The 2012 DTM season begins in a couple of weeks. Bringing us a bit closer to the action is this series of videos showing the BMW M3 DTM in action and behind the scenes. It will be joined by equally new and spectacular looking Audi A5 and Mercedes-Benz C Coupé models.
[Source: BimmerPost & BimmerFile]
We update you with the rather upsetting news that a menacing Lamborghini Aventador has apparently self-immolated on a Southern Californian highway. Supposedly this somewhat unperturbed chap is the owner of the sorry looking Aventador behind him.
At this stage it’s not totally clear what happened or what set the fire off, other than an official traffic report stating, “Left rear wheel on fire.”
Well, at least the owner, if that really is him, is okay and in good spirits.
Let’s hope this is the last we see of burning Aventadors. There’s a pic of what it looked like before the fire and the all matt black exterior looked pretty tough.
[Source: Luxury4Play & Jalopnik]
UPDATE: Amateur video of the fire has been added below.
With thanks to the FIA we bring you the full transcript from the post-race press conference at the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix.
It’s safe to say that Nico Rosberg would be enjoying a few celebratory drinks at the moment. Here’s a quick grab from his comments in the presser: “Well, it’s an unbelievable feeling: very, very cool. I’m very happy, very excited. It’s been a long time coming for me, and for the team as well over the past two years and a bit. Now, it’s finally here. It’s just amazing and it’s just nice to see how quickly we are now progressing. I didn’t expect to be that fast today.”
Nico Rosberg has completed a maiden pole position–race win double by claiming victory in the Chinese Grand Prix today with a margin over 20 seconds.
For those counting at home, it’s the first win for a factory Mercedes team since the 1955 Italian Grand Prix. And it’s the first win by a Rosberg since Nico’s father Keke won the inaugural FIA Australian Grand Prix in 1985.
With the two McLarens coming home in second and third it was an all Mercedes powered podium as well. Actually, it was a sloppy final pitstop for Jenson Button that handed the easy win to Rosberg. Prior to that their contrasting strategies were looked like they would provide a gripping grandstand finish.
Lewis Hamilton will be happy to have recovered from his five-place grid penalty to claim a trifecta of third place finishes to start the year. Mark Webber, likewise, has finished all three races in the fourth place for Red Bull. He managed to pass teammate Sebastian Vettel in the closing stages to relegate the dual world champion back to fifth place. However, after qualifying in P11 and making a terribly slow start Vettel should be pleased with P5.
There was some great racing today and it mostly centred around tyre strategy. Webber started the trend for making early stops when he came in on lap seven. He made two more stops leaving himself, like most others, a relatively long final run to the flag.
Kimi Raikkonen and Lotus planned for a long run to the finish after his final stop and was running in P2 for quite some time, albeit with a long trail of cars in tow gathering behind him. He asked his last set of tyres to do 28 laps when they only cared for around 22. As Kimi’s tyres started to go off the race really livened up with great wheel to wheel action and overtaking aplenty. In the end the 2007 world champion dropped right down the field to P14.
A decision from Jean-Eric Vergne and Toro Rosso to start the race from pit lane after giving the Frenchman’s car significant updates overnight paid dividends as he finished ahead of teammate Daniel Ricciardo. Although both were well out of the points.
The shame for Mercedes AMG and their sponsors is Rosberg’s relatively untroubled race out front gave them little camera time as the director, perhaps rightly, focused on the action behind.
It wasn’t a total fairytale for Mercedes today, with a pit crew error forcing Michael Schumacher to retire after his front right wheel was not fitted correctly during his first stop. Who knows what the crafty 43-year-old may have conjured up if he had a full 56 laps to play with.
In the end, though, Mercedes will be overjoyed at registering their first win since they rejoined the F1 circus at the start of 2010.
Jari-Matti Latvala broke his collar bone in a cross-country skiing fall during the week and will miss Rally Argentina (27–29 April). Ford will hire a temporary stand-in for Latvala in Argentina and here’s where it starts to get interesting.
First, Malcolm Wilson’s comments on Latvala’s injury: “My first concern has obviously been Jari and how best to get his situation resolved so it’s right for him.
“Now we have taken the decision that it’s best for him to miss Argentina so he’s 100 per cent fit for the Acropolis, one of the most difficult rallies in the championship, we will look at his replacement for Argentina although we’re not currently in a position to make an announcement until Monday at the earliest.”
Turns out the rumour mill has pushed Dani Sordo’s name to the top of the pile, assuming Ford and Prodrive can agree to terms.
Moreover, with a strong likelihood that Latvala will be with Volkswagen next year, perhaps Sordo’s move to Ford, if it goes ahead, could be permanent in 2013.
[Source: wrc.com & World Rally Blog]
In recent times F1 has been mired in controversy over its (now confirmed) decision to race in Bahrain. Thankfully, qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix brings a good news story with Nico Rosberg claiming his first pole position, after 110 previous attempts. It is also the first pole position for a “Mercedes” team since 1955.
These are the right sort of headlines for motor racing and adding depth is the fact that defending dual world champion, Sebastian Vettel, continued his struggles failing to make it past the second qualifying period. Giving that stat extra spice was his Red Bull teammate Mark Webber setting the fastest time in Q2 (1:35.700).
In Q3, though, Rosberg needed just one flying lap to register an untouchable time (1:35.121) that gave him a comfortable 0.505 second margin back to Lewis Hamilton (1:35.626). Michael Schumacher continued to show the Mercedes AMG F1 W03 has strong one-lap pace by qualifying in third place (1:35.794).
Webber couldn’t replicate his Q2 speed and ended up in P7 (1:36.290), a relatively poor result by Red Bull standards. Still, it’s better than Vettel’s P11. Daniel Ricciardo again out-qualified his Toro Rosso teammate Jean-Eric Vergne making it into Q2. Vergne was not so fortunate and despite a 0.8 second gap to Ricciardo the pair will start from P17 and P18.
The front-end of the grid will have a minor reshuffle as Hamilton is required to serve a five-spot penalty for changing his gearbox. That will put the two Mercedes on the front row and push the likeable Kamui Kobayashi and his Sauber in to P3 for tomorrow’s race.
With thanks to the FIA, the transcript from the official post-qualifying press conference can be read after the break.
The 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix will go ahead, say the FIA, after meeting with all 12 teams in Shanghai this afternoon.
In a press statement the Formula One’s governing body said: “The FIA must make rational decisions based on the information provided to us by the Bahraini authorities and by the Commercial Rights Holder. In addition we have endeavoured to assess the ongoing situation in Bahrain.”
According to the FIA they have been seeking information from a number of sources: “Away from the public eye, the FIA has received regular security briefings from the most senior diplomatic officials based in the Kingdom as well as from other independent experts.”
The statement continues: “Based on the current information the FIA has at this stage, it is satisfied that all the proper security measures are in place for the running of a Formula One World Championship event in Bahrain.
“Therefore, the FIA confirms that the 2012 Gulf Air F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain will go ahead as scheduled.”
Fingers crossed.
“Mark Webber stands alone as voice of reason on Bahrain Grand Prix” reads the headline in The Guardian. If nothing else they have offered greater detail in respect to Webber’s latest comments than we first reported, via the BBC, early this morning.
Accordingly, it turns out the Australian veteran has developed into something of an elder statesman, willing to speak his mind not only on matters inside the paddock, but outside as well.
“F1 should have taken a much firmer stance earlier this year, rather than constantly delaying its decision in hope of being able to reschedule the race,” Webber said. “It would have sent a very clear message about its position on something as fundamental as human rights.”
A healthy dose of perspective also helps remind the we’re-F1-so-we’re-vitally-important industry that, well, it’s not actually that important to everyone else in the world.
“It’s a difficult decision, because it’s only a week away, but ultimately it’s only a car race. A hell of a lot of people in the world have no idea that Bahrain is scheduled to host a grand prix, so we don’t want to overstate its importance,” Webber opined. “Things can be cancelled in a flash, but what’s changed since January to make that decision any easier? There will be added security, but not everybody can have that and it doesn’t make me feel comfortable.”
That’s not to say he’s completely ruling out racing next weekend. “I’ve tried to watch the news to get a balanced view of the Bahrain situation, but I know only as much as anyone else, really,” he said. “I want to race but you can’t ignore what’s going on and we all hope things go smoothly.”
Hear, hear.
Contrast that with the frustratingly suffocated comments from Jenson Button—while remembering Mumtalakat, Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund, owns a healthy stake in McLaren—and it’s clear that in F1, as in life, money talks. Or not, in Button’s case.
“I don’t have an opinion. I can’t have one and you know that. I am not speaking as a person, am I? I am sitting here as a McLaren racing driver and trust Bernie and the FIA will make the right call, whatever that is,” exclaimed Button.
[Source: The Guardian | Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]
Andy Frost. Red Victor. Those names ring a bell? They’re the central characters in the transformation of a 1972 Vauxhall Victor from family car to drag strip phenomenon.
You may recall Fifth Gear did a story on Red Victor 1 back in 2007 (see original story after the break). Back then it made do with a miserly 2200bhp. Now, in its third iteration, Red Victor 3 is pumping out an incredible 3000bhp. All thanks to a twin turbo 8.8 litre V8.
It can get down the quarter mile in under seven seconds. But that’s only one of its party tricks. Red Victor 3 is street legal, so you can also jump and nip down to the shops for two litres of milk if you like.
At the recent Santa Pod Easter Thunderball event Frost sent RV3 into the record books when he recorded a run of 6.999 seconds. That’s the fastest ever time for a street legal car in Europe.
Watch it all unfold after the break.
A new video has been posted to YouTube with the title “Robert Kubica returns after his accident at Ronde di Andora!” For those playing at home that’s the same event he was competing in when he had his original crash last year.
As recently as last month former F1 driver Jaime Alguersuari expressed doubts over a Kubica comeback when he said, “I think his injuries are more than expected.”
That was countered by a friend of the Polish driver who painted a more positive picture, “He drives his road car and goes out by himself. He is still building up the strength in his right arm.”
So, watch the video after the break and see what you think. Whoever is behind the wheel of the plucky Clio S1600 is certainly wringing its neck pretty hard. You’d have to be totally fit to drive like that. The initials RK and a Kubica driver identification sticker are also clearly visible on the car.
But, the Ronde di Aronda rally was run in February. About three weeks after he broke his leg. If Robert Kubica does feature in this video then, we reckon it’s more likely that is him standing by the side of the road in the left of frame.
Watch the clip all the same. By the end if you’re not wishing it was you driving that Clio on those empty winding roads we’ll be very surprised!
While the international motoring eye will be focused on this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix, spare a thought for the homegrown wannabes, couldbes and rising stars who will kick start their racing year in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Australia in Mallala.
The GT3 Cup Challenge is a level below Carrera Cup racing and offers a great opportunity to compete in a highly organised series in a less formal and low pressure (relatively speaking, of course) environment.
With a new title sponsor, Staff Solutions International, the category can look forward with confidence to six round series running from this weekend until late September.
Porsche Cars Australia Motorsport Manager, Jamey Blaikie, is certainly looking forward to a big year. “In its short history [starting in 2008], GT3 Cup Challenge has grown to become one of the healthiest motorsport categories in Australia, highlighted by the strong entries for the first 2012 round at Mallala this weekend,†said Blaikie.
“It’s great to be able to announce Staff Solutions International as the Title Partner for GT3 Cup Challenge. It’s pleasing that we’ve been able to build the category to a level where it’s a marketable product and attractive enough for Staff Solutions International to become involved as Title Partner for 2012.â€
The Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge is currently run in nine other countries, including Brazil, Canada, Great Britain, Japan, Middle East, Switzerland, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and the United States.
For a closer look at what the GT3 Cup Challenge offers take a look at the promo video from Porsche UK after the break.
As momentum for the cancellation of the Bahrain Grand Prix gathers the FIA has been told to keep calm and carry on. The news came in the form of a letter from John Yates, former UK head of counter terrorism, to Jean Todt, FIA President.
Yates who is currently an adviser to the Bahrain Ministry of the Interior said: “I am aware of the very real concerns that those involved in F1 may have regarding the holding of the fixture here in Bahrain next week.”
That’s good. He’s aware that civilians are getting shot by police and fighting back with home-made bombs, right?
Apparently so. “Some troubles do still exist,” he wrote. “The almost nightly skirmishes that take place in certain villages are a potential block on progress and are putting those involved in their policing and innocent members of the public in significant danger. However, in spite of how these events may be portrayed through the medium of YouTube and other outlets, their significance should not be overplayed.
“These are now lawful protests, which are permitted, but violent conduct by a very small minority—often groups of 15–20 young men. These are criminal acts being perpetrated against an unarmed police force who, in the face of such attacks, are acting with remarkable restraint.
“These people are intent on causing harm to the police and the communities in which they live. They are not representative of the vast majority of delightful, law-abiding citizens that represent the real Bahrain that I see every day. Along with my family, I feel completely safe. Indeed, safer than I have often felt in London.”
Okay, then. So it must just be the imagination of the US Government running wild in this official White House statement from spokesperson Jay Carney: “The United States continues to be deeply concerned about the situation in Bahrain, and we urge all parties to reject violence in all its forms.”