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MINI Random wallpapers

Classic Mini Clubman Estate wallpapers

Mini Clubman Estate

It’s safe to say the release of the new MINI Clubman didn’t exactly capture the attention of the readers. “What a hideous turd,” was the first comment left here on AUSmotive and elsewhere the feedback given freely to MINI wasn’t exactly flattering.

It may surprise a few of you to learn that with the release of images for the 21st century Clubman BMW also handed out these images of a Classic Mini Clubman Estate.

And seeing as we reckon most of you will share our view that this one seriously cool little car we figured we’d share these nine photos with you all.

The Clubman Estate replaced the earlier Traveller and Countryman models and was built from 1969–82 during the British Leyland era of Mini stewardship.

BMW says a total of 197,606 Clubman Estates were built and we thank them for sharing these fantastic pics with us, which you can access in our 2560x1690px mega image sizing by clicking on the pics you like.

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MINI Motorsports

Mikko Hirvonen to make Dakar Rally debut in 2016

MINI All4 Racing

Mikko Hirvonen will be helped through the withdrawals of his post-WRC career by competing for the all conquering MINI X-raid Team in the 2016 Dakar Rally (3–16 January). The MINI All4 Racing has won the last four Dakar events.

What does Mikko know about the Dakar? Not a lot it turns out, which is why he will be preparing for the Dakar by competing with X-raid in a selection of events in the FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup. Mikko will make his MINI All4 Racing debut in the Baja Aragón race (24–26 July).

Even though he is joining a team with hopes of outright success at Dakar, Hirvonen maintains the old adage to finish first, first you have to finish.

“Dakar is such a long race and the dunes there are in a world of their own,” Hirvonen said. “So, to finish the event without encountering major issues or without getting stuck anywhere already would represent a really good achievement for my first Dakar.

“Meanwhile, the Baja Aragón is going to be more of the kind of rallying I’m used to. But driving without pace notes in your road book is not so easy and I still have to familiarise myself with the MINI All4 Racing as well.

“But should I feel good in the car and everything works well we hopefully will be able to set some good times in Baja Aragón.”

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Formula 1

F1 reveals bumper 21-race calendar for 2016

2015 Australian Grand Prix

For the second year running the FIA has released a Formula 1 calendar with 21 races. Like last year, it remains to be seen if we’ll actually see all of those races take place.

As it stands the 2016 season is set to kick off in Australia on 3 April, with the Chinese Grand Prix to take place the following weekend.

Increasing the demand on the teams there will be another five back-to-back race weekends including: Bahrain and Russia, Britain and Austria, Germany and Hungary, Singapore and Malaysia, and USA and Mexico.

As you will see the German Grand Prix is back and is scheduled to be held at Hockenheim. Malaysia moves from its early season slot to the latter half of the year straight after the Singapore Grand Prix.

Finally, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix will make its debut in 2016 on 17 July, to be held on a 6km street circuit in the country’s capital Baku.

The full calendar is shown below.

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BMW

Would you buy a BMW M3 Touring?

BMW M3 Touring rendering by Theophilus Chin

Following word from Bad Frank van Meel that there will be no M3 Touring under a BMW M GmbH he leads, here’s a look at what we’re missing out on.

Thanks to master rendering guy Theophilus Chin we can see how seriously awesome an M3 Touring could be. Fast, practical, and über cool.

Bad Frank says there would be no demand for such a car. Bad Frank doesn’t know what day it is!

You would buy an M3 estate if you could, right? You would, wouldn’t you?!

[Source: Theophilus Chin]

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BMW

BMW M2 watch: It’s coming soon, real soon!

BMW M2 prototype at the Nurburgring

The new BMW M2 has been getting out and about lately putting in some good miles at the Nürburgring. And the latest word is that it won’t be too long until we get to see the car without its fancy swirly graphics.

Frank van Meel, BMW M boss, spoke to Dutch publication Autovisie recently and shared a few of his company’s upcoming plans.

First, there was Bad Frank. Boo, we don’t like Bad Frank, because he told us there are no current plans to make an M3 Touring. Bad Frank says there wouldn’t be enough demand for such a car.

“Is this clown f@%king kidding himself!” was the loud exclamation heard at AUSmotive HQ when we first read that news.

But it’s okay, because once Bad Frank mentioned that about an M3 Touring and something else about an M7 being a waste of time, he quickly transformed into Good Frank. Now, Good Frank only deals in the good shit.

Good Frank said the new M2 will be on show at the Frankfurt Auto Show in September. And, even gooder, Good Frank reckons the M2 details and photographs will be revealed in full before the car makes it show debut.

So there you have it, indisputable proof that Good Frank is way better than Bad Frank.

For your added viewing pleasure there’s a couple of M2 videos after the break showing a couple of F87 M2 prototypes in action.

[Source: WCF & BimmerPost | Thanks to John for the tip]

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Formula 1 News

Philippe Bianchi: “There is no significant progress”

Jules Bianchi

The father of Jules Bianchi spoke to a French radio station recently and said there has been “no significant progress” in his son’s recovery from the injuries suffered in his accident at the Japanese Grand Prix last October.

“In general, progress needs to be made in the first six months,” Philippe Bianchi said in an interview with radio station France Infos. “And now it’s been nine months and Jules has still not woken up and there is no significant progress.

“As time goes by, it makes me less optimistic than I might have been two or three months after the accident when one might have hoped for a better outcome.”

Following Michael Schumacher‘s skiing accident, which left the seven-time world champion in a coma, Philippe Bianchi also revealed his son had spoken about what he might want if he was ever in a similar situation.

“We talked about it,” Philippe Bianchi said. “He told us that if one day he had an accident like Michael Schumacher’s, even if his only handicap was not being able to drive, he would have a lot of difficulty living with it. Because it was his life.”

[Source: Reuters]

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Motorsports Volkswagen

Volkswagen Golf Racing wins on TCR debut

Pol Rosell, Volkswagen Golf Racing, TCR Series, Austria 2015

Team Engstler driver Pol Rosell won race 2 of the TCR International Series meeting at the Red Bull Ring on the weekend and in doing so gave the Golf Racing its maiden win. Not a bad effort for the car’s first competitive outing.

The Golf made its presence known early after Rosell’s teammate Mikhail Grachev set the fastest lap during the second free practice session with a time of 1:40.593.

Volkswagen Motorsport’s usual Monday morning newsletter had this brief report:

First appearance, first win: The new Volkswagen Golf for the racetrack made its debut in the Touringcar Racer International Series (TCR) and promptly claimed its first victory. The Golf run by cooperation partner Liqui Moly Team Engstler triumphed at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. Spain’s Pol Rosell won race two, finishing ahead of his compatriots Pepe Oriola (Seat) and Jordi Gené (Seat). Starting from pole position, Rosell defended his lead until the chequered flag at the 4.318-kilometre Grand Prix circuit. Mikhail Grachev (RUS) came sixth in the second Golf.

Rosell finished ninth and Grachev seventh in race one. Victory went to Switzerland’s Stefano Comini (Seat).

The racing version in action in Austria is the first such model based on the seventh generation of Volkswagen Golf. The production-based, 330-hp concept car is assembled in accordance with TCR Regulations and is intended to allow Volkswagen to evaluate a possible customer racing programme as of the 2016 season. In order to accelerate the development process, the new Golf will be tested under competitive conditions in the TCR between now and the end of the season.

The next races will take place in Singapore from 19 to 20 September, when they will share the bill with the Formula One World Championship.

EDIT: A brief highlights video has been added below. [Thanks to Tom for the tip]

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Motorsports Volkswagen

Volkswagen Golf Racing revealed

Volkswagen Golf VII Racing

Volkswagen Motorsport dropped these images to our inbox overnight and we like what we’re seeing. This is the 243kW/410Nm Golf Racing. It’s been built to compete in the final four races of the 2015 Touringcar International Series (TCR) and will make its competition debut at the Red Bull Ring this weekend.

The production-based concept will test the waters for Volkswagen Motorsport to see if there’s a market to offer this as an ongoing customer racing model for the 2016 season. The Volkswagen group is already represented in TCR with the Seat Leon and Audi TT.

Taking power from an uprated 2.0 litre Golf R engine the Golf Racing puts its power to the ground through the front wheels only, using a 6-speed DSG and 18-inch wheels and tyres. The somewhat extreme bodykit is in keeping with its competitors and is 400m wider than a standard Golf VII.

Officially still in a development phase, the Golf Racing will be run by Liqui Moly Team Engstler for the remainder of the TCR season, which has rounds to follow Austria in Singapore, Thailand and Macau.

“The newly created TCR category provides a promising platform for customer racing—on a national and international level,” said Volkswagen Motorsport Director Jost Capito. “With exciting races, production-based technology and reasonable costs, it offers a new outlook for private racing teams.”

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Aston Martin

Adrian Newey and the Aston Martin hypercar

Adrian Newey

Those Red Bull–Aston Martin rumours won’t go away, no matter how much Niki Lauda wants them to. However, any connection with Red Bull and Aston Martin has taken a twist with word an Adrian Newey-designed road car is expected to be launched in the next few years; 2018 seems to be the year bandied about.

If we’re to believe media reports, Newey and Aston Martin are already working together on an extreme hypercar to take on the likes of the McLaren P1 GTR and the Ferrari FXX K.

The partnership is with Red Bull Technologies, which is separate to the F1 team, so any dreams Christian Horner may have of securing the dominant Mercedes engine for the 2016 RB12 would seem premature.

In an interview with Autocar during the recent Goodwood Festival of Speed, Horner confirmed a Red Bull road car is possible.

“It’s something that Adrian is keen to do as a legacy project,” he said. “At the moment our focus is on being a Formula 1 constructor, but as we see more technology cross over with the road car market, it’s something that will organically grow.”

As for any Aston Martin involvement in Formula 1, well, you probably can’t rule out a pairing with Red Bull because crazy shit happens in F1 all the time. But more likely is that Aston Martin will leverage off its existing connection with Mercedes and join forces with one of Mercedes’ existing customer teams: Williams, Force India or Lotus.

[Source: Autocar]

Categories
Volkswagen

Golf GTI Clubsport spied in testing

Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport

It’s Volkswagen’s answer to the Megane RS275 Trophy R and it’s one step closer to reality, as these pics show. It, of course, is the Golf GTI Clubsport, which was presented in concept form at the Wörthersee show earlier this year.

The show car had semi slick rubber and the promise of a power boost to 195kW (265hp). Latest talk suggests that power could rise to as much as 215kW (290hp), which would be driven to the front wheels through a VAQ diff.

This test mule is fitted with a roll cage, but that’s pretty standard for cars lapping the Nordschleife during industry pool sessions. However, there is a suggestion that a half cage may be available as an option when the Clubbie is released next year to celebrate the GTI’s 40th birthday.

Pleasingly, the trackside report from BTG also claims this test car was fitted with a manual gearbox. Happy days!

Follow the link below for more pics.

[Source: Bridge to Gantry]

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Motorsports

Road: The movie

Michael Dunlop

The fifteenth anniversary of Joey Dunlop’s death went by a few days ago. He’s been remembered in an article on the BBC website. The Dunlop family is an institution in Ireland. They’re known for TT racing.

Two brothers, Joey and Robert, started the dynasty which is now carried on by Robert’s sons, Michael and William.

The lives of the Dunlops have been told in a compelling 2014 documentary called Road. It’s incredibly well made and takes you on the emotional highs and lows of what is perhaps motorsport’s most unforgiving category.

There’s a trailer for Road after the break. Find the movie and watch it.

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Bathurst 12 Hour Motorsports

V8SC wants Bathurst 12 Hour promotional rights

Nissan GTR GTR wins 2015 Bathurst 12 Hour

A bit over twenty years ago the management of Australia’s premier touring car category banned cars like the Nissan GT-R. In fact, they banned anything that wasn’t a Ford Falcon or Holden Commodore. It now appears that current V8SC management wants to welcome the likes of the GT-R back with open arms and the first step to doing that is to buy the promotional rights for February’s Bathurst 12 Hour race.

A report on Speedcafe suggests James Warburton, V8SC CEO, is willing to buy the rights from current promoters for as much as $4 million.  Currently the promotional rights are shared between James O’Brien (Yeehah Events) and the Bathurst Regional Council.

With the fast approaching demise of local manufacturing V8SC needs to broaden its horizons, and fast. It’s been suggested that V8SC is seeking to accept GT-style racecars as part of its Gen2 rules to be adopted in 2017.

Tensions between V8SC and the Bathurst 12 Hour were heightened this year when a new V8SC broadcast agreement with Foxtel effectively banned its drivers from competing at the 12 Hour, thanks to a compulsory V8SC test session that had been organised for the same weekend.

This arrangement upset a lot of 12 Hour fans, including AUSmotive.

V8SC claims it offered to buy the broadcast rights for the 2015 Bathurst 12 Hour in a deal which would have cleared the date clash by combining the pre-season test and the 12 Hour race into a weekend-long event and seen the race telecast live on Foxtel.

Although there’s no quotes attributed to either side, it’s reported that James O’Brien denies this offer was ever made.

As it stands the 2016 Bathurst 12 Hour will be held over the weekend of 5–7 February with television coverage on Channel 7.

The increasing success of the Bathurst 12 Hour is a double-edged sword for fans who have followed the race since the introduction of GT3 cars. The bigger the race gets the more it loses its boutique and casual appeal.

Whatever happens in the future and whoever promotes the event, we hope the current charm and appeal of the 12 Hour race is not lost forever.

[Source: Speedcafe | Thanks to Stu for the tip]