Tag: motorsport

Indian Grand Prix Dropped From 2014 Formula One Calendar

Formula One Chief, Bernie Ecclestone and organisers of the Indian Grand Prix, Jaypee Group have confirmed that the Indian Grand Prix has been dropped from the 2014 Formula One calendar, and will be held in the first half of 2015.

There has been intense speculation about the future of the event for the past few weeks, amid major tax issues with Indian authorities. Ecclestone said from that he and his Formula 1 management always wanted the India round early in the season, but the organisers preferred October.

When we signed the five-year deal with Jaypee, we were keen on going to India in the first half and Jaypee wanted it to be in October. We gave in at that time, but now it looks we will have the race early 2015.

– Bernie Ecclestone, Chairman & CEO, Formula One

The 2014 round will not take place as it is not possible for Jaypee to host two races within six months. The organisers shell out $40 million (Rs 237.7 crore) for every Formula One race at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) as licensing fee. During the Hungarian Grand Prix last week, Ecclestone said that the Indian Grand Prix was unlikely to happen next year due to political reasons. Widespread interpretations took it as the unhappiness of Formula One teams regarding the heavy taxation policy of India and its rigid structure, which is largely inflexible towards Formula One teams.

The ditching of the Indian GP clears the way for Ecclestone to slot in the Russian Grand Prix in October next year. A race at the start of the 2015 season means India will have to be clubbed with Australia, and the Asian nations Malaysia, Bahrain and China.

July 31, 2013
Brilliant ‘Sound of Honda’ Commercial Celebrates Ayrton Senna [w/Video]

In 2015, we will witness the return of Honda to Formula One in collaboration with McLaren, but when you mention those two together, one man’s legacy is never far behind: Ayrton Senna. The late brazilian legend scored three world championships with McLaren, running Honda engines before his death at Imola in 1994.

In 1989, McLaren’s MP4/5 Formula One car, driven by Senna and powered by a Honda 3.5-litre V10 engine set the world’s fastest lap at the qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix. The 1989 race at Suzuka turned out to be one of the most momentous of his career for good and bad reasons; he won, then was stripped of, the driver’s championship. That was the same year, in which Honda introduced telemetry systems to Formula One. Honda Japan has now released a stunning commercial called Sound of Honda in tribute to the racing great.

In the following video, Honda has used sound and telemetry data from Senna’s ‘89 MP4/5 and lined the Suzuka circuit with speakers and lights and used Senna’s telemetry data from 1989, to bring him back to life, if only for a minute or so. Enlarge the video, turn up the speakers, and once you’ve seen it, let us know what you thought of it in the comments below.

[youtube id=”oeO2q8FzcnM” width=”100%” height=”300px”]

[Source: Honda JPPR via YouTube]

July 29, 2013
Andretti Autosport Signs Up for All-Electric ‘Formula E’ Series

Four-time IZOD IndyCar Series champions Andretti Autosport has announced that it will field a team in the upcoming FIA Formula E Championship, the all-electric racing series that will debut next season. Andretti Autosport is the first U.S.-based team to sign up for the new racing series.

The Andretti team plans to create a two-car program for the series, which will compete in 10 cities around the world. The American outfit now the third team to sign on so far for Formula E’s inaugural season, joining China Racing and British-based Drayson Racing.

Andretti Autosport is run by none other than former racer Michael Andretti. Michael Andretti, who is the son of racing legend Mario Andretti and father of current Andretti Autosport driver Marco Andretti, was the 1991 CART IndyCar champion and raced in Formula One for McLaren in 1993. He has led Andretti Autosport to the status of IndyCar champions on four occassions, with drivers Tony Kanaan, the late Dan Wheldon, Dario Franchitti and last year’s title winner Ryan Hunter-Reay. Andretti Autosport also won the Indianapolis 500 with both Wheldon and Franchitti.

It’s an honour for Andretti Autosport to have been selected as one of the 10 founding Formula E teams for the inaugural season. I look forward to further exploring the series and helping build the future of open-wheel racing across the world.

– Michael Andretti

Interestingly, Andretti Autosport plans to run one of its cars for the Formula E championship but potentially use the second as a “star car” for well-known drivers. This in turn could mean appearances in the new category from their stable of IndyCar pilots – defending series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti, James Hinchcliffe and E.J. Viso.

We are absolutely delighted to welcome Andretti Autosport to the series; a team with an incredible racing pedigree and track record who I have no doubt is going to make a big contribution to the FIA Formula E Championship. It’s fantastic too for such a highly-established outfit to show its commitment to sustainable motoring and with two US races on the inaugural calendar – Los Angeles and Miami – I’m sure American motorsport fans will have a lot to cheer come race day.

– Alejandro Agag, Chief, Formula E

Formula E’s first season will run from September 2014 to June ’15, running entirely on street circuits, including one in London. Berlin was unveiled as the final venue on the calendar last week.

July 21, 2013
Formula 1 Chief Ecclestone Indicted on Bribery Charges

Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has been indicted by German prosecutors on a bribery charge. The charge is related to a US $44 million payment to German banker Gerhard Gribkowsky of Bayern Landesbank, linked to the sale of a stake in F1.

Ecclestone has denied the bribery accusations, saying that the money was intended to stop the banker from exposing him to a UK tax inquiry. Gribkowsky was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in jail in Munich.

I have just spoken to my lawyers and they have received an indictment. It’s being translated into English. We are defending it properly. It will be an interesting case. It’s a pity it’s happened.
– Bernie Ecclestone to the Financial Times

The charges are related to the sale of a 47% stake in Formula 1 by Bayern Landesbank to private equity group CVC Capital Partners in 2006. Gribkowsky, who was in charge of managing the sale, admitted to corruptly receiving US $41.4 million in bank commissions and a large payment via the Ecclestone family’s Bambino Trust at his trial last year. He maintained he had been paid to undervalue the Formula 1 shares, whereas Ecclestone says he believed the banker was planning to give false information to the UK authorities about his tax affairs, and paid him to keep him quiet.

Bernie Ecclestone faces a possible jail term if found guilty, which would force him to stand down as head of Formula 1, as stated by him previously. He has six weeks to respond to the indictment.

July 18, 2013
Fangio-driven Mercedes F1 car auctioned for record $29M at Goodwood

The Bonhams auction at the Goodwood Festival of Speed is known for hosting some iconic race cars in its history. The race car in the picture above adds to that list, and how. This Mercedes W196R was driven by legendary F1 driver, Juan Manuel Fangio, to wins in the 1954 German and Swiss Grand Prix races. When the hammer fell at the auction yesterday, it was sold for $29.65 million, making it the most expensive car ever sold at an auction. With that sale, It also earned the honour of being the most expensive F1 car ever sold and the most valuable Mercedes Benz in the world.

Fangio’s wins gave Mercedes its first back-to-back post-war Grand Prix victories, and it introduced F1 cars to fuel-injection, tubular spaceframe chassis and inline eight-cylinder engines.

The most important historic Grand Prix racing car ever offered for sale.

– Robert Brooks, Bonhams Chairman

The Mercedes W196R came close to the record price for a car sold privately, with the current holder being a 1962 Ferraro GTO built for Sterling Moss that went for a reported $35 million in a private sale last year.

July 14, 2013
Bentley Continental GT3 debuted at Goodwood Festival [w/Video]

Bentley’s Continental GT-based race car was first unveiled in concept form at the 2012 Paris Motor Show. Now, the Continental GT3 has made its world debut in its final form at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, where the bigger than usual race car made a dramatic run in the famous hill climb event.

The Continental GT3 has an even more aggressive design than the original concept, with a new air dam and splitter extending even further forward and a huge rear wing now mounted to the trunk lid instead of the rear of the car. The engineers from Bentley’s skunkworks division have waved their magic wands and managed to make over 1000 kilograms of weight disappear off the base model. Even with the addition of the comprehensive aerodynamics package, that results in a sub-1300 kilogram weight. The Continental GT’s 4.0-liter V8 engine has been pushed to the back of the engine bay and paired with a carbon-fiber propshaft to drive the rear wheels. It’s now tuned to produce a mammoth 600 horsepower. The engine is mated to a new gearbox – an Xtrac six-speed sequential, with a limited slip differential and pneumatic shifting, controlled via steering wheel paddles.

A near-perfect weight distribution of 52-48 and double wishbone suspension at both ends of the car make it very capable in the corners, especially for a car of its size. Four-way adjustable dampers, hydraulic power-assisted steering and 18-inch OZ Racing Wheels also find their way on to the British race car. Stopping duties are handled by ventilated iron discs on all wheels, combined with six-piston calipers on the front end, and four-piston calipers on the rear.

The Continental GT3 will start testing later this year before entering the world of endurance racing in the FIA Blancpain Series in 2014. The competitive series was established in 2011 and currently enjoys five races taking place in Europe. Rival GT3 contenders will include the likes of the McLaren 12C GT3, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 and the new Lamborghini Gallardo GT3.

Teaser video:

[youtube id=”mtKqQg3GdWo” width=”100%” height=”300px”]

[Source: Bentley]

July 12, 2013
Sebastien Loeb obliterates course record at Pikes Peak

Sunday witnessed the 2013 edition of the iconic Pikes Peak International Hill Climb at Pikes Peak, Colorado, USA. All eyes were on Sebastien Loeb in the 875 bhp Peugeot 208 T16 Pikes Peak as he smashed the course record by an unbelievable 1 minute and 33 seconds. Loeb, previously known for winning the World Rally Championship nine times in a row (a record in its own right) completed the Pikes Peak climb in 8:13.878

The Frenchman mastered the legendary Colorado course, featuring 156 wrist-sapping bends winding up the 12-mile route towards the 14,000 feet high finish line. Loeb became the first driver to complete the famous and challenging course in less than nine minutes. The previous Pikes Peak record of 9:46.164 was set by Rhys Millen last year. This year around, Millen broke his own record by 44 seconds with a time of 9:02.192 in his Hyundai RMR PM580-T. Millen who finished second, was still a whole 49 seconds slower than Loeb.

Congratulations to the legendary Sebastien Loeb for this amazing feat. We can’t wait to see him in the World Touring Car Championship next year with his long time partner, Citroen.

You can watch Loeb’s run in the following video:

[youtube id=”6QKdnz8i14E” width=”100%” height=”300px”]

July 1, 2013

Audi wins 24 Hours of Le Mans for 4th year running

The #2 Audi R18 e-tron quattro of drivers Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish and Loic Duval came out on top at the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans this past weekend. The race, largely overshadowed by the death of Danish Aston Martin driver Allan Simonsen, marked Audi’s fourth consecutive and 12th overall victory at Le Mans. The Audi crossed the finish line one lap ahead of the #8 Toyota TS030 driven by Anthony Davidson, Stephane Sarrazin and Sebastien Buemi.

The race was incredibly close at the end – after 23 straight hours of competition, the leading Audi and Toyota cars were on the same lap before Kristensen was able to pass Sebastien Buemi’s Toyota with just minutes remaining to win by one lap over his rival. This victory also marks Kristensen’s ninth career win at Le Mans, which is an extension of the record he already owned and a remarkable feat on its own. Kristensen dedicated his win to fellow Danish driver Allan Simonsen, who died as a result of injuries sustained on the fourth lap of the race, when his Aston Martin spun off the track and hit the barrier at high speed.

Karun Chandhok returned to Le Mans this year and finished a respectable 13th overall, and 7th in the P2 class in the Murphy Prototypes’ ORECA-Nissan 03 with team regular Brendon Hartley and experienced US sportscar driver Mark Patterson. Last year Chandhok managed an impressive, sixth placed finish overall with the JRM Racing HPD P1 team.

Third place overall was snatched by the No. 3 Audi driven by Lucas Di Grassi, Marc Gene and Oliver Jarvis. In LMP2, Oak Racing’s Nissan-powered Morgan racers came in first and second, followed by G-Drive Racing’s Oreca, also powered by Nissan. The LMGTE Pro class was won by the No. 92 Porsche 911 RSR, followed by the No. 91 Porsche and No. 97Aston Martin Vantage V8. Corvette Racing finished fourth with its No. 73 C6-ZR1 while their fellow Americans from SRT Motorsports finished in eighth and ninth positions in their brand-new Viper GTS-R racers.

For more information on what the 24 Hours of Le Mans is about, click here!

These are the final positions after 24 hours.

Pos Cl      Car       Drivers                         Laps  Gap
 1. P1  #2  Audi      Kristensen/McNish/Duval      348   
 2. P1  #8  Toyota    Davidson/Sarrazin/Buemi      347   +     1 Lap
 3. P1  #3  Audi      Gene/Jarvis/di Grassi        347   + 1m55.252s
 4. P1  #7  Toyota    Wurz/Lapierre/Nakajima       341   +    7 Laps
 5. P1  #1  Audi      Lotterer/Treluyer/Fassler    338   +   10 Laps
 6. P1  #21 HPD       Leventis/Kane/Watts          332   +   16 Laps
 7. P2  #35 Morgan    Baguette/Plowman/Gonzalez    329   +   19 Laps
 8. P2  #24 Morgan    Pla/Brundle/H Hansson        328   +   20 Laps
 9. P2  #26 Oreca     Rusinov/Martin/Conway        327   +   21 Laps
10. P2  #42 Zytek     Krumm/Mardenborough/Ordonez  327   + 1m07.075s
11. P2  #49 Oreca     P-Companc/Kaffer/Minassian   325   +   23 Laps
12. P2  #43 Morgan    Gachnang/Mailleux/Lombard    320   +   28 Laps
13. P2  #48 Oreca     Hartley/Chandhok/Patterson   319   +   29 Laps
14. P2  #38 Zytek     Dolan/Turvey/Luhr            319   + 4m01.549s
15. P2  #36 Alpine    Ragues/Panciatici/Gommendy   317   +   31 Laps
16. GTP #92 Porsche   Lieb/Lietz/Dumas             315   +   33 Laps
17. GTP #91 Porsche   Bergmeister/Pilet/Bernhard   315   + 2m10.631s
18. GTP #97 Aston     Mucke/Turner/Dumbreck        314   +   34 Laps
19. P2  #34 Oreca     Frey/Niederhauser/Bleekemolen314   + 1m27.131s
20. GTP #73 Corvette  Garcia/Magnussen/Taylor      312   +   36 Laps
21. GTP #71 Ferrari   Beretta/Kobayashi/Vilander   311   +   37 Laps
22. GTP #51 Ferrari   Bruni/Fisichella/Malucelli   311   + 1m57.110s
23. GTP #74 Corvette  Gavin/Milner/Westbrook       309   +   39 Laps
24. P2  #41 Zytek     Rossi/K-Smith/Lux            307   +   41 Laps
25. GTP #53 SRT       Farnbacher/Goossens/Dalziel  306   +   42 Laps
26. GTA #76 Porsche   Narac/Vernay/Bourret         306   + 1m51.302s
27. GTA #55 Ferrari   Perazzini/O'Young/Case       305   +   43 Laps
28. GTA #61 Ferrari   Gerber/Griffin/Cioci         305   + 1m26.507s
29. GTA #77 Porsche   Dempsey/Foster/Long          305   + 2m51.114s
30. GTA #50 Corvette  Bornhauser/Canal/Taylor      302   +   46 Laps
31. GTA #96 Aston     Goethe/Campbell-Walter/Hall  301   +   47 Laps
32. GTP #93 SRT       Wittmer/Kendall/Bomarito     301   + 1m58.599s
33. P2  #40 Oreca     Dagoneau/Downs/Younessi      300   +   48 Laps
34. GTA #67 Porsche   Gibon/Milesi/Henzler         300   +   32.348s
35. GTP #66 Ferrari   Bertolini/Faisal/Qubaisi     300   +   51.765s
36. GTA #88 Porsche   Ried/Roda/Ruberti            300   + 1m28.639s
37. GTA #75 Porsche   Collard/Perrodo/Crubile      298   +   50 Laps
38. GTA #81 Ferrari   Potolicchio/Aguas/Bright     294   +   54 Laps
39. P2  #39 Lola      Porta/Brandela/Raffin        280   +   68 Laps
40. P1  #12 Lola      Prost/Jani/Heidfeld          275   +   73 Laps
41. P1  #13 Lola      Beche/Belicchi/Cheng         275   + 1m27.020s
42. GTA #70 Corvette  MacNeil/Rodrigues/Dumas      268   +   80 Laps
43. P2  #33 HPD       Tucker/Franchitti/Briscoe    242   +  106 Laps
44. P2  #46 Oreca     Thiriet/Badey/Martin         310      Retired
45. GTP #99 Aston     Makowiecki/Senna/Bell        248      Retired
46. P2  #45 Morgan    Nicolet/Merlin/Mondolot      246      Retired
47. P2  #47 Morgan    Imperatori/Howson/Tung       241      Retired
48. GTP #98 Aston     Dalla Lana/Lamy/Auberlen     221      Retired
49. P2  #32 Lotus     Holzer/Kraihamer/Charouz     219      Retired
50. P2  #30 Lola      Mowlem/Burgess/Hirschi       153      Retired
51. GTA #54 Ferrari   Mallegol/Bachelier/Blank     147      Retired
52. GTA #57 Ferrari   Krohn/Jonsson/Mediani        111      Retired
53. P2  #25 Oreca     Graves/Hamilton/Nakano       101      Retired
54. P2  #28 Lola      Giroix/Haezebrouck/Ihara     22       Retired
55. P2  #31 Lotus     Weeda/Rossiter/Bouchut       17       Retired
56. GTA #95 Aston     Simonsen/Nygaard/Poulsen     2        Retired

June 24, 2013

24 Hours of Le Mans: Aston Martin driver Allan Simonsen killed in crash

Danish racing driver Allan Simonsen was killed as a result of injuries sustained during a crash at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The incident took place on the fourth lap of the race. Simonsen, who was participating for the seventh-time this year at Le Mans, spun about 10-minutes into the race, hitting safety barriers at the Tertre Rouge bend. According to race officials, the 34-year-old was in serious condition after the accident and was immediately rushed to a hospital, where he died shortly thereafter.

The Automobile Club de l’Ouest, which organizes the 24 Hours of Le Mans, released the following statement:

The driver was immediately attended on the scene by the doctors from the Automobile Club de l’Ouest’s Medical Service.

In a serious condition, Allan Simonsen was transferred immediately to the Circuit Medical Centre where he died soon after due to his injuries.

Allan Simonsen’s family has been informed immediately by David Richards, Principal of the Aston Martin Racing team.

Allan Simonsen, an experienced driver aged 34, had taken part in seven 24 Heures du Mans.

His team mates in the No.95 car were his fellow countrymen, Christoffer Nygaard and Kristian Poulsen.

The Automobile Club de l’Ouest wishes to express its great sadness following this incident, and extends its deepest condolences to the family and those close to Allan Simonsen.

The Automobile Club de l’Ouest will make no further statement while the exact reasons for the accident are still being wholly determined.

Aston Martin has completely blacked out its website, save for the following statement:

Le Mans, 22 June 2013: It is with great shock and sadness that the Aston Martin Racing Team confirms that an accident occurred shortly after the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans at around 15:09 hrs CET today (22 June) when the No 95 Vantage GTE driven by Allan Simonsen left the track at Tertre Rouge.

Tragically, and despite the best efforts of the emergency services in attendance, Allan’s injuries proved fatal.

Aston Martin Racing Managing Director, John Gaw, said: “On behalf of all of us at Aston Martin Racing, I would like to extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to the individuals, and families whose friends or loved ones were involved in today’s terrible tragedy.”

Aston Martin Racing will not make any further comment until the precise circumstances of the accident have been determined. Next of kin have been informed.

Following the ACO’s media statement concerning the tragic death of Aston Martin Racing driver Allan Simonsen, and at the specific request of his family, the team will continue to participate in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in tribute to Allan.

A video showing the first 10 minutes of the race can be found below.

WARNING: It ends with Simonsen’s accident, along with an official statement from race’s governing authority, Automobile Club de l’Ouest.

[youtube id=”cCiMk8MYGeo” width=”100%” height=”300px”]

The No. 95 Aston Martin that Simonsen co-drove along with teammates Christoffer Nygaard and Kristian Poulsen has officially retired from the race. Our condolences to all those close to Simonsen.

[Image source: Aston Martin]

June 23, 2013
Nissan claims Le Mans prototype ZEOD RC is fastest electric race car

Nissan has announced plans of an upcoming all-electric racing car called the ZEOD RC (The Zero Emission On Demand Racing car). The Zeod RC which is said to be capable of a top speed in excess of 300 kmph, is shaped a bit like the closed-cockpit version of the DeltaWing (albeit, much better looking in our opinion) and will make its debut in 2014 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The ZEOD RC was displayed near the Circuit de la Sarthe last weekend at the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The Nissan ZEOD RC has been invited by Le Mans organizers to compete as the Garage 56 entry in next year’s race, which is basically a spot on the grid held for vehicles with new and/or cutting edge technology. Apart from the announcement of a partnership with Michelin to develop tires for the ZEOD RC, Nissan has not revealed any technical specifications or information about the battery under the hood of the EV racer. However, Nissan has made it clear that they have their work cut out for them, and will be trying out various different motors and battery packs over the course of the year before making a final decision.

We have many options to consider and test. The test program is part of a longer term goal of developing a system and a set of rules for this type of technology in partnership with the ACO that would be best suited to competing at the highest level of this sport.
– Ben Bowlby, designer of the ZEOD RC

The ultimate goal of the ZEOD RC program, in terms of racing at least, is to sort out the feasibility of a LM P1 all-electric class for future Le Mans racing. Formula E is looking to have a similar impact, however the endurance aspect of Le Mans is much more relevant for electric technology and its future in production cars.

Nissan had the privilege of setting up camp in Garage 56 at the 2012 Le Mans race as well with Nismo’s sleek DeltaWing. It didn’t fare too well, after crashing out much before the 24 hours were over, but proved to be a step in the right direction providing a lot of data and insight for Nissan’s future, as is evident by the revolutionary ZEOD RC.

June 21, 2013