Everyone loves a winner, but the British love British winner more than anyone else. Thankfully, for them, Lewis Hamilton came up trumps at Silverstone and gave the likes of David Croft and countless others cause for unabated nationalism.
I’m not sure us Aussies would be as bad if Daniel ever wins in Melbourne.
You’re looking at a rendering for the Porsche 988 published by Autocar. Just what is a Porsche 988 we hear you ask. It’s the latest model rumoured from Stuttgart to take on the Ferrari 458 Italia and the like.
If that all sounds a little bit familiar, welcome to 2012. This time, however, plans for the 988 (understood to be a development title only) seem to be more concrete than any previous “Fefi” rumours we’ve heard in the past.
The 988 is expected to go on sale in 2017 and will be powered by a flat-eight cylinder engine which will be mid-mounted and around 4.0 litres in capacity. You don’t get excited about a supercar these days unless it’s nudging 600hp and with the aid of a turbo or two, or maybe even four, the 988 should oblige on that front.
Reports of an eight-cylinder engine are interesting inasmuch as Porsche engineers feel they need the extra cylinders to take on models like the 458. The recent issues faced by the 3.8 litre flat-six in the 911 GT3 have no doubt helped confirm that theory.
The 988 will eventually lead a revitalised model range as Porsche aims to sell 200,000 vehicles per annum.
[Source: Autocar]
Now that the BMW i8 is on sale in Australia this video from the car’s first “dynamic” UK appearance at the Goodwood Festival of Speed takes on new meaning.
So what is this three-cylinder jobbie with electric sparkles really like? Watch this video to find out. It won’t give you a definitive answer, but it’s still worth watching, even if just to see the impressive line up of supercars the i8 followed up the hill.
We’d been waiting for video footage of Mark Webber driving the Porsche 911 GT1-98 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and now here it is.
There’s two clips and the second one from Goodwood TV has some good banter from Mark comparing the 911 GT1 to the Mercedes CLR-GT1 which he originally raced in competition against the Porsche.
Here’s the transcript from the post-race press conference at the British Grand Prix. We’ll start with a few words from Daniel Ricciardo who explained a one-stop strategy wasn’t his original plan.
“We chose to restart on the prime,” Daniel said. “It didn’t seem like the best thing to do at first because we were really slow at the restart. Valtteri and Fernando got past me pretty easily and pulled away and I was coming on the radio basically saying ‘let’s see if we can try something a little bit different’ as we didn’t really have the pace as we hoped.
“Once we came in for the option, we just ran and pushed pretty much for the whole stint. I didn’t intend on doing a one-stop when I started on that tyre but laps ticked off and we were still able to keep the pace. The team said ‘do you think you could do another 15–20 laps’ and I was like ‘at the moment, yeah, I think we can’, so we stayed out and just held on at the end. It was awesome.
“I think all three of us had a bit of redemption on our plate today. It was a pretty dismal Saturday for us. I think we’re all pretty happy. This is definitely one of my best podiums this year.”
[Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]
On the weekend Silverstone celebrated its 50th anniversary Lewis Hamilton delighted the home crowd by winning the British Grand Prix. It’s his 27th career win and brings him alongside Sir Jackie Stewart to equal seventh on the all-time list.
In even better news for Lewis he has reduced the championship title race to just four points after teammate Nico Rosberg was forced to retire with gearbox issues. Rosberg led the race up until his Lap 28 retirement. Lewis, though, was only too happy to assume the lead which he held comfortably until the chequered flag.
Valtteri Bottas achieved his best grand prix result by finishing second, improving one step at a time after his third place in Austria. It was an impressive result after starting from P14 and using a one-stop strategy to climb twelve places. Daniel Ricciardo also employed a one-stop tyre strategy to elevate himself from a P8 starting position to finish in third place.
An opening lap crash by Kimi Raikkonen brought out a red flag. Raikkonen ran wide into Turn 5 and when he rejoined the track on Wellington Straight he ran over a bump which caused him to lose control and crash head-on into an armco barrier. The impact spat him back across the track and Felipe Massa, in his 200th grand prix, clipped Raikkonen’s Ferrari while trying to avoid contact.
Both drivers were forced to retire from the race and concerns over Raikkonen’s immediate health were eased when he emerged from his car. He later complained of ankle pain and will be monitored after Ferrari later revealed the impact of the crash was registered at 47G.
Jenson Button finished fourth after also opting for a one-stop strategy. Button was closing in fast on third place as the race drew to an end. Perhaps with another lap or two he may have been able to overtake Ricciardo for P3.
A stoush between Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso provided entertainment as they diced wheel-to-wheel. Both drivers got on the radio to complain about poor standards from the other and in the end Vettel came up trumps finishing in P5, Alonso in P6. Although, Vettel will be sour after he started the race on the front row, while Alonso will feel better about his day after starting form a lowly P16.
The top 10 was rounded out by Kevin Magnussen, Nico Hulkenberg and the Toro Rossos of Daniil Kvyat and Jean-Eric Vergne.
Nico Rosberg will start from pole position after a topsy turvy qualifying at the British Grand Prix. It’s the German’s fourth pole for the year and once again he was lucky to gain a big advantage over his key championship rival and teammate Lewis Hamilton.
Rain was present throughout all three qualifying sessions which meant the times were a bit all over the place. Both Ferrari drivers and both Williams drivers missed progression to Q2, which will add extra spice to the race as they try to charge past slower cars.
But it was the final session which held the main drama. All drivers except Sebastian Vettel set times in the early part of Q3 with the results seeing Lewis Hamilton (1:39.232) on provisional pole ahead of Rosberg.
Midway through the session rain became heavy in parts of the track and drivers sat it out in pit lane waiting as late as they dare before reemerging for a last gasp effort.
Hamilton and Rosberg crossed the line to start their final laps with moments to spare, the provisional pole sitter ahead of his teammate. Rosberg desperate to push for P1 was right on Hamilton’s tail. The first two sectors were slow for Rosberg, but he kept pushing. In the final sector he made up significant time and landed pole position (1:35.766) with a time more than three seconds faster than Hamilton’s who had aborted his final lap.
Other drivers to benefit from pushing right until the end were Vettel (1:37.386) and Jenson Button (1:38.200). Nico Hulkenberg (1:38.329) was the first of the late runners to show there was time to be made up in the final sector and briefly held provisional pole.
In the wash up Hamilton finished in P6 and looked bitterly disappointed with that outcome as he emerged from his car after quali.
Daniel Ricciardo was in P4 after the first round of laps early in the session but chose not to set another lap and he will line up from P8 on the grid. It’s fair to say Daniel was surprised at how much faster his opponents could go.
“I didn’t expect it to go quicker at the end of the session there, as the rain kept coming,” Ricciardo said. “We really thought the track wouldn’t get quicker, Vettel only went out as he didn’t have a time at that point. We have to learn from it I guess – I’m gobsmacked how much faster the circuit got, it must dry a lot quicker here than I thought. We’ll move forwards from there tomorrow.”
The final grid, which has been affected with a number of penalties, can be seen after the break along with the full text from the post-qualifying press conference.
“It’s difficult not to get wrapped up in the noise… It is so beautiful.”
Not much more needs to be said about this Ferrari 312PB featured by Petrolicious. The car in question, powered by a glorious 3.0 litre DOHC V12, was made in 1972 and is one of the last sportscar prototypes made by Ferrari before the company began to concentrate its motorsport activities more heavily on Formula 1.
The 312PB won at some of the world’s most noted racetracks, including Brands Hatch, Daytona and the Nürburgring. It was driven by racing luminaries such as Mario Andretti, Jacky Ickx, Ronnie Peterson, Brian Redman, Clay Regazzoni, Carlos Reutemann and even Australia’s own Tim Schenken.
And now, this example, is brought to us as a flash of brilliance in a desolate California landscape.
As expected the Caterham F1 Team has announced a change of ownership with Tony Fernandes making way for a consortium of Swiss and Middle Eastern investors. The new ownership group is being advised by Colin Kolles, former HRT Team Principal.
Christijan Albers, former F1 driver with Minardi and Midland/Spyker, will be calling the shots on a day-to-day basis with assistance from Manfredi Ravetto, also previously from HRT.
Caterham will continue to operate from its Leafield base in the UK and will maintain its current team title. The ownership change takes place with immediate effect.
“We are aware of the huge challenge ahead of us given the fight at the bottom end of the Championship,” Christijan Albers said. “Our target now is to aim for tenth place in the 2014 Championship.
“We are very committed to the future of the team and we will ensure that the team has the necessary resources to develop and grow and achieve everything it is capable of.”
A couple of weeks ago BMW Australia announced pricing for the very cool looking and very green i8 hybrid sportscar. It’s three hundred grand if you’re wondering. To promote the Australian sales launch the BMWi “supercar” is touring across the six dealerships in six states who have been nominated as official selling dealers.
Luckily for us here at AUSmotive Rolfe Classic BMW in Canberra made the cut. We received an email last week inviting us along to inspect the car later this week. However, a scheduling bonus meant the Canberra dealer could get the car last Friday and it has been on display since. Word filtered our way quickly, Canberra is a small town after all, and we went along last Saturday for a sticky beak.
The i8 was officially unveiled in Frankfurt late last year and the likes of Chris Harris have described it as “mighty, mighty achievement”.
It’s a plug-in hybrid which sends 170kW/320Nm to the rear wheels, thanks to a fearsome 1.5 litre three cylinder petrol turbo, while the front axle is powered by a 96kW/250Nm electric motor. The total combined output of the i8 is 266kW/570Nm, enough to get the car to 100km/h in 4.4 seconds.
Play nicely and you can almost drive to the moon and back, such is the frugal nature of its fuel consumption (2.1l/100km according to the spec sheet beside the car).
Of course, it’s the flowing lines and dramatic nature of the i8 which hold as much appeal to any petrolhead (or should that be volthead now) as the car’s technical specifications. There’s cleverly crafted nooks and crannies wherever you look and the aesthetic results are plain to see.
The drama only increases when the winged doors open and invite you into the cabin. There’s raw carbon fibre reinforced plastic hinting at the car’s lightweight underbelly before a typically teutonic interior greets you with a few more flashes of personality than you usually see inside a BMW these days.
Although, it’s a shame in a way that much of the car’s futuristic styling is lost with the black Sophisto Grey Brilliant Effect paintwork. That said, the i8 is a beautiful object to admire and we only hope it does good things for BMW on the sales front so that Munich’s bold foray into hybrid sportscars is both encouraged and sustainable.
The i8 is in Canberra until next Tuesday (8 July) and will also visit Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth (it may have visited some or all of those locations already, check with the dealer list below to confirm).
We reckon you should make the effort to check out the i8. For one thing it looks fantastic, but, as a means of providing a long-term solution for the sportcar genre, it’s probably a lot more important than we realise right now.
News that the Jaguar F-Type Project 7 will reach production status is kind of a big deal. That’s for two reasons, first because an 80kg lighter F-Type with more power is news we can all celebrate, but also because it’s our first chance to see how fair dinkum Jaguar’s new Special Vehicle Operations is going to be.
With thanks to XCAR films we can hear Jaguar’s design guru Ian Callum and John Edwards, Jaguar-Land Rover Special Operations boss, talk about the Project 7, how it came about and what it means for the company.
At the start of the year Tony Fernandes told his Caterham F1 team he thought they were under performing and that if he didn’t see improved results in the 2104 season he would walk. “If we’re at the back I don’t think I’m going to carry on,” he said.
Well, with the CT05 proving to be as effective as it is ugly, word on the street says Fernandes is about to walk.
Under the ownership of Fernandes Caterham is yet to score a world championship point and the team currently sits at the bottom of the standings in the constructors’ championship. We’re also guessing Tony wouldn’t have worn his trademark smile when fellow backmarker Marussia scored its first points at the Monaco Grand Prix a few weeks back.
It’s been tipped that Fernandes will announce his sale and departure from the F1 team tomorrow, although he will maintain control of Caterham’s road car division.
[Source: Joe Saward]