Category: Motorsports

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Porsche WEC

“Porsche Team” confirms WEC LMP1 entry

Porsche 919 hybrid

At the ACO’s 2014 season launch last week Porsche officially confirmed its eagerly awaited return to top flight endurance racing in the LMP1 category.

Known simply as “Porsche Team”, two 919 Hybrids will be entered which will carry the numbers 14 and 20. The drivers assigned as the official entrants are former Le Mans winners Romain Dumas (#14) and Timo Bernhard (#20).

Porsche is yet to rubber stamp the driver lineups for each car, but earlier reports suggest Marc Lieb and Neel Jani will join Romain Dumas, leaving Mark Webber and Brendon Hartley to partner with Timo Bernhard.

Quietly buried in the press release below is confirmation from Porsche the 919 will be powered by a “small capacity” supercharged V4 engine at the rear and an electric motor driving the front wheels. These will be complemented by two energy recovery systems.

Defending its 2013 Le Mans victory in the GTE Pro class Porsche Team Manthey will return with a pair of 911 RSRs which have been revised for the 2014 season. The changes obviously worked too judging by Porsche’s recent class win at the 24 Hours of Daytona.

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Motorsports WEC

Le Mans 24 Hours 2014 launched with new logo

Le Mans 24 hours logo

Like Formula 1 the 24 Hours of Le Mans is entering a new era thanks to a series of new regulations. The ACO has taken the opportunity to rebrand the race with a new logo and slight reordering of the official name to be called the Le Mans 24 Hours.

At the same event the official entries for the 2014 race (14–15 June) were announced. You can see more in the videos and text below.

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Formula 1

Williams Martini Racing to become reality?

Martini-Brabham at 1975 Dutch Grand Prix

One of the world’s greatest motorsport liveries looks set for a revival with word Martini is tipped to become the title sponsor for the Williams F1 Team.

Apparently Martini looked at deals with other F1 teams, including Ferrari and McLaren, but the carrot of full naming rights dangled by Williams seems to have done the trick.

Nothing official has been announced yet but confirmation is expected after a Williams shirt was briefly published on an F1 merchandise website.

Martini’s last exposure in F1 was from 2006–08 when they had a minor placement on Ferrari’s car. However, full naming rights brings hope we’ll get something more akin the the Martini Brabham pictured above during the 1975 Dutch Grand Prix.

Williams will launch their racing livery before the Australian Grand Prix which is just over four weeks away. They will no doubt appreciate the heightened anticipation that launch will now bring.

[Source: Autosport | Pic: Martini]

UPDATE 7 March: See the new Williams Martini Racing livery here.

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Audi Porsche Toyota WEC

Mark Webber is an exceptional man

2014 FIA WEC season trailer

Mark Webber is an exceptional man. It’s true, this video promoting the 2014 FIA WEC season says so. While his F1 mates are starting to get busy, Mark still has a couple of months to go before his new job gets real. We can’t wait!

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Formula 1

Tyres key to possible F1 qualifying changes

Pirelli P Zero F1 tyre

The current rule stating an F1 driver must start the race on the same tyres he qualified could be scrapped with immediate effect at a meeting between the FIA and the teams to be held on 21 February.

Last year, with increasing prevalence, we saw drivers choosing to sit out of the final qualifying session in order to gain free choice of tyres on which to start the race. A smart strategic move, but seeing only a handful of cars bother to set a lap time in a top-10 shootout is not a great spectacle.

According to Autosport some possible outcomes include making a driver use the tyres used to set his Q2 time to start the race. The theory being drivers will want to push to make the final Q3 session 10 rather than risk falling as low as P16 on the starting grid.

Although, from a pure entertainment viewpoint, an alternative approach to allow Pirelli to supply a dedicated qualifying tyre which is used only in Q3 has the most merit. If drivers know they can attack Q3 with impunity as far as tyre strategy for the race goes they are more likely to light up the track in the chase for pole position.

There’s also talk Q3 could be extended from its current 10 minute limit to better allow drivers to post two flying laps with less chance of coming across slower traffic.

For any of these changes to be approved all teams will need to sign-off unanimously, before being presented to the FIA and its World Motor Sport Council for ratification.

In the unlikely event that all teams put the betterment of the sport ahead of any competitive shyness the changes could come into effect before the Australian Grand Prix in mid-March.

[Source: Autosport]

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Audi Video WRC

Paying our respects to the first Audi S1

Audi UR quattro

We acknowledge that some people will be cut up that Audi is bestowing the legendary S1 badge on a pissy four cylinder hatchback. And while we do side with Audi on this one—as one of life’s great philosophers once said, “You can’t stop progress”—we hope these videos of “The S1” absolutely smashing it will appease those who aren’t happy with Audi’s decision.

It’s wishful thinking, of course, but let’s just pretend for a moment that Audi has been crazy enough to ensure the new S1 has the turbo whistle form the old car.

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Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

“I just hope he gets better starts than I did!”

Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo

Mark Webber reckons Australia’s next great F1 hope, Daniel Ricciardo, has the skills to match it with his new Red Bull Racing teammate four-time world champion Sebatsian Vettel. At least as far as qualifying goes, anyway.

“I think he’ll give Seb a real hard time in qualifying,” said Mark. “It’ll be 50:50 in the first year, I reckon.”

Webber says the dramatic changes to F1’s aerodynamic regulations could be the key for Ricciardo.

“I took a few off Seb last year—and the blown floor is gone now,” Webber told Motor Sport magazine. “I think Daniel will be fine, and it certainly won’t hurt him that he’s come through the Red Bull system. I just hope he gets better starts than I did!”

It would be no mean feat for Daniel to fulfill Webber’s qualifying predicition. As Mark says himself, Vettel has few peers when it comes to a one-off flying lap even though he rates Fernando Alonso as the best driver he raced against.

“I always thought Fernando was the best, and I still do—on Sundays,” he said. “On one lap, though, I think Seb’s got him covered—and I’m talking in terms of preparation, not just pace.

“Fernando’s had a lot of poles in his time, but probably age has come into it—you lose a little bit. In the race, though, he’s got more strings to his bow than anyone else, and he’s relentless.

“Seb’s strengths, as we know, are escaping at the start, and running in clean air—when you get these things in clean air now, it’s a whole other story, in terms of tyres and so on. He’s like a computer, isn’t he? His only weakness was always fast corners.”

Some interesting comments from Mark there. And good work from Motor Sport magazine to get that many words from him without one “obviously” in there.

[Source: ESPN F1 | Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]

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Citroen Ford Hyundai Volkswagen WRC

Jari-Matti Latvala wins 2014 Rally Sweden

2014 WRC Rally Sweden

Jari-Matti Latvala took a peek around the shadow of Sebastien Ogier by winning Rally Sweden on the weekend. It was a dominant result for Volkswagen with rising star Andreas Mikkelsen claiming second and his first WRC podium result.

Defending Rally Sweden winner Ogier gave Volkswagen cause to hope for a clean sweep of the podium when he led the rally in its early stages. An uncharacteristic and simple mistake saw the world champion run wide on a corner into a soft snow bank. No damage was done to him or the car, but his victory chances were shot after taking four and half minutes to get back on course. The best he could manage was a climb back to sixth position.

Mads Ostberg was happy to pick up Ogier’s slack and did so by coming home in third, his first podium result for Citroën. The Norwegian stepped up to take maximum points in the power stage as well.

In fourth place was Mikko Hirvonen who was almost on the pace but not quite in the Fiesta RS WRC. He’ll be happy to lock away some good championship points. Something his teammate Elfyn Evans wasn’t able to do. The Welshman’s inexperience showed in Sweden, although he was heading for a top 10 finish until a late off pushed him out of points contention.

Kris Meeke, who did so well in the very difficult conditions in Monte Carlo, was one of many drivers to succumb to Sweden’s snow banks and he finished in P10, more than 11 minutes behind Latvala.

The raw pace of Robert Kubica can’t be denied, but his propensity to find trouble where others don’t must be starting to become a concern. It’s true that conditions found in Sweden are never likely to be his favourite, but he had a tough time all the same and finished a lowly 24th more than 36 minutes off the pace.

And then we get to Hyundai who endured another trying weekend. Thierry Neuville was joined by Juho Hanninen for driving duties at this event and both were putting in respectable performances running comfortably in the top 10. On Day 2 both drivers clipped rocks on the apex of a corner which put them out of contention for the day. Neither driver was out of shape prior to their respective incidents, it was just bad luck for both.

The Hyundais resumed under Rally 2 conditions on the final day and were able to chalk up some good experience. Hanninen’s 36m leap was enough to win the prize for the Colin’s Crest longest jump. Ogier managed a record 41m jump later in the day, but it wasn’t eligible for the prize as it wasn’t on his first run.

Latvala now leads the championship from Ogier and Ostberg. It was at this event in 2013 that Ogier took the lead in the world championship and he hadn’t relinquished the top position until now.

Rally Mexico is the next rally on the calendar, taking place in early March. Chris Atkinson will get his turn in the Hyundai i20 WRC and will be hoping he has more luck than his teammates have experienced so far in 2014.

More after the break.

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Bathurst 12 Hour

2015 Bathurst 12 Hour dates confirmed

2014 Bathurst 12 Hour

Put these dates in your diary: 6–8 February 2015. That’s when you’ll get to see all the fun and games at the next Bathurst 12 Hour race.

[Source: twitter]

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Ferrari Formula 1

Another batch of retro F1 joy

Bruce Thomson F1 sketches

We’d never heard of Bruce Thomson until this morning, but we can see he is clearly a good bloke. His blog is chock-full of stunning motorsport themed sketches. Some of the highlights are an ongoing series of retro F1 drawings.

Rather than just applying a retro livery to an existing modern design, Thomson has taken things to a new level by sketching his own cars as well. Who knows if they’d prove to be effective aerodynamically, we do know they’re damn effective visually.

Some sketches are a blend of old and new, others are reinterpretations of old iconic liveries. All are beautiful things to look at. Getting the Thomson treatment are Ferrari, Williams, Mercedes, Lotus and McLaren.

Make sure you check out Thomson’s F1 Cartoon series too.

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Bathurst 12 Hour Ferrari McLaren Mercedes-Benz Video

VIDEO: 2014 Bathurst 12 Minute race

2014 Bathurst 12 Hour race

In the end the 2014 Bathurst 12 Hour race became a 12 minute sprint race. It was a battle in two; fourth chasing third and second chasing first. If you missed the action yesterday or just want to relive those final moments of madness the final 12 minutes are all yours after the break.

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Bathurst 12 Hour Ferrari McLaren Mercedes-Benz Nissan

2014 Bathurst 12 Hour photo gallery: Race

2014 Bathurst 12 Hour

Another Bathurst 12 Hour race has been run and won. Today, for the betterment of the event, it was another great chapter in the GT era.

Sometimes it seems as though the Safety Car will always conspire to deliver last minute sprints for the line, as the increasingly harsh concrete barriers close in around the snaking ribbon atop Mount Panorama. The clichéd chat of close fought wins after yet another endurance epic will inevitably fill the airwaves and column inches.

And yet, it seems impossible to ignore the cliché that, today, motor racing was the real winner. Craig Lowndes, drafted in by the Maranello Motorsport team to replace the seemingly irreplaceable and equally likeable Allan Simonsen, steered the charismatic Ferrari home with a young kid keeping him honest all the way to the line.

Of course, 20 years ago we saw a finish not too dissimilar to this at the same venue with Lowndes in the junior role. Who played the senior part? John Bowe, the wily old master in the pit garage today cheering Lowndes towards victory.

Lowndes and Bowe, Bathurst legends each, and Simonsen no stranger to Mount Panorama’s history books, despite never tasting the ultimate success. It was a perfect mix from not so perfect circumstances, coming together to deliver a fairy tale result. The race stewards even stepped in to play villain once or twice.

The efforts of Mika Salo and Peter Edwards can’t be ignored, either. Well done them. Well done all.

We hope they’re still enjoying the spoils of this victory while individually taking quiet moments alone to pay their own respects to Simonsen.

[Pics: Joel Strickland Photographics]

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