TESTING CRASH PUTS TOYOTA OUT OF SPA WEC DEBUT

In a move that can only be described as "interesting" Toyota have announced that as a result of a "testing accident" it is not able to participate in the WEC Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. A media release sent out today, April 11, claimed that during testing at Paul Ricard, on Wednesday 4 April, the TS030 HYBRID was involved in an accident which damaged the team’s only monocoque. According to the team the damage is too severe to repair. A replacement monocoque cannot be produced and sufficiently tested to ensure reliability within the limited time available. "Therefore Toyota Racing has informed the organisers of the FIA World Endurance Championship of its decision to withdraw from the WEC Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, due to be held on 5 May." The decision is sure to raise some eyebrows with the team now to make its first appearance at the Le Mans 24 Hours in June.

INSANE BATHURST SKATE BOARD ACTION

FIA GT1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP RACE FROM NOGARO

AUDI RULE THE ROOST IN GT1 OPENER

The Audi team of Stephane Ortelli and Laurens Vanthoor secured a double victory with a win in both races for the opening round of the new look 2012 FIA GT1 World Championship at Nogaro. “I never expected, even in my best dreams, that we would achieve this result at the first race." said Vanthor after the race. "I am still quite speechless, but I think it is because we did a great job, we worked hard together, and we did a lot of testing. Audi have put a lot of effort into it, as well as Belgian Audi Club WRT, and then the co-operation with Stephane (Ortelli), everything is going the perfect way at the moment. I am really happy, this is one of the most beautiful victories I have had, so I hope we can continue in this direction.” The second WRT car, the No.33 of Frank Stippler and Oliver Jarvis finished second as they had done on Sunday to round out a perfect Easter weekend for the German manufactuer. Third was the ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Mercedes SLS of Marc Basseng and Markus Winkelhock, from sixth on the grid, just ahead of their team-mates Nicky Pastorelli and Thomas Jager.

FERRARI ON POLE FOR GT1 OPENER

Ferrari is on pole for the opening round of the new look GT1 World Championship at Nagaro in France. Finnish driver Toni Vilander put the AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia grabbed pole early ahead of the WRT Audis of Stephane Ortelli/Laurens Vanthoor and Frank Stippler/Oliver Jarvis. “First of all it is good to be in the championship,” Vilander said. “Even in the testing I found many very good drivers, great cars and great teams so I think it’s going to be a very tight year. I only got to know Filip (Salaquarda) on Monday and we started to build our confidence together. “These cars are a bit special to drive, ABS and stuff like that is completely new to me. I am looking forward to tomorrow. Hopefully we have the pace to get a good result.” Mercedes will start out of fourth place with the Munnich Mercedes of Marc Basseng and Markus Winkelhock just ahead of the second AF Corse Ferrari of Francesco Castellacci and Enzo Ide.

FIA GT1 & EUROPEAN GT3 LIVE FROM NOGARO

It’s the opening round of the FIA GT1 and European GT3 championships. Watch the action LIVE from Nogaro in France.

WHEN DRAG RACERS TURN CORNERS

TDS ON POLE FOR ELMS OPENER

The Thiriet by TDS Racing team and its young driver, 25-year-old Mathias Beche, put on a stunning performance by setting pole (a repeat of their 2011 feat in LM P2) for tomorrow's Six Hours of Le Castellet. During the 20-minute qualifying session for prototypes, the Franco-Swiss driver set the quickest time on his fifth lap in 1m 48.171s at the wheel of the no. 46 Oreca 03-Nissan LM P2. “I ran into traffic on my first two laps and then I managed to find a clear lap to set pole,” smiled Beche. “The team and I are delighted to have clinched the first pole position of the season. The list of entries has some very well-known drivers on it and that's good for the championship. Obviously, I'm very happy to have proved that I can get onto the front row and measure myself against such rivals.” Dutchman Yelmer Buurman took second place in the Status GP Lola –Judd B12/80, and third was Englishman Tom Kimber-Smith in the reigning champion Greaves Motorsport's Zytek Z11SN-Nissan.

ELMS Rnd 1: 6 HOURS OF LE CASTELLET - LIVE

Le Mans Series 2012 - LE CASTELLET - LIVE by ELMS

HAMILTON DRIVES SENNA’S McLAREN HONDA