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.”

TRUTH IN 24 “BEST MOTORSPORT DOCO EVER?”

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.

NISSAN GIVES YOU DELTAWINGS

DELTAWING POWERED BY NISSAN

Nissan have announced their involvement in the revolutionary DeltaWing project for this year’s Le Mans 24 hour race. The car, which is half the weight and has half the aerodynamic drag of a conventional racer, will be powered by a 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine. Nissan now joins the existing group of core partners - US-domiciled British designer Ben [...]

TOYOTA TESTS TERRIFIC TS030

TOYOTA Racing has completed a successful first full test of the new TS030 HYBRID car which will compete in the LMP1 category in selected races of the FIA World Endurance Championship. The team spent three days at the Paul Ricard circuit in southern France for the first full test of the TS030 HYBRID, following a three-day roll-out at the same circuit earlier this month. Using the a configuration of the track which includes the complete Mistral Straight, all three race drivers - Alex Wurz, Nicolas Lapierre and Kazuki Nakajima - had the opportunity to test the new car, which features the THS-R (TOYOTA HYBRID System - Racing) power-train. The test programme built on the positive work already achieved during the TS030 HYBRID’s roll-out, when systems checks and basic set-up analysis was carried out.

AUDI WINS LE MANS SURVIVOR SERIES

The sole surviving Audi of André Lotterer, Marcel Fassler and local driver Benoit Treluyer withstood the three pronged Peugeot attack to win a classic Le Mans 24 hours. Starting from pole the #2 Audi R18 became the team's sole surviving car after huge accidents claimed his team mates Alan McNish and Mike Rockenfeller. McNish crashed early in the race after contact with a slower Ferrari GTE-Am car which sent the R18 crashing into the Armco at high speed. Photographers, Marshals and Spectators were showered with carbon fibre as the Audi disintegrated. Thankfully no one was seriously hurt but it was far more good luck than anything else that a massive tragedy didn't occur. Mike Rockenfeller survived the weekends biggest crash after another tangle with a GTE-Am Ferrari. Rockenfeller clipped the Ferrari at the fastest part of the Mulsane straight send the car into the Armco at close to 300 Km/h. Once again the incredible strength of the cars survival cell did it's job and Rockenfeller was able to get out of his car under his own steam. With both Audi's out it was left to the #2 car to hold off all three Peugeots over the reminder of the race. Despite constant challenges, and some at times dubious tactics, the team held on, due in no small part to some brilliant driving especially by Treluyer and Lotterer.

LISTEN TO LE MANS LIVE

It’s become a Le Mans tradition, Radio Le Mans which started as a small project to give the vast army of British fans something to listen to has since developed into the International voice of Sportscar Racing. Once again John Hindaugh and the team will be on hand at Le Mans all week to give you [...]

McLAREN ANNOUNCE GT3 PROJECT

McLaren have officially announced their decision to build and sell a GT3 version of their MP4-12C Supercar. The company said in statement that McLaren and CRS Racing will supply and support a limited number of GT3 racing cars based on the McLaren MP4-12C high-performance sports car for European-based privateers. The move marks a return to GT racing [...]

AUDI WIN RECORD BREAKING LE MANS

If you keep your head when all around are losing theirs, you'll be the tallest person in the room. Audi kept their head and were rewarded with a remarkable 1, 2, 3 finish at the 2010 Le Mans 24 hour classic. The victorious Audi R15 TDI with Timo Bernhard (Germany), Romain Dumas (France) and Mike Rockenfeller (Germany) at the wheel, completed a total of 397 laps and setting a new distance record of 5,410 kilometres. Second place went to Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and local driver Benoît Treluyer. Their R15 TDI lost time in the pits when the front bodywork had to be changed twice after contact with the track barriers. In third place was the most experienced team in the Audi line up Dindo Capello, Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish. Le Mans record winner Tom Kristensen lost time when he had to evade the GT2 BMW of Andy Priaulx and slid backwards against the track barrier of the Porsche corners. With fast lap times, Capello, Kristensen and McNish pushed back into the group of the front runners and in the end were rewarded with a podium result.

IT’S FAST, BUT IS IT ART ?

BMW have announced that the the latest addition to their famous Art Car project will race at this year’s Le Mans 24 hour race. The car, created by acclaimed modern artist Jeff Koons, is the 17th car in the project which has featured works by such artists as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and even Australia’s Ken [...]