Month: February 2010

Categories
Jaguar Motorsports

Jaguar back at Le Mans

Jaguar will return to Le Mans in 2010

With seven outright victories Jaguar is one of the most famous names when it comes to Le Mans. Yet, the big cat hasn’t been seen loping around the Circuit de la Sarthe since the early 1990s. In 2010, the JaguarRSR team will put things right when they take to the track in June with their XKR GT2 machine.

Principal Partner of JaguarRSR, Paul Gentilozzi, says “We are delighted the ACO has granted us entry in the prestigious 24 hours of Le Mans. It is a race that is held dearly in the hearts of motorsport fans across the world and for Jaguar to be racing again is something special.

“We are fortunate to bring an international line up of the world’s finest driving talent including Scott Pruett and Marc Goossens as our drivers for this race.”

This year also marks Jaguar’s 75th anniversary, so a good showing in their class at Le Mans will be just the ticket for the iconic British marque. If you’d like to learn more about Jaguar’s proud motorsport history you could do a lot worse than track down a copy of the relevant episode of Victory by design, hosted by Alain de Cadenet.

In other Le Mans news, 1992 Formula One World Champion Nigel Mansell will be making his debut at the 24 hour race in 2010. He will join his sons, Leo and Greg, behind the wheel of a British-built Ginetta Zytek.

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Categories
Alfa Romeo

Pininfarina to woo Alfa Romeo with Spider Concept

Alfa Romeo Pininfarina Spider Concept

Masters of automotive styling Pininfarina will reveal a new Alfa Romeo Spider Concept at the Geneva Motor Show next month. This illustration gives us a good idea what to expect. The concept is currently untitled and, at this stage, is a proposal to Alfa Romeo only. However it will mark the start of a pair of important anniversaries for both companies—Pininfarina will be celebrating its 80th birthday, while Alfa Romeo will be kicking off its centenary.

Pininfarina are no strangers to designing sportscars for Alfa Romeo and there’s some nice eye candy after the jump. For me, the more recent designs don’t quite match the timeless beauty of the models released in the 1950s and 1960s. The concept above, though, might just hit the spot in a very 21st century way.

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Categories
Porsche

60 years of philosophy continued

Porsche - 60 years TVC

Another Porsche ad. This time there’s no valet parking. And there’s no family tree. This time it’s, well, to quote AUSmotive reader ‘KGB’, “It’s all turd polish for the Panamera. Good though…”

As well as seeing the ad after the jump, I’ve selected a few of my favourite stills from the clip. Which ones would you have chosen?

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Categories
Top Gear

Easy riders

Top Gear - Vietnam Scooters

Two of the scooters used in the Top Gear Vietnam Special have recently been purchased by the UK’s National Motor Museum. The 1967 Piaggio Vespa 150cc VBC Super used by Jeremy Clarkson and the rather inappropriately decorated c.1973 Honda 50cc Chaly will be added to the museum’s permanent World of Top Gear exhibition.

Prior to being sold at auction by Bonhams the scooters were on display at the Saigon Scooter Centre. Now, the two-wheeled exhibits will join the many four-wheeled icons from Top Gear at the Beaulieu attraction.

For more check out www.beaulieu.co.uk.

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Categories
Ferrari Maserati

Ferrari Maserati Sydney open new showroom

Ferrari Maserati Sydney

Last night 550 guests witnessed the opening of the new Ferrari Maserati Sydney dealership, located on the corner of Bourke and Elizabeth Streets in Waterloo. Making their way down under just for the event were Amedeo Felisa, the Chief Executive Officer of Ferrari SpA, and Raffaele Fusilli, Global Corporate Director of Maserati SpA.

The new digs, which also house the headquarters of importers Ateco, are spread over five levels and total 12,000 square metres. In a sign the worst of the world’s financial woes are behind us $30 million was spent on the new building and centralising Ferrari and Maserati operations forms a key factor in the future plans for both marques.

“Bringing these facilities together under one roof is central to our plan to expand our business and offer the highest levels of customer service,” says Edward Butler, Dealer Principal of Ferrari Maserati Sydney. “Our sales team will sell the first car to a customer, but it is the quality of our customer service and our ability to deliver to customers an all-encompassing Ferrari and Maserati ownership experience, which fully encapsulates the passion and style of these unique marques, that will encourage our customers to come back for their next Ferrari and Maserati.”

More pics and detailed press release after the jump.

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Categories
Formula 1

F1 @ Valencia – Behind the scenes with Williams

Images from Valencia via ClaireVWilliams

If you’ve been following the F1 testing at Valencia via twitter these past few days you’ll have noticed what a sterling job ClaireVWilliams has been doing. She regularly uploaded images via Twitpic, ensuring F1 fans across the globe got a glimpse of the action as it happened.

The best part, this wasn’t all Williams propaganda either. Claire proved to be a right F1 fangirl for the masses. Cheers Claire, looking forward to your work at Jerez next week.

A selection of images from Claire’s Twitpic gallery can be seen after the jump.

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Categories
Safety Issues Volkswagen

Volkswagen Golf – Safest car of 2009

Volkswagen Golf VI

In 2009 , for the first time, the EuroNCAP authority collated its test results from a single year and announced its safest cars of the calendar year. With a total of 103 points the Golf VI topped last year’s list, which also included an impressive 97% score for Adult Occupant protection.

When the Golf VI was first released in 2008 it was granted a five-star rating. However, in 2009 EuroNCAP introduced stricter testing procedures and the Golf VI, along with 32 other cars, were tested in 2009 under the revised program.

The Golf finished ahead of the Honda Insight in the 2009 rankings. Third on the table was the new Toyota Prius, followed by the Hyundai i20, before a triumvirate of equally rated cars—Toyota Avensis, Volvo XC60 and Opel/Vauxhall Astra.

Official EuroNCAP footage of the Golf’s earlier 2008 test can be seen after the jump, reminding you just how ugly a vehicle crash in motion actually looks.

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Categories
Formula 1

FIA unveils new points system for 2010

Ferrari F10 uncovered

Formula One teams aren’t the only ones lifting covers off things this week. News has just come through from the FIA announcing a totally revised points structure for the 2010 season as well as new tyre regulations that will affect qualifying strategy. Further to that, the double diffusers that worked so well for Brawn GP and Red Bull Racing last year will be outlawed from the sport from 2011.

First, to the new points regime—instead of the first eight drivers scoring points, from this season the first 10 drivers across the line will be awarded points. The winning driver will now see a seven point gap back to second place, replacing the previous meagre two point advantage from previous years. The full tally goes like this; 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1. The FIA says this measure should “further encourage the race to win” approach.

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Formula 1 Renault

Renault R30 on track at Valencia

Robert Kubica tests Renault R30

More pics from Valencia, this time of Robert Kubica putting the new Renault R30 though its paces. Although, unfortunately for Renault their car is a bit off the pace at the moment. Kubica was the slowest of yesterday’s eight runners and while he has improved on his times already in day 2 of testing at Valencia he is still over 3 seconds from the head of the pack.

These are early days yet and Chief Race Engineer, Alan Permane,is cautiously optimistic, “A fairly positive first day of running with the R30 with Robert in the car. We concentrated on putting mileage on the car and spent time getting Robert comfortable in the car.”

Kubica will be the only Renault driver on track today, with Vitaly Petrov getting his first taste of serious F1 action in tomorrow’s final testing day.

If you want to keep up to date with the on track action, sign up to the AUSmotive F1 list on twitter. You’ll see all the latest tweets from team bosses and journos who are currently trackside.

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Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz

Michael Schumacher returns to F1 at Valencia

MercedesGP - Valencia day 1

Michael Schumacher is back! His eagerly anticipated return to Formula One with MercedesGP took its first step overnight with the season’s first test session, held at Valenicia.

Speaking at the end of the day Schumacher, who set the third fastest time, said “It was a perfect rollout for the new car today. I felt totally comfortable and really had a feeling that everything was very natural. It felt just like at the very beginning of my career in 1991 when on the first lap, I thought ‘wow that was really fast’ and then on the second lap, I was just extremely excited. I feel like a young boy again and really enjoyed myself out there.

“We did a good job today, just making a few control checks, and the most important thing was that the car ran reliably. With Nico and I covering 79 laps between us, it was a superb job by the team.”

A full list of times from day 1 can be seen here (there were only 8 runners). There are two more days remaining on the Valencia testing schedule. Nico Rosberg will be the only MercedesGP driver to take to the track tomorrow, while Schumacher will return on day 3.

After the jump you will find more pics of Schumacher on track and in pit lane, along with statements from teammate Nico Rosberg and Team Principal Ross Brawn.

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Categories
Formula 1

2010 F1 season shakes down at Valencia

MercedesGP W01

The first official testing session for the 2010 Formula One season is currently underway at Valencia. If you don’t mind a tweet before bedtime, not only can you follow AUSmotive, you can also keep up to date with the latest F1 news via the AUSmotive F1 list.

This first test session marks the first time many of the 2010 F1 cars will be seen in public, including the MercedesGP W01 shown above.

There will be just four pre-season tests before the first race in Bahrain on 14 March. The ban on in-season testing remains in place for the 2010 season.

The current testing schedule at Valenica is open until Wednesday (3 February). Following test sessions include two windows at Jerez (10-13 and 17-20 February) before a final run at Barcelona (25-28 February).

UPDATE: A list of times from day 1 of testing is available after the jump.

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Categories
Volkswagen

New Golf R to cost less than old R32

Volkswagen Golf R

We know the Golf R is coming to Australia, and we know it should be hear by the middle of 2010. What we don’t know is how much customers should expect to pay for what is essentially an Audi S3 in Volkswagen clothing. Signs from the UK are not good, with the Golf R costing around £2000 more than the S3.

However, it would appear that will not be the case in Australia with the Golf R looking like it will enter the local market quite a few thousand dollars cheaper than the S3. Speaking about the new Golf R to carsales.com.au, Karl Gehling, General Manager Press and PR for Volkswagen Australia, said, “It’s going to be priced between the current R32 and the GTI.”

So we can expect some very sharp pricing for the Golf R, then. Happy days. The outgoing R32 had a starting list price of $57,990. Entry level pricing (including GST and LCT) for the Audi S3 is $66,500. While Gehling states the Golf R will hit the market priced between the old R32 and the current GTI (around $40K, depending on configuration) one would assume the final price will be much closer to the R32 than the GTI. Still, even at a starting price of $57,990 the Golf R represents cracking value.

Also revealed by Gehling was a sneak preview of the Golf R’s local specification. In order to keep Golf R pricing so sharp items such as leather sports seats, Adaptive Chassis Control, 19” alloys (shown in the image above) and more will remain on the options list.

[Source: carsales.com.au | Thanks to Dmitry for the tip]