Category: Motorsports

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Carmageddon Motorsports News Porsche

Australian Carrera Cup series fails to launch in 2009

Australian Carrera Cup series cancelled 2009

On Thursday it was announced the Australian 2009 Porsche Carrera Cup season would be cancelled due to a lack of cars to fill the grid.

Porsche Cars Australia managing director, Michael Winkler, said “to enter the season without a robust grid of cars is simply not viable for all the major stakeholders. Motorsport is an integral part of Porsche’s activities in Australia so this decision is not taken lightly.

“We have already spoken with the Confederation of Australian Motorsport (CAMS) as the governing body of Australian motorsport and will proactively work with them to ensure existing owners of 997 GT3 Cup Cars are given the opportunity to race in other categories.”

There was an eight round program scheduled for 2009, with the first race planned for the Clipsal 500 later next month.

This news is a real sign of the global financial crisis biting hard at home. It will be interesting to see if those teams with financial backing are able to find alternate series to race in. It will also be interesting to see if the Carrera Cup will return in 2010, or indeed, at all in the near future.

Source: cupcar.com.au – image courtesy of cupcar.com.au (Thanks to Richard for the tip.)

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Carmageddon Mitsubishi Motorsports News

Mitsubishi waves goodbye to Dakar

Mitsubishi Lancer Dakar09

The Global Financial Crisis has claimed its latest motorsport scalp with Mitsubishi quitting its Dakar Rally program. The withdrawal goes further and brings an end to Mitsubishi’s involvement in all cross-country rally events.

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation says the global economy has forced them to tighten their belts.

Brief statement below.

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Aston Martin Motorsports

Aston Martin Racing chase history at Le Mans

Aston Martin LMP1

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Aston Martin’s sole Le Mans 24 hour race victory. To honour the feats of Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori the British company are chasing outright success with this stunning LMP1 racer. Racing cars with iconic Gulf livery always look great, but this creation from Aston Martin takes the look to a whole new level. It’s just brilliant!

Trouble is, there’s a lot more to racing than simply looking the part. Aston is the current Le Mans holder of the GT1 class, but to show how serious they are with their outright assault they will not be running any GT1 cars in 2009. It’s all or nothing in the outright category.

The LMP1 will use the proven V12 engine from the class winning DBR9 GT1 cars. The chassis is based on the 2008 Charouz Racing System Lola.

The 2009 Le Mans 24 hour race will take place over the weekend of 13–14 June.

Full press statement after the jump.

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Honda Motorsports

I got children at home waiting for their mummy

You might remember the clip of Ricardo Patrese driving his wife around the Jerez racetrack from last September. Well, I might be a bit slow on the uptake, but here is a subtitled version for your viewing pleasure.

Note: Language warning applies, haha.

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BMW Formula 1

BMW Sauber F1.09 launch

Here’s some video of the BMW Sauber F1.09 launch with thanks to the very good folk at BimmerFile.com.

For pictures and press material, make sure you follow this link.

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Formula 1 Motorsports Video

Stoner ices Massa

European winters don’t seem to bring motorsport promo opportunities to a halt. In this clip (with disturbingly catchy tunes) you can see Australia’s own Casey Stoner, 2007 MotoGP world champion, teaching Ferrari’s Felipe Massa how to drive. Go Aussie!

If the above clip doesn’t work, try HERE.

Source: motogp.com via autoblog

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Holden Motorsports News

Mal Rose Racing at the 2009 Dubai 24 hour

2009 Dubai 24 hour race

A quick shout out to Mal Rose and his team for their recent efforts at the 2009 Dubai 24 hour race (8-10 January). Mal Rose Racing took an ex-Garry Rogers Motorsport V8 Supercar and a duo of Mitsubishi Mirage Cup cars to the race. Mal’s team was the only Australian representation at the race in 2009.

Mal shared racing duties in the V8 Supercar with Peter Leemhuis and Tony Alford (who debuted a Nissan GT-R at the 2008 Targa Tasmania). Competing against touring cars and GT specials from manufacturers such as Porsche, Ferrari, BMW, Aston Martin and Audi, to name a few, Mal’s team had their Aussie V8 Supercar leading their class, and as high as third place outright, before mechanical issues spoiled the fun.

They were holding a solid top ten position as far as 14 hours into the race before diff troubles saw the team spent two hours in pit lane. Despite these issues the team got the car back on the race track and set their best times. Mal’s best time of 2 minutes 8.5 seconds was virtually matched by Peter Leemhuis (2 minutes 8.7 seconds).

Mal spent time early on in the race dicing with F1 engineer Adrian Newey (currently with Red Bull Racing) who was driving a Ferrari F430. In the stifling conditions Newey was treated for heat exhaistion after his stint and Mal was pretty chuffed with his fitness, stating, “I am now 46 years old and feel very race fit!”

In their third Dubai 24 hour race, the team completed 494 laps, finishing fifth in class and 33rd outright. Overall, this was a great effort by the team in what is a true privateer outfit. It’s great seeing guys like Mal having belief in themselves and getting out there and having a great time.

Film maker Stuart Greaves from Adrenaline Video was there making another doco, following on from his 2007 release, Mal’s Big Green Hell. So expect a new release soon!

The next event for Mal Rose will be with Peter and Tony in the Donut King Monaro at the Bathurst 12hr in mid February. Their next international events will be the Nürburgring 24hr in May then Spa 12hr in June 2009.

(A few more pics sent in from Mal can be seen after the jump.)

Continue reading “Mal Rose Racing at the 2009 Dubai 24 hour”
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Motorsports News Volkswagen

Volkswagen Touareg TDI wins 2009 Dakar Rally

Volkswagen wins 2009 Dakar Rally

The Volkswagen Race Touareg claimed a series of firsts in this year’s 2009 Dakar Rally in Argentina and Chile. Including the first that counts the most, with outright success going to the South African-German pairing of Giniel de Villiers (driver) and Dirk von Zitzewitz (co-driver).

It was the first time the race had been held in South America. It was the first time a diesel powered car won overall honours. And, with American Mark Miller’s second position, it was also Volkswagen’s first quinella at the Dakar. Volkswagen have one previous Dakar win, the 1980 Paris-Dakar won by Sweden’s Freddy Kottulinsky in a Volkswagen Iltis.

The 280bhp TDI Race Touaregs dominated the rally winning 10 out of 13 stages, and it was a sweet taste of victory for the de Villiers-von Zitzewitz combination after the duo piloted a Touareg to second in the 2006 race. Volkswagen also claimed a third position in the top ten with sixth place going to the German duo of Dieter Depping and Timo Gottschalk .

De Villiers was elated with the win, “I’m so happy about having clinched this exploit for Volkswagen. This victory is worth more than any of the titles I won in touring car racing. The Race Touareg was running absolutely like a charm, and at such a tough edition of the Dakar Rally at that. That was the key to success. I want to thank everyone at Volkswagen for this.”

It was a bitter sweet rally for high-profile driver Carlos Sainz who looked set for victory until a nasty accident on the twelfth leg, but he was happy for the team success, “We set the pace for a long time at the Dakar Rally and led it for a long time as well. That’s why it was a particularly bitter pill for my co-driver Michel Périn and me that we were forced to retire after an accident on the twelfth leg. One must never underestimate the Dakar Rally and prevail against it before being able to win. I congratulate my team colleagues Giniel de Villiers and Dirk von Zitzewitz on their ‘Dakar’ victory. They deserved winning this tough rally.”

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Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz News

McLaren launches title defence with MP4-24

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-24

Team Vodafone McLaren Mercedes launched the title defence of Lewis Hamilton’s world championship by revealing their 2009 car, the MP4-24. This is the first McLaren to wear the number 1 since Mika Hakkinen in 2000, following his 1999 championship.

With limits on in-season development during the 2009 season, Ron Dennis explains some of the challenges in building the car, “The biggest problem is the concept of the car because if you have the wrong concept you are locked into an uncompetitive car.”

Lewis Hamilton is refreshed heading into the new season, “I feel more relaxed going into the season simply because I’m come off a great season. I feel I have reset my goals, and reset my targets back to when I started in Formula One. I want to be world champion. I don’t sit here saying I am world champion; I sit here saying I want to be world champion.”

Heikki Kovalainen, too, is ready for the challenges ahead, “Well obviously there are many big changes coming to the season and there are still a few unknown things like the qualifying format that could spice up the things. But I think it is a big challenge for everybody. The cars will feel a little bit different and we need to adjust and adapt the driving style a little bit. Maybe the set-up will be a little bit different, and there are a lot of questions we need to answer before Melbourne.”

More images below and full media access on the launch of the MP4-24 is available at the McLaren website.

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Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz News

Ron Dennis to step down as McLaren team principal

McLaren's Ron Dennis hands over to Martin Whitmarsh

Yesterday, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes launched their new car for the 2009 F1 season, but perhaps the biggest news from this event was nothing to do with the cars at all. Ron Dennis announced that he would be stepping down as Team Principal, effective from 1 March. The position will be filled by Martin Whitmarsh, currently McLaren’s Chief Operating Officer.

Ron Dennis: “Let me make one thing clear: this is very definitely not retirement. In fact, I intend to work even harder from now on. And it’s because I intend to work even harder … that I’ve decided to pass the role of Team Principal of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes to Martin.”

Martin Whitmarsh: “Ron and I have had many discussions about this over the past few weeks and months, but eventually it became clear that Ron’s decision was final. Everyone knows what an incredible career Ron has had to date; his legacy is huge. As such, I remain hugely mindful of the responsibilities I assume as team principal – it’s a daunting yet exciting prospect.”

Full release below.

Source: McLaren.com (Thanks to Dylan for the tip.)

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Motorsports News

A1GP dashboard – live telemetry in your lounge room

A1GP Dashboard - live telemetry

A1GP’s new ‘Dashboard’ feature is set to bring a new dimension to following motorsport. ‘Dashboard’ will be accessible via A1GP.com during pratice and race sessions. It allows users to select any car on track and follow its progress via a live telemetry feed (see example above).

Live timing on the internet is nothing new, but user defined access to live telemetry is. And it promises to be very cool. The feature has already been trialled during last year’s round at Malaysia, with plenty of positive feedback from A1GP Fanzone members, despite some initial teething problems.

Pete da Silva, CEO of A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, said: “This is an excellent new feature which fans of international motor racing have never been able to access before. We are sure it will make watching our races on TV even more exciting, giving an added dimension to following the action of a race for every fan. It also adds to our impressive profile of free online content on A1GP.com, including our live video streaming, highlights videos, live positioning timing as well as our exclusive columns and news.”

You can try it out for yourself next weekend during the New Zealand round (23-25 January). Full details listed below.

Continue reading “A1GP dashboard – live telemetry in your lounge room”
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Ferrari Formula 1

Felipe Massa debuts Ferrari 2009 F1 car

Felipe Massa debuts Ferrari F60 Formula One car

Most F1 fans will be up on the news that Ferrari launched their new 2009 F1 car, the F60, a few days ago. Video footage has recently surfaced showing Felipe Massa driving the F60 around Mugello. TheYouTube clip, along with a few photos, are shown below.

The cars looks will quite different in season 2009, with the return of slick tyres and radical changes to the aerodynamic regulations. Just check how narrow the rear wing looks on the F60 for an example. And, with the introduction of the KERS regenerative braking system all F1 teams are working their backsides off to make it to the starting grid for the Australian Grand Prix in late March.

Massa undertook a relatively light practice session of around 100km, and explained the steep learning curve ahead, “The car is completely different to what we were used to up to last year.

“Today was not the day to do 100 laps and post times because when the rules change so greatly from one year to another, like KERS, for example, you have a completely different feeling for driving the car. In the end, we used it a little to start with and gradually increased the power and this is very positive.

“At the moment, we are at the start of a different cycle in Formula One and it won’t be an easy experience,” he said.

Don’t forget the video footage can be viewed after the jump.

Source: FerrariWorld and GrandPrix.com.au

Continue reading “Felipe Massa debuts Ferrari 2009 F1 car”