The kick-off for the FIA GT1 Championship 2008, comprising nine races in Europe and one in Argentina, is in Silverstone (GB) on April 19 and 20. This race series promises to be a major hit, with a full grid of stunning sports cars. One of the contenders is Phoenix Carsport Racing, a German-Dutch-Swiss team that will enter two Corvette C6.R cars for the Championship. Both Corvettes are ex-GM Racing cars, very successful earlier in the American Le Mans Series and 24 Hours of Le Mans. Their factory provenance is recognizable in the livery of the cars: besides a purposeful race body, the ‘European’ Corvettes also feature the new colour scheme of main sponsor GMAC.
A few weeks ago Phoenix Carsport Racing tested both cars for the first time, during official FIA GT tests conducted on the Monza circuit. The Dutch-Italian team with Mike Hezemans/Fabrizio Gollin and the all-Swiss team with Jean Denis Déletraz/Marcel Fässler did well, although they had to make do with ‘old’ engines. Mike Hezemans: “The new engines are being prepared by Pratt & Miller in the United States. The engines will arrive within a couple of days and will be installed by Phoenix in Germany. We will then do some functional testing on the Nürburgring and after that the countdown for the Silverstone race begins...”
The Changan Ford Racing Team is looking forward to the 2008 China Circuit Championship (CCC) series and the opportunity to build on the outstanding success of the Changan Ford Racing Focus race car in its 2007 season.
The Changan Ford Racing Focus delivered a strong performance throughout the 2007 season, winning the annual champion of CCC 2007 and the racer’s annual runner-up title. The excellence performance of Focus racing car is fully demonstrated to consumers through the competition which strongly promoted the sales of Focus.
The Focus race cars used by Changan Ford Racing boast reworked versions of the 2.0-litre Focus engine, delivering 270 horsepower and 215 Nm of torque. The Changan Ford Racing Focus race cars demonstrated superior performance in all conditions throughout the 2007 season.
Mazda Australia today whipped the covers off its brand new Mazda3 MPS rally car ahead of its motorsport debut at next week’s Targa Tasmania.
Australia’s top-selling importer will unleash two Mazda3 MPS rally cars on the country’s pre-eminent tarmac endurance event, held from April 15-20. Professional rally drivers Rick Bates and Alister McRae will spearhead the company’s eighth Targa campaign.
Built under the watchful eye of Mazda Motorsport chief Allan Horsley, the 190kW Mazda3 MPS front-wheel-drive hot hatches will contest the event’s 2WD Showroom competition, travelling 2000km over five gruelling days of competition.
The team’s preparation for the rally commenced this week with Bates, McRae and co-drivers arriving in Tasmania to survey the course. Before the event starts next Tuesday both Bates and McRae will have driven all the daunting stages twice.
Porche unveiled today the 2008 Cayenne S Transsyberia, an improved model that will be offered to customer teams around the world as a conversion kit.
In the modifications to the Cayenne S Transsyberia, primary importance was given to further improving the offroad capabilities and optimising the suspension set-up. The 2008-spec of the successful long distance racer features a stronger and newly-formed sump-guard. The front and rear panels were modified to allow a larger angle of driving slope. An all-terrain offroad tyre from BFGoodrich in the 265/65 R18 R dimension increases the ground clearance by 30 millimetres. Compared to last year, the higher and stronger side walls offer better protection against tyre damage.
The air suspension was retuned based on the experiences of the 2007 Transsyberia Rally. The standard shock absorbers were replaced with special rally shocks. Particularly on the fast, bumpy sections, the vehicle’s handling is substantially smoother than the 2007 version. Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control (PDCC), which features two active anti-roll bars to almost completely eliminate body sway in bends, was adapted to withstand the special demands of a marathon rally.
The Cayenne S Transsyberia is powered by a 4.8-litre normally-aspirated engine with direct fuel injection that delivers 385 hp. It makes the 0-60 mph sprint in 6.8 seconds and can hit a top speed of 105 mph.
Audi Sport’s history is a special one. The first vehicle fitted with this technology was unveiled at the 1983 Frankfurt Motor Show. Known as „Shorty” the car featured a 306 hp engine and was the most powerful series-produced German car. The body of the car was made of aramide and fiberglass-reinforced plastic together with carbon/kevlar composites.
Along with the moto "25 years of Audi Sport quattro" Audi will present the five cars of the 22 units ever built, which still exist today. With the ocassion of the 25th anniversary Audi is going to put on sale a limited edition of just 333 units which will first be available at the Techno Classica, a 1:43 scale model of the Sport quattro in orange.
The limited-edition FR500S is the first race car in Ford Motor Company’s history to be built at a production facility and then made available for racers to purchase through the Ford Racing Performance Parts catalog and at authorized Ford dealers. >> read
The Race of Champions promo video will take place on the Wembley Stadium. This year you will see racing: Michael Schumacher, Marcus Gronholm, David Coulthard, Peter Solberg, Jenson Button and Tom Kristensen. Marcus Grönholm will race in the Ford Focus WRC and David Coulthard, Jenson Button and Tom Kristensen will race in the Aston Martin Vantage N24.
JAS Motorsport’s Honda Civic Type R R3 will make its gravel debut on the Wales Rally Great Britain this week, the final round of the 2007 World Rally Championship. Former Junior World Champion Dani Sola will drive the car in Great Britain, having given the Civic Type R R3 its asphalt World Championship debut on the Catalunya Rally in Spain last month. In that event, Sola won the R3 class against well-established opposition. >> read
Subaru Tecnica International (STI) has decided on the standard specification of the FIA (International Automobile Federation) Group N car with the new Impreza WRX STI, sold by FHI as a base vehicle. They will be sold at specially agreed motorsport bases (STI base teams) in Europe, South Africa, etc. for use as rally base cars. >> read
Volvo Car Corporation has decided to develop a completely new racing car and to continue its work with bioethanol (E85) and Green Racing in the STCC (Swedish Touring Car Championship) for three more years. >> read
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