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Formula 1

Felipe Massa to race for Williams in 2014

Felipe Massa

After eight years with Ferrari Felipe Massa will be moving to Williams in 2014. He will race alongside 2013 rookie Valtteri Bottas, which leaves Pastor Maldonado being officially thanked for his services.

The 32-year-old Brazilian has won 11 races and stood on an F1 podium 36 times. On current form he’ll have to be an optimist to hold expectations those stats will receive notable increases during his time with Williams, despite his new team’s past glories.

And you sense Massa is acutely aware of that as well: “With such a major change of regulations in 2014, I hope my experience will be useful in helping the team in its effort to move on from a difficult period.

“I’m highly motivated to start working hard from the very beginning in what is an exciting new challenge in my career.”

Sir Frank Williams has spoken, too: “We are delighted to be able to confirm our 2014 driver line-up and welcome Felipe into the Williams family. He is an exceptional talent and a real fighter on the race track; he also brings a wealth of experience as we begin a new chapter in our story. Valtteri is a valued member of the team and I’m pleased he was able to demonstrate his talent in tricky conditions in Montréal. There is much more to come from him.”

Deputy Team Principal, Claire Williams, has been left to do the heavy lifting in terms of rebuilding team hopes: “This announcement is a key step towards our goal of returning Williams to the front of the grid, and part of our on-going plans to ensure we are stronger in 2014 and beyond. The stability of having both our drivers on multi-year contracts, Mercedes-Benz as our engine partner and a strong commercial base all contribute to the future success of the Williams F1 Team.”

You can read the full Williams F1 Team announcement after the break.

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Ford News Video

VIDEO: Ken Block ‘Gymkhana Six’

Ken Block, Gymkhana Six

Here’s the latest Ken Block Gymkhana video. Now in its sixth iteration Block returns with all the tyre smoking frivolities you expect from the master of spin. The stunts aren’t necessarily new, although there’s few new techniques, but this is just good, honest, rubber burning fun.

Enjoy!

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Formula 1 Toro Rosso

Daniil Kvyat qualifies for FIA Super Licence

Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso

It’s been a busy few weeks for 19-year-old Daniil Kvyat. He’s scored a new job as a Formula 1 driver with Toro Rosso for 2014, wrapped up the GP3 championship and has now qualified for an FIA Super Licence.

That last achievement came thanks to a special “filming day” test organised for Kvyat so that he can take part in Friday testing for Toro Rosso at the final two races on the F1 calendar in the United States and Brazil.

A Toro Rosso team statement reads: “On Friday, the Russian who is now the 2013 GP3 champion, drove a two year old Scuderia Toro Rosso Formula 1 car, an STR6 at the Misano circuit in Italy, as part of a filming day organised by the team. He racked up 102 laps, equivalent to around 402 kilometres and thus qualified for the necessary paperwork required by the FIA for him to compete in Formula 1.”

So now any conspiracy theorists wondering if Mark Webber will be relieved of his Red Bull duties sooner than expected—allowing both Kvyat and Red Bull-bound Daniel Ricciardo an early start in their new rides—can rest uneasy knowing that Kvyat is qualified to race.

[Source: Toro Rosso | Pic: Toro Rosso/Getty Images]

 

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Porsche

Petrolicious does the Porsche 911

Porsche 911 Carrera 2.7 RS

Petrolicious makes fine automotive videos. They cover all sorts of cars, although most are old skool hero cars, which are being given a new lease of life thanks childhood dreams now having adult budgets to go with.

Here’s a trio of videos featuring the Porsche 911; old Porsche 911s, when water only cooled the driver.

[Thanks to Adam for the tip]

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Categories
Toyota

VIDEO: How to build a Toyota 86

Toyota 86

Toyota has produced this slick video showing its 86 sportscar come to life. It’s been online for a bit over a month and deserves more views than it currently has, so we’re doing our bit to help out the little Toybaru.

Continue reading “VIDEO: How to build a Toyota 86”
Categories
Formula 1 Lotus

Kimi backs out of Lotus career

Kimi Raikkonen

The melodrama of Kimi Raikkonen’s recent relationship with Lotus has reached a climax with word the 2007 world champion will miss the final two grands prix of the season to have back surgery.

Kimi and Lotus have endured a strained relationship ever since the 34-year-old announced he was moving to Ferrari in 2014. Motivations for Kimi’s switch became clearer when it emerged he hadn’t been paid all season due to Lotus’ financial woes.

Indeed, last week Raikkonen had threatened to withdraw from the final two races unless his pay disupte was finalised. This followed an angry radio exchange during the closing stages of the Indian Grand Prix where Lotus Trackside Operations Director, Alan Permane, ordered Kimi to “get out of the fucking way” of a faster Romain Grosjean.

Despite all this we were led to believe Kimi would be racing in Austin and a satisfactory resolution to his pay dispute had been reached.

Clearly that resolution didn’t last and we’re being told that Kimi’s troublesome back has forced his hand. Of course, the timing of his injury-related end to the season could just be an amazing coincidence.

“In an ideal world it would have been nice to finish the season with Lotus in the final two grands prix,” Steve Robertson, Raikkonen’s manager, told Autosport.

“However, due to the severe pain that Kimi is having, sadly it is not possible.”

Highlighting what a farce the Raikkonen–Lotus saga has been, the lead story on the Lotus website is currently all about Kimi looking forward to racing in Austin next weekend.

Lotus reserve driver Davide Valsecchi is probably hoping, maybe even expecting, to get the call up to replace Kimi. But who knows what will happen next.

[Source: Autosport | Pic: Lotus F1 Team/LAT Photographic]

Categories
Formula 1 Infiniti Red Bull Racing

Some people are never happy

2013 Indian Grand Prix

The dominance of Sebastian Vettel in Formula 1 has had many people suggesting the sport has become boring. That it’s turning fans away from the category. The fact Vettel and his team have won the two biggest prizes in the sport for four consecutive years helps to support this claim.

As bad as that might be for the average F1 punter, if it is bad at all, you’d reckon team sponsors would be loving all the attention. Apparently not. Arriving late to the Red Bull gravy train—first as ordinary sponsor in 2011, then as title sponsor at the end of last year—Infiniti has always been an odd and slightly misleading fit with F1’s premier team, given Renault builds the engines. And now they’re actually having a whinge that Vettel’s success is bad for their sponsorship.

Yes, really. Here, look:

“It’s a fact that we are in F1 to gain awareness of our brand, and that’s all about getting eyeballs on screens.

“From that point of view you could say Sebastian has been too successful. Wrapping up the championship with four races to run is maybe not good news for us from that perspective.”

They’re the words of Andy Palmer, Infiniti’s Executive Vice President, and he may as well add moron to his otherwise impressive job title. Perhaps he’d prefer INFINITI Red Bull Racing to be fighting with Williams as the best former high achievers in the field scrapping over tenth place and whatever dignity that might offer.

A sponsor complaining that the team they back is too successful? Really, get a grip Andy. Proving his own flaws Palmer adds they will be leeching off Red Bull and Renault successes further by creating more special editions carrying Vettel’s name. Authentically, too he insists.

“The beauty of Seb is that he won’t get involved in any project that isn’t utterly authentic,” said Palmer. “So he turns up at our test days and puts in the hard work. It’s a genuine benefit, and we have plans to use his expertise on more models bearing his name. But the point is we want to do them properly, and that means they are inevitably a couple of years down the line in the product cycle.”

“Utterly authentic.” Do you reckon he had a straight face when he said that?

[Source: Autosport | Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]

Categories
Citroen Porsche

If it’s too good to be true, it usually is

911 DS

The Porsche 911 and the Citroën DS: one can lay claim to being the most iconic sportscar ever made and the other is, plainly, one of the coolest cars ever made.

So imagine if you combined the two into an orgy of retro perfection. It would be one mankind’s greatest built achievements, right. Well before you start dancing around your lounge room naked at the sight of these pics just stop, put your pants back on, and consider what you’re looking at here is little more than an experiment in visual communication.

At least, that’s the tagline from Brandpowder, where the images were sourced from. And, of course, any close scrutiny of the photos will likely have you screaming: “This looks shopped. I can tell from some of the pixels and from seeing quite a few shops in my time.”

So, rather than being a real fun creation, it’s simply a virtual fun creation, with a back story to try and make it look legit. It’s still damn cool, though!

[Source: Brandpowder via Jalopnik]

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Categories
WRC

Is the WRC shooting itself in the foot?

2013 Rallye de Espana

The WRC should be ready to ride a new wave of prosperity. In Volkswagen the sport has a new and heavily backed manufacturer that has just made nine-time manufacturers champions Citroën look like rank amateurs.

Hyundai is committed for the long haul and eager to hand BMW a lesson on how they should have handled MINI’s failed foray into world rallying. You sense Ford would be willing to consider a return of full factory presence if it had greater confidence in the sport’s administration.

Sebastien Ogier is replacing the irreplaceable Sebastien Loeb with some ease. Thiery Neuville is a young driver laughing at the reputations of those with much greater experience, fast on his way to success. Mikko Hirvonen, Jari-Matti Latvala, Dani Sordo and possibly even former F1 ace Robert Kubica, won’t be happy sitting in the background watching the Sebastien and Thierry show. The WRC has some serious talent, if not an over abundance of depth.

And then there’s the might of the Red Bull marketing machine who is supposedly promoting the category.

So what’s the problem? What’s going wrong? Well, we can’t really tell you because meaningful discussion from the latest World Rally Championship Commission meeting to chart the future of the sport appears to have been silenced.

All we can tell you is Volkswagen walked out of the latest meeting in disgust and share a sweeping statement from an unnamed source that shows things aren’t as rosy as you might expect: “It’s fair to say this wasn’t the most productive Commission meeting.

“There’s a real feeling that there simply isn’t enough communication on matters which are key to the future of our sport.

“We still don’t have answers on key questions about the future.”

The WRC is such a spectacular category. It deserves much better, especially when manufacturers are slowly showing renewed interest.

[Source: Autosport]

Categories
McLaren

McLaren’s marketing dept must smoke cones

Robert Hardman, Daily Mail journo

“Just press a button and KAPOW! At 217mph, it’s the nippiest road car in the world…”

The nippiest road car in the world! What is this shit?

That’s how Robert Hardman introduced the McLaren P1 to his Daily Mail readers. Yes, we’re asking the same question: WTF is Robert Hardman? And why on earth did McLaren pick him as one of the very lucky few to be given an early drive of the company’s latest hypercar?

Hardman’s specialty subject appears to be the Royal family. And from where we sit giving him the keys to the P1 is a right royal cock up by McLaren.

His article is written for people who would struggle to point out the difference between a wheel and a tyre and pretty much trivialises the P1 as some sort of gimmick rather than the masterstroke of engineering it should be aspiring to be labelled.

We get that a new audience is probably reading about a car they will have forgotten all about by the morning, but so what. Does McLaren really want or need Daily Mail readers to give a toss about the P1?

Add this to the bizarre handling of the P1’s Nürburgring secret-but-it’s-a-record-we-promise lap time and you have start asking what is in the water at the McLaren Technology Centre.

[Source: Mail Online]

Categories
MINI

Next-generation MINI product schedule

2014 MINI Cooper S

The all-new F56 MINI will debut in less than two weeks. We already know the F56, built on BMW’s UKL1 platform, could spawn as many as 10 different product lines. Thanks to MotoringFile here’s a look at what we can expect from MINI’s new era and when we’re likely to see it:

F56 MINI (third-generation hardtop)
Debut: 18 November 2013 // European sales launch: January 2014

F55 MINI five-door (rival to Volkswagen Polo and Golf)
Debut: 3rd quarter 2014 // European sales launch: 3rd quarter 2014

F57 MINI Convertible (underpinned by current R56 convertible)
Debut: 1st quarter 2015 // European sales launch: 2nd quarter 2015

F54 MINI Clubman (likely to have two suicide doors)
Debut: 3rd quarter 2015 // European sales launch: 3rd quarter 2015

F59 MINI Roadster/Coupe (may be combined as single model)
Debut: Late 2016/early 2017 // European sales launch: Early 2017

As a general rule MINI launches products in Australia 3–6 months after they have gone on sale in Europe.

[Source: MotoringFile | Pic: Autocar]

Categories
Formula 1 News

Bernie Ecclestone’s life revolves around controversy

Bernie Ecclestone

Bernie Ecclestone has found himself in more hot water, forced to defend himself in the British High Court against claims he deliberately undervalued Formula 1 when its commercial rights were sold to CVC Capital Partners in 2005. The hearing is scheduled to take three days and began with a slightly bizarre entrance to the court building from the 83-year-old F1 supremo (see video below).

German media company Constantin Medien is seeking £100 million in damages from Eccelstone, claiming he sold to CVC Capital Partners in 2005 on the cheap after they had agreed to allow him to keep his “supremo” title and keep running the sport.

Constantin Medien, a former F1 shareholder, stood to benefit from massive commissions if the sport’s rights were sold for more than £1 billion. The sale price in 2005 was £830 million.

The case is related to the bribery claims Ecclestone is facing from a German court alleging he paid former BayernLB banker Gerhard Gribkowsky $44m to prevent Gribkowsky from exposing Ecclestone to British tax authorities. For his part in the transaction Gribkowsky was convicted and sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in jail.

[Source: The Telegraph & Yahoo Sport]

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