Click on the picture above to watch a behind the scenes video tour of the Red Bull Racing factory. Steve Nevey, RBR business development manager, talks through what is involved in the design, development and construction of the Red Bull Racing Formula One cars.
Last night a little dancer went dancing to Mosley’s door. Usually this would make Max a very happy chappy, but, sadly for him she wasn’t that type of dancer. Instead it was the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) dancer bringing the news that eight teams don’t care for his stylez and want to start their own competition.
The teams backing the breakaway series are BMW-Sauber, BrawnGP, Scuderia Ferrari, McLaren-Mercedes, Red Bull Racing, Renault, Scuderia Toro Rosso and Toyota. FOTA’s statement (which can be viewed in full after the jump) reads: “The teams cannot continue to compromise on the fundamental values of the sport and have declined to alter their original conditional entries to the 2010 World Championship.
“These teams therefore have no alternative other than to commence the preparation for a new Championship which reflects the values of its participants and partners. This series will have transparent governance, one set of regulations, encourage more entrants and listen to the wishes of the fans, including offering lower prices for spectators worldwide, partners and other important stakeholders.”
No doubt the midnight hour will bring more, more, more. For ongoing coverage keep an eye on the BBC F1 and Times Online websites.
Meanwhile, Silverstone is hosting it’s last British Grand Prix this weekend. Or is it?
Just in case you missed the spectacular action from last weekend’s Catalunya round of the MotoGP here it is. You will see Yamaha teammates Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo fighting it out right down to the very last corner.
The Italian commentary only heightens the excitement, never mind that you can barely understand a word!
Enjoy it while you can.
[Source: Times Online]
In an era, as pointed out by Mark Webber, where a single footballer has been sold for enough money to run two F1 teams in Mosley’s world it is no surprise that Formula One teams are showing signs of frustration.
The ongoing saga of the £40M budget cap could be the wedge that forces F1 teams to start a breakaway competition. If that happens, it seems the drivers are on side.
Speaking to the BBC, Mark Webber states, “All the drivers share the same view. We want to drive for the best teams and race against the best drivers. If it’s not the FIA Formula 1 world championship, so be it. It’ll still be the most prestigious championship.
“It’s the first time ever pretty much all the teams have the same view. For the sake of the sport, the main constructors and people who have the real vision believe they need to take a stand.â€
Dual world champion Fernando Alonso is more direct, “I prefer to race in any other category before the new F1.”
The D-day for a final decision is due when teams will be busy with Friday qualifying for the upcoming British Grand Prix. The drama is not lost on Toyota’s Jarno Trulli, “I know that in the next week something should budge, must move, otherwise there will inevitably be a split.”
Alonso, again, made his position clear stating the teams have tried their best to reach a satisfactory compromise, “(The teams) have done their maximum. Now the ball is in the FIA’s court.”
Formula One is, once again, proving that it is the pinnacle of motorsport both on and off the track. When the sport’s most important stakeholder’s are speaking in unison you would think FIA boss Max Mosley would listen. Perhaps the teams would be better served by negotiating with Max in a Chelsea dungeon.
[Source: BBC | Photo by Martin Trenkler]
Despite declaring they were chasing outright victory, Aston Martin say their new LMP1 has exceeded expectations at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The #007 car was the first petrol powered racer across the line, finishing fourth outright. The other two Aston Martins had accident related issues which kept them well out of contention.
From the #007 car, German driver Stefan Mücke spoke highly of their achievements, “I’m absolutely delighted by this result,” he said. “The performance gap shows that there are still effectively two classes in the LMP1 category—diesel and petrol—but we said from the very beginning that our objective was to be quickest in the petrol class and so I am very pleased that we have managed to achieve this. Compared to last year our performance gap to the diesels is a bit smaller but the rules still do not allow us to compete on equal terms.”
Aston Martin CEO and part-time racer, Dr Ulrich Bez, reminded us of the old adage—win on Sunday, sell on Monday—”In the same month that we launch the new V12 Vantage and DBS Volante, it is fitting that the same 6.0 litre V12 heart powers our LMP1 cars to such an outstanding Le Mans debut. I am thrilled for the whole team.”
More after the break.
Grant Denyer claimed the points at Round 2 of the MINI CHALLENGE 2009. Here are two clips that show how he did it.
There’s plenty of action on offer, including footage of Denyer punting off Ãœber-Star Car driver Steve Bradbury during qualifying!
As reported last night, Australia’s David Brabham, along with Marc Gené and Alexander Wurz, drove their Peugeot 908 HDi to victory at Le Mans, finally beating fierce rivals Audi. Both teams headed the field for most of the weekend, with the Peugeot team dominating the race.
“It’s such a great feeling to have won,” beamed David Brabham. “Peugeot Sport did a tremendous job; they really did.
“It’s a great team – they gave us a 100 per cent reliable car and the three of us drove a faultless race.”
Audi, on the other hand, began the race with high hopes. With five successive Le Mans wins behind them, and a hard fought win over Peugeot in the Sebring 12 hour for their new R15 TDI, the 2009 race was always going to be a fight between the French and German teams, despite a renewed bid from Aston Martin.
Audi sent three cars to La Sarthe, but only one remained in contention. Although, as the race drew to a close hopes began to fade and the #1 R15 TDI held on for a safe third place, some seven laps behind the race winner.
The Audi team were gracious in defeat and, according to Dr Wolfgang Ullrich, Head of Audi Motorsport, are already planning their 2010 assault, “Obviously we are a little disappointed about the result. We didn’t manage to extract the full potential of the Audi R15 TDI in the race, which we had seen during testing.
“In addition, we had several technical problems that really caught us by surprise. As a result, we could only get one car onto the podium. Peugeot produced a fantastic performance and certainly deserved the victory. We will analyze the problems we had to ensure we come back stronger in 2010.”
More from the Peugeot and Audi PR teams below.
The #9 Peugeot 908 HDi has just won the 77th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. With the #8 Peugeot crossing the line in second, it was a quinella for the Peugeot team. The #1 R15 TDI from the defending Audi team finished third.
Spain’s Marc Gené drove the winning car across the finish line, completing the hard work of teammates David Brabham (Australia) and Alexander Wurz (Austria).
David Brabham’s win makes it a double success for the Brabham-Peugeot combination. David’s older brother Geoff, driving a Peugeot 905, won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1993.
A complete list of Le Mans winners can be viewed at Wikipedia. Photos and driver quotes will be posted on AUSmotive tomorrow.
Well into the second half of the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans the Peugeot 908 HDi looks set to end Audi’s dominance of the event.
The #9 Peugeot 908 HDi, driven by Australia’s David Brabham, Marc Gené (Spain) and Alexander Wurz (Austria), is currently leading the race. The pole position winning #8 Peugeot, with an all French driving team of Stéphane Sarrazin, Franck Montagny and Sebastien Bourdais, is in second place.
The race for Audi has not gone to plan with just one car left in contention. Despite turbo overheating problems the #1 Audi R15 TDI of Allan McNish (Scotland), Tom Kristenesen (Denmark) and Dindo Capello (Italy) is fighting hard in third place, one lap behind the two Peugeots.
There is still a long way to go, with the race finish still some 10 hours away (11pm AEST). To keep up to date you check your local OneHD guide, or tune in to Radio Le Mans for complete audio coverage. A live scoreboard can also be accessed from the official race website. Peugeot also have a dedicated Le Mans website being constantly updated.
For those of us not in a OneHD coverage area, US motorsport channel SpeedTV is also offering a live feed of the race.
More pics and a few press snippets from Peugeot and Audi can be viewed after the jump.
World Rally Championship series leader Sebastien Loeb has spectacularly crashed out of the Acropolis Rally in Greece, as this footage shows. The incident happened yesterday, on the opening stage of day two. Loeb, recently awarded France’s highest civilian honour, was the Acropolis winner in 2008 and his chances of defending that title were well and truly smashed to pieces with this high speed accident.
Thankfully, Loeb and co-driver, Daniel Elena, are okay with both men able to immediately free themselves from the wreckage. Ford’s Mikko Hirvonen currently leads the rally.
Extra footage of Loeb’s crash can be seen on the Eurosport website.
This Sunday (14 July) at noon the Seven Network is showing a one hour highlights package of Targa Tasmania 2009. Make sure you catch the action and see just how Tony Quinn beat the field in his Nissan GT-R.
Check your local guides for details.
On the off chance yesterday’s photo gallery didn’t get you in the mood for this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, this race guide from Aston Martin should. To download the PDF simply CLICK HERE and 2.4mb of slick Aston Martin wonderment will be on its way.
A further teaser in the form of a circuit map, with LMP1 gear and speed points marked, can be viewed after the jump. For a really big circuit map, just click on the image below.