The brand hopes that the XV crossover will rejuvenate sales in a segment Subaru had traditionally done well in.Michael Andretti Keith Andrews Elio de Angelis Marco Apicella
Tuesday, 31 May 2011
Subaru wants to double sales in the UK with new XV and Coupe models
The brand hopes that the XV crossover will rejuvenate sales in a segment Subaru had traditionally done well in.
Article 41.1 Sporting Regulations
Article 41.4: Whilst the race is suspended : - neither the race nor the timekeeping system will stop, however, in accordance with Article 5.3 the length of the race suspension will be added to the maximum two hour period ; - cars may be worked on once they have stopped on the grid or entered [...]
Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2011/05/29/article-41-1-sporting-regulations/
Jack Brabham† Bill Brack Ernesto Brambilla Vittorio Brambilla
BMW to storm Frankfurt Motor Show with four debuts - report
The Frankfurt Motor Show is shaping up to be one of the biggest events of the year as Auto Motor und Sport is reporting BMW will use their home turf to introduce four new models.Monday, 30 May 2011
Bernie looking at December 11 for Indian GP
A couple of weeks ago after a tip from a good source I suggested that the Indian GP might end up on December 11, and Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali confirmed today that Bernie Ecclestone has indeed proposed the date. Bernie … Continue reading 
Nick Heidfeld - classic F1 2011
Renault's Nick Heidfeld is the latest driver to choose his five favourite all-time grands prix for our new-look classic Formula 1 series.
For those unfamiliar with the format, BBC Sport has asked all the F1 drivers to select their five favourite races and we are serialising their choices before every race this season to whet your appetites for the action to come. Highlights will be shown on this website and the red button on BBC television in the UK.
So far, we have had world champion Sebastian Vettel, F1 legend Michael Schumacher, Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi, Williams veteran Rubens Barrichello and, for his home grand prix in Spain last weekend, double champion Fernando Alonso.
Ahead of this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix, we have the man who is standing in this season for Robert Kubica, who was injured in a rally crash in February and who will be watching the race from his apartment in the principality.
Heidfeld, a 34-year-old German, is one of the most experienced drivers on the grid and his selection is an interesting mix of races from his career and before his time in F1.
In chronological order, they are as follows:
The 1988 Monaco Grand Prix, which Heidfeld says he has chosen as it was the first F1 race he attended. Most people, though, remember it as one of the defining moments in the career of Ayrton Senna, who dominated the weekend in his McLaren until crashing out of the lead with a handful of laps remaining, handing victory to his team-mate Alain Prost.
Heidfeld's second pick is the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix, which Heidfeld calls a "classic F1 moment", and which is proving popular among the current drivers - both Alonso and Buemi also chose this race.
It was also a key event in the careers of Senna and Prost. As many will recall, Senna drove into the back of his arch-rival, who was now at Ferrari, at the first corner at 160mph.
Senna's actions were in revenge for pole position, which he had won, being moved to the 'wrong' side of the track - which he felt was part of a conspiracy against him by then-FIA president Jean-Marie Balestre against him.
Next is the 2001 Brazilian Grand Prix. This was Heidfeld's first appearance on an F1 podium, and came at the end of a thrilling grand prix famous for two stunning overtaking manoeuvres on Ferrari's Michael Schumacher by Juan Pablo Montoya, who should have won the race in his Williams, and McLaren's David Coulthard, who did.
It was an incident-packed race throughout and one in which Heidfeld's sure touch in changing conditions - a feature of his career - was in evidence.
The 2001 US Grand Prix was won brilliantly by Mika Hakkinen, who was to retire following the next race, the season finale in Japan, after winning a tactical battle with team-mate Coulthard and the Ferraris of Schumacher and Barrichello.
It was a fascinating race, typical of F1's refuelling era, but that is not why Heidfeld has chosen it. The event has special memories for him because he finished sixth, scoring points for Sauber, despite the lack of first, second and seventh gears. This race was broadcast during the era when ITV had the rights to F1 in the UK, and unfortunately technical problems mean we cannot broadcast highlights for you.
Finally, Heidfeld has chosen Brazil 2008, not because of anything special he did (he finished 10th for BMW Sauber), but because of its famous finish that saw McLaren's Lewis Hamilton regaining the fifth place he needed to win the title from Ferrari's Felipe Massa, who won the race, on the last corner of the last lap.
As always, we pick one race to highlight to help whet your appetites for the action at the forthcoming grand prix.
Heidfeld has made five excellent choices, but as Monaco is the next race, we have plumped for that event in 1988.
It is worth a bit of back story. Senna was on pole by an astonishing 1.4 seconds from Prost - and was later famously to talk about having what felt like an out-of-body experience while he went faster and faster around the principality.
The Brazilian's utter domination continued in the race, helped by Prost being beaten away from the start by the slower Ferrari of Gerhard Berger.
The Frenchman finally got past on lap 54, by which time Senna had a 46-second lead and was totally in control. But this was only the third race of the 1988 season, for which the Brazilian had joined McLaren, where his main aim was to establish himself as better than Prost, then regarded as the finest driver in the world.
The result was a battle of wills, for pride, between the two finest drivers of their generation - and two of the greatest ever. And in Monaco, this was to lead to Senna's downfall.
Free of Berger, Prost started trading fastest laps with Senna. McLaren boss Ron Dennis, concerned that the team might lose a one-two, assured Senna his lead was safe and he backed off.
But when Prost then gained six seconds in one lap on his team-mate, Senna responded by setting two fastest laps - and then crashed at Portier after losing concentration.
Shell-shocked, and in tears, he returned to his nearby apartment, refusing to speak to his team or answer calls. It was the first of many twists in a drama that was to grip sporting fans the world over for the next five years.
The full 'Grand Prix' programme broadcast that evening on the BBC is embedded below, with links below it to shorter highlights and long and short highlights of Mark Webber's dominant win for Red Bull in Monaco in 2010.
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CLICK HERE FOR SHORT HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2010 MONACO GRAND PRIX
CLICK HERE FOR EXTENDED HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2010 MONACO GRAND PRIX
A selection of classic races will be shown on the BBC red button on satellite and cable digital television in the UK from 1500 BST on Wednesday 25 May until 1030 BST on Friday 27 May. The races selected are extended highlights of Monaco 1988, short highlights of Brazill 2001 and Brazil 2008 and extended highlights of Monaco 2010.
Unfortunately, because of a lack of bandwidth caused by our coverage of the French Open tennis, we are unable to broadcast these highlights on Freeview.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2011/05/nick_heidfeld_-_classic_f1_201.html
Sunday, 29 May 2011
The Perez accident
As the rescue crews are cleaning up the mess at the chicane, the F1 world is waiting to see what is happening with Sergio Perez. There have been reports that he is conscious and talking, although this has yet to be confirmed. The car seems to have survived the impact with the survival cell intact, [...]
Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2011/05/28/the-perez-accident/
Elio de Angelis Marco Apicella Mário de Araújo Cabral Frank Armi
'69 Dodge A-12
Revell-Monogram 1/24 scale 1969 Dodge Coronet Super Bee.
my version of an A-12 car:
[View:http://cs.scaleautomag.com/SCACS/themes/sca/utility/
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[View:http://cs.scaleautomag.com/SCACS/themes/sca/utility/
:550:0]
[View:http://cs.scaleautomag.com/SCACS/themes/sca/utility/
:550:0]
Source: http://cs.scaleautomag.com/SCACS/forums/thread/960217.aspx
Team Lotus Launch Their 2011 Machine The T128
Team Lotus (the one who raced last year) have become the second team to officially pull the covers off their new 2011 car. The green and yellow liveried machine will start be raced by Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen this season under the name of Team Lotus as the management’s row with Group Lotus, now [...]
Source: http://f1fanatics.wordpress.com/2011/01/31/team-lotus-launch-their-2011-machine-the-t128/
Paolo Barilla Rubens Barrichello Michael Bartels Edgar Barth
Ferrari arrives in India
Ferrari opens first dealership in India in New Delhi which will be run by official importer Shreyrans Group.Source: http://feeds.worldcarfans.com/~r/worldcarfans/Jxfz/~3/4CWr9-zp2t4/ferrari-arrives-in-india
Skip Barber Paolo Barilla Rubens Barrichello Michael Bartels
Saturday, 28 May 2011
AMA SBK: The Difficult Path To Domination
Josh Hayes makes the case that as close as things may look in the standings, he's the man raising the bar in AMA Superbike.
Source: http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/ama-sbk-hayes-growing-pains-in-search-of-domination/
Vettel set for titles aplenty
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?Here, after all, is a young man, already dubbed ?Baby Schumi? by Germany?s tabloid press, winning the first of what will presumably be multiple world championships, and all at the tender age of 23. Plenty of time yet to match Schumacher's incredible haul of seven world titles. And yet, their phenomenal ability to drive racing cars apart, there is little similarity between the two men. ?There are still lingering doubts over his racing ability but with such blistering qualifying pace he is nearly always leading from the front anyway. Vettel is set for multiple world championships. Just don?t call him Baby Schumi.?The Guardian?s Paul Weaver says it was difficult to begrudge Vettel his moment of glory after he won the first of what will be many world titles. He also looks back at some of the season?s highlights.
?An amazing Formula One season produced its final twist here on Sunday when Sebastian Vettel, who had never led the title race, won his first world championship. It is difficult to begrudge him his glory, for he had more poles (10) than any other driver and shared the most wins (five) with Fernando Alonso. There will be red faces as well as red cars and overalls at Ferrari, though, for deciding to bring their man in when they did, only to see him re-emerge into heavy traffic. ?Among the highlights, and every race felt like a highlight after the bore-start in Bahrain, there was that wonderful beginning to his McLaren career by Jenson Button, who won two of his first four races, even though he couldn't keep up the pace, especially in qualifying. ?Hamilton once again drove his heart out, and outperformed a car that looked a little too ordinary at times. He was superb in Montreal. Then there was Webber, the Anglophile Aussie who was the favourite among most neutrals to win the title. There was that spectacular crash when he ran into the back of Heikki Kovalainen and the most famous of his four wins, at Silverstone, when he said to his team at the end of the race: 'Not bad for a No2 driver.' ?But in the end there was only one German who mattered. It was the remarkable Vettel. This will be the first of a clutch of championships for him.?The Independent?s David Tremayne focuses on the plight of the other title contenders, writing it is easier to feel more sorry for one than the other.
?It was impossible not to feel for both Webber and Alonso. Yet while a frustrated Alonso gestured at Petrov after the race, the Australian, predictably, refused to complain about his pitstop timing. ?A world championship seemed an inevitable part of Sebastian Vettel's future, but it came a little sooner than most expected, after his recent tribulations. You wouldn't bet against several more, and if that record-breaking streak continues, perhaps even Schumacher's achievements will be overshadowed.?And the Mirror?s Byron Young elaborates further on the petulant behaviour of Fernando Alonso on his slowing down lap after his title dreams ended behind the Renault of Vitaly Petrov.
?Fernando Alonso was hurled into more controversy last night for a wild gesture at the former Lada racer who cost him the title. But the Spaniard brushed off accusations he gave Russian Vitaly Petrov the finger for ruining his title hopes by blocking him for 40 laps as they duelled over sixth place. "The Ferrari ace was caught on television cruising alongside the Renault driver on the slowing down lap and gesticulating from the cockpit. Petrov was unrepentant: "What was I supposed to do? Just get out of his way, pull to the side? I don't think that is how we race. It was important for the team for me to get points."
Source: http://blogs.espnf1.com/paperroundf1/archives/2010/11/vettel_set_for_titles_aplenty_1.php
Save Gas on Memorial Day Weekend
Many families choose to take road trips over long weekends, and with Memorial Day being this weekend, more people than ever will take to the open road. This can be quite the scary notion for two distinct reasons. For starters, gasoline is spiking at $4.00 per gallon which makes travel expensive even just across town. The second reason is that more and more drivers on the road seem to be getting their drivers license without having taken the test. I drive roughly 20 minutes each way to and from work in Southern California and to be honest, I fear for my life nearly every time. Between cell phones, eating, passengers, and plenty of other distractions, it is a very dangerous world. Hopefully these tips can help keep you be safe and thrifty over the holiday weekend.
One way to temporarily increase fuel economy is by coasting to a stop. If you notice a light turn red in the distance - do not speed up just to stop short at the end. By letting the car coast as if it were in neutral you can boost gas mileage and save your brakes. The brakes on your car will ultimately bring you to a halt and keep your car from moving, but up until they are needed all they do is waste kinetic energy. Allowing your car to coast in stop and go traffic situations will allow the engine to work less, the brakes to work less, and will most likely cut down on those irritating false starts.
Hit the jump for more money-saving tips.
Save Gas on Memorial Day Weekend originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 27 May 2011 20:00 EST.
Source: http://www.topspeed.com/cars/car-news/save-gas-on-memorial-day-weekend-ar110279.html
George Connor George Constantine John Cordts David Coulthard
Tesla Roadster to be axed, Model X concept coming later this year
In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Tesla announced plans to end Roadster production in December.Sebastian Vettel: ?I brushed the wall after three laps??
Sebastian Vettel was a low-key fifth in afternoon practice in Monaco this afternoon, having topped the slower session in the morning. ?I had a good feeling straight away, brushed the wall after three laps, so I don?t have to do … Continue reading 
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2011/05/26/sebastian-vettel-i-brushed-the-wall-after-three-laps/
Skip Barber Paolo Barilla Rubens Barrichello Michael Bartels
Friday, 27 May 2011
Has F1 made overtaking too easy?
There have been five grands prix so far in the 2011 Formula 1 season and every single one of them, in its own way, has been a cracker.
The introduction of faster wearing tyres from new supplier Pirelli, the DRS overtaking aid and the return of Kers power-boost systems has led to a perfect storm of close racing, overtaking and pit stops.
This has made for an exciting season even though Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel is running away with the championship after four wins and a second place in five races.
Yet there is disquiet in some parts of the Formula 1 paddock.
There is a purist view that what the world is seeing is some kind of pale shadow of what F1 really should be. Superficially the racing has improved, some are saying, but is it real? Is this F1 or a tainted, cheapened version of it?
After years of complaints about overtaking being too difficult in F1, about races tending towards the processional, about a general lack of entertainment, it might seem a somewhat perverse thing to say.
But the sense, in some quarters, is that in trying to spice up the show, the sport has veered a little too far towards showbiz and lost some of its true essence.
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He is careful about he expresses it, but Vettel's team-mate Mark Webber is one of the chief exponents of this view.
Ironically, Webber has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the new rules so far.
In China, where he qualified close to the back, the Australian used a clever strategy to benefit from the huge grip differences between new and old, hard and soft tyres, as well as the DRS, to climb up to third place by the end of the race, just seven seconds behind winner Lewis Hamilton.
So great was his pace advantage over his rivals in the latter stages that had the race been three laps or so longer Webber would have won. From 18th on the grid. In a race in which there was only one retirement. Even allowing for the superiority of the Red Bull, that is astonishing.
And yet Webber said afterwards that it felt a little hollow. Sure, he had enjoyed himself, and he was pleased with the result. But passing tough, world-class competitors such as Fernando Alonso so easily when they were effectively defenceless did not feel quite right. The racing, he says, is "less intense" than it was.
Webber brought up the subject again in Spain at the weekend, pointing out that the lap times F1 cars were doing on worn tyres and high fuel loads were only eight seconds faster than those of the GP3 cars, two categories down the motor racing ladder.
"We still need to be the pinnacle," Webber said. "We need to be able to push the cars to the limit throughout a grand prix and have very strong lap times, man against machine.
"Pirelli are working hard but we need to make sure the degradation and pace is still of a sensible magnitude and the cars can be put on the limit and not get too far on the showbiz side of things."
It's not just Webber, either. Last week, influential Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo weighed into the debate, too.
Di Montezemolo said: "Listen, I want to see competition, I want to see cars on the track. I don't want to see competition in the pits.
"A little bit, yes - but in the last race (Turkey) there were 80 pit stops. Come on, it's too much. And the people don't understand anymore because when you come out of the pits you don't know what position you're in.
"I think we have gone too far with the machines, too many buttons. The driver is focusing on the buttons, when you have the authorisation to overtake. We have gone too far."
Much of the criticism has, as Di Montezemolo said, focused on the DRS. This is a clever device that moves a part of the rear wing, reducing drag, and therefore increasing straight-line speed.
A driver can use it in a specified zone on the track, on the longest straight, when he is within a second of the car in front at a predetermined point before the DRS zone. The driver defending his position cannot use it.
The idea was to make overtaking easier - but not too easy. The problem is that people have looked at the Turkish race, and the number of times drivers sailed past rivals down the long back straight, and concluded that DRS is making overtaking like driving past someone on the motorway.
That, though, is a misunderstanding of what is actually happening. In Turkey, as in so many of the other races, what promoted the overtaking was the differing grip levels of the tyres at various stages of their lives.
As Charlie Whiting, the race director, points out, in a lot of the cases in Istanbul, the driver behind already had a massive speed advantage over his rival even before he got to the DRS zone. Because his tyres were providing him with so much more grip, he could slingshot out of the preceding corner so much faster.
In those circumstances, the pass would have been easy regardless, DRS or not.
"Our view has always been we shouldn't make it easy, we should make it possible," Whiting says.
"In Melbourne we didn't have quite enough length (in the DRS zone). I think it worked perfectly in Malaysia and China. But we're all learning here. I definitely don't think we've made it too easy.
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"I don't think anyone is under any illusion that it's the DRS that's allowing the overtaking. Opinions vary presumably, but tyres probably have a bigger part to play at the moment. I don't think we've gone over the top with the DRS, and we certainly don't want to. We've got no intention of doing that. We believe it's a good tool and hopefully you agree."
Although I share some of Webber's reservations, I also do not want to see fast cars stuck for ever behind slow ones just because the laws of aerodynamics dictate that drivers cannot follow closely enough to overtake. The DRS is a way of using technology to get F1 out of a hole that technology has got it into.
So, fundamentally, as long as governing body the FIA can find the right balance, I think Whiting is right on this, and the proof came in Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix.
Vettel spent the first 18 laps bottled up behind the fast-starting but slow Ferrari of Alonso. Red Bull tried to jump the Spaniard with an early first pit stop, but just failed when Ferrari responded and got out in front.
So they tried again and despite Vettel having to pass three cars on his out lap and Ferrari responding next time around, the German blasted past the pit exit just as Alonso was emerging.
Last year, with much slower wearing Bridgestone tyres meaning smaller pace differentials between the cars, Vettel would never have been able to pass three cars on his out lap, and he may well have spent the entire race behind Alonso.
At the same time, the difficulties all drivers had in passing down the main straight, the DRS zone, when they were able to pass elsewhere - around Turns Four, Five, 10 and 11, for example, where overtaking was previously very rare - proved that it was the tyres not the DRS that were making the difference.
"Barcelona had the possibility to be a drone-a-thon," Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said after the race. "Two years ago here, Sebastian drove around looking at the exhaust of (Ferrari's) Felipe Massa for the whole grand prix.
"This has really changed the dynamics of that and a track where it's traditionally difficult to overtake and produce close racing has produced an absolute thriller. The regulations have obviously contributed and created that. They're working."
It's true that the tyres' fragility is stopping the drivers exploiting the full potential of their cars all the time. This may not always be desirable but, as my colleague Mark Hughes points out in his column, this season it probably is.
If the cars were all on rubber that allowed them to push to the limit in the race, Red Bull would probably be able to tap into more of the speed that gives them such a huge advantage in qualifying. In which case Vettel wouldn't just be winning, he would be driving off into the distance. The tyres appear to be making the racing close, and introducing competition that might not otherwise be there.
Despite Vettel's domination, all the races have been close and exciting to watch and that is having a startling effect on the television audience.
You might expect, for example, that a German winning nearly everything would cause TV audiences to switch off in the UK, but in fact the opposite has been the case.
The BBC F1 audience has been up at all but one race so far this year. China had the highest number of viewers that race has ever had. During the Spanish race, the peak audience was 1.2 million higher this year than last.
But far more telling is the behaviour of the audience during the race. In the past, there would usually be a peak at the start, a significant dip in the middle, another peak at a moment of high excitement - a crash, a pit stop etc - another dip and a peak at the end.
This year, though, the audience has started higher than before - and stayed there throughout the race. People dare not switch off for fear of missing something. Far from the races being too confusing - as some newspapers have said - they are proving to be gripping from beginning to end.
I'll leave the final word to Jenson Button. He was asked if F1 had veered too far towards 'showbiz'.
"There are more positives than negatives," he said. "Of course it's a show; that's what any sport is. We need viewers to exist and the viewers have gone through the roof supposedly. I don't think we've done anything wrong. We've definitely gone in the right direction."
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2011/05/has_f1_made_overtaking_too_eas.html
Campaign launched to save Team Lotus
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Source: http://blogs.espnf1.com/paperroundf1/archives/2010/11/campaign_launched_to_save_team_1.php
Keith Andrews Elio de Angelis Marco Apicella Mário de Araújo Cabral
Alonso the new favourite
 Fernando Alonso is the new favourite for the title |
?He is the man with the momentum and, on the same basis that I backed Mark Webber to win the title before Korea, is now my favourite to claim the world title in Abu Dhabi on Nov 14. ?When the cars are so evenly-matched you have to back the man in possession. Especially when that man is a two-time world champion and arguably the finest driver of his generation.?The Mirror?s Byron Young drew comparisons between Alonso and seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher as the Spaniard bids to become the sport?s youngest ever triple world champion.
?Like Schumacher, Alonso accepts no opposition within his team. Ultimately he fell out with McLaren over their refusal in 2007 to bring Lewis Hamilton to heel. ?He returned to Renault on condition he was No.1, only to be at the centre of the Singapore cheat scandal - engineered to hand him victory. ?The Spaniard has always denied involvement but at the German GP in July he was brazen enough to radio Ferrari to rein in team-mate Felipe Massa so he could start the winning streak that has taken him to the brink of history.?
Source: http://blogs.espnf1.com/paperroundf1/archives/2010/10/alonso_the_new_favourite_1.php
Arrinera Automotive to introduce the world's first Polish supercar
For the most part, most of today’s supercars call the European continent their home. The growing trend of these high-powered machines has stretched far and wide in the continent with established countries like Germany, Italy, and the UK being joined in the supercar arms race by Sweden, Denmark, and Spain, among other countries.
Now you can add Poland to the mix.
The country best known for their polish sausages is set to introduce their very first supercar courtesy of Arrinera Automotive. The name for this Lamborghini-inspired beast hasn’t been announced yet, but Arrinera has nonetheless released a number of renderings to give us a first look on what to expect when this Polish hammer hits the streets in the future.
Initial details behind the car suggest that it will ride on a tubular steel chassis and will come with a carbon Kevlar body with plenty of carbon fiber, aluminum accents, and premium leather upholstery. It will glide along the streets with large diameter light alloy wheels wrapped around ultra low profile tires, 255/30 R19 at the front and 335/30 R20 at the rear. Stopping power will come from Ceramic brake discs.
As for the powertrain, there are whispers that it will come with a mid-mounted 6.2-liter V8 engine with four Eaton superchargers, producing an output of 638 horsepower and 604 lb/ft of torque.
More details on Poland’s first supercar after the jump.
Arrinera Automotive to introduce the world's first Polish supercar originally appeared on topspeed.com on Thursday, 26 May 2011 17:00 EST.
INDYCAR: Miller's Mailbag, 5.26
The Mailbag exploded this week with talk of the Indy 500, the Andretti/Foyt ride buying and plenty more.
Source: http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/indycar-millers-mailbag-5261/
Ernesto Brambilla Vittorio Brambilla Toni Branca Gianfranco Brancatelli
Thursday, 26 May 2011
Vettel on the streets
Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time of the first practice session in Monaco, beating Fernando Alonso at the last minute by a tenth of a second. Nico Rosberg was third for Mercedes, ahead of Felipe Massa and the two McLarens, with Lewis Hamilton ahead of Jenson Button. Pastor Maldonado was seventh in the Williams, ahead [...]
Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2011/05/26/vettel-on-the-streets/
Bob Anderson Conny Andersson Mario Andretti Michael Andretti
Aston Martin V12 Zagato Racer
We haven’t even gotten around to digesting the full breadth of the Aston Martin V12 Zagato and we’re already getting a close look at the race-spec version of the new Aston supercar. Or at least something like it.
In preparation for the car’s racing debut at the Nurburgring later this week, Aston Martin gave the eager public a first-hand look at the race-spec version of the V12 Zagato. It might only be a rendering of the car, but at the very least, it gives us an idea on what to expect when the car officially makes its track debut on May 28, 2011 at the 53rd ADAC ACAS H&R-Cup VLN race.
Judging from the rendering, the race-spec V12 Zagato looks pretty much like the street-version with a couple of notable additions, including the prominent rear wing, the table-top front lip, and the black wheels.
That’s as much as Aston is willing to share for now. But at least the wait won’t be that long before we see the race-spec version in the flesh. Good timing too, considering that the 24 Hours of Nurburgring is scheduled for June 25 and 26, 2011 and Aston Martin will be fielding two V12 Zagatos in the annual endurance race.
Aston Martin V12 Zagato Racer originally appeared on topspeed.com on Wednesday, 25 May 2011 16:00 EST.
Source: http://www.topspeed.com/cars/aston-martin/2011-aston-martin-v12-zagato-racer-ar110200.html
Zsolt Baumgartner Elie Bayol Don Beauman Karl Gunther Bechem
Williams seek to end cycle of decline
If the idea was to attract attention, Williams certainly succeeded. Choosing Mike Coughlan, one of two men at the heart of 2007's 'spy-gate' scandal, to spearhead your attempt to reverse a cycle of decline is guaranteed to get you headlines.
This, after all, is the man who, when he was employed as McLaren's chief designer, sent his wife to photocopy nearly 800 pages of Ferrari technical information in a local shop. Unsurprisingly, the assistant got suspicious, phoned Maranello, and the rest is history. McLaren were ultimately fined $100m and thrown out of that year's constructors' championship.
Coughlan was banned from F1 for two years and has filled his time since designing a vehicle for the army, working in the US-based Nascar stock-car series and, briefly, for the still-born Stefan Grand Prix team.
Now, though, he is back, following a decision by Williams to employ him as chief engineer in a reshuffle of their technical department aimed at recapturing the glory days of the third most successful team in F1 history.
As part of the changes, Sam Michael, who has been technical director for seven years, and chief aerodynamicist Jon Tomlinson have both resigned, although they will stay in their current roles until the end of the year.
And in perhaps the most significant change of all, Williams co-founder Patrick Head will retire from his role as director of engineering later this year, although he will remain involved in both the F1 team and specific other Williams sister companies as a shareholder and board member.
Head is one of the most experienced and widely respected men in F1 so, for the many both inside and outside F1 who care about whether this iconic team can recapture at least some of their past form, his continued involvement is reassuring.
As these changes have made clear, though, those hopes can no longer be invested in Head or even, to some degree, team founder and owner Sir Frank Williams, who formed one of the most remarkable partnerships in F1 history.
The man who has been given the reins is the chairman Adam Parr, who was formally named as the man in charge of the day-to-day running of Williams last summer.
The wheels have been coming off at Williams for some time. Photo: Getty
Since then, Parr and the seven-man Williams board have certainly been ringing the changes.
The first was the decision to drop the promising German Nico Hulkenberg, who impressed increasingly in the course of his debut season in 2010, and replace him with Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado.
Judging by their careers so far, Maldonado is not Hulkenberg's equal on ability, but he came with a sizeable and lengthy sponsorship deal from his country's state oil company.
The decision to hire him, then, was an effective admission that long gone were the days of Williams being successful enough to choose their drivers on merit and let their performance on track deliver the necessary sponsorship resources. That particular equation had been reversed by the tide of declining results.
A second controversial decision was floating the team on the Frankfurt stock exchange, making it effectively the only F1 team to be a publicly listed company - although of course Mercedes and Ferrari are indirectly listed through their parent companies.
It has not gone especially well so far. The shares fell on their first day of trading and recently had lost a third of their value. They rebounded, though, on Tuesday following the news of the changes at the team.
The fact that there was a resurgence is interesting in itself - it's not necessarily what you would expect in the context of a decision to employ a man at the centre of one of the two biggest scandals in F1 over the last four years.
But while Coughlan's return was certainly a surprise to many in F1, perhaps that reflects an essential truth about his appointment, one voiced by Williams and Parr themselves. Spy-gate was a long time ago, he has served his punishment, it is probably time to move on.
That certainly seems to be McLaren's view of the matter. "The events that led to our decision to terminate Mike's contract occurred nearly four years ago," a spokesman told BBC Sport. "He's an experienced engineer and Williams are a famous team which we would all like to see recover to better fortunes."
The reshuffle at Williams follows the worst start to a season in the team's history, with drivers Rubens Barrichello and Maldonado failing to score points in the first three races. But unacceptable as that was, as Williams have themselves described it, what really prompted the changes was the difference between on-track performance and pre-season expectation.
For a number of years now, Williams have started each F1 season proclaiming that their new car was the one that would deliver a return to form. The difference in 2011 was that this time they really believed it.
The new FW33 is quite a radical design, featuring a remarkably small gearbox, the intention of which was to free up as much airflow as possible to what is now the critical area at the bottom of the rear wing.
"This year, we really thought we'd come out fighting," said the team's head of communications, Claire Williams, Frank's daughter, on Wednesday. "We thought we had the potential for more podiums only to find the reality was we had regressed further. After however many years, that wasn't acceptable any more."
In the short to medium term, it is Coughlan who has been charged with turning the team's fortunes around. The 52-year-old is to be considered for Michael's soon-to-be-vacant role. And even if they ultimately appoint someone else as technical director, Coughlan is responsible for next year's car and will clearly remain a key figure in the technical department for some years to come.
He is a man of vast experience - he has been in F1 since 1984 and has worked for Lotus, Benetton, Ferrari, Arrows and McLaren. He is regarded as very bright, enthusiastic and hard-working, even if he is, as someone said to me on Wednesday, "not exactly Adrian Newey".
That was a bit harsh. Newey, the man responsible for Red Bull's current period of domination, is a genius, one of the greatest engineers in F1 history. The problem for all the other F1 teams is that he is one of a kind. But you can see why the comparison was made - their shared history means it is Newey's shadow that hangs heaviest over Williams.
The team's spell at the very top of F1 ended with his departure for McLaren. The final car he had an influence on, the 1997 FW19, was the last Williams to win a title. And they have never been the same since.
Frank Williams has admitted that letting Newey go, not acceding to his demands for more involvement in the running of the team, was his biggest mistake. But expecting a return to those days, of the fastest car in F1, of seasons - entire eras - of domination, is a pipe dream, as Parr himself admits.
When I asked him on the eve of the season why Williams had not won a race since 2004, he turned the question back at me. "Let's just switch it around," he said. "Why would you expect Williams to beat Ferrari?"
It was a fair point. Years of lack of performance have produced a vicious circle of decline. Lack of results makes it harder to attract the best drivers and sponsors with big money. Lack of resources makes it even harder to produce a winning car. And not being able to attract a man who can transcend it - a Hamilton, an Alonso - makes the results even more elusive. So it goes on.
Even Barrichello's vast experience and highly regarded technical ability, which was instrumental in helping Williams recover from a poor start last year, has not helped them produce a competitive car in 2011.
Coughlan's job, then, is not to return Williams to its previous heights, but to restore respectability, get them back on an even keel. Only then can they think again about going further.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2011/05/williams_look_for_way_out_of_c.html
Wednesday, 25 May 2011
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