Friday 29 March 2013

Alpine-LMP2 race car revealed

35-year after winning the Le Mans 24 hour race with the 2 litre turbo V6 Renault Alpine A442, Renault's Alpine brand is returning to Le Mans 24 hour race with a brand new LMP2 car. Its LMP2 contender that will contest the 24 Hours of Le Mans and European Le Mans Series this season. It will be called the Alpine N36.



The Alpine N36 was unveiled during at an event in Paris last week, the Signatech team will race under the Alpine brand, it will use the Nissan-powered 4.5 litre V8, it will also use a re-branded Oreca 03 chassis despite it is not a fully Alpine chassis, Michelin tyres, the Alpine-Oreca will be raced by Nelson Panciatici, Pierre Ragues and Tristan Gommendy for the re-branded team this season. The Alpine-Oreca-Nissan will make its race debut in next month's Three Hours of Silverstone, the season-opener for the European Le Mans Series.



End of blog for now. New post soon. Bye.



Tuesday 26 March 2013

2013 Malaysian Grand Prix Review, Sebastian Vettel: greedy or ruthless

Second post of the F1 season. A quick review of the race, thoughts on the race which includes thoughts on Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber.

Good points


  • Red Bull (Sebastian Vettel, pole to win; Mark Webber, finished 2nd)
  • Mercedes (Lewis Hamilton, finished 3rd; Nico Rosberg, finished 4th)
  • Filipe Massa (finished 5th)
  • Romain Grosjean (finished 6th)
  • Nico Hülkenberg (finished 8th)
  • Jean-Éric Vergne (finished 10th)
  • Jules Bianchi (finished 13th)

Bad points

  • Fernando Alonso (DNF, Alonso clipped his front wing on the back of Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull on the first lap. But on lap 2, the front wing broke off and sent Alonso off the circuit at turn 1. Despite, it his 200th Grand Prix in F1)
  • Jenson Button (DNF, lost wheel nut in the pits which included a DNF with a Wheel problem)
  • Pastor Maldonado (DNF, KERS failure)
  • Daniel Ricciardo (DNF, Exhaust)
  • Force India (Paul di Resta, DNF wheel nut; Adrian Sutil, DNF wheel nut)

Overall, the race was an OK race to watch. Until twelve laps to the end, we all thought that Mark Webber going to win after the pit-stops are finished. Unless your name is Sebastian Vettel that is. Sebastian Vettel took the lead to win this seasons Malaysian Grand Prix and his first win of the season. But after the race, that wasn't the case, there was team orders to let Mark Webber win the race from the last twenty laps telling both drivers to turn down the engines.

So was Sebastian Vettel greedy, disobeying orders or ruthless. My opinion he was disobeying orders which he said sorry afterwards but mainly ruthless. I am not defending Vettel's actions, but this is ruthless, similar ruthless if you see with Michael Schumacher winning races and world championships in the past and also similar to Ayrton Senna's ruthless to win races and championships as-well.

Also, he was looking at yesterday's results, DNF for both Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton only managing third place. And last weeks race winner Kimi Raikkonen only getting seventh place in the race when we all think he be in the top three once more. And now Sebastian Vettel leads the drivers championship, for now that is.

But, what I didn't notice until I re-watched the highlights on the BBC on Sunday Afternoon that Vettel was on the medium tyres on his last stint. While, Webber was on the hard compound on his last stint, which was around 0.6s per lap slower than Vettel. I would question why Red Bull did that strategy, if the team were in place to do the team orders, why not give both drivers the same medium/hard compound tyre's because I doubt that Lewis Hamilton would have finish no higher than third place, due to he was saving fuel at the end of the race.



As for Mark Webber, I can't blame him for throwing his toys out of the pram at this moment of time. I would have done the same as him if I was in that same position. I wouldn't be surprise either if he quits the team after this and we see a new driver at Red Bull at the next race at Shanghai. But, I doubt it it's more than possible it's his last season at Red Bull. A possibility of musical chairs at Red Bull, Ferrari, Lotus and Mercedes next season is very possible in my opinion. Possibly at Ferrari for 2014 teaming up with Fernando Alonso.

To finish off with a lighter note, despite he finished third (from a little team orders from Ross Brawn) at last weeks Malaysian Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton forgot which team garage to pit in for his first pit stop.



End of blog for now. New post soon. Bye.

Thursday 21 March 2013

DeltaWing unveils coupe version to race

Despite the DeltaWing had a bad weekend at last weeks 12 hours of Sebring, only managing nine laps until an engine below up. Despite that, last week the DeltaWing team have showed off the coupe version of the DeltaWing experimental racer.



The coupe will be built around a tailor made monocoque developed at Panoz's Elan Motorsports Technologies facility that will replace the old Aston Martin AMR-One tub of the original car. The coupe DeltaWing will keep the Mazda 1.9 lite in-line four turbo which will be producing 345 brake horsepower and 350 pound-feet of torque. Also, it will stay on Bridgestone tyres as-well.

In my opinion I always like the original DeltaWing as a race car since it raced at La Mans last year. I do like the coupe version from the images we've seen, looks like the Batmobile from the early 1990s in the Tim Burton Batman films. But, the only thing I hate about  it is the livery, if it was last years livery it would have worked better.

The coupe version will possibly have a race debut for round three of the ALMS at Laguna Seca in May. Personally, good luck to the DeltaWing team for this season coupe or old car, like I said in a pervious post.

End of blog for now. New post soon. Bye.


Wednesday 20 March 2013

Mercedes AMG SL63 vs Australian V8 Supercar Holden VF Commodore vs Red Bull RB7

During last weeks Australian Grand Prix weekend. There was a speed comparison on the Albert Park race track between a Mercedes AMG SL63 driven by five time 500cc champion Mick Doohan, a V8 Supercar spec Holden VF Commodore driven by double MotoGP champion Casey Stoner and a 2011 Red Bull RB7 driven by former Williams, McLaren and Red Bull driver David Coulthard.

The facts: Mick Doohan's Mercedes AMG SL63 has a 6 litre twin turbo V12 producing 621 bhp. While, Casey Stoner's Holden VF Commodore race car has a 5.0 litre V8 producing around 600 bhp. And David Coulthard's Red Bull RB7 has a Renault 2.4 litre V8 producing around 750 bhp. Who gonna win the race around one lap at Albert Park?



What a surprise the F1 car wins again.

End of blog for now. New post soon. Bye.

Tuesday 19 March 2013

2013 12 Hours of Sebring Review

Review of the first round of the 2013 12 Hours of Sebring for the American Le Mans Series. The Audi Sport Team Joest team won the race overall and P1 class too. With the drivers of Marcel Fässler, Benoît Tréluyer and Oliver Jarvis giving the Audi R18 e-tron quattro its first win of the 2013 season. Menawhile, the other Audi Sport Team Joest team of Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Lucas di Grassi finished second place in their Audi R18 e-tron quattro to make an Audi one-two and possibly their last win at the 12 hours of Sebring (Both ALMS and Rolex Sports Car Series are merging next season, which means no P1/LMP1 class). While, the Rebellion Racing team of Nick Heidfeld, Neel Jani and Nicolas Prost took third place in their Lola B12/60-Toyota 3.4l V8.



Meanwhile, the DeltaWing team had a race to forget. Retired with an engine failure within the first nine laps, not a good weekend for the DeltaWing team to remember.



In P2 class, the Level 5 Motorsports team of Scott Tucker, Marino Franchitti and Ryan Briscoe in their OrecaHPD ARX-03b with a Honda HR28TT 2.8 L Turbo V6 won in P2 class and 6th overall. Meanwhile in PC class, PR1 Mathiesen Motorsports team of David Cheng, Mike Guasch and David Ostella won the class and finished 9th overall. While in GT class, was won by Corvette Racing of Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Richard Westbrook won in their Chevrolet Corvette C6.R, finished 15th overall as-well. While in GTC class, was won by Alex Job Racing team of Cooper MacNeil, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Dion von Moltke in their Porsche 997 GT3 Cup car and finished 24th overall.

End of post/blog for now, new post soon. Bye.

Monday 18 March 2013

2013 Australian Grand Prix Review, a few thoughts on the race itself, Malaysian Grand Prix Predictions

A quick review of last weekends Australian Grand Prix, a few thoughts on the race itself and predictions for this weekends Malaysian Grand Prix.

Good points


  • Kimi Räikkönen (race win)
  • Ferrari (Fernando Alonso finished 2nd, Filipe Massa finished 4th)
  • Sebastian Vettel (finished 3rd)
  • Force India (Adrian Sutil finished 7th, Paul di Resta finished 8th)
  • Jules Bianchi (finished 14th, a lap down from the leaders on his F1 debut)


Bad points


  • McLaren (Jenson Button finished 9th, Sergio Pérez finished 11th)
  • Nico Hülkenberg (DNS, fuel system)
  • Nico Rosberg (DNF, electronics problem)
  • Daniel Ricciardo (DNF, exhausts)
  • Pastor Maldonado (DNF, spun off)


Overall, I thought it was very good race to watch, seven differnt race leaders in the race (Alonso, Vettel, Räikkönen, Sutil, Massa, Hamilton and Rosberg). It was going to be either Kimi Räikkönen, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel for the win with 20 laps to go, until Kimi Räikkönen step up and took the win on a cleaver two-stop strategy ahead of Alonso and Vettel to win this seasons Australian Grand Prix and Kimi's 20th race win in Formula 1 as-well.

So this weekends Malaysia Grand Prix at Sepang outside of Kuala Lumpur. Predictions for the race, Fernando Alonso win in the Ferrari, Sebastian Vettel second in the Red Bull and Filipe Massa 3rd in the other Ferrari. Don't forget Mark Webber, McLaren drivers, Mercedes drivers or the Lotus drivers as well for a podium place.

End of blog for now. New post soon. Bye.

Saturday 16 March 2013

Top Six Formula 1 debut/rookie seasons since 2000

There will be five drivers will make their Formula 1 debut in 2013 starting at this weekends Austrian Grand Prix, as follows Esteban Gutiérrez at Sauber, Valtteri Bottas at Williams, both Max Chilton and Jules Bianchi at Marussia and Giedo van der Garde at Caterham. This post will be a top six Formula 1 debut/rookie seasons since the year 2000, starting with at number six:

Number 6: Mark Webber, 2002
Story: Got the Minardi (nowadays Toro Rosso in 2013) drive for the 2002 season. In his first grand prix at his home grand prix the Australian Grand Prix, took an underpowered Minardi to fifth place after a first lap crash that took nine F1 drivers out . Which took Mark Webber to sixteenth in the drivers standings and took Minardi to ninth in the constructors standings ahead of all-mighty Toyota that season.



Number 5: Kimi Raikkonen, 2001
Story: Only had 23 car races to his credit before his career in F1. Kimi Raikkonen was the surprise choice for driving for Sauber in 2001. Took a point in his first race at the Australian Grand Prix. Best results that season was taking two forth place finishes at the Austrian Grand Prix and the Canadian Grand Prix. Which took him to tenth place in the drivers standings that season and took 10 points that season and a McLaren drive for the 2002 season as-well replacing Mika Hakkinen.



Number 4: Juan Paulo Montoya, 2001
Story: Very unreliable Williams car for the former Champ Car champion for his debut. When the car was reliable he was impressive, should have won the Brazilian Grand Prix that season only for Jos Verstappen crashing into him. Took three pole positions' that season and a race win at the 2001 Italian Grand Prix. took 31 points that year and sixth in the drivers standing as-well.



Number 3: Fernanado Alonso, 2001
Story: Despite taking no points that season, Fernando Alonso was very impressive that season. In a very underpowered Minardi that season, Alonso was the third-youngest driver ever to start a Formula 1 race when he made his debut for Minardi. Best result was a tenth place finish at the German Grand Rix that season. Also, at the final round of the season at Suzuka he finished in eleventh place, ahead of likes of Heinz-Harald Frentzen in the Prost, the BAR of Olivier Panis, the two Arrows and his team-mate Alex Yoong, even Minardi team manager Paul Stoddart, described his race as "53 laps of qualifying". Now that's an impressive season with the worse car on the grid that season.



Number 2: Jenson Button, 2000
Story: Got the Williams drive, despite only having only two season before that in Formula Ford and Formula Three. Almost score a point before his engine failed 11 laps from the finish on his debut race at the Australian Grnad Prix. Meanwhile a sixth-place finish at the next race in Brazil made him, at the time, the youngest driver ever to score a point. Best finish was at the German Grand Prix finishing in forth place. Took 12 points that season to finish in eighth in drivers' standings for that season.



Number 1: Lewis Hamilton, 2007
Story: His rookie season was at McLaren in 2007 teaming up with double world champion Fernando Alonso that season. He almost won the Drivers' World Championship despite only one DNF that season, only losing the championship by a single point to Kimi Raikkonen. Scoring 109 points, second in the drivers' standings, six pole positions and four race wins in that season.



Good luck to the new rookies for this season.

End of post/blog for now, new post soon. Bye.

Friday 15 March 2013

Developing a Honda 3 litre V10 back from 2001

There are rumours from the last ten days that Honda will return to Formula 1 for the 2015 season, as an engine supplier with McLaren in 2015 with an all new Honda 1.6 litre Turbo V6s'. Time will tell if that deal happens. But for now, here's a youtube video from Honda back from 2001 on an engine life from Honda developing their 3 litre V10 for the Jordan (Force India in 2013 as they know as) and BAR (Mercedes AMG in 2013 as they know as) teams, enjoy.



End of post/blog for now, new post soon. Bye.

Wednesday 13 March 2013

Top Ten McLaren race cars, Celebrating 50 years of McLaren

This season is 50th year of McLaren formed. Didn't started to be a Formula 1 until 1966. McLaren have won many Grand Prix wins' and Drivers and Constructor titles'. Also, winning at Indianapolis 500, Can-am Championships, Le Mans wins and so forth. To Celebrate this a top ten best Mclaren race cars that ever made and produce. Starting with Number ten of the top ten is:

Number 10: 1968-69 McLaren M7
Story: Designed by Robin Herd and Gordon Coppuck, the M7 was the first McLaren to be powered by the 3 litre V8 Cosworth DFV engine. This would be team first win in Formula 1 with the M7 in the hands of McLaren founder Bruce McLaren at the 1968 Belgium Grand Prix, while Denny Hulme took another three wins in the McLaren M7 between 1968 an 1969. Which even took Mclaren to second in the Constructors Championship in 1968.



Number 9: 2008 McLaren MP4-23
Story: The McLaren MP4-23 was designed by Neil Oatley, Tim Goss and Paddy Lowe. Underneath the McLaren MP4-23 had a Mercedes 2.4 litre V8. The McLaren MP4-23 took Lewis Hamilton to the 2008 F1 Drivers title, while it took McLaren second in the F1 Constructors' standings. And the McLaren MP4-23 won six races, five for Lewis Hamilton and one for Heikki Kovalainen as-well.





Number 8: 1998 McLaren MP4-13
Story: The last time McLaren have won the F1 Constructors championship was with this car the McLaren MP4-13. This was Adrian Newey first F1 car design since leaving Williams at the start of 1997 season. The car had a Mercedes 3.0 litre V10 underneath. It won the F1 constructors championship in 1998. Also, David Coulthard won a grand prix in that car and Mika Hakkinen won eight grand prixs that season to concluded with the 1998 F1 drivers championship for Hakkinen.





Number 7: 1967 McLaren M6A
Story: The first of championship winning race cars from McLaren. Inside the M6A was a 5.9-litre Chevrolet V8 engine. Which, took McLaren to win its first Can-Am championship in the hands of its founder Bruce McLaren back in 1967.



Number 6: 1995 McLaren F1 GTR
Story: Basically the McLaren F1 GTR developed from the McLaren F1 road car. Designed by Gordon Murray, the McLaren F1 GTR had 600 bhp from a BMW 6.1 litre V12. The McLaren F1 GTR was a grand touring race winning machine, winning races in series such as the BPR Global GT Series, FIA GT Championship, JGTC, and British GT Championship. But, It is most famous for its overall victory at the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans where Kokusai Kaihatsu Racing team of Yannick Dalmas, Masanori Sekiya and JJ Lehto, won the race overall ahead of faster purpose-built prototypes. Also in that race, four McLaren F1 GTR finished inside the top five after 24 hours as-well(1st-3rd-4th-5th place).





Number 5: 1973-77 McLaren M23
Story: The McLaren M23 took McLaren to their first Drivers' and Constructors' tiles in Formula 1. Designed by Gordon Coppuck, with input from John Barnard, the McLaren M23 had the 3 litre Cosworth DFV engine to give McLaren the F1 Constructors championship in 1974. Also, Emerson Fittipaldi to his second F1 drivers title in 1974. While, McLaren M23 took James Hunt to his 1976 Drivers championship as-well. McLaren M23 took 16 race wins overall, two for Denny Hulme, two for Peter Revson, one for Jochen Mass, five for Emerson Fittipaldi and six for James Hunt in those four and half years in Formula 1.





Number 4: 1972-76 McLaren M16C
Story: McLaren M16C took McLaren to three Indianapolis 500 wins in 1972 Mark Donohue with Team Penske (M16B). McLaren as a team won in 1974 and 1976 with Johnny Rutherford behind the wheel. Underneath the Mclaren M16C was an Offenhauser straight four, 2.65 litre turbo engine to produce 750 bhp for those three Indy 500 wins in the mid 1970's.





Number 3: 1984-86 McLaren MP4/2
Story: The McLaren MP4/2 took 22 Wins in three seasons in F1, 16 wins for Alain Prost and 6 for Niki Lauda. Also, took two back to back F1 Constructors' titles for Mclaren in 1984 and 1985. And three F1 Drivers' Championships in hands of Niki Lauda in 1984 and Alain Prost in 1985 and 1986. McLaren MP4/2 was designed by John Barnard and had a TAG-Porsche 1.5 litre V6 engine underneath, which produce 850 bhp near the end of 1986 to give the McLaren MP4/2 one of Mclaren's and Formula 1 most successful race car ever.





Number 2: 1968-71 McLaren M8
Story: Possibly the most dominant Can-Am car McLaren have ever produce. Inside in the M8A, M8B, M8D and M8F was a 7-litre engine V8 from Chevrolet. Which took Denny Hulme to the 1968 and 1970 Cam-Am titles, Bruce McLaren to the 1969 title and Peter Revson to the 1971 Cam-Am Championship.



Number 1: 1988 McLaren MP4/4
Story: The McLaren MP4/4 will be possibly the best McLaren car that have been created from the team and possibly the most dominant racing car in Formula 1 history. The McLaren MP4/4 was design by both Steve Nichols and Gordon Murray. The McLaren MP4/4 has the famous Honda 1.5 litre V6 turbo engine underneath the McLaren MP4/4, the last of the turbos in Formula 1 (until next season that is) which produce over 1000 bhp in qualfing and around 790 bhp in race pace. Which, Mclaren took 15 victories from 16 races in 1988, 8 for Ayrton Senna and 7 for Alain Prost, including 10 1-2 finishes, 15 Poles which Senna took 13 poles that season. Finally gives McLaren the Constructors Championship in 1998 and Ayrton Senna to the Drivers Championship in 1988 as-well.





And to many more years of winning form Mclaren to come.

End of blog for now, new post soon, bye.






Tuesday 12 March 2013

Formula 1 2013 Season preview, predicting this season and Australian Grand Prix predictions too

Today post is a 2013 F1 preview, all the teams and drivers. Also, predicting this seasons Championship winners and Australian Grand Prix predictions as-well. Starting of with last year constructors champions Red Bull Racing:

Red Bull: the team to beat for drivers constructors championship this year. Sebastian Vettel needs to defend his title for a forth year. But, Mark Webber needs to challenge for the title and take it away from Vettel and to stay at Red Bull for 2014, if not it could be his last season at Red Bull.

Ferrari: looks much of a stronger car this season compared to 2012 car, Fernando Alonso is strong favourite for the Drivers world championship, Another big season for Felipe Massa either a make or brake year to stay at Ferrari too, even in F1 as-well.

McLaren: first season without Lewis Hamilton, how much of an impact will the team miss Hamilton skills? time will tell. Both Jenson Button and Sergio Perez have been fast in testing. But, McLaren needs to bring a fast car throughout the season to beat the likes of Ferrari and Red Bull this season to win championships, if not it could be a hard season ahead for McLaren.

Lotus: looks fast in testing, Kimi Raikkonen looks curtain to challenge for the world drivers championship and win a few races this year. Meanwhile Romain Grosjean is fast in testing, needs to prove it in race pace and finish races in strong positions. If Lotus is fast in races throughout the season, Lotus could beat Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes to third or even second place in the constructors.

Mercedes: look fast in testing, but needs to show in races and if so third in constructors is a strong possibility. Nico Rosberg looks fast in testing. New challenge ahead for Lewis Hamilton, the drivers championship will be a touch challenge to achieve, but race wins look possible.

Sauber: looks fast in testing, will they bring it to races once again this season. Esteban Gutierrez has got nothing to lose as a rookie his season. Nico Hulkenberg now the team leader and looks faster than his team-mate in testing.

Force India: Paul di Resta stays, Adrian Sutil returns to Force India. Looks fast in testing, can they match it race pace against the likes of Sauber, Williams and Toro Rosso to finish in sixth place in the constructors standings this season.

Williams: Valtteri Bottas in, kept Pastor Maldonado for another season. Won a race from last season, can't see them win this season. But, Williams needs to target of top six in the constructors standings will be the challenge this season.

Toro Rosso: Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne stays in the team for 2013. It's a make or brake year for both Ricciardo and Vergne. If the car is there, a top six target in the constructors standings could happen. If that target doesn't meet, both drivers could be in the firing line.

Caterham: two inexperience drivers at the team this season of Charles Pic and rookie Giedo van der Garde. Top ten in the constructors standings must be the target this season ahead of Marussia once again.

Marussia: financial questions above the team since the start of testing, which means dropping Timo Glock from his contract. Which place two rookies in the team of Max Chilton and Jules Bianchi. However the car is faster than Caterham in testing, top ten in the constructors standings is the target this season.

So predictions time, Who gonna win the world drivers championship this season? My prediction is Fernando Alonso for his third world drivers championships. Mark Webber, Sebastian Vettel, Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen will be touch challengers for this years title. It will be another close drivers championship once again this year in my opinion.



Constructors title: either Red Bull or Ferrari I probably predict Ferrai to win the constructors championships. I think Red Bull will be a close second in the constructors championship. But, I doubt that Mercedes, McLaren or Lotus will be challenging the top two for all season pace.

Predictions for this weekends Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park in Melbourne. For the win I predict Fernando Alonso for the race win in the Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton second in the Mercedes and Sebastian Vettel third in the Red Bull. Don't forget Mark Webber, Felipe Massa, Nico Rosberg, Mclaren drivers and the Lotus drivers either for the race for a podium postion.

End of post/blog for now, new post soon. Bye.

Monday 11 March 2013

WRC Round 3 recap

Recap of the last round of WRC from this weekends Round 3 of Rally Mexico.

This weekends was the second round of the World Rally Championship at the Rally Mexico (7th-10th March) was won by Sébastien Ogier. Meanwhile, Mikko Hirvonen finished second in the works Citroën DS3 WRC, Hirvonen was three and a half minutes behind Ogier at the end. Meanwhile, Qatar World Rally Team driver Thierry Neuville, finished in third place in the Ford Fiesta RS WRC. Neuville was under four and a half minutes behind Ogier at the end of the rally.

Also, mention to Ken Block in his Hoonigan Racing Division Ford Fiesta RS WRC finished 9th in last years rally. This year Ken Block finished in 7th place, could have finished in the top six at the end of the last day, never-less his best result in the WRC. Despite, this could be his only WRC outing this season.

Meanwhile in WRC-2 class (Group R5, R4, Super 2000 and Group N4 spec cars), that was won by Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari in his Seashore Qatar World Rally Team backed Ford Fiesta RRC. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari finished in twelfth place overall, he was over 30 minutes behind Ogier at the end of the rally.

Highlights of the rally bellow, enjoy.



End of post/blog for now, new post soon. Bye.




Tuesday 5 March 2013

The DeltaWing new war paint for this season

Despite, Nissan, Dan Gurney's All American Racers, Highcroft Racing and Michelin have pulled out of the DeltaWing project this season. The DeltaWing will still be racing in the American Le Mans series this season with the Panoz Motorsports team.



The DeltaWing will do most rounds of the American Le Mans series this season, minus the street rounds in the series. The DeltaWing will use a new engine after Nissan pulled out the project. The new engine is the Mazda 1.9 lite in-line four turbo which will be producing 345 brake horsepower and 350 pound-feet of torque, meaning it is also more powerful than the old Nissan engine. While, Michelin have pulled out the project, Bridgestone have replace them as the tyre suppler they will use this season. Also, the DelatWing will jump into the (LM)P1 category this season as-well.

As for drivers Andy Meyrick and Olivier Pla will do most rounds this season, and Johnny O'Connell will be their third driver in 12 hour/1000km rounds when needed. Starting of with the 12 Hours of Sebring in two weeks time.

Good luck to the DeltaWing team for this season. As this is the most imaginative car for many years, impress a lot of people from last year.

End of post/blog for now, new post soon. Bye.


Monday 4 March 2013

Confirmed: Robert Kubica in WRC this season in a Citroen DS3 RRC

Despite, Robert Kubica didn't got a drive in DTM this season. It has been confirmed this morning that that Robert Kubica will return to action this season with an entry into the WRC-2 category of the World Rally Championship.



The former BMW Sauber and Renault driver will join the series in Rally Portugal next month having agreed terms on a deal with Citroen that will see do seven WRC rounds this year at the wheel of a new Citroen DS3 RRC.

The former grand prix winner will begin his season with the European Rally Championship's Rally Canary Islands on March 21-23 before starting his WRC2 programme at Rally Portugal on April 11-14.

Personally, this is good news for the former Renault driver as this is another big step back into motor-racing since his big accident in February 2011, were he was heavily injured in a crash on the first stage of the Ronde di Andora rally near Genoa in Italy, were Kubica heavily injured his right arm, hand and leg. Also, I would have liked him be in DTM this season with Mercedes instead of WRC-2, but this is still good news for the former grand prix winner today nonetheless.

End of post/blog for now, new post soon. Bye.

Sunday 3 March 2013

Gymkhana by Audi

Usually with the words Gymkhana and Hooning, usually you associate with Ken Block, Ford Fiesta and Subaru Impreza. But, this time the words Audi and Timo Scheider are now associate with Gymkhana and Hooning. Audi created a new ninety-five second video below of double DTM champion Timo Scheider driving/hooning a 4WD 252 bhp Audi A1 Quattro by going to building site which they're bulding the new world's largest used car centre in Munich, Germany and causing havoc.

Enjoy the video of Audi way of Gymkhana.



End of post/blog for now, new post soon. Bye.

Saturday 2 March 2013

Confirmed: Luiz Razia losses Marussia drive, Jules Bianchi gets the drive instead

Rumours yesterday that Luiz Razia may be dropped from Marussia despite not driving a grand prix for them due to sponsorship though to be planned who have backed off. Rumours have become true as it was confirmed yesterday (1/3/13) that Luiz Razia losses his Marussia drive. And now has been replace by former Force India reserve driver and current Ferrari development driver Jules Bianchi, who will be Max Chilton team-mate at Murussia this season.

Luiz Razia suppose to drive at Marussia this season after the team terminated Timo Glock's contract because the team needed the money from a 'pay-drive'. And since his agreed a deal to race for BMW in the DTM Series. But, after a few weeks that Luiz Razia deal has been agreed, but the deal has been dropped due to sponsors from Brazil have let him down. Jules Bianchi has stepped in a bit of sponsorship from France and Italy, also a strong possibility of V6 Ferrari Turbo engines for 2014 at a discount price replacing Cosworth, who are more than likely to leave the sport after this season.

Gutted for Luiz Razia losing his drive due to his sponsors with two weeks before the season to start. As for Jules Bianchi, good luck driving at Marussia this season, at least he proved me wrong in the last 24 hours. Because, I predicted he won't be driving in F1 in 2013, I got that prediction wrong already in 2013.

Now bring on the new Formula 1 season. End of post/blog for now, new post soon. Bye.