Autoblog

Watch Genki Hagata pull off the world's greatest motorcycle save

Zach Bowman — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Etc., Videos, Motorcycle

We officially have a new motorcycle hero. Genki Hagata rolled his Yamaha YZF-R6 out onto the track during the second AMA Pro Supersport qualifying session at Sears Point recently. Partway through his out-lap, the bike lost traction in the rear before abruptly regaining it. We likely don't need to tell you that scenario almost always results in a one-way ticket off of the saddle in a not-so-glorious highside. But not for Hagata. The racer exhibited nothing less than super-human strength by clamping onto the handlebars and holding on for dear life.

Miraculously, it worked. After the bike settled down, Hagata managed to cling to the machine as it rode upright until he was able to fling himself back into the saddle. The guy's efforts kept the Yamaha off of the asphalt, but cost him a spot on the grid. Hagata missed the cut-off by a few tenths of a second. Still, we haven't seen heroics like this in a long spell. Scroll down to check it out for yourself.

Continue reading Watch Genki Hagata pull off the world's greatest motorcycle save

Watch Genki Hagata pull off the world's greatest motorcycle save originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 16 May 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

DTM champ Mattias Ekström swaps tin-tops for NASCAR

Noah Joseph — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 07:59:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports

If we've said it once, we've said it a thousand times, but it warrants repeating - in context especially - that there exists an ocean of difference between stock car racing in America and touring cars overseas. And we're talking about more than geography here. The cars are different, the tracks are different, the drivers, the fans... and so too is the racing. But the two are about to take one step closer when two-time DTM champion Mattias Ekström takes on NASCAR.

Now Ekstrom wouldn't be the first European driver to test drive a stock car, but he's already done that. What we're talking about here is the full contest of an actual NASCAR race (made possibly by Red Bull, which sponsors his Audi A4 DTM and the #83 Toyota Camry he'll be driving Stateside). And not in a feeder series, either: the Toyota/Save Mart 350 is a full-fledged round of the top-tier Sprint Cup, not the Nationwide Series, Camping World Truck Series or ARCA junior league like some European drivers have started out with when making the transition.

Mind you, the race is being held at Infineon Raceway (formerly known as Sears Point) in Sonoma, California - one of only two road-courses on the series calendar - but the round at the Lausitzring EuroSpeedway (run partially on the banked tri-oval) ranks among the fourteen DTM races which Ekström's won, so he very well might stand a fighting chance on an American oval, too. In the meantime we'll be watching the weekend after next to see how Mattias fares in his auspicious NASCAR debut. Details in the press release after the jump.

[Source: Audi]

Continue reading DTM champ Mattias Ekström swaps tin-tops for NASCAR

DTM champ Mattias Ekström swaps tin-tops for NASCAR originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 09 Jun 2010 07:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

eBay Find of the Day: Ex-Gurney 1969 Shelby Trans Am Mustang Boss 302

Zach Bowman — Wed, 26 May 2010 11:29:00 EST

Filed under: Classics, Coupe, Auctions, Ford, Racing

Dan Gurney's 1969 Ford Mustang Boss 302 Trans-Am - Click above for image gallery

Here's your chance to lay your hands on a piece of muscle car history. One of Dan Gurney's 1969 Ford Mustang Boss 302 racecars is up for bid on eBay Motors with a chilly Buy it Now price of $1.1 million. The car campaigned in a number of race series, but the biggest feather in its cap is that it helped Ford secure the silver in the 1969 Trans-Am manufacturer championship. According to the listing, this particular example was the prototype for the rest of the Trans-Am Mustangs driven that year, and it was built for Caroll Shelby's team by Kar Kraft.

Gurney whipped the car around the track at Kent and used it for practice at Sears Point, but Peter Revson piloted the Boss to its best finish of the '69 season - fourth at Laguna Seca. After Shelby walked away from the Trans Am series, the Ford spent some time as a wind-tunnel test car and made its way around a variety of race circuits, nabbing an SCCA Championship along the way. In 2003, it was restored to its 1969 configuration in concourse condition, complete with a 527 horsepower 302 under the hood.

The auction includes a mountain of documentation, including signed letters of authenticity from Carroll Shelby himself, Kar Kraft engineering drawings and a stack of period photos of the car going fender to fender. Hit eBay Motors to check it out.

Gallery: Dan Gurney's 1969 Ford Mustang Boss 302 Trans-Am

[Source: eBay Motors]

eBay Find of the Day: Ex-Gurney 1969 Shelby Trans Am Mustang Boss 302 originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 26 May 2010 11:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Penske Racing: to Infineon and Beyond (SPOILER ALERT)

Noah Joseph — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 09:57:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports

Click above image for high-res gallery of Grand Prix of Sonoma

Motor racing is, of course, highly competitive, and the logistics highly complicated. The higher the level of racing, the more competitive and the more complicated. But racing fans expect to see it duked out on the track, not on the way there. That's why it was so disappointing when the transporter carrying Penske's Indy racing team to Infineon (formerly known as Sears Point) in Sonoma, California, went up in flames on the interstate.

For any other team, even a lesser incident would have called the curtain on their race weekend. But as we reported on Thursday, Penske has a history of turning adverse circumstances like these into victory. Was the team able to perpetuate the legacy, or did it succumb to the circumstances? For the sake of those who have this past weekend's Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma County cued up on TiVo, we'll keep the results after the jump. Follow along to read on.

Gallery: IndyCar Series Grand Prix of Sonoma

Continue reading Penske Racing: to Infineon and Beyond (SPOILER ALERT)

Penske Racing: to Infineon and Beyond (SPOILER ALERT) originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 26 Aug 2008 09:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

The barrage continues: GTR caught testing at Infineon/Sears Point

Frank Filipponio — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 14:03:00 EST

Filed under: Spy Photos, Nissan

Have we overdone the GT-R coverage yet? We didn't think so, either. This is a pretty hotly anticipated player in the sports/GT segment and we can't get enough of it. After discovering a new GT-R on California's freeways recently, the spy photogs decided to give chase and ended up driving all the way to Sonoma. The Nissan team was apparently headed to Infineon Raceway at Sear's Point to dial in the new super Skyline for final production tire and wheel specs. The Edmund's team reports that the turbo all-wheel-drive Nissan was unofficially clocked as running within tenths of a second of the 997 Turbo Porsche the group had brought along for comparison. Turbo performance at Carrera prices? Sounds good to us. Plenty of pics and even some video available by following the read link.

[Source: Edmund's Straightline]

Related Posts:

The barrage continues: GTR caught testing at Infineon/Sears Point originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 15 Feb 2007 14:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments