Second generation driver Nico Rosberg has completed a textbook lights-to-flag victory to take his maiden win in Formula One. The win also marked Mercedes' first win as a constructor since Juan Manuel Fangio's victory at the 1955 Italian Grand Prix. Rosberg backed up his stunning qualifying lap with a flawless start, ensuring his second-placed teammate Michael Schumacher had no chance to challenge for the lead. 'Unbelievable feeling. Very cool, very happy, very excited,' said a joyous Rosberg. 'It's been a long time coming for me and for the team.' The first-time winner also paid tribute to his Mercedes team. 'Big thanks to the whole team, because all of the engineers have been working very, very hard on improving the set-up. It's very nice to see how quickly we are progressing." Rosberg controlled the gap between the front and the myriad of drivers that filled second place over the course of the 56 laps. Initially it was his Mercedes teammate Michael Schumacher, who followed Rosberg to his first stop on lap 13. However, a pit stop error during the seven times World Champion's pitstop forced him to stop on track with a loose front right wheel. Jenson Button did well to improve from his fifth-place grid slot to finish the race on the second step of the podium.
Continue reading...11. April 2012
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.
Continue reading...10. April 2012
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.
Continue reading...8. April 2012
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.
Continue reading...7. April 2012
It’s the opening round of the FIA GT1 and European GT3 championships. Watch the action LIVE from Nogaro in France.
Continue reading...1. April 2012
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.
Continue reading...31. March 2012
Le Mans Series 2012 - LE CASTELLET - LIVE by ELMS
Continue reading...31. March 2012
A new era for European endurance racing kicks off this weekend as the European Le Mans Series gets underway at the Paul Ricard circuit in France. The new series will feature LMP2 as it's premier category leaving the faster (and more expensive) LMP 1 machines to the new World Championship which got underway last month at Sebring. Five separate chassis will be represented including Lola, Oreca and the revived Morgan brand. There are at this stage only two engines being used. Nissan and well know endurance race engine specialists Judd. Attracting the most attention will be the new team of eight time World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb. The last minute deal to put the team together has left then short of testing time but there's plenty of driving experience to overcome any shortfall.
Continue reading...29. March 2012
For all the hype over the movie Senna, one motorsport film of the last few years that may have been overlooked is "Truth in 24" Made by NFL films, yep, the people who make those incredible promotional and documentary films for American football, "Truth in 24" documents Audi's brilliant win in the 2008 Le Mans 24 hours. The film has sadly had little exposure outside the United States where it has been available for download via the US iTunes store free of charge.
Continue reading...26. March 2012
DAM PARR TO LEAVE WILLIAMS GRAND PRIX HOLDINGS PLC 26 March 2012. Grove, UK. Williams Grand Prix Holdings PLC (WGPH, Ticker: WGF1) today announced that its Chairman Adam Parr has resigned from the Company. Adam will leave Williams on Friday 30 March 2012. Nick Rose, ex-CFO of Diageo PLC and currently a Non-Executive Director of WGPH and [...]
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15. April 2012