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Honda is getting ready to put on its racing suit for the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC), in which it will participate with the new European Civic hatchback. �We have made a decision to enter into the WTCC with the European Civic," said Honda CEO, Takanobu Ito, on the announcement. "We will develop a totally new engine for this project and we are all excited about starting this new challenge." The Japanese automaker revealed that its Research and Development division will design a bespoke 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder racing engine with direct-injection in accordance with FIA�s Super 2000 regulations.
If you're a fan of Audi race cars then you may want to read on. This here retired Audi 200 Turbo Quattro Trans-Am racer is up for sale by an independent dealer in Las Vegas. It's not only the real deal but furthermore, the seller claims it's the actual vehicle that won the 1988 American Trans-Am series in the hands of Hurley Haywood who steamrolled the competition by taking eight out of 13 wins.
An array of historic Porsche race cars will make their way at this at this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed that takes place in the UK from 2 to 4 July. The German automaker said that it will be bringing some of the victorious sports cars from the Targa Florio road race in Sicily, as well as the Porsche 917 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the 1970 win at Le Mans.
The new 458 Challenge that is destined to race in the onemake 2011 Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli series was revealed today during an annual dealer meeting in Maranello, Italy. Based off the road-going 458 Italia, the Challenge has received a number of competition-spec modifications to adapt it for use on the track.
While the direct injection 4.5-liter V8 with an output of 570-horsepower at 9,000 rpm remains stock, Ferrari's engineers went ahead and made changes to the gear ratios and calibration of the dual-clutch F1 gearbox to improve torque at lower revs.
Before you watch the following video, take a minute to ponder this: You are sitting behind the steering wheel of an exotic, brand new Italian supercar, getting ready to drag race a V10-powered Dodge Viper on the quarter mile strip in front of a crowd of 100, or perhaps even more people. But when the race begins you start rolling backwards� Oh yes, that�s right; the owner of the Ferrari 458 Italia that you�re about to see in the clip and who was pitted against a Dodge Viper at the ICAR motorsports complex situated just outside of Montreal in Canada, paddle shifted his car�s dual clutch auto transmission into reverse!
Get excited DTM fans because there�s a new kid coming to town. We�re talking about Audi�s freshly revealed A5 Coupe racecar, internally named �R17,� that will replace the four-door A4 with which Audi has conquered the DTM title four times since 2004. Ingolstadt�s new touring model is based on the facelifted A5 Coupe that was presented earlier this week and it complies with the new technical and safety regulations that will come in effect in the German touring model championship next year.
Last month, Nobuhiro �Monster� Tajima broke his own record at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb with a sub 10 minutes time in a 910-horsepower modified Suzuki SX4 racecar. Now, Nissan�s first all-electric car, the LEAF, has tackled the 156 turns of the �Race to the Clouds�. Naturally, �Monster� Tajima can rest assured that his record remains safe.That�s not to say that the LEAF driven by Chad Hord didn�t record a respectable time. After all, 14 minutes and 33 seconds with an average speed of 51.2 mph (82.4 km/h) is not to be laughed at for an EV that used just 46% of its charge to cover the demanding 12.42 miles (20 km) hill climb. Watch the LEAF climb the Pikes Peak after the jump.
The Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrows display team has released a new promotional video exhibiting the power-sliding capabilities of its drivers to attract fans to the Mercedes-Benz World at the Brooklands motor racing circuit in Weybridge, Surrey, UK.
There�s nothing faster, short of a Formula 1 car, than a Bugatti Veyron, right? In particular, a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport boasting a 1,200HP quad-turbocharged 16-cylinder engine, four-wheel drive tech and a 258 mph (415 km/h) top speed. Whoever is behind its wheel must feel invincible, right? Well, actually, no. A few days ago, at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, a Veyron Super Sport that was ready to begin its climb up the hill pulled over and let another car start first. What car was that?
The spectators at last weekend�s ADAC GT Masters championship at the N�rburgring witnessed a horrific crash involving Alex Plenagl and his BMW Alpina B6 GT3 racecar when the driver lost control of the vehicle and strayed off the course at a high speed. Plenagl�s Alpina flew over the safety barriers, passed through a BMW sign and crashed onto the concrete wall.
OK, so a highly-tuned Toyota Celica with the innards of a Corolla WRC (and then some) may have posted the fastest time at the Goodwood hill climb. And yes, it beat a handful of Formula 1 cars to achieve this win. But we�re pretty sure that the sounds and sights of an array of F1 cars ranging from a 1939 Mercedes-Benz W165 to 2010 editions of Ferrari, Lotus and Red Bull, will make the back of your hair stand up. To find out if that�s true, just watch the video after the jump.
None of the usual suspects � aka the drivers of Red Bull or McLaren- occupied the top spot on the podium of the British Grand Prix that took place on Sunday at Silverstone. Instead, the winner was Fernando Alonso, who managed his first win of the season, and 27th overall in his career, making the best both of Ferrari�s obvious progress and the catastrophic pit stop of early leader Sebastian Vettel.
The unpredictable weather conditions made the qualifying of the British Grand Prix something of a gamble, and the teams weather forecasts were expecting rain during the final session. So everyone made sure that they got out quickly in order to set a fast time before it started to rain again.
Ever since the Spanish Grand Prix, FIA has investigated the matter of some teams using exhaust gasses when the driver is off the throttle to improve the downforce of their cars. Eventually, FIA ruled that throttle opening when the accelerator is released would be limited to 10%. However, McLaren�s Martin Whitmarsh disputed on Friday before the British GP the new regulation, claiming that Red Bull�s Renault engine retains 50% of its power under a concession for reliability.
Ferrari�s Felipe Massa set the quickest time in Friday�s afternoon practice session of the Formula 1 British Grand Prix, which takes place this weekend at Silverstone. Just minutes before the beginning of the session, heavy rain started to fall, with all cars staying in the pits for half an hour because of the condition of the track.
The bashed up 599 GTO we showed you yesterday wasn�t the only Ferrari to bite the dust at this past weekend's Trofeo Ferrari Club Italia event at the Vallelunga racetrack near Rome. The same fate awaited this red 458 Italia when its driver apparently lost control of the exotic supercar in a corner sending it straight onto the protective barriers. In a somewhat unfitting end for the Ferrari, a tractor had to be called in to carry away the car. Watch the incident unfold in the video after the jump.
It�s funny how things turn out sometimes. In 1973, Caterham, which was founded in the 1960s as a Lotus dealer, acquired the rights to build the Seven from Lotus. Now, Team Lotus has purchased Caterham Cars through a holding company, part owned by Malaysian Tony Fernandes.
Over the past weeks we�ve been bombarding you with news about exotic cars such as the Aston Martin Zagato V12 that would participate at this year�s Goodwood Festival of Speed. The event took place this past weekend and the spectators gathered to marvel at every car enthusiasts dream garage. But they also came to watch more than 200 production, tuned and racing models including recent Formula 1 cars, race against the clock in the famous 1.6 mile hill-climb. However, much to everybody�s surprise, the winner was not an F1 car but a tuned, 800+ horsepower Toyota Celica that recorded a time of just 48.07 seconds.
Subaru will take on a wide array of supercars including the Ariel Atom V8, Lamborghini LP570-4 Performante, McLaren MP4-12C and Noble M600 at this month�s Cholmondeley Pageant of Power, which is billed as �the UK�s biggest celebration of power and speed�. The Japanese company will compete in the race with its limited-edition Cosworth Impreza STI CS400, driven by none other than Mark Higgins, the former British Rally Champion who recently set the production road car lap record for the Isle of Man TT circuit in an Impreza WRX STI
A legendary alliance is reforming in Formula 1: Williams and Renault Sport have decided to cooperate once again for the 2012 and 2013 seasons, when the rules stipulate V8 engines, and an option to continue in 2014 when the new turbocharged V6s are introduced.
