Ferrari Gives Up on 2011 Championship to Prepare Next Year’s Car

Truth to be said, Scuderia Ferrari had a bad start in the F1 season this year. Nevertheless, changes to the personnel and, more importantly, to the Ferrari F1 car's aerodynamic package gradually improved its pace considerably, yielding a win in Great Britain and four podium finishes for Fernando Alonso.
But even with Felippe Massa saying that nothing's over and Luca di Montezemolo claiming that he expects more wins in 2011, team principal Stefano Domenicali revealed to the Telegraph that the Scuderia will stop developing this year’s car in September.
From this point on, Ferrari will concentrate all of its resources on next year’s car. And, given Red Bull’s huge points advantage, no one can really blame them.
“OK, if you have to do some fine tuning you can do it. But otherwise you will lose a lot of time on development of the new car. The more time we can spend on the wind tunnel the better” said Domenicali. “What I really want to avoid is another difficult winter like the last two years," he added.

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Ferrari's Montezemolo Expects More Wins this Season

Ferrari president, Luca di Montezemolo, has stated that he expects the Scuderia to win more races this season. And this despite the fact that in the 11 first races of the year they have won only once, with Fernando Alonso in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Alonso lies fourth at the Drivers’ championship and his teammate Fernando Massa sixth, trailing championship leader Sebastian Vettel by 89 and 164 points respectively with just eight races remaining. In the Constructors’ championship, Ferrari is in third position, with 215 points, trailing Red Bull (383) and McLaren (280).
Still, di Montezemolo came out with a positive mood after a meeting with team principal Stefano Domenicali, technical director Pat Fry and engine boss Luca Marmorini:
“I can see the right spirit in the team after a very difficult start to the season. Domenicali and his crew seem very determined, concentrating on their tasks for the second part of the year which I am sure will feature Ferrari in the role of a key player. I expect we will pick up wins to add to the historically very significant victory achieved at Silverstone”.
Ferrari’s boss does have a point since the 150 Italia seems to be much more competitive after recent aerodynamic changes, with Alonso being on the podium in the five of the last six races.
No one mentioned the championship, though. This, despite the fact that everything is still possible, seems to be going the way of Red Bull –unless McLaren and Lewis Hamilton can prove them wrong. But the Scuderia is satisfied with the progress after its worst start of the year in many seasons –and can surely play a big role in deciding the championships.

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McLaren Opens its First Two Dealerships

True to its original plan of expanding its dealer network throughout the world, McLaren Automotive today opened its first two dealerships in Germany in the cities of Düsseldorf and Hamburg just in time for the Formula 1 German Grand Prix this weekend.
These are the first dealerships to open after McLaren’s flagship showroom in London. They will be followed by two more in Munich and Frankfurt, while by the end of the year, 30 more showrooms in 19 countries in Europe, North America, the Middle East, South Africa, Australia and Japan will be added to the network.
Aside from the road version of the MP4-12C, every showroom will have a different competition model from McLaren’s rich racing history.
In Hamburg, the car on display will be the MP4/6 with which the late Ayrton Senna won his third, and final, Formula 1 world championship in 1991, while the Dusseldorf dealership will play host to the MP4/5 that won the 1989 title with Alain Prost.

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Über Rare Porsche 911 GT1 Straßenversion

It might not be the prettiest Porsche to look at, but the 911 GT1 Straßenversion is without doubt one of the most rare and radical street legal 911s ever to leave the Stuttgart firm’s factory.
You see, the 911 GT1 Straßenversion is the fully road-legal version of Porsche’s 1997 GT1 race car, While based on the 993, it features many modifications including a bespoke carbon-fiber body made to improve aerodynamics and lower the car's weight, and a detuned version of the competition model’s turbocharged flat-six engine delivering some 540 horses.
And now, one of the very few examples that were built to homologate Porsche's 911 GT1 contender in the late 1990s (Porsche is said to have built around 20 cars) is up for sale on a German site with an asking price of €1.2 million or about US$1.7 million.
Notably, the seller says the car is located in Tokyo, Japan, but will deliver anywhere, and that the car’s engine is rated at 700-horses.

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BMW M3 Coupe Racer Concept

New DTM racing cars are like public transportation: you wait for ages and then , all of a sudden, three or four buses appear at the same time. Just yesterday we posted Audi’s new entry into the German Touring Car Championshipor, as it’s more commonly known, DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters). Today, BMW pulled the wraps off its new own DTM racer based on the coupe version of M3.

And mind you, unlike Audi, BMW revealed the M3 in the flesh clad in carbon fiber and looking quite menacing with its matte paint, flared wheel arches and aerodynamic package.

This isn’t the final form of the racer as BMW Motorsport’s engineers will hone it for its 2012 premiere. Set to debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, it is powered by a 480HP V8 built according to the racing series’ new regulations.

This is the first time that BMW will officially participate in the DTM series since its departure in 1994.

“The DTM comeback sees BMW return to its roots” said member of the board Dr. Klaus Draeger. “We will be facing our main competitors in the premium sector and we are looking forward to this challenge. We have enjoyed great success in the past, and I am convinced we will follow on in 2012 where we left off”.

BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen commented:

"The entire team at BMW Motorsport is approaching this exciting project with absolute commitment. We began making technical preparations following our declaration of intent in April, and established parameters for a high-performance vehicle concept for deployment in the DTM. The positive decision of the BMW Board of Management means we can now shift up a gear and give the green light for development."

Now we’ll have to wait for Mercedes’ competitor which will, more than likely, be based on the brand new C-Class Coupe. This three-way battle between the German premium automakers’ pumped-up coupes should be quite interesting to watch.

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New Audi A5 Coupe DTM Racing Concept

Get excited DTM fans because there’s a new kid coming to town. We’re talking about Audi’s freshly revealed A5 Coupe racecar, internally named “R17,” that will replace the four-door A4 with which Audi has conquered the DTM title four times since 2004.

Ingolstadt’s new touring model is based on the facelifted A5 Coupe that was presented earlier this week and it complies with the new technical and safety regulations that will come in effect in the German touring model championship next year.

The new Audi A5 DTM sports a high-strength carbon-fiber monocoque combined with a steel tube cage. The racing model adopts the current A4 DTM’s V8 engine with some minor changes and an output or around 460-horses. A six-speed transmission will continue to be used as well.

For now, Audi has shared a trio of renderings of the A5 DTM but we’ll get the chance to see the real thing at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show in September.

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VIDEO: Bugatti Veyron Super Sport at Goodwood

There’s nothing faster, short of a Formula 1 car, than a Bugatti Veyron, right? In particular, a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport boasting a 1,200HP quad-turbocharged 16-cylinder engine, four-wheel drive tech and a 258 mph (415 km/h) top speed. Whoever is behind its wheel must feel invincible, right?

Well, actually, no. A few days ago, at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, a Veyron Super Sport that was ready to begin its climb up the hill pulled over and let another car start first. What car was that?

A bright yellow Hennessey Venom GT with 1,200HP and a 0-200 mph (0-320 km/h) time of just 15.9 seconds. Watch the in-car video past the jump as the Venom GT tackles the hill climb.

VIDEO

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Siemoneit Racing’s VW Golf R Black Pearl

While VW’s 270-horsepower Golf R hatchback is hardly underpowered, the engineers over at the German tuning firm Siemoneit Racing felt like it could use some extra ponies.

Siemoneit Racing calls its tuned VW Golf R the ‘Black Pearl’for obvious reasons- and it offers customers a choice of two performance packages. The first boosts the 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine’s output from 270HP and 320Nm to 355-horses and 485Nm (357.7 lb-ft) through thanks to the updated ECU software, custom exhaust and a new air intake system.

The second and more comprehensive package transforms the Golf R into a 530-horsepower monster by further tweaking the engine software, and adding a larger turbocharger, a new intercooler and a different exhaust system.

Other available options include a lightweight hood made out of carbon fiber.

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Red Bull Takes the Front Row in Qualifying with Webber in Pole Position

The unpredictable weather conditions made the qualifying of the British Grand Prix something of a gamble, and the teams weather forecasts were expecting rain during the final session. So everyone made sure that they got out quickly in order to set a fast time before it started to rain again.

Once again Sebastian Vettel was the man to beat, setting a provisional pole. But this was not to last as his team mate, Mark Webber, recorded a fastest lap just seconds later beating Vettel by just 0.032 seconds.

Behind the Red Bull-occupied front row were the two Ferraris. Third place went to Fernando Alonso, who was just 0.1 seconds slower than Vettel and fourth to Felipe Massa, with the Scuderia obviously very happy with the progress they have made.

Jenson Button’s McLaren was fifth, but his team mate Lewis Hamilton couldn’t manage anything better than 10th place in his home Grand Prix. The surprise of the day was the performance of Paul di Resta, who in his rookie period brought his Force India to the sixth place of the grid.

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2012 Range Rover Sport

After the introduction of the updated Discovery 4, Land Rover released details on its 2012 Range Rover Sport that features similar mechanical changes and equipment upgrades for the new model year.

As with the Discover 4, the Range Rover Sport’s more powerful 3.0-liter SDV6 diesel engine receives a 10HP boost lifting output from 245-horses to 256HP and is now mated to Land Rover’s new ZF 8HP70, 8-speed automatic gearbox. As a result, CO2 emissions have been reduced from 243g/km to 230g/km while combined fuel economy has improved from 30.7mpg to 32.1mpg UK.

Along with the new 8-speed transmission, the Range Rover Sport SDV6 now comes equipped with the 'Drive Select' rotary gear shift and steering wheel-mounted paddle shift.

Thanks to a low-flow fuel injection system, CO2 emissions for the entry level 211-horsepower diesel engine have been reduced from 243g/km to 224g/km.

The range-topping 5.0-liter supercharged V8 gasoline engine remains unchanged for 2012, continuing to deliver 510-horses and a 0-60mph (96km/h) sprint time of 5.9 seconds.

Other changes to the 2012 Range Rover Sport include new colors for the exterior and interior trims, a restyled powered single piece tailgate that is standard across the range, enhanced audio and infotainment systems and a next generation 7-inch touch-screen that is available with optional Dual View technology.

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