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Ferrari Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

2010 Japanese GP – Post-race press conference

2010 Japanese Grand Prix

Red Bull Racing returned to the victory dais at Suzuka today with Sebastian Vettel claiming his third race win of the year. Constantly at the top of the time sheets, Vettel was the dominant man all weekend and started the race from pole position. Teammate Mark Webber completed the Red Bull Racing domination by securing an comfortable looking second place. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso took the final podium position.

With three races to go the title race now looks set to be a race between Webber, Vettel and Alonso. A solid haul of points saw Webber slightly extend his championship lead this weekend. He is now on 220pts, with both Alonso and Vettel close behind on 206pts.

The full post-race press conference transcript is available below.

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Holden Motorsports

Fabian Coulthard’s spectacular Bathurst crash

Fabian Coulthard crash

Today is a big day for Australian motorsport fans. Most of us will be hoping that Mark Webber can extend his championship lead in the Formula One title race at today’s Japanese Grand Prix. At the same time many will be keeping an eye on today’s Supercheap Auto 1000, currently underway at the famous Mount Panorama circuit in Bathurst.

If you missed the opening lap of the Bathurst 1000 this morning it was an absolute ball-tearer. At least it was from the seat of Fabian Coulthard‘s Bundaberg Red Rum Holden Commodore. A minor altercation at the start line proved costly; it ultimately caused his left rear tyre to fail on entry to “the chase”, one of the quickest corners in Australian motorsport.

You can see the clip below and fortunately Coulthard walked away unharmed. He was interviewed by Channel 7 shortly after the incident and was in high spirits.

UPDATE: The full opening lap of the race, including coverage of Coulthard’s crash and subsequent television interview can be seen in the second clip below.

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Audi

Audi approves quattro drivetrain for A1

Audi A1

Fellow bloggers Audidriven tweeted news during the week that Audi has signed off on adding quattro to the A1. AUSmotive has not been able to find a direct quote from anyone at Audi, but apparently the news has been announced publicly by both Rupert Stadler, Audi AG Chairman, and Michael Dick, Audi AG Board Member for Technical Development.

A quattro drivetrain appeared unlikely for the A1 platform after the rumoured S1 hot hatch had its “S” badging scuppered at the last minute due to it being a front-wheel drive.

Assuming the accuracy of the above claim it augurs well for the on-again S1 rumours. It also confirms a snippet passed on to AUSmotive some time ago that quattro would be available on at least one model sourced from the A1 platform.

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Audi

Audi willing to make quattro concept a reality

Audi quattro concept

One of the undoubted stars of the 2010 Paris Motor Show is the spectacular Audi quattro concept. Word on the street is saying Audi is willing to turn the concept into a production reality. Oh yes!

Speaking to Autocar, Stefan Reil, head of development at Quattro GmbH said, “We are rethinking standard processes to make it possible. We know how to engineer it already.”

Reil went further, hinting the car would mostly likely be produced in limited numbers. Not being shy he also speculated at a possible price point for the quattro concept, “We need feedback to see if it is possible. Audi has no heritage in building 200–500 cars that are really exotic. But it won’t be over €100,000 [approx AU$141,500].”

The show car’s 1300kg weight would be achieved through extensive use of carbon fibre. While power from the TT RS sourced 2.5 litre inline five cylinder engine should be at least 350bhp (260kW) with thanks to a larger turbo.

[Source: Autocar]

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Ferrari Formula 1 Lotus McLaren Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing Renault

Japanese GP qualifying washed out

2010 Japanese Grand Prix

It would be out of the ordinary for AUSmotive to feature an image gallery on a Grand Prix weekend before the race had been run. It would be out of the ordinary for qualifying to be cancelled due to heavy and persistent rain. But these extraordinary events have happened today, and when you see the pictures, mostly taken during this morning’s Free Practice 3 session, you will see why.

Heavy rain started to fall this morning at the Suzuka circuit and barely abated all day. Despite several delays to allow conditions to improve qualifying was eventually called off and is now scheduled to be run tomorrow morning at 10am Japan time (midday AEDT). The race will go ahead as scheduled at 3pm (5pm AEDT). Weather conditions are expected to improve.

As well as the pics below you can also read the concise and somewhat humourous qualifying report from Lotus Racing.

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Holden Hyundai Kia Mazda Subaru Toyota VFACTS reports

New vehicle sales report – September 2010

FCAI banner

Official VFACTS data released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) showed that 85,054 passenger cars, SUVs and commercial vehicles were sold in September, up 8.9 per cent (or 6,923 vehicles) on the same month in 2009. It also represents a new record for the month of September, beating the old mark (2005) by 584 sales.

Toyota and Holden retain their place at the top of the charts, while perennial top-three challenger Mazda has once again knocked Ford back to fourth place.

Year-to-date sales now tally 780,720 and the full year prediction has been raised to over 1 million, up from the previous forecast of 980,000. It would be only the third time in Australia’s history that 1 million new cars have been sold in a calendar year.

Press releases from FCAI and various manufacturers are available after the break.

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Categories
Motor Shows

AIMS launches iPhone app

AIMS 2010 iPhone app

The Australian International Motor Show starts next week and to help visitors get ready organisers have released a new iPhone app. Event director, Russ Tyrie says, “The ability to pre-purchase tickets using your mobile phone is a great convenience, and the ‘what’s on’ calendar means people can time their visit to coincide with their individual interests.

“Some of our younger users will enjoy the fun driving game on the app. I’m sure they’ll be keen to see if they can beat the top score.”

The app is free and can be downloaded now. Overall, it’s not a bad effort for a first attempt, but there is room for improvement.

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Categories
Subaru

MY11 Subaru WRX STI information

MY11 Subaru WRX STI

Subaru UK has released new info on the 2011 WRX STI. We’ll update you with local details as soon as Subaru Australia has something to say, but for now you can check out the UK release after the break.

The key points with the MY11 WRX STI are a stiffer chassis, a lower ride height with “Spec C” suspension improvements, lighter alloy wheels and enhanced exhaust note. The 300PS 2.5 litre boxer engine now meets Euro 5 emissions standards, as well.

Cosmetic changes have been made to the bumpers and the rear quarter panels have been beefed up a bit more. Inside the car, Subaru say they have improved the quality of materials along with adding some new Recaro bucket seats.

And, of course, the new WRX STI (yes, they have intentionally dropped the Impreza badging) is fast. It currently lays claim to being the fastest four-door production car around the Nürburgring Nordschleife.

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Audi Oh the humanity

Audi R8 GT lights my fire

Audi R8 GT

That thing, above, is an Audi R8 GT. Or at least, it was. The R8 GT is a go-faster version of the R8 V10. Lighter and more powerful than the regular model, only 333 R8 GTs are scheduled for production.

It is understood the driver lost control on a damp patch of motorway near Munich. Subsequently the car skidded along the road for some 400m, hitting barriers several times, before finally erupting in flames. The driver escaped with no serious injury.

And then there were 332.

[Source: donaukurier.de via Top Gear]

Categories
Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

Mark Webber drives virtual lap of Suzuka

Mark Webber, Red Bull Racing

There are just four races left in 2010, maybe three if Korea is a last minute withdrawal. Still, ever composed, Mark is just looking forward to lots of cameras, lots of people and zipping about on a moped at the Japanese GP this weekend. Although, a race win would surely be welcomed, too. It would be a great result for the Australian who holds an 11pt lead over nearest rival Fernando Alonso.

As usual you can check out Mark’s preview after the break.

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Categories
Green Machines Lotus Motor Shows

Paris 2010: Lotus City Car concept

Lotus City Car Concept

Lotus has added to its Paris Motor Show bonanza with this wee City Car concept. As with the Eterne concept, Lotus are proving anything Aston Martin can do, they can do too. The petrol-electric hybrid City Car should do a ripping job at reducing the CO2 emissions of the Lotus fleet. The dirty air emitted from this concept is rated at around 60g/km.

Adding neither speed (0-100km/h: 9 seconds) nor lightness (1400kg), the three-door four seat City Car has a total range of 500km from its hybrid power, reduced to 60km in full electric mode. Lotus do say the new concept offers class-leading acceleration, but let’s face it, that’s no great claim at this point.

Perhaps forewarning us of new greenwash euphemisms to come Lotus call the City Car concept’s 1.2 litre petrol engine a “Range Extender”. To be fair, with just 35kW and 3 cylinders, calling it an engine might be stretching the truth, too. In total, peak power can be as high as 162kW, which is not too shabby at all. However, the catch comes when you see continuous power is rated at a more modest 54kW.

I suppose we shall have to get used to these econoboxes from sports car makers in years to come, but it doesn’t make them any less palatable. More details on the City Car concept can be read after the break.

[via World Car Fans]

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BMW

BMW continues 1M Coupé tease

BMW 1M Coupé

BMW has continued its treacle slow release of details for the new 1 Series M Coupé with a new image from the Paris Motor Show. Revealed in the closed section of the M-Power.com website the new pic shows the lower corner of the rear valance. As is the norm, not a lot is given away, but it does show that the superb amateur renderings released a while back were not quite on the money.

A few people are also asking “where are the cooling fins for the M3 slippery diff”, which is expected to be fitted to the 1M Coupé. Just out of frame, or completely out of the picture?

UPDATE: A camouflaged prototype BMW, believed to be a 1M Coupé has been spotted in Munich. In true 1M fashion you can’t really see anything we don’t already know about!

[Source: 1addicts]