Market Cars

McLaren LM5 Artists rendering

After revealing pictures and details of its first project the MP4-12C, McLaren Automotive confirmed a second and a third car were being planned. The MP4-12C would be the middle child, leaving space below and above. It's in the latter segment that Coventry University graduate Matt Williams got hooked on.

By recalling the old McLaren F1, Williams made the connection strong between his concept and the original. For instance he kept the three-seat layout with a central driver's seat and the rest on either side behind him. The three sports seats were designed from a racing style point of view with a slim profile and four-point harnesses. McLaren's Formula One heritage was not ignored as the multifunction steering wheel has a display for the tachometer and the lightweight chassis is of a carbon fibre construction.

Again, as a hark to the 1992 master copy the designer saw it fit to rekindle the BMW-McLaren relationship as far as the engine goes. Instead of an "in-house" motor the M5/ M6 V10 is preferred, also mounted mid-ship. Depending on the application a 5.0-litre naturally aspirated V10 can get around 515kW (700hp) so the choice is not a bad one, although the real thing would use a McLaren-developed powerplant.

Posted on Tuesday, January 19, 2010 / 0 nhận xét / Read More

Ferrari 430 Scuderia GT3 Classic STP Livery Adorns

The classic STP livery, made famous by Richard Petty and NASCAR, will now appear on something a bit more eloquent. Esseng, England, racing team Chad Racing will be running a Ferrari 430 Scuderia GT3 in the famous blue-and-red during the British GT Championship.

Chad Racing ran the 430 Scuderia during last year's British GT calendar, with Chris Hyman behind the wheel. Hyman returns for the '10 season, along with 18-year-old sensation Daniel Brown. In his rookie race last year, Brown managed to capture the checkered flag, also taking the crown one race later. Autosport called him the "driver find of the seasaon."

Brown finished 10th overall last year in points, while 46-year-old Chris Hyman ended in a tie for 17th. "It's great to have such an iconic brand as STP with us, and we are confident that the Daniel Brown/Chris Hyman line-up in our new 430 Scuderia will mount a serious challenge at the front of the GT3 field this year," said team manager Piers Masarati.

The 14 races of the 2010 British GT Championship season will take place over eight dates, beginning in April at Oulton Park.

Posted on Monday, January 18, 2010 / 0 nhận xét / Read More

Volkswagen set for podium clean sweep

Volkswagen looks set to make a clean sweep of the top three positions in the 2010 Dakar, as the “World’s Toughest Race” enters its final stage from San Rafael to Buenos Aires, the finish point. In the overall lead after 13 stages is VW’s former WRC champion Carlos Sainz, but he’s only leading teammate Nasser Al-Attiyah by just two minutes and 48 seconds. American Mark Miller looks to have secured the final podium spot – he is over 31 minutes behind Sainz but almost two hours ahead of Stephane Peterhansel, the highest placed X-Raid BMW driver in fourth.

The penultimate stage was won by nine-time Dakar winner Peterhansel. With that, the Frenchman has won four stages in this year’s race, extending his record of stage victories to 55. The relatively smooth and fast wrap up stage will start today evening in South America.

Posted on Monday, January 18, 2010 / 0 nhận xét / Read More

2010 FIA GT1 spec Nissan GT-R finds customers

This is the GT1 Spec Nissan GT-R that will run in the 2010 FIA GT World Championship. The GT-R will race in the top tier GT1 class along the likes of the Maserati MC 12, Corvette Z06, Ford GT and Saleen SR7 (GT2 class features lower powered cars like the Ferrari F430, Porsche 911 GT3 RS and Aston V8 Vantage). Nismo campaigned a GT-R last year, but Nissan’s motorsports outfit has found two customer teams for 2010 – Sumo Power GT (UK) and Swiss Racing Team. The season starts in April at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit.

The 2010 spec GT1 GT-R is powered by a 5,552cc V8 engine with 600 bhp (the regulation limit) and “over 650Nm” of torque. Power goes to the rear wheels via a six-speed transaxle gearbox. The race car only weighs 1250 kg, so you can imagine the performance of offer even though Nissan doesn’t give any figures. Brakes have six-piston calipers with carbon discs and pads all round.