Here’s your fix of F1 pics from the watery depths experienced at the Malaysian Grand Prix. It was a shock result to see Fernando Alonso on the podium, never mind Sergio Perez joining him there. We’re still upset that Perez fluffed his best chance at a maiden GP win and think a Sauber victory would have been the story of the year… so far!
The transcript from the official post-race press conference at the Malaysian Grand Prix can be read after the break, with thanks to the FIA.
Fernando Alonso now leads the drivers’ championship from Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button. McLaren heads the constructors’ race from Red Bull and Ferrari.
[Pic: Ferrari]
Fernando Alonso has put a miserable winter behind him and the Ferrari team to win a rain-affected Malaysian Grand Prix. More amazingly it was a race that probably should have been won by the car in second place, the Sauber of Sergio Perez. That’s right Perez finished second!
Lewis Hamilton, who led the early stages from pole position until heavy rain forced officials to stop the race until conditions improved, finished in third place. But the day belonged to Alonso and Perez.
In the early stages of the race Perez made the switch to full wets much earlier than the leaders. By the time they followed his move the young Mexican had made up enough ground to find himself in third place, behind the two McLarens.
After the restart the Safety Car led the field around for four laps. When racing resumed it was dry enough for the drivers to consider switching to intermediates, something Jenson Button did at the earliest opportunity. That move put him ahead of Hamilton, only for a clumsy move while lapping Narain Karthikeyan to send Button back into pitlane for a new front wing. He never recovered and finished the race in fourteenth place.
One of the main improvements for the upcoming Volkswagen Golf VII GTI is a mechanical limited-slip diff, Car magazine reports.
That follows news the Mk7 GTI is likely to make the most of its new MQB platform and weigh up to 100kg less compared to the current 1360kg weight Mk6 GTI (1380kg with DSG).
A modest power increase from 155kW to somewhere around 170kW is expected to be accompanied by a handy 25% increase in torque (up to 350Nm, from 280Nm).
A lighter, more powerful GTI with a proper slippery diff should help to keep it at the top of the hot hatch shopping list.
Green-conscious buyers may be pleased to learn that a Bluemotion GTI is also likely. Narrower tyres, longer gear ratios and a tailored ECU tune will help keep fuel consumption down.
The seventh-generation GTI is on track for a debut in around 12 months from now at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show.
[Source: Car]
Two races, two pole positions. That’s Lewis Hamilton’s record for McLaren so far in 2012 after he set the fastest time (1:36.219) in qualifying tonight at the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Proving the McLarens are the team to beat in quali Jenson Button (1:36.368) locked out the front row for the Woking-based team. And in his best qualifying result since his comeback Michael Schumacher (1:36.391) wound back the clock to qualify in the top three for Mercedes AMG. Schumacher was sitting on the front row for a while, too, until Button knocked him off at the death.
Mark Webber (Red Bull; 1:36.641) once again qualified ahead of teammate Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull; 1:36.634). Webber qualified fourth, ahead of Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus; 1:36.641). Although, as the times suggest, the pair could barely be separated. However, a five-spot grid penalty for Kimi due to a gearbox change will see him start from P10.
That means Vettel moves up one place to P5 and will start alongside Romain Grosjean (Lotus; 1:36.658). Sensing he did not have the pace to claim pole Vettel chose to run the final qualifying session on the harder compound tyres, the only man to do so in Q3, and it remains to be seen if that will prove to be a wise move.
Further down the field the Toro Rossos couldn’t match their results from Melbourne. Daniel Ricciardo (1:37.883) will start from P15 and he did at least make it into the second group of qualifying. Jean-Eric Vergne (1:39.077) failed to do that and will start from P18.
Conditions were warm and dry at Sepang and the drivers struggled with braking often locking the inside front wheel on the last corner. Things are unlikely to improve tomorrow with a mid-race rain shower predicted which will be sure to keep the teams on their toes.
The transcript from the official post-qualifying press conference can be read after the break, with thanks to the FIA.
[Pics: Vodafone McLaren Mercedes & Mercedes AMG]
The creation of the Toyota 86 and the mostly identical Subaru BRZ was designed to revive the enthusiast market keen to let rip in a relatively lightweight, back to basics, rear-wheel drive coupé. Given the global interest, and also right here in Australia, it’s fair to say things are going to plan so far.
Part of the car’s rationale was also to keep costs to a minimum. In its purest form the Toybaru won’t be a luxury cruiser, it will be a basic template for owners to build upon and tailor to their exacting needs.
At this point in time local pricing has not been announced, but it’s widely accepted you’re going to need somewhere in the vicinity of $40K to play ball. They might be less, but not significantly so.
In the United States the Toyota 86 is sold as the Scion FR-S and their entry-level pricing has just been announced.
$24,200.
It’s not the first time we’ve whinged about AU$–US$ pricing on AUSmotive, and with our still quite advantageous exchange rate it remains a bitter pill.
[Source: WCF]
This new Ferrari, called the SP12 EPC, is reportedly a one-off project built at the request of rock legend Eric Clapton. Indeed, the EPC intials at the end are Clapton’s own and it appears Slowhand has a liking for all things Ferrari 512 BB.
So, as you do, you then make a call to Ferrari and say, get me a 458 Italia and make it look like a modern 512 BB. Oh, and stick a V12 in while you’re at it.
Yes and no came the reply from Ferrari. That is, they were only too happy to send their Special Projects arm into action to create a new body, but were none too keen to drastically alter the mechanicals of the donor 458.
The SP12 EPC was photographed in the showroom of London prestige car deal HR Owen. It’s understood Mr Clapton’s new wheels will be officially launched later this year.
[Source: Top Gear | Pics: Luke Gilbertson Photography]
UPDATE: Shaky video of the SP12 EPC in the showroom and being loaded into a transporter has been added below.
Nissan Australia advises the MY12 spec GT-R, announced last November, officially goes on sale this week. You’ll need $170,800 if you want to get yourself the world’s best 1:1 scale PlayStation driving simulator. It really is a technological marvel, the GT-R.
Headline stats for the 2012 model say the twin-turbo V6 now produces a healthy 404kW (+14kW) and a hefty 628Nm of torque (+16Nm). Nissan also points out that the torque curve is now flatter and the peak figure can be enjoyed from 3200–5800rpm.
The use of race-bred transmission oil helps to improve shift speed and feel. While asymmetric suspension tuning, allowing for the weight of the driver and propshaft on RHD cars, affords better handling balance.
Since its original release around 420 Australians have said yes to the GT-R. By our quick back of the envelope calculations that’d represent close to $70 million in sales in around three years. Handy stats for a pretty handy car.
BMW’s official performance figures for the F10 M5 say it can see off 100km/h in 4.4 seconds. That’s pretty fast, but not blindingly so. However, US-based Motor Trend recently tested the M5 and:
“We recorded a 0-60-mph time for the previous M5 at 4.1 seconds with a quarter-mile time of 12.5 seconds at 115.3 mph. Those seem like fast numbers until you consider the newer car runs to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds and gets through the quarter in 11.9 seconds at 120.3 mph.”
Now 60mph is not 100km/h, of course, but at 96.5km/h it’s pretty damn close. Close enough to call it comfortably sub-four seconds for a 0-100km/h time. And a sub-12 second standing quarter isn’t exactly hanging about either.
[Source: Motor Trend]
Ayrton Senna made his F1 debut in 1984 at his home Grand Prix in Brazil. There was no fairytale. He lasted just eight laps, forced to retire with a dodgy turbo.
Senna was driving for the Toleman team in the unreliable TG184. Retiring from races that year was something he became quite used to, completing only six of the 16 races on the calendar.
Of course, Senna made the F1 world stop and take notice at the Monaco Grand Prix, where he put in a masterful performance to claim second place. It was also the first time we got a glimpse of Senna’s paranoia, believing the race, red-flagged due to poor weather, was stolen from him due to some French conspiracy or other. Anyway…
That ratty old Toleman TG184-2 is now up for sale and can be all yours if you have the desire and the cash. If the tyranny of distance is holding you back and you can’t be at the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit on 16 May you’ll need to make contact with Silverstone Auctions to arrange the bidding process.
Oh, going back to the 1984 Monaco GP for a moment. Another young driver made a name for himself that day too, albeit in a car that was later deemed illegal. That man was Stefan Bellof, still the fastest man around the Nürburgring and another brilliant driver lost too early on a famous racetrack.
After the break there’s the official press release for the sale of the Toleman and we’ve also found a delightfully deadpan review of the 1984 Monaco GP for you to enjoy, with Clive James at the microphone.
Last year an innocent tweet by US resident Joanne McCoy expressed her desire to have an Audi R8. For a laugh she included the hashtag #WantAnR8. So what, you say, people do stuff like that all the time. Now. There’s another one. And again.
But, back then, Audi of America saw Joanne’s tweet and decided to make her day. So they found out where she lived and turned up to her house, in a 412kW R8 V10, and said, “Here, drive this for a day.”
Pretty cool, huh.
Now, in a more organised fashion, Audi of America is repeating the dose. This time though they’ll be working eight days a week and offering the same courtesy to eight individual winners. All the winner will have to do is decide, do they want to enjoy the R8 V10 on the track, or for a day on the streets.
The video above has been created to promote the latest campaign. So, what would you do: track or street? And, what chance of Audi Australia following suit?
Tech geeks Wired were invited along to Nardo in Italy to take a closer look at the development of the 918 Spyder. You’ll recall the concept was first launched at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show. It promises massive horsepower, around 770 in all, thanks to a combination of an RS Spyder-sourced V8 and a pair of electric motors, one at each axle.
The 918 Spyder doesn’t go on sale until the latter half of 2013, which explains the rather cobbled together prototype you see above. And you’re going to have to pay a lot of money for the keys, or extension lead, whatever. Somehow, we think it will be worth the wait:
“Flick the steering wheel mounted switch into “Hot Lap†mode and in third gear Porsche claims you’ll be thrusted forward with an overboosted total of 700 lb-ft 9950Nm] of twist. That’s good for a zero to 60 mph run of less than 3 seconds, 124 mph [200km/h] in less than 9 seconds and on to a top speed of 202 mph [325km/h]. And if you’ve got enough juice from the liquid-cooled, lithium-ion battery pack, you can hit 90 mph [145km/h] without using a single drop of fuel.
“The entire chassis is a mix of carbon fiber and aluminum, including the passenger compartment and associated crash structure, which weighs in at a scant 485 pounds [220kg]. Carbon fiber construction has come a long way since Porsche’s last super car, the Carrera GT, and Porsche illustrates that by pointing out that the passenger tub of the GT took five days to make. Today, they can crank out five 918 tubs a day thanks to new innovations in composites and assembly methods.”
If that’s grabbed your attention then you’re probably going to like Harry Metcalfe’s video after the break, with thanks to Evo.