Year: 2011

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MINI WRC

MINI finally breaks Citroën-Ford duopoly

Dani Sordo, MINI WRC

When Dani Sordo piloted his MINI John Cooper Works WRC to second place at Rally France on the weekend he ended a 1218 day Citroën-Ford duopoly. Sordo’s result is the highest place finish in a WRC event by another manufacturer since Petter Solberg drove his Subaru Impreza to second in the 2008 Acropolis Rally.

Incredibly, you have to go way back to 2005 to find the last time a car other than a Citroën or Ford won a WRC event. That was at Rally Japan when Marcus Grönholm was driving a Peugeot 307; remember them! The WRC diversity drought now stands at 2192 days. MINI is currently the only credible contender to end the sequence with a win. Can they do it in 2011, or will we have to wait until 2012?

To celebrate this new and welcome diversity in the WRC we bring you a photo gallery of the MINIs in action. Let’s hope there is more success to follow for MINI, and Volkswagen too, in years to come.

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Citroen WRC

Sebastien Ogier wins Rally France

Sebastien Ogier, Citroen DS3 WRC

Citroën will be overjoyed that a Frenchman won the team’s home event on the weekend. But it was the other Sebastien standing atop the Rally France podium, not seven-time world champion Sebastien Loeb.

Sounding yet another warning shot to his established rivals was Dani Sordo at the wheel of his MINI. The Spaniard led the rally on Day 2 and finished the race in second, just 6.3 seconds behind Ogier.

Loeb retired on Day 1 with an engine failure. “There’s never a right time for something like this to hit us, but it’s the last rally in which I would have wanted it to happen,” he said. “I’m going to have to fight hard in the last two rallies of the season if I want to win my eighth world crown.”

It was Ogier’s fifth win of the year and he now has 193 points. His 26 points from Rally France closing the gap to Loeb to just three points in the drivers’ title race.

Speaking after the rally Ogier said, “It’s been a very long rally as I carried the responsibility for the whole team on my shoulders. I’m just happy to be able to relax. Obviously, this victory means a lot to me from a personal point of view. Five wins in a season is already a pretty good achievement. I’d like to thank the team which gave me a perfect car. Congratulations also to Dani Sordo; he drove really well all weekend and it wasn’t easy to beat him.”

Petter Solberg finished the event in third place, placing another Citroën on the podium. However, he has since been disqualified after scrutineers revealed his car was 4kg underweight. That moved Mikko Hirvonen into third place for the rally and equal first with Loeb in the championship race.

More from Citroën after the break.

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Audi Fifth Gear Past master

Behind the wheel of the Audi Quattro

Audi Quattro

Time for a look at an old rally legend now, with the Audi Quatrro. It’s a car we’ve featured in our Past Master series and we’re always keen to see new material. This review from the Fifth Gear web team gives a reasonable insight into the car’s history and modern day context. Shame about the smoke from test car!

You can see the review in full after the break.

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MINI WRC

Behind the wheel of the MINI WRC

Evo magazine journo Henry Catchpole was given a rare opportunity to spend some time behind the wheel of the new MINI WRC. In tarmac spec it sure looks like Catchpole would have had a lot of fun. But as there’s no words after his intro you’ll need to buy the mag to find out.

Categories
News Safety Issues

UK authorities plan motorway speed limit increase

M1 motorway, England

The British Government has plans to increase the speed limit on its motorways from 70mph (113km/h) to 80mph (129km/h).

The current 70mph was introduced in 1965 and statistics show the rate of road deaths in Britain have dropped by 75% since then. A survey held earlier this year by the Institute of Advanced Motoring revealed over 70% of those surveyed support an increase in motorway limits.

Studies have also shown that 49% of UK motorists admit to breaking the current 70mph limit on a regular basis. While 60% say they would be more likely to adhere to an 80mph limit.

Transport Secretary, Philip Hammond, says: “It is time to put Britain back in the fast lane of global economies and look again at the motorway speed limit which is nearly 50 years old, and out of date thanks to huge advances in safety and motoring technology.

“Increasing the motorway speed limit to 80mph would generate economic benefits of hundreds of millions of pounds through shorter journey times. So we will consult later this year on raising the limit to get Britain moving.”

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Categories
Ferrari Formula 1

Ferrari 599XX and historic F1 cars at Spa

Ferrari XX programme corse clienti at Spa

Imagine you’re lucky enough to own a Ferrari 599XX. It’s a limited run 599 sent to the extreme, with a worked 6.0 litre V12 producing 540kW (725hp).

Only trouble is, being a what is essentially a racecar made for the wealthy, it cannot be driven on public roads. Just as well Ferrari rents out world-class circuits such as Spa-Francorchamps through its corse clienti programme, then.

After the break you’ll see a few official photos and two very cool unofficial videos of the 599XX and FXX circulating at the famous Spa race track.

Perhaps, even cooler than this, is the F1 corse clienti programme, which allows mug punters with wads of cash to live the ultimate dream.

If the pics below don’t make you insanely jealous you’re not human.

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Aston Martin

It’s official: Aston Martin is cool

Aston Martin Vantage range

With models like the Vantage, Virage and even the four-door Rapide, Aston Martin is considered a leader in automotive design. Never mind that the cars are also pretty decent as well. In general, you know an Aston Martin is going to be a beautiful car.

Further to this, their boss, Ulrich Bez, races his product in one of the toughest motoring events ever, the Nürburgring 24 hour race. And they also make special models like the new V12 Zagato.

It’s little surprise, then, to learn Aston has been voted as the UK’s coolest brand, mixing with the likes of other market leaders, such as Apple and Bang & Olufsen.

Speaking about the award Stephen Cheliotis, Chief Executive, The Centre for Brand Analysis and Chairman of the CoolBrands Council said, “Smooth, sexy and sophisticated; British built, high quality and hand finished, let’s be honest, young or old, male or female, opinion former or British public, who wouldn’t aspire to own what is truly the coolest car on the road. Number one in five of the last six years, this British icon is truly the coolest of the cool.”

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Categories
Audi Random wallpapers

Random wallpaper: Audi Quattro

Audi Quattro

It’s been a while since we posted up a Random wallpaper, but we thought this shot of an Audi Quattro rally car was too good to pass up. Note the hint of flame from the car’s exhaust.

The pic came to us via a press release promoting the UK tour of Top Gear Live, which will be held in Birmingham and London next month. A fleet of Group B rally cars will be on show, making us even more envious that we won’t be there.

You know the drill, click the pic to view the image in 2000px sizing and get ready to ‘Fire up the Quattro!’

Categories
Porsche

VIDEO: An inside look at the Porsche 911

Porsche 911 (991)

Porsche brings us new video of the 991 911 from the Frankfurt Motor Show. This time August Achleitner, Manager of the 911 model line, has his say on why he thinks the new 911 is king.

There’s also a bit of discussion about the 991’s performance at the Nürburgring; it has cut 13 seconds off the best time set in the old 997.

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Categories
Dodge

Dodge Viper ACR laps Nürburgring in 7:12.13

Following news earlier in the month that the Dodge Viper ACR lapped the Nürburgring Nordschleife in a staggering 7 minutes 12.13 seconds we bring you the documentary evidence. GT racer Dominik Farnbacher was at the wheel and posted the time on 14 September 2011.

The time is being claimed as a production car record; the merits of which can always be debated. For example, the Viper ACR is no longer in production. That said, the car used for this lap was believed to be in completely standard trim.

A brief statement from SRT is available after the break.

[Source: ViperHQ]

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F1 in pictures Ferrari McLaren Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing Renault

2011 Singapore Grand Prix in pictures

2011 Singapore Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel’s dominance in 2011 has been perfectly captured by the image above. Love him or hate him, nobody can deny the young German has been in a class of his own this year. And so it was at the Singapore Grand Prix; Vettel’s most complete race this season.

To see how the also rans went we have compiled another 80 pictures from the unique night race held at Marina Bay. They’re all there for you after the break and don’t forget to click your favourite images to view in 2000px super sizing.

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WRC

WRC to offer free live streaming from Rally France

Sebastien Loeb, 2011 Rally Finland

This weekend’s Rally France will have live action from selected stages streamed for free on the internet. The footage will be broadcast via the sport’s official WRC.com website and is part of a trial program to gauge future possibilities.

A total of 14 hours will be streamed from Friday and Saturday competition. Helping to bring fans closer to the action the footage will include in-car footage along with interviews and press-conferences.

Simon Long, CEO of the WRC’s promoter North One Sport says, “The digital landscape presents numerous opportunities to further expand the reach of the World Rally Championship and this experiment is a big step forward in our plans to develop formats and content to suit.

“We have made a significant investment to get the project to this stage and it’s exciting that we are now ready to try and turn the theory into reality; however it’s important to make clear that this is a trial first and foremost and we expect to learn a great deal. This is unchartered territory, both technically and in terms of programming, but it’s a vital stage in our development plans for the next 12 months.”

[Source: WRC]