Couldn’t sit down all day Sunday to watch the 24 Hours of Le Mans? Then fear not because here’s all the best bits put into a three minute video. It’s produced by Michelin so see how many times you can count their logo during the video!
There’s also a bonus clip with just under a minute of close action slow motion footage as well.
The 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans is approaching half race distance and to date the race has been dominated by the #7 Toyota TS040 Hybrid. Alex Wurz is at the wheel right now and he holds a lead of over 2 minutes from the #2 Audi R18 e-tron quattro with André Lotterer at the wheel.
Intermittent and heavy rain patches affected the race early and ended the chances of the #8 Toyota and #3 Audi after a coming together on the Mulsanne Straight. The Toyota was able to limp back into the pits and get back running again and it’s now in P6 13 laps behind the leader. Alas for the Audi its race was over.
Porsche seemed to be running a split strategy with its two 919 Hybrids. The #14 car was running hot early in the race, mixing it with the leaders, until an electrical glitch limiting the car’s speed after 30 minutes forced the car into pitlane. Meanwhile, Timo Bernhard’s more circumspect approach in the #20 919 paid dividends when for a short while he lead the race. His lack of outright pace made him vulnerable, though, and Bernhard was soon swallowed up by the #7 Toyota and the #2 and #1 Audis.
Mark Webber has finally had his first competition experience at Le Mans after two failed attempts in the late 90s with Mercedes. He put in some solid laps, driving well into the night, but said after his stint they’re having to manage some problems. The car is running relatively smoothly in fourth place but is two laps behind.
There’s a selection of video highlights for you after the break, along with the following links to help you foolow the action.
Nik and Richard from Bad Obsession Motorsport are back with the latest episode of Project Binky, which is surely the internet’s coolest build project.
As you can see from the still above the bodywork of the old Austin Mini has been pretty well taken care of. There’s not a lot of the old car left. But don’t let that for one minute devalue this project, which is a testament to the engineering skills on display.
It’s taken almost a full year to get Project Binky to this stage and there’s still so much work to do. The good news for us is that we’ll be seeing a lot more of Nik and RIchard doing their thing. The bad news for them is it must feel like a project with no light at the end of an increasingly long tunnel.
With the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans moments away from starting this XCAR film tells you why Stuttgart’s return to the Circuit de la Sarthe is such a big deal.
Let’s hope it goes better than last time.
That’s Peter Dumbreck flipping his Mercedes CLR during the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans. Mark Webber was in the same team and famously suffered the same fate during qualifying. Mark flipped his car again during the morning warm-up session. His car was withdrawn and he did not start the race.
This weekend, with Porsche, is Mark’s first return to competition at Le Mans since his DNS in 1999.
Brembo has produced this video giving us a closer look at the sophisticated braking system used on the Ferrari F14 T. With the revised regulations in Formula 1 this year the braking system takes on a new level of importance and this animation should help give you a better understanding of what does what.
Porsche joins the ranks of producers for Lifestyles of the rich and famous. In its episode they bring Patrick Dempsey to life so he can wax lyrical about his fighting spirit. He tells us: “They know what you do for a living, but not what you live for.”
No, we’re not jealous of Patrick at all. Honest, we’re not!
The next race on the 2014 F1 calendar is the Austrian Grand Prix (22 June). It sees a return to the old A1-Ring site, which last hosted an F1 event in 2003. The track has since been bought and redeveloped by Red Bull and now it’s pretty much a giant advertising theme park.
Giving us a brief overview of the new 4.3km Red Bull Ring layout are Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo in this very slick animation. Really, the graphics are first class.
In addition to the video animation Red Bull has provided three wallpaper images. All of which you can see after the break.
Following a couple of requests from the 911 video we posted last week here is the Datsun 240Z featured by Petrolcious late last year.
The 240Z is a classic sports car from a classic era for the genre. A time when rules were still being defined and expectations were still being explored. In many ways the legacy of a classic car can be measured by the number of times it is referenced by cars made well after the original hit the streets. Yep, the 240Z has a superb legacy.
We like this quote, first published by Car and Driver in 1970, which has been included in the video’s blurb:
“Datsun didn’t invent the overhead cam engine, or disc brakes, or independent suspension but it has a habit of incorporating these sophisticated systems into brilliantly conceived and easily affordable cars.â€
My name is Liam and I like it when companies involved in top level motorsport fund video productions to bring us closer to the action. But sometimes, with respect, these companies totally balls it up. Watch this opening episode from Michelin, titled We are racers, and see what you think.
A classic Mini Cooper made from Lego. Isn’t this just the coolest thing you’ve ever seen! And wait until you cop a load of some of the finer details, as presented in the video below.
Of course, you can buy it for yourself from 1 August and it’ll cost you AU$149.99—we think that’s a pretty small price to pay for something that has been scientifically proven* to make your life better.
[via MotoringFile]
It would appear Audi is very happy to have Porsche back chasing outright success at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. To illustrate that fact they sent an Audi R18 e-tron quattro on a drive from Ingolstadt to Stuttgart to deliver a special message. It’s pretty cool.
With 27 race wins between them they are the most successful marques in the race’s long and proud history. And yet, we reckon it’s Toyota both need to be watching ahead of next weekend’s race.