Archive for the ‘car racing’ Category
September 2nd, 2010 | 
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Want to drive like some of the hottest Scuderia Ferrari drivers? Here’s your chance! Ferrari has unveiled the official trailer for their Virtual Academy – an online simulation racing game. With the Ferrari Virtual Academy, Ferrari fans from all over the world can hop into their computer chair and take the same laps as Felipe Massa, Fernando Alonso, and Giancarlo Fisichella, while also being privy to their racing line and driving technique secrets! Drive the fastest amongst all of the fellow Ferrari fans in the worldwide online tournament and you could be one of the weekly winners that will be awarded official Ferrari products. Better yet, if at the end of the Trofeo, you are within the top five fastest drivers, then you will be headed to the heart of Ferrari! That’s right, Ferrari will be sending you to Maranello to walk through the gates in Fiorano and participate in the exclusive Ferrari Driver Academy course with exceptional tutors from the Scuderia.
Drive around in some of the most famous tracks like the Fiorano, Mugello, and Nurburgring that have been digitally recreated with Laser Scan and Motion Capture. Master the laps and increase your speed because you may be one of the lucky five that will get the chance of a lifetime!
The game will be available for download starting September 9th.
Video: Ferrari Virtual Academy – Official Trailer originally appeared on topspeed.com on Thursday, 2 September 2010 21:00 EST.
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We love when fast cars get put together with other fast cars to battle it out to the finish line in an attempt to prove which is the better machine. Of course, we love sharing these experiences with our readers just as much. Today, we have the 2011 Ford Mustang GT and the 2011 BMW M3 Coupe as pitted against each other by Motor Trend. These fellow speedchasers set out to compare the two models during time attack trials and a drag race.
The 2011 Mustang GT is powered by an all new 302 cubic inch 32 valve V8 that makes 412 HP and 390 lb-ft of torque. The M3 Coupe is powered by a 4.0-liter, 414 HP V8 engine equipped with BMW’s M Double Clutch Transmission (M DCT) which lowers the 0-60mph acceleration time of the M3 to 4.5 seconds from 4.7.
So, which of the two models would you buy? The Mustang or the M3? Check out the video to see what MotorTrend thinks of the two models.
Video: 2011 Ford Mustang GT vs 2011 BMW M3 Coupe originally appeared on topspeed.com on Tuesday, 24 August 2010 18:00 EST.
If only lunch breaks at work were this fun – okay, maybe not that part about the fake battle royale – then you probably wouldn’t have a hard time selling the benefits of working for your company to prospective employees.
Apparently, this is what the folks over at the Bristol Speedway in Connecticut are trying to tell everyone. While most of us spend our lunch hour sitting in the cramped company pantry and sharing home-cooked meals with our colleagues, these people take “lunch hour” to an entirely different level.
Taking full advantage of their unique workplace, the employees at the Speedway decide that lunch hour is devoted to something that doesn’t involve chowing down on food, but employee racing. Sure, they had to make a video featuring some atrocious acting and not-so-stellar wheel-to-wheel racing – and of course, the “fracas” that ensued in the end – to make their point, but it certainly drives the point to the proverbial checkered flag.
While we can only hope to have as fun a lunch break as these guys in the video are having, we’re not naive enough to believe that that’s what they actually do when their supposed to be stuffing themselves silly of some much-needed chow. But hey, it does make for a good suggestion on your next team-building session, right?
Video: This is how they spend lunch breaks at the Bristol Speedway originally appeared on topspeed.com on Monday, 23 August 2010 22:00 EST.
Tuning house Switzer Performance has a reputation in the auto circle for building some of the most powerful performance packages for a number of vehicles, most notably the Nissan GT-R, as well as Porsche sports cars. When it comes to modified sports vehicles, there aren’t a lot of tuning firms that can hold a candle to what Switzer is capable of.
Knowing what we know, we’ve always wondered how a Switzer-tuned Porsche stacks up against a Switzer-tuned Nissan GT-R. Who doesn’t want to see two in-house beasts modded by the same tuning house duking it out for Switzer supremacy? We certainly do. After all, it’s not often to see a high-powered R911 997 GT2 and an equally high-powered E900 R35 GTR – tuned by the same company no less – enjoying a nice little throwdown of sorts.
So who takes the cake in this race? It was a pretty simple race yet the result was something none of us quite expected. Check it out to see how the race went down.
Video: Switzer R911 99 GT2 dukes it out with Switzer E900 R35 GTR originally appeared on topspeed.com on Monday, 23 August 2010 12:00 EST.
Lost in the spectacle of racing series’, like Formula One and NASCAR, is one of the most storied and most difficult events in the auto racing calendar: endurance racing.
Requiring a combination of unbridled physical and mental conditioning, endurance racing takes more than just natural talent and top-level driving skills to succeed, and knowing how to take advantage of the level of preparation needed for endurance racing is already half the battle won.
In the latest episode of Corvette Racing’s Track to Street series, two members of the Corvette Racing Team discuss the tedious work that goes in preparing for long distance races. For both Oliver Gavin, the driver of the no. 4 Corvette, and Ken Flory, chief engineer of the no.3 Corvette, it’s one thing to be able to participate in one, but it’s a completely different ball game to be competitive in these types of races; ones that stretch your physical and mental strength to the absolute limit.
For both Gavin and Flory, accomplished marathon runners in their own right, the experiences they’ve learned in both competitive environments have allowed the pair to become more prepared in the competitive setting both endurance racing and long distance running commonly share. It’s these shared experiences – the ability to focus on the task at hand despite the taxing an exhausting nature of these two sports – that has given both Gavin and Flory, and the entire Corvette Racing Team for that matter, the know-how to not only infuse their knowledge and experiences on the team, but more importantly, to be able to compete at a high level in both sports.
Want to see the first eight episodes? Hit the jump for some useful links!
Episode 9 of Corvette Racing’s "Track to Street" Series originally appeared on topspeed.com on Monday, 23 August 2010 09:00 EST.
Nissan will continue celebrating the Z’s 40th anniversary with a display of six historic Z racers at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion on August 12th–15th at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, Calif.
The list of vehicles on display will include: a Brock Racing Enterprises Datsun 240Z, a Bob Sharp Racing Datsun 240Z Chassis #00006, a Bob Sharp Racing Datsun 240Z IMSA GTU, a Nissan Motorsports 300ZX, a Nissan 370Z BRE Tribute Coupe, and a 2010 Nissan 370Z 40th Anniversary Edition, a model limited to only 1000 units.
The vehicles appearing at this event are no slouches either. A number of them have had an active racing history including appearances at SCCA National Championships, IMSA Manufacturers’, and Drivers’ Championship and victories at LeMans, Daytona, and Sebring. Not only will classic and newer Z models be on display during this automotive weekend, but a number of vintage Nissan race cars will also be on hand to partake in the racing events: John Morton will drive the #46 1970 Datsun 510 in the "1966 – 1972 Trans Am under 2 Liter Cars" class and a pair of 1985 Nissan GTPs (#83 and #84) owned by Toluca Lake Classic Motorsports will compete in the "1981 – 1989 FIA Mfg Championship & IMSA GTP" class.
Press release after the jump.
Six Nissan Z packs displayed at Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion originally appeared on topspeed.com on Tuesday, 10 August 2010 18:00 EST.
Nissan will continue celebrating the Z’s 40th anniversary with a display of six historic Z racers at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion on August 12th–15th at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, Calif.
The list of vehicles on display will include: a Brock Racing Enterprises Datsun 240Z, a Bob Sharp Racing Datsun 240Z Chassis #00006, a Bob Sharp Racing Datsun 240Z IMSA GTU, a Nissan Motorsports 300ZX, a Nissan 370Z BRE Tribute Coupe, and a 2010 Nissan 370Z 40th Anniversary Edition, a model limited to only 1000 units.
The vehicles appearing at this event are no slouches either. A number of them have had an active racing history including appearances at SCCA National Championships, IMSA Manufacturers’, and Drivers’ Championship and victories at LeMans, Daytona, and Sebring. Not only will classic and newer Z models be on display during this automotive weekend, but a number of vintage Nissan race cars will also be on hand to partake in the racing events: John Morton will drive the #46 1970 Datsun 510 in the "1966 – 1972 Trans Am under 2 Liter Cars" class and a pair of 1985 Nissan GTPs (#83 and #84) owned by Toluca Lake Classic Motorsports will compete in the "1981 – 1989 FIA Mfg Championship & IMSA GTP" class.
Press release after the jump.
Six Nissan Z packs displayed at Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion originally appeared on topspeed.com on Tuesday, 10 August 2010 18:00 EST.
Mini is an interesting little car brand. The car is fantastic, but the following the vehicle has is far more impressive than the vehicle itself. Owners of Minis practically have their own club even traveling the length of the U.S. together for charity. Mini owners are proud of their bitesize vehicles and now they can add another tally to the Mini side.
The 2011 World Rally Championship will receive another participant this year and for many years to come as the Mini Countryman WRC takes its place among the other racers. Mini will not participate in all of the races in 2011, but come 2012, they will take in every race offered by the WRC.
Having been worked on since early 2009 by ProDrive, the Countryman WRC complies with the FIA’s Super2000 regulations and will feature a 1.6L four cylinder turbo charged engine from BMW Motorsport. Its first test will occur in Fall 2010.
Press release after the jump.
Mini Countryman will enter World Rally Championship in 2011 originally appeared on topspeed.com on Tuesday, 27 July 2010 20:00 EST.
With Test Drive Unlimited 1, the genre of racing games was changed forever. It made itself stand apart from the others by not only featuring over 125 of the world’s fastest cars and bikes, but by the ability of racing those machines over 1000 miles of road modeled after satellite images of Hawaii’s island Oahu. As if the sheer pleasure of maneuvering these beasts wasn’t good enough, Test Drive Unlimited 1 also gave the gamer an opportunity to build their own houses, visit car dealers, and start clubs with other gamers.
Now, after a long 4 year wait, Test Drive Unlimited 2 is set to hit shelves on September 21st. Registration for the Beta version is already underway, but no specific date has been set for the Beta (pre-order is also currently available).
With the latest installment of the Test Drive series, comes day and night cycles, dynamic weather, indicator lights, working hard tops, and complete customization of all aspects of the game, including your house, avatar, car vinyls, and car interiors. More major changes include SUVs for off-roading, a new island to explore (modeled after Ibiza) as well as the old island, and an airport to take you between the two. Co-op gameplay, in which one player drives and the other reads a map, will also debut in the new game. Other major changes include being able to get out of your car in selected areas, receive cosmetic damage (will not affect performance), and multiple headlight modes.
A few teaser photos have been released, suggesting what cars will be in the game. Confirmed cars include the McLaren MP4-12C, Gumpert Apollo, Aston Martin One-77, Audi Q7, Nissan 370Z, Audi TTS, Audi R8, Aston Martin DBS, Dodge Viper SRT-10, Ford GT, Koenigsegg CCXR, Pagani Cinque, and the Spyker C8.
Happy cruising TDU fans.
Test Drive Unlimited 2 to be released September 21st originally appeared on topspeed.com on Tuesday, 27 July 2010 16:00 EST.
It’s only been three years since Ford launched the Mustang Challenge Series and the event is already being put on the shelves. The sooner-than-expected end to the racing series was announced by Ford, meaning that the September race at Miller Motorsports Park will be the last race of the Mustang Challenge Series. Yep, that didn’t last long.
Details as to why the racing series will come to an untimely halt weren’t given although it looks as if the economic doldrums, as well as a general lack of interest from fans, may have expedited the series’ demise. Series Director Lynda Randall was predictably disappointed that the Mustang Challenge prematurely ended, but also said that the whole experience was an overall success to everyone involved.
“We should hold our heads high, as this was a tremendously successful program and we were fortunate to get to be a part of what really became a family”, she said.
Despite the end to the Mustang Challenge, the series’ racing prototype, the Ford Mustang FR500S will remain an active race car and could still, in the future, participate in a number of racing series down the road.
Ford’s Mustang Challenge Series shuts down after only three years originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 23 July 2010 22:00 EST.
This car look familiar to any of you? Okay, it’s not so much the car – that’s a Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR-X – as it is the livery that it comes in. If you’re having trouble racking your brains, then we’ll save you the trouble.
The racing livery this Viper comes in is almost identical to the one that artist Jeff Koons used for his BMW M3 GT2 Art Car that participated at the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans just last month. Even better, at least for this Viper ACR-X, this one fared much better than the original, winning the inaugural Dodge Viper Cup at the Virginia International Raceway over the weekend.
Driven by racer Ben Keating, the Art Car-looking Viper ACR-X finished first in the flag to flag race, culminating in a photo finish with the second place vehicle driven by Jeff Courtney.
We don’t know what the boys from BMW are feeling since the livery of their Art Car has already spawned an imitation. And the best part is, the livery copycat already did what the original couldn’t do: win a race.
BMW Art Car-looking Dodge Viper ACR-X bags first place in inaugural Dodge Viper Cup race originally appeared on topspeed.com on Monday, 12 July 2010 18:00 EST.
The Dodge Viper just saw it end as the last one rolled off the production line earlier this month, but that doesn’t mean the sports car isn’t going to go out in a bang. This bang will come in the form of a special Cup Series that will start tomorrow at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) in Alton, Va. and will continue through the entire summer. The series will finally end on October 24 when the race will finish at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch, in Pahrump, NV.
At this weekend’s race there will be 12 Dodge Viper ACR-X race cars that are signed up and ready to race. The winner of this competition will receive a prize of $7,500.
“The Dodge Viper ACR-X is designed and built specifically for the race track,” said Ralph Gilles, President and CEO, Dodge Brand. “Now with VERSUS on board, race fans will have the opportunity to see our untamed and unmatched road-racing machine along with some of our talented Viper owner/drivers compete on five of the best road courses in the county as part of the Dodge Viper Cup series.”
Press release after the jump.
Dodge Viper Cup Series Kicks Off originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 9 July 2010 20:00 EST.
The sixth round of the Redline Time Attack took place in the hot California desert. It was called the “Liberty Grand Prix” and it took place on America’s birthday, July 4.
Despite the fact that it was like the surface of the sun outside, a gusty wind helped keep the temperatures from climbing into the 100-degree range. The intense heat had a big impact on the cars that were competing on the track.
The time attack cars were sprayed with water and packed with ice before their runs in an effort to keep them cool and some were even running without hoods and bumpers.
Saturday’s practice session and Circuit Battles went flawlessly. Most of the fans withstood the tremendous heat in order to watch film star Paul Walker take his supercharged BMW E92 M3 around the track. With 500 horsepower on tap, Walker’s road car did battle with an ABF Performance Mini Cooper S.
One would think that the M3 driven by Walker would dominate the Mini, but if you look deeper, you will discover that this is no ordinary Mini. Under the hood of the Cooper S is a 650 horsepower motor that allows the car to run the quarter mile in 10 seconds. Needless to say, it beat Walker with sub 1:30 times.
Hit the jump for the rest of the article.
Round Six Of The Redline Time Attack originally appeared on topspeed.com on Wednesday, 7 July 2010 13:00 EST.
There is one racing event that takes place in June every year with cars equipped with massive amounts of power and professional racing drivers. We are talking about the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. It gathers the most media attention of any hill climb race, but it’s not the only one west of the Mississippi.
Run for more than three decades, the Virginia City Hill Climb, which is not anywhere close to Virginia, is a dangerous 5.2-mile hill climb race that starts in Silver City, Nevada, and takes drivers along Highway 341 North into Virginia City.
During the race, the route is closed with the assistance of local law enforcement to avoid any accidents with locals or trucks.
The route consists of more than twenty turns and multiple long straightaways and is basically in the desert. The route takes drivers on a 1,200-foot change in elevation and is usually missing guardrails on the outside of high-speed turns. There is gravel on the shoulder, blind corners, and narrow passages. This is a true adrenaline rush from the word go.
Hit the jump to read on.
1st Annual Speed by Spectra 341 Challenge Is In The Books originally appeared on topspeed.com on Wednesday, 7 July 2010 11:00 EST.
Tracks like the Nurburgring, Silverstone, and the Hungaroring may be world-class, but they’re also old news. New race tracks have been sprouting all over the world and while some may get the publicity for their high-profile portfolio, other tracks are being marketed less yet are still pretty awesome in their own right.
Take the Kaeng Krachan Racing Circuit in Thailand for example. Not a lot of people know about it, but for those who do, they’ll tell you that it’s one of the most amazing and difficult tracks in the world. Divided into three track layouts – the full-length track is 2.9 km long; the medium-length track is 2.39 km long; the short track is 1 km long – the Kaeng Krachan circuit is about two hours away from the country’s capital city of Bangkok, which isn’t all that far if you’re feeling the need to have a look at one of he world’s “best-kept secret” race tracks.
Kaeng Krachan race track in Thailand is a hidden gem of a circuit originally appeared on topspeed.com on Tuesday, 6 July 2010 17:00 EST.
Those guys over at Polyphony Digital are, without question, masters of the art of teasing. After leaving us all hanging on the release date of Gran Turismo 5 for close to a year – we haven’t forgotten about all those delays, fellas – they finally gave us a date to hang all our collective hats on: November 2.
And now that we know when the game will finally be released, the kids at Polyphony just can’t help, but release teaser video after teaser video of the much-ballyhooed game.
In this latest – and undoubtedly not the last – video, we take a closer look at the Top Gear test track, which, if you didn’t know, makes an appearance on GT5. And did we mention that Gran Turismo 5 comes in 3D, which means you can enjoy doing your best Stig impersonation in three-dimensional goodness?
Just another reason to impatiently wait for November 2 to come and as far as we’re concerned, it can’t come soon enough.
Video: The Top Gear test track Gran Turismo 5 style originally appeared on topspeed.com on Tuesday, 6 July 2010 11:00 EST.
Looks like Porsche won’t be the only automaker bringing in some historical racers to the Goodwood Festival of Speed next week. Turns out, Toyota is joining in on the fun too.
To celebrate the Japanese automaker’s successful forays into the world of the WRC in the 80’s and 90’s, Toyota is bringing at least three of their rally-winning race cars, including the Group B Celica Twin Cam TA64, the very same car that scooped up a number of rally wins back in its heyday and was even nicknamed the "King of Africa" for its dominating performance at the Safari and Ivory Coast rallies. Joining the the Group B Celica is another one of its brethren, the Group A Celica ST185, the three-time championship car that staked titles for Toyota from 1992-1994, and Toyota’s more recent rally machine, the Corolla WRC, which scooped up 25 podium finishes from 1997 to 1999.
These cars, of course, only constitute a small chunk of machines Toyota’s gearing up to bring to Goodwood. In addition to the rally racers, the brand is also showing off a couple of its more recent releases, including a Dakar-participating Land Cruiser, a special edition supercharged iQ, a 900bhp Supra GT, and last, but certainly and most definitely not least, the brand’s new ultimate pride and joy, the Lexus LF-A.
Press Release after the jump
Toyota scheduled to bring iconic rally race cars to the Goodwood Festival of Speed originally appeared on topspeed.com on Monday, 28 June 2010 20:00 EST.
Rhys Millen may have gotten all of the attention as he prepared for the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, but even after four months of intense preparation and training, Millen’s best efforts were still for naught as long-time Pikes Peak annihilator Nobuhiro "Monster Tajima once again proved to be too much for the rest of the field, winning this year’s Pikes Peak hill climb in the Unlimited class - his fifth in a row, no less - with a time of 10:11.490 on board his modified Suzuki SX4.
Coming in second and still a good 30 seconds behind Tajima’s time was Paul Dallenbach, who finished with a time of 10:39.534. And for his efforts, Millen, after struggling with mechanical issues, still managed to finish the climb in third place with a time of 11:06.208, almost a full minute off of Tajima’s winning time.
As for Tajima, despite winning his fifth straight Pikes Peak hill climb, the dominant Japanese was more upset that he wasn’t able to break the 10:01.408 record time he did back in 2007.
"I’m very disappointed," Tajima said. "I thought I was faster, and it was a very good run. The car and everything worked well."
We don’t know whether to congratulate Mr. Tajima or feel bad for him. While he did finish in first place, apparently, it still wasn’t good enough for him. But hey, a win’s a win, right?
Photo credit to Yujiro Otsuki
Nobuhiro Tajima continues dominance at Pikes Peak originally appeared on topspeed.com on Monday, 28 June 2010 18:30 EST.
Now that Sony and Polyphony Digital have finally announced the official date of the release of Gran Turismo 5, you could have probably heard the collective sighs of relief from Gran Turismo fans all over the world. Justifiably so because the wait hasn’t been exactly smooth, to say the list. From an immeasurable number of delays to the already five-year long wait, there’s not a fan of the racing simulator franchise in this world that can honestly say that their wait hasn’t come with a mix of anxiety and frustration.
It’s not that we’re chomping at the bits to play the game - okay, maybe just a little - but it’s more of just wanting to know when it was going to be released. So, if the November 2 release date does push through, you can take it to the bank that everything will be forgiven faster than a sinner’s confession.
In the meantime, Sony and PD have released a retrospective on the entire Gran Turismo franchise, dating back to the first game that was released seemingly centuries ago - it was 1997, to be exact. It’s a good way to gauge just how far the game has come, from the then-out of this world Playstation game to a whole new revolutionary 3D experience for the upcoming GT5 game on the PS3.
It’s not going to make the wait any easier, but the video is still a must-watch for fans of the game.
From GT1 to GT5: A Gran Turismo Retrospective originally appeared on topspeed.com on Wednesday, 23 June 2010 20:00 EST.
This whole MINI vs. Porsche "race" took so many twists and turns, it’s becoming harder and harder to keep tabs on everything that has gone on before, during, and - as it turns out - after the race.
We don’t know what’s keeping MINI from moving on after Porsche squeaked out a win at the former’s own overly-hyped race, but now we have a new video courtesy of the losing side chronicling the entire proceedings. Heck, they even managed to get Joe Rogan of Fear Factor and UFC fame to do the hosting for the shindig.
So, consider this the swan song of this whole MINI-Porsche saga, or at least until MINI USA president Jim McDowell lives up to his word and sports that ’Porsche Beat Us’ t-shirt he promised he’d wear should Porsche come out on top.
Video: Recapping the MINI vs Porsche tussle at Road Atlanta originally appeared on topspeed.com on Wednesday, 23 June 2010 19:00 EST.
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