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2007-06-28: Supercar Thursday: New Nissan GT-R, Aston DBS, Caparo T1 and much more ...
One of the Goodwood Festival of Speed's biggest accomplishments is that many supercar manufacturers feel it is important enough to debut brand new machines in the 'Supercar Run'. This weekend we witnessed another development as Nissan took this opportunity to preview the GT-R to be officially launched in October at the Tokyo Motorshow. Still wearing camouflage, the Skyline R34 replacement did look very similar to the GT-R concept launched two years ago. Quite in contrast with the high tech Nissan was the very minimalistic Concept Climax. Designed and built by two design graduates, this nimble roadster was completed with just hours to spare, but was still one of the highlights of the weekend. Previewed in the latest James Bond film, Aston Martin now showed the production ready version of the DBS V12. It is based on the DB9 with a lower weight and a more powerful engine. Also making its public debut at Goodwood was the Caparo T1. The specification has now been finalized and the manufacturer promises a 0-60 mph time of 2.5 seconds courtesy of a very low weight and a high revving V8 engine.
Both powered by a supercharged 600+ bhp V8 engine, the Mosler MT900SC and the Roush GT 600RE were among the most impressive machines to run up the hill. Forced induction is also key in the performance of the quirky GB Roadster Turbo, which is based on the German Yes Roadster. |
2007-06-26: Goodwood Festival of Speed report and slideshow ...
This past weekend Lord March hosted the prestigious Goodwood Festival of Speed for the fifteenth time. This unique celebration of motorsport brings out the best racing cars and drivers of the present and the past. What makes the Festival really special is that the visitors can get close enough to both the cars and drivers to touch; something that is unthinkable in most top-class racing these days. It has proven to be a very successful formula as in the past years all tickets sold out in advance and this year was no exception. The 150,000 spectators were treated to a plethora of historic and modern racing cars, five of the six Bugatti Royales and several world debuts. The most interesting of these new releases was the sneak preview of the upcoming Nissan Skyline GT-R. Still wearing camouflage it was driven up the hill at an impressive pace. A real highlight for the many British visitors was the first appearance of Lewis Hamilton on home soil after taking Formula 1 by force in the last few months. He was joined by too many highly successful drivers and racing cars to mention.
Barely recovered from the Le Mans weekend, our photographers travelled to beautiful south English countryside to capture this marvelous gathering in its entirety. Shot under rain and shine, they have produced a mouth-watering 230-image slideshow, to illustrate a 2000-word report. |
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2007-06-19: 24 Hours of Le Mans report and slideshow ...
All eyes were on the legendary Le Mans circuit this weekend as it hosted the 75th annual 24 Hours race. For the first time in many years, the reigning champs Audi were challenged by a proper manufacturer and many followers had high hopes for a close race. Peugeot themselves talked down the expectations and to show they felt they were not ready to take the win, they only painted half of their 908s. Another highly anticipated battle was the fight between the Astons and Corvettes for GT1 glory. The race proved to be very harsh on men and machines with a large number of retirements. Among them were two of the Audis and one of the Peugeots, leaving just one of each to race for the win. One of the Works Corvettes also retired early, making the life of the three factory Astons just a little easier. Things were further complicated by the changing weather conditions, which at times caused parts of the 13.6 km track to be soaking wet, while other bits were completely dry. As always a huge crowd flocked to the track partly to see the race and partly to just have a good time. Among them was our photographer Wouter Melissen, who spent many hours of the race trackside to capture all the action. He has put his thoughts in a in-depth 3200-word report and the best 200 images in a mouthwatering and exclusive slideshow. |
2007-06-13: Porsche 936: a three times Le Mans winner up close ...
Today the cars went out on track for the first of two qualifying sessions; the perfect time to look into Le Mans� rich past once more. For this feature we go back in time thirty years when the legendary 24 Hours race saw one of its most remarkable come-backs. The eventual winner fell back to 41st position after it was struck by mechanical problems early in the race. An exceptional drive by Le Mans legend Jacky Ickx brought the sports racer back in condition and his team took the chequered flag first. The 1977 winning machine was the Porsche 936, which a year earlier had claimed the first ever turbo win at Le Mans. A third win in 1981 ensured that each of the three 936s manufactured by Porsche has a Le Mans win on its tally. This is an amazing feat for any racer and considering the origin of many of the 936�s parts it�s even more special. The flat 6 turbocharged engine and open body were brand new, whereas the chassis was carried over from the old 908/3 and the gearbox came straight out of the 917. This was no doubt inspired by Porsche�s many privateers like Kremer and Joest, who installed the new engine in their seasoned 908 racers in 1975. The German company has always had a very special relationship with these customers, and in 1979 Joest was entrusted with the car�s blueprints and allowed to produce a fourth 936. This car was no slouch either and finished second at Le Mans in 1980 and third (behind two other 936s) in 1981.
This rarely mentioned machine is highlighted here with an in-depth article and a 18-shot gallery with shots of the 1977 winning car and the Joest 936. |
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2007-06-11: 24 Hours of Le Mans preview and Zytek 04S ...
Today is the start of the very busy race week leading up to this year's edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Even though Le Mans has long achieved legendary status, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest continue to make improvements for the participants and the fans. For 2007 the biggest changes for the competitors are the addition of five pit boxes and a completely revised and much quicker Tertre Rouge corner. The fans around the track will be treated to additional screens and the 'Leader Light' system on the cars, both of which will make following the action on track a little easier. And it safe to say there will be plenty of action with all competitors in all classes very closely matched. The big fight will no doubt be between Audi and Peugeot for the overall win, but the GT1 class should provide even more excitement with eight to ten potential winners. We will be at the track for qualifying and the race and will report on the race early next week. To get you in the mood we have compiled a complete preview of the race with a description of the favourites in each class, a fully illustrated entry-list and a mouth-watering 150-shot slideshow.
We do not just look ahead today, but also like to use this opportunity to highlight one of the fastest and beautiful prototype racers of recent years. Dubbed the Zytek 04S, the elegant racer first took to the track in 2004 and immediately impressed thanks to its blistering one-lap performance. The following year the pole positions were converted and the 04S scored two LMES and one ALMS win. One of these cars is still active and has won the most recent JLMC race at Sugo. Both cars built are pictured during the 2004 and 2005 seasons in a 30-shot gallery. |
2007-06-06: Aston Martin's and Ferrari's 1959 Le Mans rivals ...
For the first time in many years, the 24 Hours of Le Mans will be disputed again by two evenly matched factory teams with reigning champs Audi going head to head with Peugeot next week. The lack of any serious competition for Audi was highly unusual when looking at Le Mans' rich history of multiple big name manufacturers dicing it out. One of such occasions was the 1959 edition where Ferrari and Aston Martin were the major contenders. Ferrari were the favourites and Aston Martin had sacrificed most of the season to finally get that elusive Le Mans win. They succeeded by using the the turtle and hare tactic with Stirling Moss racing off in the distance, forcing the Ferraris to run too fast, which proved detrimental to the Italians' new gearboxes. Moss, as usual, retired, but the other two Aston Martins cruised to a one-two finish; Aston Martin's only win.
Building up to this year's racing, we would like to take a closer look at that Le Mans winning Aston Martin DBR1 and its Italian rival. Among the three featured DBR1s is the actual Le Mans winning chassis, which is the single most successful Aston Martin racing car ever built. In the hours before this year's 24 Hours, Sir Stirling Moss will drive this very car in the Legends race. Ferrari's weapon of choice in 1959 was the 250 TR59; a heavily revised version of the original Testa Rossa with disc brakes and a five speed gearbox. It was this new gearbox that proved to be the car's Achilles heel. The two featured examples did start the season off on a high for Ferrari with a 1-2 at Sebring, but in the end they could not prevent from Aston winning Le Mans and the 24 Hours. Aston Martin and Ferrari will be represented next week in the two GT classes where they face strong competition from the Corvettes and Porsches respectively. |
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2007-06-04: Fangio's Sebring winner, fresh new cars, Creation's new Le Mans racer ...
For many enthusiasts the classic Ferrari is synonymous with the high revving V12 engine, but the Italian manufacturer actually tried many different configurations and often with great success. One of the most successful 'alternatives' was a four cylinder engine that brought them two F1 World Championships and the 1956 sportscar championship. The racer of choice that season was the 860 Monza, powered by a 3.5 litre "four". The pictured example is the one used by Juan Manuel Fangio and Eugenio Castellotti to win the 1956 Sebring 12 Hours race.
After a very quiet few weeks, automotive news began to trickle in again last week. One of the most interesting things to hit our desk were design drawings of the Ginetta G50. The completed car will be launched in 2008 as part of the manufacturer's fiftieth anniversary celebrations. Also launched as part of a celebration is the Rolls Royce Phantom Silver, built to commemorate the launch of the legendary Silver Ghost model a century ago. Yesterday the 55 entrants of this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans had their first and only opportunity to test on the 13.6 km long track before qualifying starts next week. Almost all of the cars there were familiar and have their own feature on Ultimatecarpage.com The exception was the brand new Creation CA07, which made its debut. Sadly it did not yet sport its much anticipated art-car design, which will be used for the first time in the race week. This feature is the unofficial kick-off of our Le Mans coverage, as you can expect many of the updates in the next week to focus on the most legendary endurance race highlighted by a colourful preview and a full race report. |
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