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Formula 1

Post-Bernie era draws closer for F1

2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

At 83 years of age it’s hardly rocket science to suggest Bernie Ecclestone’s days in Formula 1 are numbered. However, as the F1 supremo increasingly finds himself dealing with unwanted court cases the landscape of F1 and its ownership could be facing significant change.

Joe Saward explains:

Financial rumours are always to be treated with care because one never knows why the news is being leaked and who gains the most from such leaks. Quite often such stories are not at all what they seem to be. The word, however, is that US media billionaire John Malone, who is in the middle of a major expansion into European markets, is looking to buy control of Delta Topco, the parent company of the Formula One group, in order to be in a position to decide which TV channels would be buying the media rights to F1 racing, so as to either boost the revenues of other companies in his empire, or to charge his rivals more for the same privilege.

Malone has been busy investing in Euro television channels, including Virgin Media (Britain), Ziggo (Netherlands), Telenet (Belgium), Unitymedia (Germany) and he also own a controlling stake in Eurosport. It seems too simple to think that he could simply buy the Formula 1 media rights and hand over the broadcasting to his own companies.

That’s because it is too simple, as Saward goes on to explain:

The word is that he [Malone] wants to acquire the Formula One shares currently controlled by CVC Capital Partners, which wants to cash out in F1 because its plans for a stock market flotation have been blocked by the legal troubles surrounding F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone.

However, this does not necessarily mean that a buyer would actually control the Formula One empire because this appears to influenced by a parallel company called Delta Prefco, which has some of the same shareholders as Delta Topco. These investors get a different (and preferential) deal to those involved in Topco.

The rights to Formula 1’s broadcasting and wider management is certainly a confusing tale of corporate intrigue. We recommend you follow the source link to read Saward’s article in full.

[Source: Joe Saward | Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]

Categories
Bathurst 12 Hour

A twitter lap of Mount Panorama

Griffins Bend, Mount Panorama, Bathurst

The 2014 Bathurst 12 hour race takes place this weekend and to help get you in the mood the official race twitter account has taken us on a lap of the famed 6.2km Mount Panorama circuit.

Of note is the new super smooth surface the drivers will experience on Australia’s toughest and most spectacular race track. Check it out below.

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Formula 1

Sebastian Vettel owes F1 around 50 million TV viewers

2013 Japanese Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel’s dominant 2013 season is responsible for 50 million television viewers staying away Formula 1, according to Bernie Ecclestone.

The recent publication of the F1 media report 2013 shows the annual television audience dropped by 10% compared with 2012. The last time F1 confirmed an annual audience tally was in 2011 when 515 million viewers tuned in for at least 15 minutes of coverage across a full season. It’s thought the 2012 figure also had a slight drop to around 500 million, meaning the 2013 audience was approximately 450 million.

“The less-than-competitive nature of the final few rounds, culminating in the championship being decided ahead of the races in the USA and Brazil, events which often bring substantial audiences, had a predictable impact on reach,” explained Ecclestone.

It’s also worth noting there were only 19 races in 2013 compared with 20 grands prix in 2012. The biggest fall in the 2013 audience was seen in China (down 30 million viewers) and Brazil (down 9 million). Even in Germany approximately 3 million viewers stopped tuning in to F1 in 2013.

With the dramatic new changes in the technical and sporting regulations introduced this season Ecclestone is hopeful viewing numbers will rise.

“One thing I am sure of is that this coming season will not only offer a heightened level of unpredictability, but renewed excitement and fierce competition,” he said.

[Source: Mail Online | Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]

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Bugatti

“The Galibier is officially dead”

Bugatti Galibier Concept

Following an earlier report in January Volkswagen Group boss, Dr Martin Winterkorn has confirmed the four-door luxury Bugatti Galibier won’t be going into production.

Winterkorn went on to add the company will instead focus on a replacement for the Veyron. “The Galibier is officially dead. We won’t do it. In its place will be a second-generation Veyron with more power,” he confirmed to Autocar.

So strap yourselves in as the next few years become a speculation-fest on just how ridiculous to headline horsepower figure in the Mk2 Veyron will be. Place your bets, do I have any offers above 1500hp?

[Source: Autocar]

Categories
Formula 1

Ross Brawn “definitely retiring” from Formula 1

2013 Italian Grand Prix

Ross Brawn won’t be joining McLaren this year, instead he will be “definitely retiring”, leaving the sport to enjoy a spot of fishing.

The 59-year-old who has overseen a combined total of 16 world championships with Renault, Ferrari and Brawn GP team was tipped to join McLaren to work alongside Ron Dennis who has returned to a hands on role at Woking.

Dennis is restructuring the F1 team and needs to fill the newly created position of McLaren Racing CEO, who will be the conduit between Dennis and new Racing Director Eric Boullier.

You can see how a man of Brawn’s experience would be ideal for such a role. Alas, for McLaren its search will continue. However, it would be foolhardy to expect Brawn’s time away from F1 to be permanent. That may prove to be the case, but don’t be surprised at all if he turns up somewhere in 2015.

Honda is returning to F1 as an engine supplier next year and that may provide a pathway for Brawn to come back to the sport, given his history with the manufacturer.

Brawn left Mercedes at the end of last year and speaking at a recent fishing event in Scotland he said: “What they didn’t realise when I was invited here was they had a scoop because the world’s press was trying to find out if I was retiring or not.

“This is the busiest time of the year for Formula One and I said I would come along and open the River Dee. If they had put two and two together they would have realised I was definitely retiring.”

Brawn later left the door open of a return to the sport when he added: “I’m retiring, it’s not tongue in cheek.

“I’m going to take a year to enjoy the fishing and then see what life brings. I’m looking forward to it but I’ve got no other plans.”

[Source: The Telegraph | Pic: Mercedes AMG]

Categories
Maserati

Maserati makes Super Bowl debut with Ghibli

Maserati Ghibli Big Game Ad

Maserati used its Ghibli sports saloon to make its Super Bowl debut with a specially created Big Game Ad called Strike. Like most of the other car-related commercials made for Super Bowl XLVIII this ad promises much, yet doesn’t quite deliver.

Powered by a Ferrari-sourced 3.0 litre twin-turbo V6 engine the Ghibli has more than 400hp to play with. It will be on sale in Australia around the middle of this year.

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Jaguar Video

Autocar drives the Jaguar F-Type R Coupé

Jaguar F-Type R Coupe

Suffering through those Super Bowl commercials reminded us we’d not made the time to watch Steve Sutcliffe’s video review of the very desirable Jaguar F-Type R Coupé. We’ve watched it now, and you can too if you haven’t already.

Sutcliffe was at the press launch held at the Circuit de Catalunya and had a merry old time testing the limits of adhesion and wear rate of the R Coupé’s rear tyres.

Half his luck!

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Audi Hyundai Jaguar Kia Subaru Toyota Video Volkswagen

Super Bowl XLVIII ad watch

Volkswagen Super Bowl XLVII TVC

In case you’ve missed it there’s a big game of football on tonight. And we don’t mean the Man City v Chelsea game either. It’s American football and, of course, it’s the Super Bowl.

That means all the big wig advertising agencies have been locked away in rooms for months trying to come up with something clever and memorable. We’ve taken a look at the motoring-related TVCs and we’re sorry to say the standards from the big auto makers has slipped.

Most of these ads are pretty lame. Subaru should just be embarrassed. Audi, Kia and Volkswagen can perhaps keep their heads above water for producing moderately entertaining ads, but the rest are just shit.

Continue reading “Super Bowl XLVIII ad watch”
Categories
Ferrari

Ferrari takes ugly away from F1 with SP FFX

Ferrari SP FFX

While the world has been aghast at the latest round of Formula 1 cars to be hit with the ugly stick, Ferrari has ensured that the trickle down effect from racecar to street car is indeed real, if this picture is anything to go by.

Spotted in Japan this is a one-off creation built by Ferrari’s personalisation crew, it’s called the SP FFX and we think we’ve already seen enough.

The SP in the model name refers to the Special Projects division and FF is, of course, the model on which this car is based. As for the X, well, we’re not sure. Perhaps FFU for ugly didn’t work so well.

[Source: Autocar]

Categories
Volkswagen

Refreshed Polo GTI to get manual and more grunt

Volkswagen Polo GTI

When Volkswagen released info on its updated Polo range info on its hero GTI model was pretty scarce. So much so that there were no images at all, the photo you see above is from the car’s local launch in 2010.

In fact this paragraph, buried deep in the press kit, shows the only words of any note Volkswagen had to say about the Pogo GTI:

There are also firm plans for a new Polo GTI. Here, engine power is boosted from 132 kW / 180 PS to 141 kW / 192 PS.

So a modest power increase, which most engines throughout the range have scored as well. More power is always welcome, of course, however, there’s one more headline act to follow according to UK mag Autocar.

To the delight of all hot hatch purists the updated Polo GTI will get a 6-speed manual gearbox. Hitherto only available with a 7-speed DSG the option of a trad manual transmission is a welcome, albeit late addition to the baby GTI.

You can expect the bulk of the facelifted Polo to be on sale in Australia before the year is out, while the new Polo GTI may not arrive in Australia until 2015.

Categories
Volkswagen

Volkswagen gives Polo mid-cycle makeover

Volkswagen Mk5 Polo facelift

Volkswagen has given its award-winning Mk5 Polo a refresh and you’ll do well to spot the differences, as is often the case with these mid-cycle updates.

If you look closely you’ll see the lower spoiler has been updated and likewise with the lower valance. There’s a bunch of new paint colours as well to help you spot the difference. Similarly, the interior of the Polo has been revamped to ensure trainspotters have something new to look at.

Mostly the changes are beneath the skin with the full engine range also being given the once over by Volkswagen’s engineers. All engines in the Polo now meet EU6 emissions standards and have stop/start fuel saving technology.

Other new tech added to the Polo range includes optional LED headlights, a battery regeneration mode, City Emergency Braking, Automatic Distance Control, Driver Alert and more. The infotainment system has also been updated and includes Bluetooth audio among other features.

Perhaps the biggest change of note is to the Polo GTI, which we’ll go into a bit later. For now there’s more pics and details from Volkswagen after the break.

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BMW

BMW 4 Series Gran Coupé revealed

BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe

BMW has followed the launch of the 4 Series Coupé with this new Gran Coupé model, which will be on show in Geneva next month.

The F36 Gran Coupé is essentially the same as its genuine coupé donor model, but now with four doors and a big arse. Although, it is quite a nice arse, we do admit. Yes, we like this Gran Coupé.

We have no idea if there’s a market for a premium mid-side four-door coupé, but since when has anything like a lack of demand stopped BMW from making yet another niche vehicle? Build it and they will buy, seems to be the mantra.

Indeed, BMW should be encouraged to keep making these weird and wonderful variations of the same car. If nothing else it adds some interest and shows they’ve got the guts to have a go. We like that.

So, back to this 4 Series Gran Coupé for a minute. The front-end is a straight copy of the coupé and the wheelbase and overall width is same, as well. The Gran Coupé is 12mm taller and 112mm longer. Surprisingly the big arse only accounts for an increase in luggage capacity of 35 litres over the two-door.

You can see and read more about the 4 Series Gran Coupé after the break.

Continue reading “BMW 4 Series Gran Coupé revealed”