Ferrari F430s in competition are being replaced by the F430 Scuderia. This particular example of the F430 Scuderia GT3 was developed by Kessel Racing of Switzerland. The race team has already proven themselves in the European championship winning the GT3 title in 2007 with an F430 GT3.
Like the Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale, the F430 Scuderia is a racing car meant for daily driving on the streets. This should be advantageous for the Swiss racecar builders because most of their work has already been done in Maranello. The Scuderia in street trim is 220 lbs lighter than the normal F430 and the 4.5 liter engine means gains of about 30 HP bumping maximum output to 508 HP. The F430 Scuderia also features Ferrari’s signature Superfast transmission that shifts gears almost as fast as the F1 car.
Audi may have the domination in LMP1 class endurance racing with cars like the new R15 TDI, but its soon-to-be corporate parent has a stranglehold on the LMP2 division. Porsche has no intention of letting its grip slip anytime soon, so it’s introduced the RS Spyder to do battle at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.
The RS Spyder will use the same 3.4-liter V8 engine, but because of air restrictors, power is down about 25 hp to 440 hp. LMP2 is usually a class catering to private race teams, so piloting the RS Spyders this year is the NAVI Team Goh from Japan and the Essex squad from Denmark.
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