We’re about to see a whole bunch of reveals from F1 teams as they get ready for the opening pre-season test at Jerez on 1 February. McLaren-Honda will reveal their new car on 29 January and have started to pull at the heart strings with this promo.
And, yes, a retro-imspired red and white delivery would be the duck’s guts!
[Thanks to Wes for the tip]
One of the first tangible signs for car buyers of Honda’s return to Formula 1 will take place at the Australian Grand Prix (15–18 March) when you will be able to get up close to the NSX Concept.
The NSX Concept will be on display at Albert Park and will also help mark the comeback of the McLaren-Honda partnership.
“This is a new era for Honda in more ways than one,” said Honda Australia Director, Stephen Collins. “The NSX is the rebirth of an icon and represents power, sportiness and efficiency. The NSX Concept will be the star attraction of Honda’s on-circuit display at Albert Park. There will be many fans of the original supercar who we know will enjoy this exclusive preview.”
Australian buyers interested in the NSX should be able to place orders mid-year for delivery in 2016.
Porsche R&D boss Wolfgang Hatz has confirmed earlier rumours that the Porsche 911 range is heading towards a turbocharged future.
“You have to respect legal requirements [for lower CO2],” he told Top Gear at the Detroit Motor Show. “So yes we’re thinking turbos for standard 911s. You can’t afford to keep an engine for 10 years any more.”
Hatz went on to explain the reasoning for turbocharging along with the prediction we’ll be seeing a 911 hybrid before too long.
“Emissions are important for us,” added Hatz, “And we will reduce faster than the industry. Every new model will have lower CO2 than before. There aren’t so many technologies to do it. If you look at euro per g/km then it’s turbo.
“Then at the end of the decade electrification has to be the next huge step.”
While the introduction of turbocharging to the 911 range is big news, we can rest easy that the flat four turbo in the pipeline will be kept for the Boxster and Cayman only.
When asked if the flat four would find its way into the 911 Hatz replied sternly: “Never. That’s always a flat six.”
Similarly, for now, the flat six in the forthcoming GT3 RS will remain normally aspirated.
It’s good to see at least some things remain sacred.
[Source: Top Gear]
The 2015 Williams FW37 has quite literally broken cover and will be revealed in full in the latest issue of F1 Racing magazine.
We can see the long droopy nose from the FW36 has been replaced by a stumpy version, which is hopefully the first small step in seeing a grid of F1 cars that we can finally stop laughing at.
We’ll have more for you on the FW37 when we can, along with coverage of all the F1 team launches which will be kicking off later today with the Force India VJM08.
Sebastien Loeb may well be the best rally driver the world has ever seen, but we reckon Francois Delecour is the coolest rally driver to ever grace the gravel, tarmac and ice.
His manner seems to make you think he just doesn’t give a f#@k, but when he’s behind the wheel he gets the job done.
Below you can see the 52-year-old at the wheel of the Tuthill Porsche 911 RGT in preparation for this weekend’s Rallye Monte Carlo.
[Thanks to Chris for the tip]
Fancy that, who knew you could buy a race winning Ferrari Formula 1 racecar for less than one million bucks?!
This 1990 Ferrari 641/2 sold for US$990,000 at the recent Gooding & Company auction in Scottsdale. Powered by a 3.5 litre normally aspirated V12 this car, chassis #120, was driven by Nigel Mansell for five races during the 1990 season, including his win at the Portuguese Grand Prix.
As an aside you can tell Gooding & Company is an American company with scant regard to the facts of F1, because:
Together in 1990, Mansell and Prost would go on to deliver Ferrari’s best season in years, with Ferrari securing the Manufacturer’ Championship and Prost the Drivers’ Championship.
Except they didn’t. Anyway, the pics are nice and bring back great memories!
Those of you paying attention last week will remember the lime green Lamborghini Miura we featured. It sold for $1,155,000.
Full results from the auction can be seen here.
Citroën has unveiled its 2015-spec DS3 WRC which will be earning its money this weekend when Rallye Monte Carlo is underway.
The most successful rally pairing of all time, Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena, will be making a one-off appearance for Citroën and they have been designated as one of the two crews who can score points for Citroën in the championship.
Kris Meeke is the other driver contributing to the manfacturers’ championship, while Mads Ostberg is probably secretly hoping he can beat both Loeb and Meeke and embarrass his bosses in a nice way.
All three of the DS3 WRCs will be racing in 2015-trim which have new upgrades to the engine, suspension, aerodynamics and gearbox.
“The DS 3 WRC is a very accomplished car, but we have worked hard to make it even more competitive,” Xavier Mestelan-Pinon, Citroën Racing’s Technical Director explained.
“For example, we have focused our efforts on the engine so that it delivers more power and torque, whilst also improving reliability. Taking advantage of the changes in the regulations, we have reintroduced steering wheel-mounted paddles for the gear changes.
“Other significant improvements have been made to the aerodynamics, with a new spoiler and a new front end that will be introduced shortly, as well as to the weight distribution with the use of lighter parts. Lastly, we have altered the kinematics of the rear suspension. Work is ongoing and, in the next few months, we will be presenting another aerodynamic upgrade.”
It’s arriving a lot later than expected, a bit more expensive than expected and, worse, a bit heavier than expected, but the arrival of the otherwise highly desirable Alfa Romeo 4C to Australian shores is nigh.
Deliveries will start next month with pricing starting at $89,000. Those extra keen to show off can aim to get their hands on the 4C Launch Edition, which will be priced from $109,000.
The unladen weight of European-spec 4Cs is 895kg. Here, in Australia, that weight bumps up to 1025kg thanks to the addition of extra crash protection in order to meet local safety and design rules. Yay, Australia!
Alfa Romeo maintains the 4C can still reach 100km/h in 4.5 seconds. An extra 130kg in weight and no effect on the 0–100km/h time?
Either that means the original sprint time in 2013 was under quoted, the 1750cc turbocharged engine has been tweaked a little or Alfa Romeo Australia is telling porky pies.
All told there will 1300 4C Launch Editions sold worldwide, 75 of which are coming to Australia. For your extra 20 grand you get to choose from Rosso Alfa or Madreperla White paint colours, a better sounding exhaust, enhanced suspension, staggered forged alloys in matte black (18″ front, 19″ rear), bi-LED headlights, fancy stitching and stacks of carbon fibre trimming.
It’s a shame we’re getting heavier 4Cs here in Australia, but that still doesn’t alter the fact the car has one of the most evocative shapes on sale at the moment and we expect to see quite a few of these on our roads in the next few weeks.
Porsche has been busy working away on its 2015-spec 919 Hybrid since mid-December. But the car’s first serious testing got underway at Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi on the weekend.
The turbocharged 2.0 litre V4 internal combustion engine still beats at the heart of the 919, sending its power to the rear wheels. While electric power boosts performance and grip by feeding the front wheels.
The first WEC race takes place on 12 April at Silverstone in England.
McLaren has announced its track-focused P1 GTR will debut at the Geneva Motor Show (5–15 March).
Development of the extreme model has been continuing at racetracks in Europe and the Middle East. Production will start later this year and in the next few weeks buyers will be invited in to commence their P1 GTR Driver Programme experience.
No final specs have been revealed at this stage, however McLaren promises the P1 GTR will boast a power to weight ratio in excess of 700PS (514kW) per tonne. That represents a power increase of more than 10% compared with the standard P1. Of course, the GTR will be so much more than a more powerful P1, with the benefits of a track-only life ensuring its handling will have few compromises.
Series 22 of Top Gear will premiere on BBC2 at 8pm on 25 January (UK time). There will be 10 episodes in all.
Australian readers with Foxtel can see Series 22 on BBC Knowledge from 26 January.
The three presenters have just finished a live web special where they talked through what to expect in the upcoming episodes (replay available below; starts after 6:40). BBC Knowledge gives the new series the following description:
The trio attempt to reinvent the ambulance, investigate the strange world of classic car ownership, take part in a nail-biting race across St Petersburg and set off on an epic road trip through the wilds of Australia.
[Source: BBC]
Those of you paying attention to the 2015 Formula 1 calendar will have noticed no venue had been announced for the German Grand Prix to be held on 19 July. According to an interview with Bernie Ecclestone published by Reuters the race will be held at Hockenheim.
The 2014 race was held at Hockenheim and under the standard alternating agreement that would mean the Nürburgring would host the race this year. However, as many of you know, the Ring has been beset by financial troubles in recent years and despite the influx of Russian cash late last year its financial security is still shaky.
“It’s going to be at Hockenheim, we’re in the middle of doing something with them,” Ecclestone declared. “It can’t be Nürburgring because there’s nobody there.
“We’ve got a contract in place (with Hockenheim), we just have to amend the years of the contract. It was alternating with Nürburgring so we’ll just take that out. Providing the contract goes through as we expect it to, we’ll be in good shape.”
Earlier this week Carsten Schumacher, Nürburgring GmbH CEO, told crash.net: “Formula 1 is welcome at the Nürburgring. It provides worldwide television pictures, a positive image and would bring high sales to the region.
“However, the Formula 1 has to remain affordable. We don’t comment ongoing conversations. We will communicate this, if there is a concrete result.”
Meanwhile, Ecclestone indicated in his interview with Reuters that there had been no recent discussion with Nürburgring GmbH.
“We wanted to buy the Nürburgring, we made an offer and somebody topped us with a few dollars and bought it,” Ecclestone said.
“And then they couldn’t pay and it went on sale again. I said I’d be interested and then they found somebody else. So I don’t know what’s happening.”
[Source: Reuters]