Red Bull Racing has confirmed Mark Webber will be the first to test their new 2012-spec RB8 machine when pre-season winter testing commences next month. There are three official pre-season testing windows scheduled prior to the Australian Grand Prix, with a four-day test in Jerez, on 7–10 February to open the 2012 season. Webber will [...]

Sebastien Loeb has opened the defence of his eighth world title in grand style with a comfortable win in the Rallye Monte Carlo. The French maestro, who turns 38 next month, and his co-driver Daniel Elena showed no signs of slowing down winning the rally by almost three minutes from Dani Sordo (MINI). The tricky [...]

Graphic design and racing cars. They’re two things we very much like here at AUSmotive, so a book about both has to be a winner, surely. We think so. Sven Voelker is the man we have to thank for the book Go faster: The graphic design of racing cars. He explains his thoughts and a [...]

While the world was discussing Peugeot’s sudden withdrawal from Le Mans racing, Scott Brownlee from Toyota PR cheekily revealed the first pics (above) of Toyota’s LMP1 Hybrid via twitter. “Sorry to see Peugeot pull out of Le Mans for 2012. Maybe the mere sight of our new car scared them,” he said. Last October Toyota [...]

Overnight Peugeot dropped a bombshell when they announced their immediate withdrawal from sports car racing. Most notably that brings an abrupt end to their Le Mans program. The Peugeot 908s often played second fiddle to Audi, but they did reign supreme in 2009 when they finished first and second at Le Mans. Australian David Brabham [...]

The Monte Carlo Rally, fondly referred to as ‘The Monte’, is resuming its rightful and traditional position as the first WRC event of the year. Yesterday the top WRC teams were out in Valence giving their machines a final shakedown before taking on the full rally. You can read previews from Citroën, Ford, MINI and [...]

Bruno Senna will fill the vacant Williams F1 seat after he signed a new deal with the team today. The news means the 19 year F1 career of Rubens Barichello has come to a rather untidy end. With 11 victories to his name and a respected career it’s fair to assume Barrichello deserved a better [...]

We got wind of a racing Prius late last year and the Prius GT300 is now on display, in full racing livery, at the Tokyo Auto Salon. At this stage there’s no official text or detail from Toyota that we can see, but the large hybrid text on the side of the car indicates the [...]

Two weeks of 2012 Dakar competition has been captured and reduced into just under three minutes. It tells us who won and how, but doesn’t give any insight into the sometimes spiteful relationship between the MINI and Hummer camps. Hummer say they were the quickest cars and that what counts, MINI meanwhile, is enjoying the [...]

After something of a false start when they missed the registration deadline for the 2012 WRC season, MINI will be ready to field two cars at this week’s Monte Carlo Rally (17–22 January). There’s no good news for Kris Meeke, though, who will miss the first two races, at least, to cashed up drivers able [...]

It’s now official, Stephane Peterhansel has won the 2012 Dakar rally for the X-raid team driving a MINI All4. He enjoyed a comfortable 42 minute margin over his X-raid temmate Nani Roma. It’s the tenth win for the 46-year-old Frenchman who won his first Dakar way back in 1991 in the motorcycle class on a [...]

The MINI All4 X-raid team is set to cap off a dominant two weeks in South America by handing Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel his tenth Dakar victory (three wins in cars, six on bikes). The start of the final stage, with only 29 timed kilometres, is not too far away and Peterhansel currently enjoys a lead [...]

Here’s a nice feelgood piece for you with footage of the late Jason Richards driving the 1987 Le-Mans winning Porsche 962 around Eastern Creek at last year’s Muscle Car Masters event. We’re not exactly sure what the circumstances were that led to Jason getting some seat time in one of motorsport’s most iconic cars, we [...]

Robert Kubica’s comeback to Formula One has been dealt another blow following reports he has broken his right leg. It’s the same leg which suffered fractures in that horrific rally accident which caused him to miss the entire 2011 F1 season. He now faces up to month in plaster. It’s understood Kubica slipped on some [...]

It’s now almost two years since Michael Schumacher returned to F1 at the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix. Of course, the 2011 race was cancelled due to civil unrest in the country. Since then the Bahrain royal family has assured us, and more importantly Bernie Ecclestone, that all is now okay in their kingdom and the Bahrain [...]