Racing

Jeff Zwart is a man of many talents: he’s an eight-time Pikes Peak champion who broke quite a few records on the fabled Colorado hill climb course over the years mainly driving Porsches and he’s also a world-renown director having masterminded some famous automotive commercials that you probably were amazed by.

The next thing Zwart plans to do - which will amaze us and surely entertain him - is returning to the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb on August 30th. As ever, his weapon of choice is a Porsche but not just any product of Zuffenhausen. Think special, think very special, think 935-19.

Per Eklund is a Swedish rally driver that built an impressive and highly successful career from 1973 to 1997. He never made it to the top of his sport, but Eklund is still regarded as one of the finest rally racers of his era. One of his most impressive feats, however, took place after his active years in rally racing. It was in 2000 when Eklund drove his Saab 9-3 Viggen 4x4 at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Competing in the Pikes Peak Open Wheel category, Eklund set a record time of 11:21.58 that remained untouched for 12 years until Frenchman Romain Dumas eclipsed the Swede’s time by almost two minutes with a time of 9:46.181. The record has been broken numerous times since 2012, and the current record holder is Clint Vahsholtz, who shot up the leaderboard in 2017 when he drove his Ford Open to a time of 9:35.747. As impressive as these record times are, it’s hard not to be impressed with Eklund’s performance in 2000 when he was at the ripe old age of 54 years old. For his record to last as long as it did speaks to his abilities behind the wheel of a rally racer.

Pickup trucks made a name for themselves through workhorse character and hauling ability but who says they can’t boost one’s ego from time to time?

Certainly not Shelby, who jammed 770 horsepower inside the F-150 Super Snake which we believe is, actually, the only genuine competitor for the incoming Hellcat-powered Ram TRX.

Once drifting slid its way out of Japan, it took the whole world by storm and claimed a proper place in the highest circles of motorsport. Yes, we’ve been drooling during a lot of Formula Drift events, not to mention videos of Ken Block’s twist on drifting aka Gymkhana, but sometimes a lot of spectacular content comes from where you’d least expect it.

The year is 1992 and the struggling Larrousse squad is at the bottom of the pecking order. With 16 teams vying to make the grid, Larrousse drivers Bertrand Gachot and Ukyo Katayama often realize there’s no way their Robin Herd-designed car will make the cut and the days of Aguri Suzuki finishing on the podium for the team at Suzuka seem like a distant memory.

The only constant is the screaming 3.5-liter, naturally aspirated Lamborghini V-12 engine that revved to almost 20,000 rpm. You want a Lamborghini-engined car that can rev that high, don’t you?

With a little help from the creative genius of Jon Sibal, Porsche’s modern interpretation of the 935 ‘Moby Dick’ turns into a Pikes Peak monster ready to take the 156-turn course by storm.

Every crisis presents itself with a number of hidden opportunities ready to be found by those keen enough to look for them. Sim racing was, and still is, one of those opportunities and every major racing series indulged in virtual racing as everything in the real world had to take a break.

You too can do it and do it at a respectable level without breaking the bank and here we’ll show you how much cheaper it really is than doing it for real.

"Racing is life," said Steve McQueen’s character Michael Delaney in the 1971 movie Le Mans. "Everything before or after is just waiting."

So what do you do when you can no longer go out and race? You keep on racing, virtually, from the comfort of your home, of course. That’s what most pro drivers did during the lockdown period but how does a real race compare to one you do in a simulator?

If you happen to follow the car world’s digital illustrators, you know it’s a wild, wild world out there on our screens. Guys like Khyzyl Saleem and Ash Thorp can turn any jalopy into a hot-as-chilli restomod, and the same can be said about Jon Sibal.

Specifically, Jon came up with a re-tweak of one of his original works - a widebody Toyota Tacoma design - where he basically added a third axle to the whole thing, which now sits on not four, but six ‘meaty wheels’ as the artist calls them.

Lamborghini didn’t really have any new products on the horizon, but here we are today looking at the new SCV-12. It’s a track-focused hypercar that’s powered by the most powerful naturally-aspirated V-12 engine that the Italian automaker has ever built. A few details about it were also revealed, but we won’t know the full, in-depth details until hypercar launches later this year.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is one of the most grueling tests for both man and machine in the whole of the racing world.

Organized each year around the scenic country roads near Le Mans, the race’s long history is an undying resource of amazing stories and today we’re looking back at some of the most amazing moments we celebrate this year such as the 30th anniversary of Jaguar’s last outright win or the 50th anniversary of Porsche’s first. 2020 also marks the 40th anniversary of Rondeau’s one and only win by a man driving a car bearing his own name.

Ever wonder what it’s like to watch real-world racing from the perspective of video games? This video provided by YouTube channel Frenemies gives us a close look at what’s become possible for the viewing audience of Formula Drift.

TVR is known as one of those wacky British manufacturers that, bolstered by a feverish can-do attitude, has been putting out stupendous sports cars for decades. Most of the TVRs that’ve come out since the ’90s are weird, somewhat unreliable, impractical, and that’s why we love them. We love the Tuscan, the Cerbera, the T350, the Chimaera, and the Sagaris all the same and today we’re focusing on the one that last raced at Le Mans, the Tuscan or, as it was called in its latter years, the T440.

As a small manufacturer, TVR never could hope to pump out dozens and dozens of race cars like Porsche and, as such, only six Tuscan-based GT cars were ever made and the first chassis, number 1227, debuted way back in 2001 and had a long and storied career with a final appearance at Le Mans in ’05 followed by a full European Le Mans Series season in ’06. And now you can buy it from the man who’s had it since it was brand-spanking-new.

Lancia is basically dead as a brand with just one model, the Ypsilon, sold only in Italy, but this company boasts an illustrious past. Before its demise began in the 1990s, Lancia was one of Italy’s most celebrated marques with models like the Stratos, Beta, and Gamma.

The Italian firm started winning races in the World Rally Championship in the 1970s and the 1980s brought even more success. That’s when the Delta, a five-door hatchback was born. Produced from 1979 all the way to 1994, the Delta became a popular car in Europe, but it also spawned one of the most successful rally cars.

We are well accustomed to Chris Harris getting his groove on inside some of the world’s most fascinating cars, but this particular video bit will also hit rally enthusiasts right in the feel because it features a legendary car belonging to a legendary driver.

The BMW 3 Series is now one of the most iconic compact cars out there and much of its fame came from the early generations and their involvement into motorsport. The first-generation E21 model spawned a cool Group 5 race car that replacement the 3.0 CSL, while the second-gen E30 model kickstarted BMW’s successful campaign in touring car racing.

The E30 M3 had a very successful career in this field and the third-gen E36 arrived in 1990 to take it further. If you’re too young to have seen the E36 touring cars in action back in the 1990s, the folks over at TNT Video just released an onboard video with Marco Iacoangeli behind the steering wheel. And it’s a feast for the eyes and ears.

The Porsche 917 marked Porsche’s breakthrough in sports car endurance racing. While well accustomed to victory in some of the world’s most famous races, it wasn’t until the 917 took to the track that Porsche was truly able to have a say in the battle at the front at Le Mans.

The car you see here is almost identical to those that won at La Sarthe and it even wears the legendary Martini & Rossi war paint but, unlike most other 917s, this one can be driven on the open road. If you dare.

Each year for the past nine decades, a laid-back town in the south of France becomes the world capital of speed and endurance. It all happens over the length of one weekend in June but, due to the ongoing pandemic, 2020 will see a different sort of race take place around Circuit de la Sarthe. While the real 24 Hours of Le Mans is bound to take place come autumn, a virtual twice-around-the-clock event will fill the gap on June 14-15 and basically everyone that matters in modern sports car racing is readying to take part.