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”.
Press release after the jump.
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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.
More after the jump.
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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.
Press release after the jump.
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When Audi announced the its new R15 TDI race car we didn’t get much detail. All Audi gave up was that it had "numerous technically innovative detail solutions" and released a extreme close-up pic. From this we thought we may have to wait until the official unveiling on March 21st to know more about Audi’s next Le Mans racer, but now we got this pic of the car performing a few test laps.
The first race test of the car will come at the 12 Hours of Sebring race in Florida at the end of March. The big prize will be the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race in June, where Audi will see if it can continue to dominate the LMP1 class.
Audi is ready to replace the three-peat Le Mans winning R10 TDI with an new oil burner. The R15 TDI diesel racer will make its debut on March 21st at the 12-hour race at Sebring, Florida.
Sebring is an important race by itself, but it is also the test run for the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race in June. Audi is the dominant force at Le Mans. It’s taken the podium there every year since 2000 (the Bentley Speed 8 used a lot of Audi technology including the engine,) so the R15 TDI is an important car to the German manufacturer.
All Audi will say about the R15 is that it has numerous technically innovative detail solutions and differs significantly from its predecessor. "So far the R15 TDI has performed as we expected," explains Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. "Now it must also prove itself in race conditions. Sebring is a particularly hard race and is therefore perfectly suited to reveal even the smallest of weaknesses."
Press release after the jump.
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Aston Martin won the GT1 class in the 2007 and 2008 24 Hours of Le Mans races with the DBR9, and now Aston has set its sights higher this year. It’s abandoning the GT1 class to focus its efforts on the faster LMP1 class and the overall win.
The car is based on the 2008 Charouz Racing System Lola, and power will come from the same production-based Aston Martin V12 engine that was used in the DBR9 that won in 2008. Although all car companies would like to win at Le Mans, this would be especially sweet for Aston Martin. Fifty years ago, Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori brought Aston an overall win on the French circuit in a DBR1.
More details in the press release after the jump.
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Over the last week we’ve seen Ferrari, McLaren and Renault sounding off about their new F1 cars, and now BMW is chiming in with its 2009 racer.
BMW Sauber F1 Team revealed today the F1.09 Formula 1 car today in Valencia, Spain. For those who think all F1 cars look alike, the 2009 car has implicated a few changes including a higher nose, three-part front wing and a slimmer rear wing. The racer also has add-ons, such as air deflectors and cooling air exits. Other eye-catching features include the sidepods, which are now higher at the front.
Like the rest of the 2009 F1 cars, the F1.09 has integrated the kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) for added power. Let’s just hope it was perfected from when it was tested this summer.
Full specs on the car in the press release after the jump.
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Better than most of your Christmas presents, tis’ the season for new F1 cars. Last week the Ferrari F60 and McLaren MP4-24 were unveiled, and now Renault has brought out its newest track car.
Like the rest of the field, the Renault F1 team will be adding the kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) to its new R29 F1 car. According to Renault, R29 will also will benefit from additional horsepower which was lost when the team took the engine freeze rules more seriously than the opposition. This meant that the cars had to run with less downforce at most of the races and, according to Renault, made the cars less competitive.
Not to be outdone by the Ferrari F60, McLaren revealed its new Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-24 Formula 1 car. The MP4-24 will start its publicly testing at the Autodromo do Algarve circuit in Portugal today.
2009 is the first year the kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) gets implemented in F1 racing. The MP4-24’s KERS device has been developed in collaboration with McLaren and Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines. The KERS device’s output puts out 60kW/400kJ, which equals an additional 80bhp for 6.66s per lap. This is the kind of gas/electric hybrid we can get behind.
Press release after the jump.
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Ferrari unveiled the F60 today. While a new F1 car doesn’t always make headlines with us, this one seems to have dropped in a few nifty new features, and it celebrates an anniversary. It’s the fifty fifth single-seater built by Ferrari specifically to compete in the Formula 1 World Championship. Starting 1950 Ferrari has competed in all the 60 editions of the Formula 1 World Championship (60 years of Ferrari; F60, get it).
Ferrari has redesigned the front and rear spoilers as well as the airflow over the car for better performance on the track. 2009 will be the debut of the kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) that can sometimes provide a real shock. We won’t bore you with all the science of the improvements (or try to interpret them), but there is more information for those who are interested in the press release after the jump.
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