It’s taken us a while to prepare, but here’s your first instalment in our 2013 Goodwood Festival of Speed image gallery. We’ve got more than 260 images in all which will be spread out over three galleries.
Presented in alphabetical order, this selection of photos starts with Alfa Romeo and ends with Lotus. And doesn’t that Alfa Romeo 4C just look sensational!
Stay tuned over the next two days for the remaining galleries to be posted.
Imagine this, you’re about to tackle the Nürburgring in a car powered by a 1.0 litre three cylinder engine. Hardly seems worth getting worried about. How fast can it be? Allow Chris Harris to tweet, fart and whistle his way around the Nordschleife and show you.
[Thanks to Tiaan for the tip]
WRC driver Michal Kosciuszko has ended his relationship with MINI and the Motorsport Italia team due to ongoing mechanical and technical issues. With immediate effect he will now start preparations to race a Ford Fiesta WRC with M-Sport.
It’s fair to say MINI’s comeback to the world rally stage, while accompanied with great fanfare and promise early on, has been a total disaster. If not from a technical and sporting point of view, certainly from a public relations standpoint. MINI re-entered rallying with excellent good will in the rally community, but we’re not sure how much, if any, remains. BMW is a company with outstanding motorsport heritage, but it has hung MINI out to dry.
“I am a player who is committed to high standards and consistently strives to achieve the intended objective. The place where I got, the WRC, confirms my determination,” said Kosciuszko. “The beginning of the season for us was technically very difficult, so I thank my strategic partner, Grupa LOTOS, which showed great understanding.
“Together we decided to change the car and work with M-Sport. I would like to thank Motorsport Italia for co-operation and wish them luck for the future.”
Kosciuszko will miss this weekend’s Acropolis Rally but is expected to line up for Rally d’italia in late June.
[Source: wrc.com | Pic: Motorsport Italia]
Ford Australia has confirmed it will cease all local production at its Broadmeadows and Geelong factories from October 2016. Declining Falcon and Territory sales, along with combined losses of $430 million over the last two years would appear to be the main reasons behind today’s announcement.
Bob Graziano, president and CEO of Ford Australia, says up to 1200 jobs will be lost. He added Ford will increase their imported product lineup by 30% in a bid to return to profitability.
Updated versions of the Falcon, Falcon Ute and Territory will go ahead later this year as planned.
Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan said the Government will provide support to those affected. “The government will do everything within our power to support workers and local communities that may be affected by the decision taken by Ford,” he said.
Now that one has gone, how long will Australia’s other iconic manufacturer, Holden, survive? It’s currently in the middle of launching the all-new VF Commodore range to the media and it’s not too far fetched to suggest that could be the last major local model built by Holden.
Wheels Magazine reports that Ford Australia is about to announce the closure of its operations and rely on imported models only. Apparently a statement will be made at 9:15 10:45 this morning.
ABC radio says it understands Ford Australia’s local production will cease in 2016. Cars Guide is also running a story which states:
Ford was due to release its financial results today but News Limited has been told the media conference is about “more than thatâ€.
Confidential sources say that Ford Australia will become an import-only brand. It is unclear when the factories will close but Ford was due to introduce a facelifted Falcon and Territory next year.
Declining sales, which are showing no signs of improvement, are believed to be the main factor behind the decision. Closure of the Broadmeadows and Geelong factories will result in hundreds of job losses.
[Source: Wheels Magazine]
The new MINI John Cooper Works GP has arrived in Australia and it might be about to kick a few goals down under. That’s certainly the case if this video from Evo magazine is anything to go by. Perhaps for local relevance the cars they tested the GP2 against are not very worthy, but as an outright measure of capability this surely has to stack up.
Against the MINI we see two former greats tackle two new hot hatches. From Ford we have the awesome looking Focus RS 500, while Renault provides the track-day special Megane R26.R. Two excellent cars that serve to provide a handy benchmark. To see if they can beat the old timers the MINI was joined by the limited-edition Audi A1 quattro.
Okay, we’ve probably already given away the result but it won’t make the clip any less enjoyable. And you can have the GP2 in your garage for around $60K. Not bad, huh?
[Thanks to Wayne for the tip]
Ford has hooned its way into the festive season with this stop-animation spoof of Ken Block’s Gymkhana video series. The clip is titled Snowkhana One and would have been a total ball ache to make. The tyre smoke being the standout here.
Have a look at the video after the break and let us know what you think, was it worth the effort?
Young Aussie rally ace Brendan Reeves has been plying his trade overseas for the last two years in the WRC Academy. His fourth placing in 2012 has earned him a test in an M-Sport prepared Ford Fiesta RS WRC.
“I’m stoked to be given this chance to drive a Fiesta World Rally Car,” Brendan said. “It is a nice reward for our efforts this year and driving the WRC car will give me a real taste of the next level of the sport.
“I had the chance to sit beside Ken Block in his Fiesta World Rally Car just prior to Rally Finland this year and it was a great experience. To now have the opportunity to get behind the wheel of a similar car myself is fantastic.
“Testing the WRC car is a great opportunity and I’m really looking forward to it. Hopefully it leads to more similar opportunities in the future.”
Brendan won’t have long to impress. He’ll be given just one hour in the car and will be joined at the test with other WRC Academy hopefuls Elfyn Evans, John MacCrone, Jose Suarez and Pontus Tidemand.
Reeves, who enjoys the company of his sister Rhianon Smyth in the co-driver’s seat, still has an open diary for next year. With any luck an impressive performance in the Fiesta RS WRC may lead to new opportunities.
“We haven’t confirmed our program for 2013 just yet. We learnt so much in 2012 and competing in the Academy again has been really important for our careers and we’d love to be able to continue competing in the World Rally Championship again in 2013.
“I’d really like to thank M-Sport for the amazing efforts they put into the WRC Academy this year and also for giving me the chance to take part in the test drive.”
[Source: brendanreeves.com.au | Pic: wrc.com]
Here’s something you don’t see everyday, a racecar crashing into an official medical car. In this case we’re talking about the Stone Brothers Racing Falcon, driven by Shane Van Gisbergen, who had a steering failure after a minor crash on the opening lap of the Telstra 500 race in Sydney yesterday.
As Van Gisbergen was limping back towards the pits the medical car, a Porsche Panamera, caught the damaged Falcon and started to pass on its left side. At exactly the wrong moment Van Gisbergen’s car lurched to the right and the result is what you see above.
Thankfully, nobody was hurt in the incident and the damage to the Porsche seems mostly cosmetic.
Chris Harris has just had a play with three of the hottest hot hatchbacks money can buy: the hideous yet apparently very capable Ford Focus ST, the media’s favourite Renault Megane RS265 and the Vauxhall Astra VXR (coming to Australia as the Opel Astra OPC).
True to form the outcome follows the expected script, but there are some good insights and surprises along the way (note the lap times).
It’s Harris at his best, so just sit back and enjoy the ride.
Ford has paid Ken Block and Vaughn Gittin Jr to “test” the new-generation Ford Focus ST against the old generation Volkswagen Golf GTI. Good for them.
As we near the global premiere of the latest James Bond flick, Skyfall, it’s quite timely that clever clogs Evans Halshaw has come up trumps with this infographic capturing the history of Bond’s garage in one easy to see location.
Thanks must go to Evans as well for encouraging the embedding of the graphic, which you can see in long form after the break. We also recommend checking out Halshaw’s website for the interactive version.
As you can see, it’s not all been expensive Aston Martins for 007.