The 2013 motorsports racing season is drawing closer and as such, we’ve seen numerous race teams from different series unveiling their respective race cars.
Toyota Racing is jumping on that trend with the unveiling of the modified TS030 Hybrid car, the same racer that Toyota will be fielding in the Le Mans 24 Hours and the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) this season.
The 2013 TS030 Hybrid race car carries a number of modifications from the 2012 model, particularly the revised version of the hybrid system first used in last year’s race car. With new regulations set to be enforced in 2014, Toyota Racing went to work early in fine-tuning the overall racing characteristics of the RS030, particularly the engine, which for the 2013 model will feature a 3.4-liter, normally aspirated V-8 engine that produces 530 horsepower and the matching super capacitor-based system that delivers 300 horsepower of boost to the car.
Needless to say, a lot is riding on Toyota Racing to deliver results this year. They’ve got the car that can get it done and it’s only a matter of time before the team can justify the preparations they’ve done in the off-season with actual race wins.
NASCAR driver, Danica Patrick, has been in the headlines recently for becoming the first woman to secure pole position in NASCAR Sprint Cup history. With so much attention - and praise - being heaped her way, questions on whether she could be successful in Formula One are being floated.
But the consensus among people in F1 seems to believe that Danica Patrick isn’t good enough to compete at their level. One voice that shared his opinion on Danica’s chances of success should she race in Formula One was Dr. Helmut Marko, the driver manager at Red Bull, who above all else, questioned her credentials. "You have to look at Danica’s results in the road races," he said. "It’s not enough."
"We are looking for drivers based on performance, not by quota," Marko added.
Triple world champion and Mercedes chairman, Niki Lauda, also weighed in and was a little more diplomatic about his answer, saying that it wasn’t so much Danica Patrick’s skill set, but more about the technical level of Formula One and how U.S. drivers wouldn’t be able to cope with the technical side of F1 in general.
"The last American who had success in Europe was Mario Andretti — and that was in my day!" exclaimed the 63-year-old.
Lauda, however, wasn’t closing the door on a female driver racing in Formula One, saying that they should get a chance if they have the kind of skills to allow them to be successful in the series. If for nothing else, having a female on the F1 grid will boost the sport’s popularity exponentially. Lauda was even quoted by the Bild daily saying that "if we could get a woman into the top six, you would immediately have twice as many fans in front of the TV".
"For ten years," Lauda added, "I’ve told Bernie Ecclestone he’s dopey for not getting a woman into Formula One."
But, at least as far as the F1 folks opine, that ’woman’ isn’t Danica Patrick.
The racecars headlining Australia’s V8 Supercar Series are starting to take shape and over the weekend we saw another one of the cars get its own public unveiling.
Erebus Motorsport took the time to present their prized racer for the series: the E63 AMG V8 Supercars Racecar.
The car itself holds a historical component to it because, as a racecar built in Australia, it’s the first time that an AMG racer was manufactured outside of Germany. Erebus Motorsports is bringing three unique models of the E63 AMG V8 Supercar Series to the racing season, each coming with a unique livery. Of note though is the overall look of the racecars, all three of which are pretty impressive in their own right.
Mechanically, the E63 AMG V8 Supercar Racecar has to subject itself to "Car of the Future" regulations, which means that engine displacement should not exceed 5 liters, rpm are limited between 7,000 and 7,500, and most importantly, horsepower shouldn’t go past 650 ponies.
In the case of the E63 AMG V8 Supercar Series, the team had to "make do" with a modified version of the V8 engine on the SLS AMG. Considering that the standard SLS powertrain includes a 6.3-liter V8, it likely took a significant amount of tweaking just to keep in line with the series regulations.
Expect the Mercedes E63 AMG V8 Supercar Racecars to compete with the likes of the Holden Commodore V8 and the Nissan Altima V8 when Australia’s V8 Supercar Series kicks off next month.
Racing Queen and GoDaddy spokeswoman, Danica Patrick, recently announced that she was divorcing her husband of seven years because their marriage was ’’irretrievably broken,” then it slowly emerged that she was dating fellow driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Patrick finally chose to disclose the details of the relationship to the press, so that the couple could “be open about their relationship.” In the process, she officially broke the hearts of many of her male fans – our words, not hers.
Now that the relationship is open we will focus on one weird aspect in this budding relationship. Both Danica and her 25-year-old boyfriend are rookies in this year’s Sprint Cup Championship. This means that they will not only race against one another, but they will also be competing for the Sprint Cup “Rookie of the Year” award.
We can’t help but wonder if this competition may spill over into their personal lives, especially if one should put the other into the wall at some point or walk away with a low-margin victory in the running for said award.
Either way, Stenhouse is a lucky man, and we’ll be here to catch the wonderful Danica should things fall apart.
Whether you find GRID 2 racing game as appealing as Gran Turismo 5 or Forza 4 or not, you still have to give credit to the folks over at Codemasters for putting in the work to provide gamers a game that certainly doesn’t lack in high-detailed racing.
The latest trailer, through short, proves as much with some high-octane snippets of what you can expect when the game officially hits shelves on May 28.
Codemasters is definitely dropping the full-scale marketing blitz on the game, having recently announced that they’re preparing three special-edition downloadable packs depending on where you place your pre-order for the game: Amazon, Best Buy, or Gamestop.
In the end, expectations are high for GRID 2 because it has to live up to the hype that Codemasters is putting forth. Whether that translates to a pretty good racing game is still subject to how gamers enjoy the experience of playing it.
At this point, the jury’s still out.
Just two days ago, Universal Pictures unveiled the first trailer video for “Fast and Furious 6” and today it’s time for the extended trailer. This new trailer video also comes with a few more details on the movie’s plot.
The movie will bring together the all-stars of the global blockbuster franchise: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Tyrese, Ludacris and Michele Rodriguez (Letty). It also tosses in newcomers Luke Evans and Gina Carano.
The movie starts on the idea that Dom (Diesel) and Brian (Walker) aren’t able to return home due to a series of previous problems, and Hobbs (Johnson) needs a team of elite drivers to catch a group of criminals. This is the perfect scenario to bring together the old crew to help out Hobbs, and as payment for their help, each member will get a full pardon so they can return home.
The new Fast and Furious 6 will arrive in theaters across the U.S. on Memorial Day (May 27, 2013).
RC manufacturer Traxxas has been featured in our pages on numerous occasions and rightfully so, because when it comes to top speed, their RC racecars are far ahead of the competition.
And as it turns out, they’re even faster than some of the today’s more powerful production cars.
The latter was displayed at a recent drag "event," featuring a Cadillac CTS-V Sports Wagon and Traxxas’ Slash RC car owned by YouTube user hightechcorvette. Common logic suggests that the former, thanks to its 556-horsepower 6.2-liter supercharged V-8 engine would be too much even for a pocket rocket like the Slash RC.
Well, throw out common logic out the window because the Slash RC not only held its own against the CTS-V, it even blew it off of the strip with the kind of diminutive fury that Traxxas RC cars have come to be known for.
There’s a reason why Traxxas sells their RC cars for a pretty penny. That reason was fully displayed in this video.
With so many automakers celebrating some kind of anniversary this year, it’s easy to lose sight of some of the other automotive and motorsports anniversaries that are scheduled to take place this year.
For their part, Volkswagen wanted to make sure that Formula Vee gets its proper recognition as a series that’s turning 50 years old this year. So before the start of the 24 Hours of Daytona over the weekend, Volkswagen led the way in celebrating 50 years of Formula Vee with a parade of the finest cars from the series.
Formula Vee traces its roots back to August 1963 at the Daytona International Speedway. Back then, the inexpensive racecars only made use of 1.2-liter engines that produced less than 40 horsepower with chassis taken from the Volkswagen Beetle. The success of Formula Vee in the US made its throughout Europe and on July 4, 1965, Formula Vee officially held its first race in Europe in front of 50,000 fans at the Norisring circuit in Nuremberg.
Since then, the series gave birth to Formula Super Vee, as well as the already established Formula Vee 130.
The 50th anniversary of Formula Vee was attended by some of racing’s biggest names, a lot of whom also trace their roots in the series. Indy 500 winner Arie Luyendyk was there, as were U.S. star Michael Andretti, Daytona champion Didier Theys, Le Mans winner Hurley Haywood, former DTM greats Hans-Joachim Stuck, Leopold Prinz von Bayern, Klaus Niedzwiedz and Dieter Quester, and rally icon Markku Alén.
"That was a highly emotional experience, celebrating the beginnings of Volkswagen Motorsport against such an impressive backdrop and together with such great names from the world of racing,’ Volkswagen Motorsport Director Jost Capito said.
"The revival here in Daytona, where it all began with the first Formula Vee race, has reunited many of these legends and that is something of which we are very proud. Vee are family – just like Volkswagen, Formula Vee is one big family."
A year after Caterham launched their low-cost karting championship, the British automaker is pushing through with those plans with the debut of the CK-01 kart at the AutoSport International in Birmingham, England.
Created to give youngsters a chance to get their feet wet in the world of motorsports, the Caterham kart championship will be open to any child between the ages of 13 and 16 with a maximum of 120 entries. Each applicant, or to be specific, their parents, will have to pay €6,200 plus tax, or about $8,100. The season package includes a number of add-ons, including a race-ready CK-01, a paddock trolley, an ARKS race license, entry to the six-race season and technical support.
The six events will be held on various circuits across the UK and will comprise of practice sessions, a qualifying session and the actual races, which will carry points with it.
The inaugural season isn’t expected until 2014, which gives all the little tykes out there plenty of time to get their racing groove on.
According to Tony Fernandes, CEO of the Caterham Group, Caterham is the perfect place is to enjoy an affordable and competitive kart series, providing the upstarts racers a chance to showcase their skills in motorsports.
"Caterham Karting will once again make this fantastic sport accessible to everyone, without losing any element of the competition and experience," he said.
With the way the series is shaping up, who are we to disagree?
In case you had any doubts about the global reach of the Gymkhana phenomenon, look no further than the United Kingdom to understand that its popularity is far-reaching.
The event was the finals of Gymkhana GRiD and it served up the kind of racing and drifting action that had everybody in the UK scratching the Gymkhana bug. Ken Block and Vaughn Gittin Jr. were the headline names at the event, yet they weren’t the only big names in attendance.
Some of the world’s finest drifters were also on hand for the event, including Liam Doran, Paul ‘Smokey’ Smith, Buttsy Butler and Terry Grant. Somehow, through all that burning rubber and smoking tires, there was also plenty to take away from the festivities, which culminated with the crowning of the winners of the Gymkhana GRiD series.
Check out the video for a brief recap of the event and, as always, enjoy all the smoking and screeching by turning up the volume of those speakers.
