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Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

Mark Webber claims pole for Spanish Grand Prix

Mark Webber, Red Bull Racing

Mark Webber has claimed his seventh career pole position by edging out his Red Bull Racing teammate in qualifying for the 2011 Spanish Grand Prix. It is Webber’s second consecutive pole at the Circuit de Catalunya and last year Webber took full advantage going on to win the race.

Such is the dominance of Red Bull of late the fate of pole position was decided with almost half of the final qualifying session remaining. Vettel was the first of the Red Bulls to post a marker; 1:21.181 was Vettel’s time. Soon after, Webber crossed the line in 1:20.981.

The early season gremlins suffered by Webber now seem to have crossed the garage as Vettel was not able to use KERS during qualifying. With a long run into the first corner he will be hoping the problem is resolved in time for tomorrow’s race.

When available we’ll post the transcript from the post-quali press conference.

[Pic: Red Bull Racing/Getty Images]

Categories
Aston Martin

Stunning Aston Martin V12 Zagato revealed ahead of race debut

Aston Martin V12 Zagato

Wow!

Aston Martin promised a new collaboration with Zagato was coming and now that they’ve delivered we must simply say, “thank you.”

Aston has taken the already stunning V12 Vantage handed it over to Zagato and said, do your thing chaps. And the Italian masters have delivered an absoulte gem, this V12 Zagato is car porn it is purest form.

It has great proportions. It looks aggressive. It looks purposeful. It looks like it was made to race. And that’s exactly what it has been made for. In a little over a week from now the V12 Zagato will make its competition debut in a four-hour VLN race at the Nürburgring. Then, in late June, two of these beauties will be ripping it up on the North Loop during the 24 hour race.

The best part, well for those lucky enough to afford one, the V12 Zagato will be built in limited numbers for the road, as well. No specific details have been given just yet, but Dr Ulrich Bez, Aston Martin CEO has confirmed if you have the cash, they will have the car.

“The task for us has been to create a concept that is a natural successor to those iconic cars that have gone before. Matching the technology of the age with the traditional skills vital to deliver such a bespoke and exclusive sports car will lead to a strictly limited run of road going V12 Zagatos,” explained Dr Bez.

We can’t wait. More pics and material from Aston after the break.

Continue reading “Stunning Aston Martin V12 Zagato revealed ahead of race debut”
Categories
Audi

Audi R8 GT Spyder getting closer

Audi R8 GT Spyder

Undisguised prototypes of the Audi R8 GT Spyder have been seen about in the last few days. It’s expected the car will make its public debut at Frankfurt later this year.

The ragtop will use the mechanicals from the already released R8 GT, which was limited to a production run of 333 cars. That means there’ll be a truly bahn storming 412kW V10 howling right behind your ears. And without a roof to muffle the noise we expect it will be one motoring’s best aural experiences.

The regular R8 Spyder tips the scales a meaty 1725kg, but following a GT diet the convertible may follow suit from its hardtop sibling by shedding around 100kg.

[Source: Evo | Pic: Automedia]

Categories
MINI

I think it’s gonna be a long, long time

MINI Rocketman Concept

This funky little MINI Rocketman concept was one of the stars of this year’s Geneva Motor Show. We’ve previously heard a production model is likely and now we can start to put a date to MINI’s latest plans. According to Auto Express the Rocketman will launch in 2014.

Sized at around 400mm longer and 500mm wider than the original classic Mini, the Rocketman represents a genuine return to mini motoring. The final version will be MINI’s entry-level model and is expected to carry over the 3+1 seating configuration from the concept as well.

The Rocketman will draw from BMW’s i brand, too. That’s likely to mean the use of a carbon fibre shell and aluminium chassis, in order to keep weight down.

Ian Robertson, BMW sales and marketing director, explains “MINI will never produce a car under the ‘i’ brand—this is exclusively for BMWs—but the technology we are developing for the ‘i’ family of cars will certainly be made available for the rest of the BMW Group.”

[Source: Auto Express]

Categories
Audi BMW Ferrari Fiat Volkswagen

International Engine of the Year Awards 2011

Fiat TwinAir Engine of the Year

The winners of the International Engine of the Year Awards have been announced and its a little engine that could from Fiat that has taken out the top prize. Punching well above its weight the 875cc TwinAir motor has modest power outputs, ranging from 65–105hp. It’s currently not available in Australia, but can be found in the Fiat 500 in overseas markets.

A jury of 76 judges from across the globe voted on the awards and here’s what John Carey, from Wheels magazine, had to say about the TwinAir donk, “This is proof that aggressive downsizing need not spell timid performance. Surprisingly torquey, impressively and affordably efficient, this tiny twin also has plenty of character.”

Not content with overall honours, the Fiat TwinAir also won the Sub 1-litre, Best New Engine and Green Engine categories.

International Engine of the Year Awards 2011

Continue reading “International Engine of the Year Awards 2011”
Categories
Ferrari Formula 1

Alonso breaks wind, Ferrari re-sign him until 2016

Fernando Alonso

If you had the best Spanish F1 driver of all time on your books, and you had just renegotiated his contract to secure his services for a further five years, the eve of the Spanish Grand Prix would be the ideal time to announce the new deal. Which is exactly what Ferrari has just done. Just a shame, then, that it looks like Fernando has just let one rip.

Continue reading “Alonso breaks wind, Ferrari re-sign him until 2016”
Categories
Ferrari

Ferrari Superamerica 45 ready for exclusive show

Ferrari Superamerica 45

This is the Ferrari Superamerica 45. It’s a one-off creation built for New York collector Peter Kalikow. The Superamerica 45 will make its public debut tomorrow at the Villa d’Este Concorso d’Eleganza.

At this stage the official Ferrari press material makes no mention of the engine underneath that Blu Antille bonnet. However, it is being listed as a 6.0 litre 12 cylinder on the event website. So it’s just a 599 with custom coachwork, then?

If you’ve been buying Fezzas for 45 years and have a stack of cash you can’t give away then you too can play the Fantasty Ferrari game. If you did, do you reckon you could come up with something better than this?

Continue reading “Ferrari Superamerica 45 ready for exclusive show”
Categories
Formula 1

FIA blowing cool air over exhaust gasses

2011 Turkish GP

This time last week the FIA had written to the Formula One teams declaring the engine mapping allowing exhaust gasses to flow into blown diffusers while the driver was off-throttle would be drastically altered. The change was to take effect at this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix. Under the FIA’s plan up to 90% of the benefit gained was to be taken away.

However, the changes have since been put on hold now won’t come in place until after the Canadian Grand Prix at the earliest. This will follow the latest Technical Working Group meeting in mid-June.

As usual for F1, it’s a complicated tale and accusations of inter-team rivalry are at play. It’s believed that Lotus Renault GP and Red Bull Racing have the most to lose. But these comments from McLaren’s Tim Goss are telling, “I think all of the major teams are up to the same tricks with regards to engine mapping. Certainly we exploit them.

“If the latest guidelines that the FIA have given us on use of engine to drive exhaust systems came in then it would be a performance setback to us. I know it would almost certainly be a performance setback to our major competitors.”

Goss was quoted by James Allen and if this story interests you we recommend following the source link below for more.

[Source: James Allen on F1]

Categories
BMW

BMW 1M CSL rumour ignites

BMW 1M Coupe

At the recent UK launch of the BMW 1M Coupé the seed for a new and possibly very exciting rumour was sewn. We’re told James Morrison, BMW UK product manager, is the man responsible after he said, “There is scope for a CSL version.”

Adding context to that comment is the fact 300 of the 450 1M Coupe models alloctaed to the UK market were sold prior to its official release. Demand that BMW wasn’t expecting, and on a worldwide scale too, could have them thinking there is some more 1M cash to milk.

Morrison explains, “This car [1M Coupé] has certainly generated a buzz. When we planned for this car we were cautious, but now there’s some hype surrounding the 1M so there’s clearly going to be some people looking at what we can do next.

“M is the pinnacle of engineering so if there’s a CSL proposition or something really different that we could consider then we would. If there’s something special and unique we can do with it then absolutely we would.”

We’re doubtful a 1M CSL could happen so late in the 1 Series model cycle, but we remain hopeful. Then there’s the cost to consider; would you pay M3 money for a slightly lighter and quicker 1M?

[Source: Car Dealer Magazine]

UPDATE: A reminder that a 1M CSL was hinted at last December. How does 332kW (445hp) sound?!

Categories
Top Gear Top Gear Australia

Top Gear Series 17 starting on 12 June (or not)

Top Gear cast

First filed: 18 May

According to the latest issue of the Dutch edition of Top Gear magazine Season 17 is due to air on BBC2 from Sunday 12 June (see below).

Meanwhile, Top Gear Australia has recently been recording its studio pieces for the next series which will be due to air on Channel 9 later this year.

[Source: Final Gear]

UPDATE 19 May: It looks like the Dutch Top Gear mag went a bit early by naming a start date for the next season. A wrap on the knuckles for someone, we suspect. So, Top Gear Series 17 will start in June and most likely on a Sunday, too. You have a one in four chance of being right; name your date below!

Categories
Porsche

Racecar kinetic energy tech for Porsche 911

Porsche 991 911

Interesting news has recently emerged about a new KERS system reported to feature on the next-gen Porsche 911. The entire 991 model range is said to take brake energy recuperation to a new level, with a special flywheel to store the saved energy for later use. So they’ll have a proper “go fast” button, then.

Keep in mind Porsche has its fingers on the pulse with this technology after teaming up with Williams Hybrid Power to produce the GT3 R Hybrid. A car which made everyone stop and take notice when it very nearly won the Nürburgring 24 hour race at its first competition outing.

[Source: Autoblog | Pic: CarPix]

Categories
Audi

Audi S1 prototype pipes up

Audi S1 spied

This otherwise regular looking A1 is reportedly an S1 prototype. The subtle twin pipes at the back offer the required clues. They actually look pretty good, too.

Speaking of clues, there’s not really too many others in regards to the finer details of the S1. We know it will feature a quattro drivetrain, but at this stage we’ve not come across anything too concrete in terms of the engine which will power the S1.

Some reckon it will be a reworked version of the 1.4 TFSI, which seems unlikely to us. Autoblog speculate 270hp could be on the cards; a little high maybe? Either way we doubt the 1.4 twin charger—currently offered with a max power rating of 185hp (136kW)—could be tuned to achieve that result. The S3 engine currently offers 265hp, so will the well utilised Volkswagen Group 2-litre find its way into the car? Or what about something entirely new altogether?

[Source: Autoblog | Pic: CarPix]