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Tag Archive | "GT2"

TOYOTA RETURN TO TESTING AS AUDI DEBUT AT SPA

Monday, April 30, 2012

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TOYOTA RETURN TO TESTING AS AUDI DEBUT AT SPA

Although they won't be at Spa for round two of the World Endurance Championship the Toyota TS030 hybrid will be a the track this weekend. The team will complete a functionality test of its new chassis at the Magny-Cours circuit in France. Following the accident at Paul Ricard on 4 April, which damaged the monocoque of the first TS030, the team has worked hard to accelerate production of a second car. This will be completed directly before transportation to the one-day functionality test. A total of seven test days were cancelled in April as a result of the testing accident, giving the team no opportunity to validate the aerodynamic and hybrid system specifications intended for its first race. So the team had no choice but to miss the WEC Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps event, which takes place on 3-5 May. Yoshiaki Kinoshita, Team President: “I would like to express my thanks to the staff members at Toyota Motorsport GmbH who have worked so hard to deliver our second monocoque ahead of schedule. Now we have a very intense testing programme to prepare for Le Mans, beginning with an initial functionality test to shakedown our systems.”

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NEW GT ENDURO FOR ABU DHABI

Saturday, August 6, 2011

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NEW GT ENDURO FOR ABU DHABI

The growing popularity of GT endurance racing has received another boost with a new major race announced for Abu Dhabi. The new Gulf 12 Hours is an invitation-only event aimed to support the continued, sustainable growth of motorsport in the United Arab Emirates whilst attracting a wider variety of teams and drivers to the region, without [...]

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LE MANS DAY 1: Peugeot pounce on provisional pole

Thursday, June 9, 2011

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LE MANS DAY 1: Peugeot pounce on provisional pole

Just when it looked like Audi was set to dominate practice & qualifying fir the 2011 Le Mans 24 hours, along came Stephane Sarrazin. With half an hour of the first session remaining, Sarrazin grabbed provisional pole position with a lap of 3’27’’033. And with a strong chance of rain for tonight's final session it may well be good enough to give Peugeot the coveted pole position. Earlier in the day Audi dominated the opening practice session with all three R18s at the top of the time sheets. The team, which had set the fastest times in the April test session looked set to continue it's advantage over the Peugeot but that was until Sarrazin's last minute charge.

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HUGE FIELD SET FOR PHILLIP ISLAND SPORTSCAR CLASSIC

Saturday, November 20, 2010

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HUGE FIELD SET FOR PHILLIP ISLAND SPORTSCAR CLASSIC

Philip Island's CUE one hour Sportscar Enduro next weekend is shaping up to be one of the biggest and best Sportscar races ever seen in Melbourne. A highlight of PIARC's 20th anniversary Island Magic, the one hour race has attracted a quality field of cars and drivers from all over Australia. Former Australian GT Champion Mark Eddy leads the entries in his spectacular Audi R8. The R8 is just made for this type of event and reliability is unlikely to be a problem give Audi's reputation for longevity. Lamborghini will be represented by the Gallardo's of Victorian State Champion Ted Huglin and Mark Seamons. Huglin's car is the current model racing in the European GT3 championships and as such is not eligible for the Australian titles. The fight between Huglin and Eddy will be a highlight. The race will also feature the return to racing of veteran competitor Murray Carter. At an age when most people have long since retired the 79 year old will debut his new Corvette Z06. The car features plenty of ideas from the GT1 & 2 cars of the ALMS and Carter certainly knows his way around the Island track. Fans of the classic Ford GT40 will be thrilled to see the return to Melbourne of NSW State Sportscar star Iain Pretty in his Roaring 40's replica.

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PEUGEOT POWERS BACK IN PORTUGAL

Sunday, July 18, 2010

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PEUGEOT POWERS BACK IN PORTUGAL

After playing second fiddle to the Peugeot factory team for most of 2010, the Oreca Peugeot team of Stephane Sarrazin, Olivier Panis and Nicolas Lapierre have won the Algarve 1000 kms in Portugal, the third round of the 2010 Le Mans Series. It was a dominant performance by the works assisted team, winning the race by five laps after starting from pole. "It's good to win!." said Sarrazin after the race. "The team did a super job. We were under a little pressure but we did what we had to. The refuelling stops were excellent and we dove the right kind of race - a good pace and no mistakes. It's also worth underling the way the team's matured since the Le Castellet 8 Hours. I'm delighted to taste the joys of victory again." Second place went to the Rebellion Racing Lola of Nicolas Prost and Neel Jani, It was a great performance by the team who drove their way through the field after starting the race in last place. Aston Martin was third today with Team Signature coming back strong after the retirement at Le Mans. The third place was also a great result for Vanina Ickx who shared the drive with Pierre Ragues and Franck Mailleux.

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BRABHAM, PAGENAUD WIN UTAH ALMS

Monday, July 12, 2010

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BRABHAM, PAGENAUD WIN UTAH ALMS

Australian David Brabham and team-mate Simon Pagenaud have raced to their third consecutive victory in the American Le Mans Series with a hard-fought victory in the Utah Grand Prix. Pagenaud drove the final 1:45 in the team’s HPD ARX-01c, and the Patrón Highcroft crew took advantage of a quick final pit stop to beat Drayson Racing’s Emanuele Pirro to the line by 19.116 seconds at Miller Motorsports Park. Pagenaud and Brabham haven’t lost since the Long Beach round in April and increased their championship lead in LMP to 11 points over Muscle Milk Team CytoSport’s Klaus Graf. He and Greg Pickett, driving a Porsche Spyder, were third, 90 seconds behind the winning car.

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NEW RULES FOR A CLEANER, GREENER LE MANS FUTURE

Thursday, June 10, 2010

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NEW RULES FOR A CLEANER, GREENER LE MANS FUTURE

Cleaner, Greener, More Quiet. Welcome to motorsport in the 21st century. The Automobile Club de la Ouest (ACO) have unveiled the regulations for the 2011 Le Mans 24 hour race and associated series. According to the ACO the new rules have been drawn up in the context of sustainable development and respect for the environment. The ACO and the motor industry have concentrated on two aspects that are crucially important from their point of view: • An endurance race like the Le Mans 24 Hours must enable entrants to test new technologies. • The focus of the Le Mans 24 Hours must be aimed even more strongly towards both the reduction of CO2 emissions and fuel consumption. The most noticeable change will be new rules to both control and encourage energy recovery systems. Under the new rules the recovery and release of energy will be restricted to two wheels only (front or rear axle). Energy from the system may be stored using either electrical or mechanical systems. This will no doubt please Porsche whose flywheel based William F1 designed system has already been tested and proven in last months Nurburgring 24 hour race.

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PEUGEOT ON TOP ON DAY ONE AT LE MANS

Thursday, June 10, 2010

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PEUGEOT ON TOP ON DAY ONE AT LE MANS

Peugeot dominated the time sheets after the first day of on-track action at Le Mans. The three works cars led by Sebastian Bourdais and the semi-works ORECA car set the fastest four times in qualifying with the first Audi R15+ the Bernhard/Dumas/Rockenfeller car back in fifth place. Despite efforts by race organisers the ACO to level the playing field, diesel cars dominated with the first seven positions. Aston Martin led home the unofficial "petrol" division with the car of Mucke/Fernandez/Primat on top of the team's second car with the team of Turner/Hancock/Barazi. A surprise in P2 with the Staker HPD ARX of Watts/Kane/Leventis coming out on top of the Highcroft team HPD led by last years outright winner David Brabham.

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WATCH ALMS LAGUNA SECA LIVE (& Free!)

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

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WATCH ALMS LAGUNA SECA LIVE (& Free!)

This weekend as Matthew Brabham races to try and maintain his Victorian Formula Ford Championship lead at Sandown, his Le Mans winning Uncle David, will be looking to strengthen his lead in the American Le Mans Series, at the Six hour of Monterey  at Laguna Seca. The Six Hour Race at the famous circuit will be streamed live via the Internet but to receive it you will need to pre-register. Viewing is limited and spots are running out fast. To register go to  www.americanlemans.com/live In Pit Lane is in no way affiliated with either the American Le Mans Series or they're streaming provider read all their conditions of service carefully. Mmm Laguna Seca overnight and Sandown all weekend, no wonder I'm so tired.

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PEUGEOT ON TOP IN SPA LE MANS WARM UP

Monday, May 10, 2010

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PEUGEOT ON TOP IN SPA LE MANS WARM UP

Peugeot won a chaotic Spa 1000 km race last Sunday as the teams prepare for the 24 hours of Le Mans in June. Late race rain and an on-track power failure made the day unforgettable in more ways than one. French driver Simon Pagenaud, along with co-drivers Pedro Lamy and Sébastien Bourdais, took their Peugeot 908 to the win, as the race was called at the six-hour time limit. Audi driver and seven time Le mans winner Tom Kistensen, looked set to grab a thrilling victory after a late race rain shower. Kristensen gambled on Intermediate tyres, and looked set to easily catch the lead Peugeot when the rain stopped and the track dried out. The Audi struggled on but couldn't hold out the second Peugeot of Stephane Sarrazin who came through to take second place. The Audi hung on for third. In LMP2, the Quifel-ASM Team took the win with drivers Olivier Pla and Miguel Amaral in a Ginetta - Zytek holding off the team RML Lola of Tommy Erdos Mike Newton and Andy Wallace.

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