Old motorsport footage never dies, it just gets faster. This spectacular clip certainly proves that theory. It is from the 1988 Manx Rally, a tarmac event won by Belgian Patrick Snijers.
Marvel at the way he throws around the little E30 M3 around with great skill and, seemingly, no care for the consequences. Amazing stuff!
[Thanks to Chris for the tip.]
If we are to believe this clip The Stig is Michael Schumacher. The footage above was taken from last night’s first episode of Top Gear Series 13. And, if you believe this to be true and not a massive publicity stunt, then take a look out your window there’s some pigs flying past. (AUSmotive tip – keep an eye on the show’s closing credits.)
It’s nothing more than a gag poking fun at the internet gossip and innuendo methinks, and hats off to Schumi for being a good sport.
[Thanks to Mal for the tip.]
The real Top Gear has returned to UK screens, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still have our fun with the local guys. Sure, they may not reach the same lofty standards of the UK originals, but in isolation they’re not too bad.
Isolation is something the Steve and Warren find themselves surrounded by tonight when they take two city runabouts—Fiat 500 and Smart Fortwo—on an outback challenge. Tackling the 620 kilometre Oodnadatta Track probably seemed like a good idea before they left, but was it a great road trip or a disaster waiting to happen?
Does your car make you more attractive? We’ll be given an insight tonight with some scientific analysis measuring women’s responses to various cars.
James and Steve take a ’79 Land Cruiser to the Devil’s Alley 4WD proving ground and face it off against an ’09 Patrol.
Gary Sweet will be thrashing the Proton around the TGA test track.
So, will you be watching Top Gear Australia tonight, or, now that Jeremy, Richard and James are back on the air, will you give it a miss?
The Mercedes-Benz CLS is one of those love or hate cars. So much so, that it’d hardly be surprising for the same person to hold such polarising views. Be that as it may UK customers will be able to get their hands on a limited Grand Edition model from next month.
Just 560 Mercedes-Benz CLS Grand Edition models will be finding a homes in the UK. Helping sales along for the Grand Edition are Titanium Grey 18″ AMG alloys, front grille and headlight clusters in Palladium silver and a tweaked engine for more grunt.
Almost three quarters of CLS sales are diesel powered, so the Grand Edition sports an enhanced 350 CDI V6 diesel with a 48bhp (35kW) increase to a maximum of 272bhp (202kW). Torque has also been given a 50Nm nudge. Mercedes reckon their über oil burner can reach 60mph in 6.5 seconds. Not earth shattering performance, but not too shabby either. Especially for a diesel.
More pics after the jump.
Red Bull Racing have dominated the action at the British Grand Prix this weekend, claiming their second one-two race win of the year, following their earlier success in China. Sadly, for fans of Australia’s Mark Webber, it was bridesmaid duties again as young gun Sebastien Vettel did most of the dominating.
Webber looked supreme in the first two stages of qualifying on Saturday, but once Vettel claimed pole position that was all she wrote. The German lead the race from start to finish and seemed largely untroubled on his way to his third GP win.
Speaking before the race Mark Webber, starting from the second row, explained he needed to get past the Brawn GP of Rubens Barichello, starting from P2, early on the first lap or else the race would be a procession. He didn’t, and it was.
Mark did finally get ahead of Rubens due to some quick work in the pits from his crew and that settled the podium positions for the race. Championship leader Jenson Button didn’t really figure at all in his home Grand Prix and managed to grab a few points by finishing the race in sixth place.
Button’s healthy points buffer means he is still the man to beat in the title race. He is now on 64 points, followed by Barichello is on 41 points, with Vettel on 39 and Webber on 35.5 points.
Red Bull made some technical changes to their car this weekend, and clearly they have worked very well. Stay tuned for the German Grand Prix in three weeks time to see if the RB5 can maintain the pressure on the BrawnGP cars and force a real fight for the 2009 title.
Looking for a foolproof way to spot your favourite F1 driver at the track or on the telly? Then look no further than the excellent 2009 Formula One Spotter Guide from spotterguides.com. The PDF available for download includes every car on the F1 grid.
Further extending the usefulness of the site are guides for ALMS, BTCC and Le Mans.
The guides are designed by Andy Blackmore Design and, according to his news section, over 29,000 Le Mans guides were downloaded over a six day period in time for last weekend’s race.
Make sure you check them out!
On schedule, the new World of Top Gear exhibition opened on Friday at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu, near Southampton.
From the World of Top Gear page on the Beaulieu website:
“Ever wondered what happened to the amphibious Toyota, the Alfa/Saab stretch limo and the Reliant Robin rocket that were drowned/cut in half/fired into space by Jeremy, James and Richard in the good name of Top Gear?
Since not even the dodgiest used car dealers would buy them, we’ve collected all the battered, modified and generally ruined cars from the world’s biggest car show and gathered them together in… the Top Gear Enormodrome!
Take a look around the cars from the challenges, get a rare behind-the-scenes view into the show’s production office, and enjoy clips of some of the best Top Gear moments.”
[via autoblog]
Click on the picture above to watch a behind the scenes video tour of the Red Bull Racing factory. Steve Nevey, RBR business development manager, talks through what is involved in the design, development and construction of the Red Bull Racing Formula One cars.
Following last week’s trailer is another installment from the Top Gear boys promoting Series 13 which starts tomorrow (21 June, 8pm UK time).
For more amusement check the clip below showing the lads making tits of themselves as they attempt to read a paragraph from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
[Source: finalgear.com]
Last night a little dancer went dancing to Mosley’s door. Usually this would make Max a very happy chappy, but, sadly for him she wasn’t that type of dancer. Instead it was the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) dancer bringing the news that eight teams don’t care for his stylez and want to start their own competition.
The teams backing the breakaway series are BMW-Sauber, BrawnGP, Scuderia Ferrari, McLaren-Mercedes, Red Bull Racing, Renault, Scuderia Toro Rosso and Toyota. FOTA’s statement (which can be viewed in full after the jump) reads: “The teams cannot continue to compromise on the fundamental values of the sport and have declined to alter their original conditional entries to the 2010 World Championship.
“These teams therefore have no alternative other than to commence the preparation for a new Championship which reflects the values of its participants and partners. This series will have transparent governance, one set of regulations, encourage more entrants and listen to the wishes of the fans, including offering lower prices for spectators worldwide, partners and other important stakeholders.”
No doubt the midnight hour will bring more, more, more. For ongoing coverage keep an eye on the BBC F1 and Times Online websites.
Meanwhile, Silverstone is hosting it’s last British Grand Prix this weekend. Or is it?
Volkswagen has knocked BMW off its perch by winning the International Engine of the Year overall honour with its twincharged 1.4 litre four cylinder engine.
Not content with the overall title, the 1.4 TSI also won the Best Green Engine 2009 and Best Engine in the 1.0-litre to 1.4-litre category.
A panel of 64 judges from 32 countries voted on the awards. Dr Ruediger Szengel, Head of Gasoline Engine Development for Volkswagen AG, was on hand to accept the award behalf of Volkswagen, “A combination of downsizing, direct injection and high boost pressure produce exceptionally high specific power output and torque with low emissions and fuel consumption from a gasoline engine.
“The success of TSI technology in this competition has blossomed as it has become available in more countries throughout the world. We are convinced that our competitors will follow but we are determined to keep our lead.”
The full list of winners is shown below, with links to the IEOTY website. Press releases from Volkswagen, Porsche and BMW can be read after the jump:
In May images of the new Vauxhall/Opel Astra were leaked, then officially released. At the time no interior images were revealed, leaked or otherwise. Well, now they have been.
It’s still a mish mash of button overload, like previous Astras, but the new model has been given a major overhaul and, aesthetically at least, is a vast improvement over earlier iterations.
Full of “clever storage solutions” the new Astra is aiming for a more premium feel and the product planners claim to have used higher grade materials inside to aid that cause.
It’s still too early to say if we will see the new Astra in Australia wearing a Holden badge so—short of getting yourself to the Frankfurt Motor Show in September for the car’s first public showing—you’ll simply have to look at these pics to be the judge. Click on each pic to load a wallpaper sized 2000px version.