Setting land speed records for an alternatively powered vehicle, the Venturi Buckeye Bullet, the world’s first hydrogen fuel cell powered high speed streamliner to break the 300 MPH mark. Nicknamed "La Jamais Contente", 750 HP was developed in partnership with the students at Ohio State University and pays tribute to the original record setting electric racer of the same name from back in 1899 when the antique automobile become the first vehicle to achieve 60 MPH. The project is part of a 3 year program with the University during which time the Streamliner will attempt to break a few other records for electrically propelled race cars as well as with the further development of innovations in driver safety, driveline, electronics and packaging for the high speed application.
After the team’s success back on September 25 with back to back 300 MPH passes down the mile long stretch of salt, the team’s efforts will continue on into the 2010 and 2011 land speed record seasons. To be exact, the Buckeye Bullet 2 currently holds both national and international land speed records of 315 MPH and 272 MPH as well as the honor of being the first zero emissions electric vehicle to run at over 300 MPH.
Just like the original "Jamais Contente," the Buckeye Bullet 2 shows that electricity is a very powerful fuel and with the right configuration shows that anything is possible. This is also a powerful push for future EVs like the upcoming Chevrolet Volt, demonstrating that electricity can be a functional fuel. The Team made up of Ohio State students and staff isn’t done yet, their next goal is to reach 350 MPH in the battery powered streamliner.
Speaking of ambitious car building efforts, when a team decides to go racing there is almost nothing that can sand in their way, not even having to build a complete race car from scratch. When Patrón Highcroft racing driver Scott Sharp totaled his Acura ARX-02a LMP1 car heading into turn 3 during a practice session for the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, the fun loving tequila drinking team was faced with that very task. After making sure that Sharp was still on point and stripping the wrecked Acura for whatever was still race worthy, all that the Acura racing team could do was wait.
The brand new carbon fiber tub arrived directly from Honda’s Performance Development center in California at the racetrack in Atlanta, Georgia at 9:30 AM on Friday morning and after 15 and a half hours of non stop wrenching, the ARX-02a’s 4.0 Liter V8 was fired at around 1:00 AM the next day. About six hours later the Acura took the shape of an LMP car and was on the track and race ready by 9:45 AM Saturday morning. It might have been a tall order, but remember what we said about how nothing can keep a racing team from competing.
John Lennon asked the world to accept their dreams back in 1971 by imagining a better tomorrow, New York native and owner of the sole Ferrari P4/5 in existence; Jim Glicknehaus is definitely one of the people that answered the call. Not only did he commission the design house that shaped the Enzo to tear one apart only to build a modern day super car homage to the classic Ferrari 330 P3/4 racecars of the 1960s. The final product was so loved in Maranello, that the unique creation is officially documented in the Ferrari registry.
The man who made his money on hedge funds, Mr. Glickenhaus, has hopes to go racing with a P4/5 Competizione model at the German alternative to the French race twice around the clock at Le Mans. In fact it is the only official race that takes place on the old Nordschleife circuit when the Nürburgring 24 takes place in the middle of May next year. This wouldn’t be such an impossible undertaking if he chose to beef his own 650 HP Enzo based P4/5 up to race spec, but instead he is thinking about using a different and so far unspecified Italian super car engine and chassis combination for the positive minded project. Jim admits that "there are a lot of stars that would have to align for this to happen but it’s not impossible," and that is exactly the attitude that he needs to get this done in the short 8 month time span from now until May 13th, 2010.
It is quite coincidental that Mr. Glickenhaus is looking to create a new curvaceous racecar right after the shapely 458 Italia officially debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show a few week ago. The engine is still behind the driver, and although there are a third less cylinders, the 458’s all new 570 HP V8 shouldn’t be too bad around the ‘Ring. The classic lines of the P3 would be maintained, although it would be a bit smaller than the full scale P4/5 Pininfarina puzzle, but now we are really dreaming. Mr. Glickenhaus is still undertaking the daunting task of finding sponsorship for such a bold endevour, however if there is anyone who can pull this off, Jim is the man.
After last week’s update leading up to the European Grand Prix, Panasonic Toyota Racing’s Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock are back preparing for round twelve of the FIA Formula One World Championship, the Belgian Grand Prix, that will take place on the historic Spa racing circuit this coming Sunday, August 30th. Trulli truly adores Spa not only because of his 2004 pole position, but also for its mix of sharp twists and long straights as well as significant elevation changes as well as the unique combination of low, high and medium speed corners.
The team’s test driver, Kamui Kobayashi then joins the two grand prix stars to continue their question and answer session where we learn that Jarno is not only the best soccer player of the three, but he is also the team’s “love doctor” and like any group of friends that are being exposed to a foreign language, they were quick to pick up the dirty words from the Japanese test driver first. Check you local listings to see when you can see the boys of F1 compete at Spa-Francorchamps this weekend.
Move over Fernando Alonso because the latest world champion rumored to be making a move in Formula One for 2010 is the Frenchman and 5 time World Rally Championship winner Sebastien Loeb. According to the upstart USF1 team’s sporting director Peter Windsor, "Somebody representing Loeb called us but I won’t give details of the conversation…he is an incredible talent and he would definitely make things interesting in F1. We are looking more on the American side but are going to take him seriously." According to recent interview with the French sports daily L’Equipe.
What is interesting is that ever since Loeb tested last year’s Red Bull F1 car, his current employer, Citroen, has been denying any talks about a move to Formula 1 for the Frenchman. However according to the multi champion Loeb, "I wanted to know if a team was really interested in me for F1. Someone contacted this new team but I don’t know what happened…I am enjoying myself in the WRC and am on the verge of extending my contract with Citroen. But if I get the opportunity to do a couple of races in 2010 when the calendars don’t clash then why not?"
So it looks like Loeb is happy where he is at for the moment, and that a ride with the USF1 team would only occur when the Formula One and WRC schedules permit. It is more often that you hear of retired Formula One drivers looking to continue challenging their car control skills by going sideways in an all wheel drive turbocharged rally car, not the other way around, but if anyone can pull it off it should be Loeb.
The Formula 1 season is about to get back underway this Sunday August 23rd when the lights go off at the start of the Grand Prix of Europe from the streets of Valencia on the east coast of Spain. While most of the drivers have been jet setting around the globe, Panasonic Toyota Racing’s driver, Timo Glock has been keeping focused on the rest of the 2009 F1 championship season. In this candid question and answer session with the racing team’s Chief Engineer Race, Dieter Gass, Glock gives his thoughts on the upcoming race, shares his thoughts on Michael Schumacher’s testing and responds to questions from fans directly from the circuit in Valencia. The one thing that both Timo and Dieter can agree on is that it’s going to be hot inside and out of the TF109 on Sunday afternoon.
The Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races is one of the best events that takes place during the Concours weekend on the Monterey Peninsula. Sure the Tour D’Elegance allows the classics to putter around the country side and stop for lunch in Carmel and the Concorso Italiano allows you to look cool standing next to your Lamborghini with a drink that matches the paint scheme, but only the Historic Races allows these classic cars the ability to stretch their legs and do what they were made to do. On the third weekend in August, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca fills with the smells of burnt rubber and spent gasses while the surrounding hills are filled with a symphony from bygone eras of racing history. The sponsor, Rolex, ensures that fans come back time and time again for their Moment in Time dispay, which honors six different historic racing cars and highlights their most significant achievements.
While last year’s star of the show was the infamous black and gold John Player’s Special, Mario Andretti’s Lotus built Formula 1 Championship winning race car that introduced ground effects and revolutionized racing forever. This year the museum quality exhibit will be displaying some of the greatest endurance racing sports cars from the 1960s and 1970s. Like the 1977 Le Mans winning 1976 Porsche 936/81, which also took a second place in 1978 and 12th in 1981 at the race twice around the clock at Le Sarthe. This very rare racecar is only noe of three Porsche 936 cars that were built and is the only one to compete in five of the famous 24 Hour races by notable Porsche racing driver Hurley Haywood amongst many others.
Celebrating the legendary Porsche 917’s 40th anniversary, the exhibit featured a 550+ HP example from 1970 wearing the fashionable Gulf livery that was made popular by the actor Steve McQueen. The Porsche is lined up alongside the Ferrari 512S that challenged it that season. This particular blue and orange 917K was driven by Mexican driver Pedro Rodriguez in the 1970 1000 km race at Spa, Belgium, and is the sister car to Brian Redman and Jo Siffert’s race winning Gulf. The Ferrari 512S was once piloted by Jacky Ickx during the opening round of the World Championship season at Daytona and then went on to race at Monza and in the Targa Florio where it finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively.
Continued with press release after the jump.< > More
After suffering serious head injuries due to a rogue spring that came off of fellow Brazilian Rubens Barichello’s Brawn GP racecar during qualifying, it appears that Felipe Massa will be back in time for the most important race on Ferrari’s calendar, September 13, the Italian Grand Prix. Back at the Hungaroring, Massa suffered a fracture at the base of his skull and was immediately airlifted to a nearby hospital to undergo surgery and then put into an induced coma in order to speed up the healing process, and it looks like it worked.
This news comes right after the Maestro, Michael Schumacher announced that he will not be stepping back behind the wheel. This report has not yet been confirmed by the Scuderia, but team members have said that Massa is making remarkable progress with his recovery and should he make a return in Italy. Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali visited the Brazilian last week: "Felipe is in excellent form and his recovery is going very well!... I’m very happy about Felipe’s state,... The medical checks which have been carried out over the last two weeks continue to be very encouraging...Now it’s important to be patient and take one step at a time, without any hurry."
If Massa does return, Formula One’s governing body would require him to undergo a full examination by the sport’s doctors before he can compete at speed once again. Ferrari’s test driver Luca Badoer will stand in for Massa in next weekend’s European Grand Prix at Valencia after the sad news from the Maestro being forced to cancel his comeback due to the lingering neck injury.
If the Porsche racing drivers Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long can take home the checkered flag this Sunday at the upcoming round of the American Le Mans Series at Road America in Elkhart Lake, the pair will have won their sixth straight GT2 win in their Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. The German Joerg Bergmeister said that: “Of course it would be great to continue our winning streak, … but it’s even more important for us to bring home as many points towards the championship as possible.”
Thanks to his American teammate Patrick Long, Bergmeister has already won as many races after just six rounds of competition than he did in the entire 2005 season when he won the championship behind the wheel of a Porsche. Jorg has already racked up 26 wins in the ALMS GT2 class, easily making him the most successful driver in the category. The fact that four of those wins came at Road America, more than any other driver, doesn’t hurt their chances at success. The German Porsche pilot Bergmeister has a very special relationship with the 14 turn 6.5 kilometer racing circuit. “This is my favorite track – it’s very fast, very hilly and very demanding,” and facing stiff competition from the likes of BMW, Chevrolet and Ferrari; he also said that: “If we want to do well here we have to give everything we’ve got.”
The ALMS race at Elkhart Lake will start on Sunday, August 16 at 3PM Eastern, but check your local listings for times, and will run for over 2:45 hours.
The high performance English coachbuilder Aston Martin has announced that after competing in the 37th Nürburgring 24 hour race this past May, the V12 Vantage muscle car is also slated to compete in the upcoming Shelsley Walsh National Hill Climb Festival that will take place soon on August 15-16.
This beautiful blue Aston Martin not only receives the 6.0 Liter V12 from the larger Aston Martin DBS, but also a pair of really cool rally inspired driving lamps in the grill and an interesting wheel and tire combination, that judging from the photo varies from front to rear. This Nür spec Vantage almost certainly has a few more than the standard versions 510 HP resting underneath that wonderfully vented hood and should also be able to better the production version’s 4.2 second 0 to 60 MPH time, but where they might have gotten close to the roadgoing car’s 190 MPH top speed on the back straight at the Nordshleif, it’s doubtful that they will get anywhere close on the hill.
U.K. motoring journalist Richard Meaden is scheduled to drive the V12 Vantage up the hill. This accredited racer formed part of the driver lineup that piloted the car to victory at the Nürburgring only three months ago. Meaden will be joined by fellow writer Matt Prior from Autocar Magazine when they face the narrow stretches at Shelsley.
Picture Gallery
Post a comment
RSS -
Webmaster free news |