Racing

Lamborghini has revealed the most aggressive version of its smallest offering, the $430,000 Huracan GT3 Evo racer, which as its name suggests, is an evolution of the original Huracan GT3. It improves the first GT3 in several ways and is available for purchase both as a standalone model or as an upgrade for any existing Huracan GT3.

Winning not only the GT Asia Series Championship in 2016, as well as the Rolex 24 at Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring, the Huracan GT3, has proven highly successful, and the Evo is further refined and enhanced to bring out its qualities. The main point of focus was enhancing the car’s aerodynamics with the help of the Dallara Engineering.

The Lola Mk. 6 GT is genuine cornerstone material in the racing world as it laid the groundwork for what would become Ford’s answer to Ferrari: the GT40. It was also one of the first mid-engined GT sports cars to race at Le Mans, its philosophy transforming into the go-to recipe for endurance racers for years to follow.

This year, we celebrated 50 years since Ford’s third win on the trot at Le Mans. One more was on the cards for the following year, and all was possible because of Eric Broadley’s Lola Mk. 6 GT which debuted at London’s Olympia Racing Car Show in January of 1963. It was a sleek, yet simple design that blazed a trail that many would follow in the construction of purposeful endurance sports cars as well as many road cars that we now look at and consider the forefathers of the supercar.

It all happened thanks to a change in the regulations of the rebadged World Sports Car Championship, which would be known as the International Championship for GT Manufacturers for 1962. This rebranding exercise also led the way to FISA launching a new class for Experimental Grand Touring cars. These were, in effect, closed-top sports racers that didn’t need to worry about any homologation requirements that were in line for production-based machinery. While still retaining the GT moniker, these were, for all intents and purposes, prototypes that had to retain some degree of roadworthiness to be road legal.

This was very much the case with the Mk. 6 GT which, in innovative fashion, featured monocoque construction, although it wasn’t a “full monocoque.” Another innovation laid in the construction of the bodywork which was made entirely out of fiberglass, something quite uncommon at the time. For all the stir int produced upon launch, the Mk. 6 GT fell short on its promises, Broadley’s limited pockets effectively cutting the wings of his new design which seldom showed up at a race meeting, and when it did it never lasted too long.

Only three of these cars were ever made and, thankfully, all survive to this day. While you may think they are only a footnote in the Ford vs. Ferrari saga, if it weren’t for Lola raising Henry Ford II’s eyebrows at Le Mans 55 years ago, we may never have gotten the GT40 the way we know it today. Yes, the follow-up Lola T70 is the much more revered design, and the Ford GT40 is the one that gathered all the accolades in the winner’s circle, but the Mk. 6 GT deserves to lavish in much more attention than it gets for the pioneering act that it is.

Keep reading to learn more about the Lola Mk. 6 GT and its intricate history and historical relevance.

The Hyundai Ioniq Electric may not look like a race car, but leave it to Hyundai to create something out of seemingly nothing with the Ioniq Electric 2018 Ultimate Street Car. Developed to defend its 2017 title in the GTE class of the Optima Ultimate Street Car series, this one-off Ioniq Electric isn’t for the faint of heart. It looks the part of a race car. It’s fitted with a number of racing components. Most importantly, it’s the recipient of an electric motor transplant from the Hyundai Kona, giving it the juice to compete against the likes of Chevrolet Bolt EV and the Tesla Model S P100D. The Hyundai Ioniq Electric is scheduled to compete in the last two races of the 2018 Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational.

Motorsport is hard, no matter the level, no matter the series, no matter the car. All of it takes supreme dedication and effort, and if you don’t have the fires of passion to propel you, you’ll never get off the couch. Bartosz Ostalowski - well, he’s got the passion, that much is obvious. Despite the losing his arms in a motorcycle accident, Ostalowski managed to find a way to continue doing what he loves, namely getting sideways in a big cloud of tire smoke. Believe it or not, he does it all using his feet.

The Hoonigan crew went to Poland to check it out for themselves, linking up with Ostalowski during some shakedown practice runs prior to his stint in a recent Drift Masters event. His car is a Nissan Skyline GT-R R34, which comes stuffed with a V-8 powerplant. The power hits the rear wheels through an eight-speed gearbox from ZF, with cog swaps executed via a custom paddle mounted near his right shoulder. Ostalowski steers using his left foot, and works the pedals with his right foot, plus there’s a third e-brake pedal to lock the rears during tandem battles.

Watching Ostalowski work his magic is nothing short of incredible. The man is obviously a killer drifter, but the fact he manages it all using just his feet takes it all to an entirely new level. Watching it all go down is an inspiration, and we’re convinced Ostalowski has a very bright career ahead of him.

While the Subaru WRX gets plenty (and I do mean plenty) of love in the performance world, it’s not the only Six Star out there to offer a heady dose of thrills behind the wheel. Take the Legacy RS, a turbocharged AWD slingshot which, properly prepared, can still bring the heat in a major way, as evidenced by this 3-minute, 35-second hill climb video.

The vid includes both exterior shots and interior shots of the Legacy’s run, and provides plenty of pops and bangs through the audio to get your blood flowing.

According to HillClimb Monsters, the channel that posted the video, the Legacy belongs to Damien Bradley from Team Legacy U.K., and comes fresh from the world of time attack competition. Specs include a six-speed sequential race transmission (man, that thing is loud in the interior shots), race-spec six-pot brakes from Alcon, and Nitron suspension bits. Apparently, its also got 700 horsepower thanks to a fully built boxer engine and GT35R turbo, although we think the tune might a bit lower, at least on this particular run.

Either way, seeing this thing scorch its way up the hill is a delight all the same.

Prepared to compete at the Optima Batteries’ 2018 Search for the Ultimate Street Car, Hyundai unveiled an all-new special Veloster N. It will enter the Optima Batteries GTC class and compete at the last two events of the year. The reasoning behind this new special edition Veloster N is straightforward. Hyundai is about to reveal the performance-focused Veloster N in the U.S. Generating hype by competing in events like this can only further the cause of linking the Veloster N name with performance and excitement.

"The OPTIMA Search for the Ultimate Street Car competition is the perfect venue to allow Hyundai to showcase its expanding performance envelope and introduce the N-brand vehicles to performance enthusiasts," said Joshua Vedder, Senior Group Manager, Customer Connect, Hyundai Motor America. "The vehicles are modified in a way that mirrors a typical enthusiast – gripper tires and suspension, increased power, etc.; and then tested in this severe environment. This is one way we ensure our vehicle will exceed our customers’ expectations."

Apart from the new specially prepared racing Veloster N, Hyundai unveiled an awesome Ioniq with the drivetrain from the Kona Electric. That one will try to defend the title it won at the 2017 National Championship in the GTE class. Nevertheless, we are focused now on the Veloster N as it did receive some serious upgrades over the streetcar that will come soon to our market, but it remain a street-legal machine.

Applying much the same magic as to the stunning i30 N, Hyundai translated the Veloster N into a car capable of competing with the likes of the Civic Type R, the Golf GTI, and the Focus ST, among others. We have been expecting the Veloster N for some time. Actually, ever since we saw that stunning mid-engine Veloster with a 2.0-liter, 296-horsepower turbocharged engine back in 2014.

I will start what can only be considered as a eulogy for the late Donald Don Panoz, who died on September, 11 at his home in Duluth, Georgia with an official statement from Panoz LLC:

"Possibly most widely celebrated for saving sports car racing in North America or inventing the dermatological patch, ironically so for those that knew him and his smoking habits, the technology behind the nicotine patch, Panoz was a man known for questioning the norm. If someone told him ‘no,’ he told them ‘yes.’ This was the personality and the motivation behind the man, that can safely be said, has left a legacy of success and technological developments, not just in one industry, but across many."

The Porsche 908 is a prototype racer that competed in the mid- to late-‘60s and into the early-70’s, squaring off against some of the best of the best from the likes of Ferrari and Ford in numerous endurance racing events. Bearing an advanced aero package, an innovative flat-eight-cylinder engine, and a tenacious attitude, the 908 played a crucial part in Porsche’s racing development, and now sits as one of the more desirable collectible competition Porsches to go head to auction.

Continue reading to learn more about 1968 Porsche 908 Works Short-Tail Coupe..

Forza Horizon is a fun franchise, breaking from its sim-based Forza Motorsport sister game as a more arcadey open-world environment where you can live out your dream of driving like a maniac on public roads in a totally consequence-free manner. The latest fourth installment is due out early next month, and now, developer Turn 10 Studios is giving us the rundown on the cars and the songs slated for release.

Continue reading for the full story.

In case you hadn’t heard, Volkswagen is pivoting to a greener, more eco-friendly approach to building its cars, offering up plans to produce a host of new all-electric models over the next several years. Spearheading this new direction is a range of vehicles dubbed the I.D. family, which includes concepts like the Buzz minivan and Crozz four-door crossover. However, doesn’t think the I.D. range will be the death of go-fast VW’s - quite the opposite, in fact, as VW is also prepping a little something labeled I.D. for the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado this June. It’s called the I.D. R, and it’s the company’s first-ever all-electric race car, purpose-built to tackle the Race to the Clouds. If ever there was a worthwhile application of VW’s EV tech, this is it. Mind the wing.

Update 08/27/2018: We just came back from Monterey Car Week 2018 and can’t wait to share the images we took of the Volkswagen I.D. R Pike Peak racer. If you thought it looked cool before, check it out up close and personal in our gallery at the bottom of this page!

Who doesn’t like Porsche? Or Laguna Seca? The whole motoring world has been buzzing all through 2018 as Porsche took over the limelight to celebrate its 70th anniversary. Many marquee events already celebrated the Stuttgart-based manufacturer founded by Dr. Ferdinand Porsche – chiefly the Goodwood Festival of Speed – but the best is yet to come as the fabled Rennsport Reunion returns to Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca three years since everything Porsche last rocked the track nestled within the Monterey Peninsula.

It’s been 70 years since Dr. Ferdinand Porsche’s dream of building his own sports car materialized as the first Porsche 356. The house of Zuffenhausen has since developed into one of the most revered builders of sports and supercars the world over, boasting an almost unparalleled racing record littered with victories in the biggest races of the world: from the Paris-Dakar rally to the 24 Hours of Le Mans and from the Formula One World Championship to the Monte-Carlo Rally.

All of Porsche’s four-wheeled stalwarts, as well as key drivers that made history manhandling the German beasts and those that designed them, will be on site at Laguna Seca and many will also take turns driving around the legendary 2.238-mile-long road course. If we’ve learned anything from the past five Rennsport Reunions, is that this is a not-to-miss opportunity, especially considering this gathering only takes place every three or four years. Previous editions also visited Daytona International Speedway and Lime Rock Park in Connecticut.

The Porsche Rennsport Reunion V underlined once again, if it wasn’t obvious already, that the brand enjoys a huge following in the U.S. and across the world with over 60,000 people coming to Salinas, California for the event in 2015. Also, over 1.300 Porsche Club of America members joined the crowds with their prized possessions.

To find out more about the Rennsport Reunion VI and why you should attend, keep reading this article.

Announced and previewed in November 2017, the McLaren 720S GT3 is ready to hit the race track for the 2019 racing season.