Author: Liam

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Motorsports News

Got €125m, the Nürburgring could be yours!

Nurburgring for sale!

Yes, the Nürburgring is for sale. Everything. The failed NüroDisney complex, the Grand Prix track and, worst of all, the famed Nordschleife circuit.

The government is hoping to recoup as much as it can from the €400 million that has been spent at the Nürburgring in recent years. Full private ownership, with no government involvement, is imminent. And the asking price is said to be just €125 million.

Should fans of the track be worried? Potentially, yes. We’ve covered the story more over at AUSringers, but here’s a taster from Dale Lomas, owner of the Bridge To Gantry website and employee for car rental business Rent4Ring:

I’m pessimistic. There’s no way the government can hang on to something like the ‘Ring. The EU are all over it. From the EU’s point of view, the German government has been caught red-handed spending taxpayers’ money on a private project to the benefit of only a handful of ‘businessmen’. Domestically the Nürburgring is competing with other circuits like Oschersleben, Hockenheim and Lausitzring. Within the EU it’s butting heads with greats like Le Mans, Silverstone and Monza. When Government-owned businesses are competing against the private industry, it all has to be above board and 100% transparent. The only thing clear about the Nürburgring in the last few years is that it’s swallowed over 400 million euros of taxpayers’ money. That’s not fair, is it? It doesn’t matter that it was wasted on a bunch of crap like the rollercoaster and the boulevard.

They are going to sell it. They’re going to wipe their hands of the whole sorry mess, take a paltry cash sum (offers are in the region of only €125 million for the whole thing) and by doing that they’re going to throw the whole region to the wolves of independent capitalism. All I can hope for is a fair and equal battlefield, where the local hotels and businesses like Rent4Ring get to offer their products on an equal footing to the new track owners… wish us luck!

[Source: Bridge To Gantry | Pic: racetours.co.uk]

Categories
Formula 1 Motorsports

Holler for a marshal

The official CAMS YouTube channel has released this thank you to all the volunteer race marshals and officials who have just put in a sterling effort at the Australian Grand Prix. We know at least one of our loyal readers is a long-time marshal and we thank him and all his mates for a job well done.

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Lotus

Keep calm and Lotus on

Lotus Esprit

Following last night’s late report that Group Lotus PLC could face a winding up order the niche manufacturer has issued this unambiguous official statement:

Group Lotus PLC is not being liquidated

Monday, March 18, 2013 – 15:45

Contrary to rumours initiated by Autocar magazine, Lotus is not being liquidated.

Earlier this year, Lotus was in a contractual dispute which was resolved amicably a number of weeks ago. However the High Court process meant that the matter was still shown on the High Court website, as there was a hearing scheduled for today. This is what appears to have been seen and misunderstood.

The case was only listed for the proceedings to be disposed of.

The claim has now been dismissed with no order as to costs.

So, egg on the faces of a few at the usually very reliable Autocar then?

Categories
Porsche

PDK-only for 2014 Porsche 911 GT3 RS

991 Porsche 911 GT3

UK publication Car magazine brings the scoop that the 991-based 911 GT3 RS will carry over the PDK transmission and electronic power steering from the just released 911 GT3 (pictured). Their source is very reliable, too, none other than Andreas Preuninger, Head of GT Cars at Porsche.

There can be no mistaking Preuninger’s comments, either. “There’s no chance of a manual,” he said. “We don’t want to offer too many options on our GT cars. And if you’ve got a manual and a PDK you’ve got to have different set-ups for the suspension, the aero, the tyres, everything. We are a small team and can only concentrate on one car.”

We expect many will bemoan that no new GT3-badged 911 will be available with a traditional H-pattern manual gearbox, but perhaps the promise of a wilder GT3 RS might go some of the way to soften the blow.

“We’ve opened up a wider field of usability with the new GT3, so maybe that gives us more reason to push the RS towards a more extreme side. The differentiations between the two models has always been increasing, and it’s going to be like that in the future,” Preuninger told Car.

Some of the ingredients to help sharpen the RS could be a further improved shift time on the 7-speed PDK-box, which can already shift in just 100ms in the new GT3, and an even larger rear wing may also feature. Of the car’s exterior, Preuninger said, “It’s pretty spectacular. It’s beautiful.”

The other carrot dangled by the Porsche man is a peak power figure of around 500hp for the new RS.

Preuninger confirmed the 991 GT3 RS would debut early next year, following the unveiling of the new 911 Turbo in the next few months and the 918 Spyder at Frankfurt in September.

[Source: Car]

Categories
Lotus

Reports of my death have been greatly…

Lotus Esprit

Autocar brings grim word that:

“An announcement from the HM Courts & Tribunals Service has revealed that an application has been made to wind up Group Lotus PLC.

This process could see Group Lotus, which consists of Lotus Cars, Lotus Motorsport and Lotus Engineering, liquidated.”

Kimi Raikkonen, his fans and the rest of Lotus F1 Team can rest easy though, because any such measures, should they take effect, would not affect the F1 outfit which uses the Lotus name and logo under licence.

However, Group Lotus PLC has issued this brief rebuttal via twitter:

[Source: Autocar]

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Caterham F1 in pictures Ferrari Lotus McLaren Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing Toro Rosso

2013 Australian Grand Prix in pictures

2013 Australian Grand Prix

Aww, isn’t that cute, Kimi and his Australian Grand Prix trophy sharing a quiet moment together in front of their adoring fans.

And with that image another pictorial journey in Formula 1 begins. It’s AUSmotive’s third year of compiling F1 pics after each race to share with our readers and so perhaps now is as good a time as any to share a little about how it all works.

The images are all sourced directly from each team, via their media portals. While we wish we had the budget, time and ability to either commission photographers to act on our behalf or attend every race ourselves that’s simply not the case. It’s all done from AUSmotive HQ in Canberra.

As to the image selection, generally, we select six images from each team, three for each driver. So with 11 teams competing in 2013, at a minimum, you’ll see 66 pics in each gallery. Actually, make that 60 images, because Marussia still won’t answer our emails.

In addition to the base selection of images we give the winning driver and his team extra attention with anywhere from 12 to 30-plus photos. That often depends on the team. Pics from Red Bull normally feature heavily, in part due to having an Australian driver on its books, but also because they provide the best gallery each race and make it the easiest to access them. Ferrari is probably next best. But Mercedes, and sometimes McLaren and Lotus, don’t always give us a lot to work with, which some may argue is fair enough.

Ideally, we like to get photos from raceday, and where there’s a good behind the scenes shot we’ll include them too, no matter the team. Getting back to Mercedes, as this article goes live they only had a handful of images from Sunday in Melbourne, although none of them were on-track photos, so all the F1 W04 images you see are from the practice days. Unfortunately, this is typical for Mercedes/Daimler.

So there you go, we hope that helps you understand a bit more what we’re doing with these galleries and if you have any ideas on the type of images you’d like to see, or any other ideas, please let us know. You can think about it while you’re taking in the 105 images waiting for you after the break.

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MINI

2013 MINI Paceman – Australian pricing & specs

MINI Cooper S Paceman

MINI Australia released info on the Paceman pricing and specs a little while back and we’re bringing them to you now; better late than never.

The local Paceman range will consist of only two model specifications: 90kW/160Nm Cooper and 135kW/260Nm Cooper S. The Cooper Paceman is priced from $35,900 while the Cooper S Paceman starts at $44,100 (plus on road costs). A 6-speed manual gearbox is standard equipment, a 6-speed auto is available on both models as an option.

Full details from MINI Australia can be read after the break.

Continue reading “2013 MINI Paceman – Australian pricing & specs”
Categories
Audi

Audi Australia to price new A3 from $35,600

2013 Audi A3 Sportback

When Audi Australia launches the 8V A3 Sportback in May they’ll be starting the list pricing from $35,600. That’ll get you an A3 Sportback Attraction, powered by a 1.4 litre TFSI engine with 90kW/200Nm and a 6-speed S tronic transmission. In fact, S tronic will be standard across the range. Manual gearboxes will be available, but by special order only.

At launch there will be four engines offered, the 1.4 TFSI already mentioned will be joined by a 77kW/210Nm 1.6 TDI under the entry-level Attraction specification. Those choosing the higher Ambition spec will have the option of  a 132kW/250Nm 1.8 TFSI or a 110kW/320Nm 2.0 TDI.

Audi’s Quattro all-wheel drive system (read Haldex V) will be offered later this year, with finer details to be confirmed at the time. Accompanying that addition to the range will be the Audi Connect system which incorporates, among other things, a WLAN hotspot and Google Earth functionality.

Full pricing and specification for the Australian A3 Sportback range will be announced closer to launch.

Continue reading “Audi Australia to price new A3 from ,600”
Categories
Green Machines Volkswagen

Volkswagen e-up! revealed!

Volkswagen e-up!

When the e-up! concept was launched at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show Volkswagen said the production version would be ready in 2013; and true to their word here it is! We like the up!—it is the reigning World Car of the Year after all!—and think it’s a pretty nifty thing for ferrying folks around cities the world over! Now, with the e-up!, you can do all that ferrying with zero emissions!

Unsurprisingly the e-up! is not going to win any TLGPs, despite its lowish 1185kg kerbweight the little blighter only has a maximum output of 60kW/210Nm! Mind, VW also states the continuous power of the e-up! is just 40kW! That means reaching 100km/h will take you an epic 14 seconds! The e-up! has an equally modest top speed of 135km/h, but with modest driving can travel up to 150km/h on a single charge!

Charging is done through the Combined Charging System connecter—behind the fuel flap of course!—and can be used by AC or DC charging methods!

Volkswagen boss Dr Martin Winterkorn drove the e-up! to Volkswagen’s Annual Press and Investors Conference last week and the model will make its full debut in Frankfurt later thus year!

Continue reading “Volkswagen e-up! revealed!”
Categories
Ferrari Formula 1 Lotus Red Bull Racing

2013 Australian GP: Post-race press conference

2013 Australian Grand Prix

That’s quite an amazing podium there, a total of six world championships are shared between Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel. Not only that, to have Lotus win the first race of the year helps set the tone that this may not be the usual Red Bull–Ferrari two-horse race we’ve been accustomed to seeing of late.

Before we get into the transcript from the drivers on the podium here’s a few words from Mark Webber (P6) and Daniel Ricciardo (DNF) on their somewhat disappointing results from today’s race.

Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing): “We had a few issues on the grid, getting the telemetry from the car to the pits, which wasn’t ideal in terms of the guys knowing where to set everything up for the start. We lost KERS also for the first part of the race. It looked like we were quite heavy on the first set of tyres and we weren’t that quick to challenge for the win as a team today. We had a slow pit stop (which was due to a front jack failure), which put me behind Jenson. We salvaged something in the end, but that was Melbourne today and it was disappointing not to get more out of it. It was hard to fight against others on a two-stop.”

Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso): “In the end I had to retire with a problem linked to the exhaust. I reported back to the pit wall that I could hear strange noises and I tried to fix it by changing a few functions, but it was not to be. At the start of the race, I struggled to find grip and it felt like I was driving on ice, as it took a very long time to warm up the tyres. But afterwards, after about ten laps, I got up to speed and my lap times were not too bad, but by then I had lost too much time in the early stages. I think we have more homework to do when it comes to the tyres. Not the ending I wanted for the first Grand Prix of the season, especially here in my home race.”

[Pic: Ferrari]

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Categories
McLaren Motor Shows

Geneva 2013: McLaren P1 revealed

McLaren P1

McLaren published info on its P1 hypercar well ahead of the Geneva Motor Show, but here is the video from the car’s presentation. The two key numbers to take away from this clip are 600kg of downforce and 2g cornering speeds. Although, perhaps the biggest claim is Ron Dennis’ bold statement that the P1 will lap the Nürburgring Nordschleife in sub-7 minutes.

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Green Machines Motor Shows Volkswagen

Geneva 2013: Volkswagen XL1

Volkswagen XL1

Time for a quick Geneva Motor Show catchup now with the two-seater Volkswagen XL1. It’s the slightly odd, but rather intriguing carbon fibre-bodied diesel-electric hybrid that uses just 0.9l/100km.

The XL1 has been a model a long time in the making, with its roots going back to 2002 when Ferdinand Piech, then VW Chairman, drove its forerunner, the 1 Litre car, to the company’s AGM.

Even the concept for the XL1 was first seen more two years ago. And now that it’s here Volkswagen will be making just 250 for the time being. The XL1 will only be sold in Germany and Europe and with a hefty price tag we suspect it will be as much a loss-making marketing exercise as a serious eco warrior.

The rear-wheel drive XL1 features a 35kW two cylinder TDI engine and a 20kW electric motor, coupled to a 7-speed DSG transmission. The combined 55kW will take the 795kg (unladen) green machine to 100km/h in 12.7 seconds and on to a top speed of 160km/h. In full electric mode the XL1 has a range of 50km.

In most images it’s hard to get a handle on the proportions of the XL1, as an object it looks slick and relatively well styled for what it is. But it’s not until you see a photo of the XL1 with two people on board that its compact dimensions become apparent. The press guff boasts that the XL1 is shorter than a Polo and lower than a Porsche Boxster.

We’re not really sure what the make of the XL1, but do think Volkswagen deserves a pat on the back for turning a crazy idea into a production reality, even if it’s just a limited production reality.

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