We start the day with the sad news that American muscle car legend Carroll Shelby has passed away. He had been suffering from pneumonia for several weeks and died peacefully at Baylor Hospital in Dallas. He was 89 and is survived by his three children Patrick, Michael and Sharon, his sister Anne Shelby Ellison of [...]

Freelance motoring journalist Karl Peskett was recently at the Nürburgring as a guest of Jaguar. He was kind enough to pen a few thoughts for us. The Nürburgring. It’s the name which strikes fear into the hearts of many, and awe into the minds of others. It was named Green Hell by Sir Jackie Stewart—“Green” [...]

Red Bull Racing’s owner, Dietrich Mateschitz, is reported to have given a short but unambiguous show of support for Mark Webber. No doubt questioned after the Webber to Ferrari rumours the Austrian billionaire told Swiss newspaper Blick, “I hope that he keeps driving with us for a long time.” Looks as though those whipper snappers [...]

Brazilian actor Rodrigo Santoro is in discussions to play Ayrton Senna in a Hollywood biopic. Santoro revealed the news in an interview with Collider. At this stage the movie has not been signed off by the Senna family and until that happens Santoro says he won’t agree to be involved. However, you get the feeling [...]

Two things we like very much here at AUSmotive are F1 and Chelsea FC. Now, thanks to a new deal with Sauber Motorsport, the two have become interlinked. Why, we’re not so sure, but who are we to argue. Keen observers will have noticed the Saubers running “Out of the Blue” and “True Blue” signage [...]

We received an email on Wednesday confirming the media day for the 2012 Australian International Motor Show, to be held in Sydney this year, will go for a full day. That’ll be on Thursday 18 October and gives the manufacturers more time to impress hacks like us. More importantly, the motor show won’t open to [...]

This fairly crappy JPG is our first glimpse at the marketing material for Ron Howard’s F1 biopic Rush. It’s way too early to tell if Howard will deliver an authentic and believable recreation of the fight between James Hunt and Niki Lauda during the 1976 Formula One season. However, all indications so far show that [...]

Pitpass brings word that planning for the 2013 Grand Prix of America in New Jersey is well underway. This should help ease rumours that the quasi-New York GP could be deferred until 2014. The above pic shows a tailored Porsche Cayenne fitted with a camera rig that has reportedly been sent out on the roads [...]

Motor racing returned to Bathurst over Easter and even though it was a few weeks ago now we’d be remiss not to bring you this video. You see, Chris Gilmour, a Formula 3 driver from Queensland, set a new official lap record around Mount Panorama in Bathurst. Gilmour finished second at the race meeting, but [...]

If you’re trying to make sense of the political controversy surrounding the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix here’s a special report from the Al Jazeera program Inside Story. It goes for around 25 minutes and perhaps you could watch this in place of the pre-race coverage on your local broadcasts. Introducing the debate, the program begins: [...]

Tom Cary from the UK’s newspaper The Telegraph has kept a diary of his week so far in Bahrain. He landed on the troubled island on Tuesday: “Tear gas and Molotov cocktails are exchanged. I file my report from the rooftop of a ‘safe house’ as explosions ring out below.” Wednesday: “Head to another protest [...]

No doubt you’re now well versed on the troubles in Bahrain and the fact thousands of protesters are taking to the streets to promote their cause to the watching global audience. Happily, on two fronts, we can report that the protests so far this week seem to have been peaceful in their nature and the [...]

The 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix will go ahead, say the FIA, after meeting with all 12 teams in Shanghai this afternoon. In a press statement the Formula One’s governing body said: “The FIA must make rational decisions based on the information provided to us by the Bahraini authorities and by the Commercial Rights Holder. In [...]

A new video has been posted to YouTube with the title “Robert Kubica returns after his accident at Ronde di Andora!” For those playing at home that’s the same event he was competing in when he had his original crash last year. As recently as last month former F1 driver Jaime Alguersuari expressed doubts over [...]

An unnamed F1 team principal has said the teams don’t want to race in Bahrain later this month. The Bahrain Grand Prix is scheduled for 22 April, the weekend after the Chinese GP. The unidentified team boss told The Guardian: “I feel very uncomfortable about going to Bahrain. If I’m brutally frank, the only way [...]