Autoblog

click above for more high-res pics of the Williams FW30

Things have gotten a bit foggy over at Williams F1. The once front-running, championship-winning grand prix team has landed on tough times. This year the team opted against holding a glitzy unveiling event like those held recently by Ferrari, McLaren, Toyota and BMW Sauber, and instead focused its energies on developing its new car, the FW30. It seemed like a strange choice for the team that will be celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and during the season will mark its 500th grand prix and 50,000th racing lap.

But while the team isn't holding an official unveiling, it has whipped up six special paint schemes to celebrate its milestones this year. (We doubt any of them will be as cool as Aston Martin's new-old Gulf livery, but hopefully they'll be better than Honda's tree-hugging paint scheme.) The first time the motorsport press got a glimpse of the new FW30 was yesterday at the Valencia track where the new car was being put through its paces.

Renault was also supposed to take out the R28, the new chariot it has developed for returning former champion Fernando Alonso, but the fog kept them indoors. Honda is scheduled to unveil its new car later this week, as well. Williams, for its part, is hoping the new FW30, powered under contract by Toyota and driven by Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima, will perform and be reliable enough to get it back on the track to its former winning form.

[Source: Autosport, Photo by DIEGO TUSON/AFP/Getty]

Click image to view in high resolution

With revenues and attendance declining, Merlbourne's Albert Park circuit is in danger of losing the Australian Grand Prix to another venue Down Under, but the organizers aren't giving up without a fight. With cash from title sponsor ING, which has been pouring big bucks into its F1 sponsorship program, the 2008 Australian Grand Prix is gearing up to be a huge spectacle that will include a V8 Supercars race and even a two-hour KISS concert in addition to the headline Formula One contest. Now the organizers have added another supporting event that will mark the first time the Fiat 500 will be raced.

The race-prepped retro-minis will be the car of choice for the Celebrity Challenge, which pits local Australian celebrities against each other on the race track. Although no information has been provided on what sort of race preparation the Fiats will undergo for the event, we wouldn't expect the modifications to go far beyond basic safety equipment, like a roll cage and racing buckets with competition harnesses visible in the photos.

In addition to being the 500's racing debut, the event will also mark the car's unveiling for Australia and New Zealand, as well as the debut of the right-hand-drive version of the tiny Fiat.

Scheduling conflicts between the Grand Prix and the V8 Supercars series were reconciled to allow the two races to take place together, while race officials denied rumors that they were intent on following Singapore's lead in changing the Australian Grand Prix to a flood-lit night race.

Check out the images in the high-resolution gallery below, and the full press release after the jump.

[Source: ING Australian Grand Prix via World Car Fans]

It's no big deal, really, just an eensy weensy potential short circuit in the ABS/Stability control system. A seal on the hardware that the ABS and ESP systems share can allow water infiltration, which leads to electrical maladies. A mass self-immolation of 307s would be rather unseemly, so Peugeot has recalled roughly 240,000 of the vehicles built between 2003 and 2006. Letters have gone out to owners beckoning about 60 percent of the 2 million total 307's sold to come back before there's legions of weeping former 307CC drivers stumbling back home.

[Source: Automotive News - sub req]

We first told you about a little Italian company called Gioielli Circuiti a bit over a year ago. The jewelers craft necklaces and other sparkly things in the shape of race tracks around the world, all decked-out in diamonds, rubies and other precious stones.

Being the Italian racing fans they so evidently are, Circuiti couldn't have their national circuit get the same respect as all the others. And so the jewelers are offering the Monza "Pole Position" bracelet, featuring white diamonds, black diamonds and rubies on a white gold setting laid out in the outline of the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza.

The pictures are enough to tell that this must make for quite the dazzling tribute to the track and the race, but for €9000, you'd have to really love Monza. For the rest of us, Circuiti offers an array of pendants, cufflinks and such at a variety of price points. But if you're the kind for whom nine grand is pocket change and who watches the Monaco Grand Prix every year from a yacht in the Monte Carlo harbor with a delicate model on your arm, what else would look better on hers?

[Source: Gioielli Circuiti]

Valentino Balboni has one of the best jobs in the world. When at Maranello, the Ferrari F1 drivers lend a hand in ringing out the latest Italian stallions. Over in Sant'Agata the job belongs to Balboni. He's been with the company since 1968, working his way up from mechanic's apprentice to his current role as chief test driver. The guy gets to drive Lamborghinis day in, day out...what more could you ask for?

Once in a while some lucky "civilian" gets the chance to ride shotgun with Balboni in the latest fire-snorting bull. This video was recorded from inside the cockpit of a Murcielago LP640 as Balboni gave his passenger what was certainly the ride of his life – tail out, foot to the floor as the Lambo drifted from corner to corner around the Bahrain race circuit. Hold on tight and follow the jump to catch the action.

Note: Due to the passenger/videographer repeatedly screaming obscenities during the lap, we wouldn't recommend watching as your boss looks over your shoulder.

[Source: YouTube]

Less is more when it comes to exotic sportscars. Less weight, that is. Enthusiasts know that taking extra weight out of a sportscar makes it go faster. No wonder, then, that the Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera that was unveiled last month at the Geneva show was such a hit.

Although Lamborghinis are decidedly built for the road, the results of the Gallardo's high-perfomance diet can best be seen (and heard) on the race track. This video comes courtesy of the Swedish Auto Motor & Sport, who took the new Superleggera out for a spin at the Phoenix International Raceway in Arizona. Follow the jump and turn up your speakers, 'cause this is one raging bull with a sweet sound.

Despite all the ongoing rumors of this country and that preparing bids for F1 czar Bernie Ecclestone, few of them are anywhere near that stage. As track designer Hermann Tilke has pointed out, many of the speculative locations lack circuits that would be ready to host grands prix.

Tilke has to his credit the designs of most of the new F1-spec race tracks around the world, including Malaysia, Bahrain, Istanbul and Shanghai.In addition to those, he's working on Abu Dhabi's. The overwhelming likelihood is that Tilke Engineering would be commissioned to draw up the plans for any new track if prospective organizers are serious about their F1 bids.

In an interview with British publication Autosport, Tilke said that Mexico, India, Russia, South Africa and Greece are a long way from making their Formula One dreams realities. Mexico, he says, is stalled with political problems, India and Russia are merely topics for discussion, plans for a return to South Africa are "dormant" and the Greek bid has "fizzled out." That leaves plenty of room for progress on each front, but then again, there are a lot of countries vying for Tilke's talents...and for Bernie's attention.

[Source: F1i]

It's claimed numerous lives and Niki Lauda's ears. It snakes through 22 kilometers of German countryside. It's been updated, modernized, even replaced. But the Nordschleife course of the formidable Nürburgring circuit in Germany is still the most famous – and infamous – track in the world. F1 have abandoned it years ago for a more modern track nearby, but the old Nordschleife is still used by enthusiasts driving anything with two wheels or four, and by manufacturers who aim to put their test mules through the paces.

This 22-minute wild ride covers the track's history while blitzing through each of its loops, bends, dips and straights. Along the way we get to visit with our old friend Sabine Schmitz, Queen on the Ring, and get an inside glimpse at a few options available for visitors looking to get the most out of the experience, including driving schools and the Ring Taxi.

We owe our thanks to BMW for producing this video, the first manufacturer to begin testing its road cars on the Ring and the only one that still tests every new model there.

[Source: BMW]

It's not scheduled to open before 2009, but we're already looking at flights to Abu Dhabi. (Yes, Abu Dhabi, that obscure place Garfield used to send Odie to.) Why? Well, because of a little project underway that'll do a lot to put the place on the map. The project we're talking about is Ferrari World, the high-octane theme park currently under construction in the small gulf emirate. We've reported on the project previously, but new reports suggest the park could now include a world-class F1-spec race track.

The circuit would accompany Ferrari World along with beaches, night clubs, restaurants, high-end stores, luxury hotels, premium condos, golf courses, two marinas, a polo field and equestrian facilities (for those other prancing horses), all on a 6000-acre plot on Yas Island, the largest isle in Abu Dhabi. The park will be linked by a ten-lane highway to the newly-expanded Abu Dhabi International Airport, facilitating the hoards of tourists the oil-rich royal family is anticipating will flock to this new destination.

Don't read too much into the addition of the racing circuit to the plans. While lower-rung racing events (touring cars, GP2, Champ Cars) could be held there, Bahrain has a multi-year deal with F1 Management for the only grand prix in the region (Turkey notwithstanding). When that contract expires, we wouldn't be too surprised if Abu Dhabi put in a serious competing bid. The royal family's business front, Mubadala Development Company, owns significant interest in two F1 teams: Ferrari (5%) and Spyker (17%).

[Source: GrandPrix.com]

To battle its image as a form of motorsport exclusive to the South, NASCAR is going North – to Canada: "the True North, Strong and Free" (at least that's how the anthem goes). So with F1 drivers coming to NASCAR, NASCAR is going to an F1 track: it's been confirmed that next season's Busch Series schedule will include a race at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, home of the Canadian Grand Prix.

In past years the track has hosted both F1 and Champ Car races each season. After securing exclusive rights to the track from Montreal city hall in June, Canadian Grand Prix promoter Normand Legault began moving on plans to bring stock car racing to Montreal. As an extra bonus, the weekend will also feature a Grand-Am race.

The Champ Car race, meanwhile, will move even farther north to the legendary track by the slopes of Mont Tremblant. Securing a major open-wheel event is a huge coup for the recently revived track, which was once famously referred to by Michael Schumacher as the "little Nurburgring". (No wonder Ferrari elected to open its first North American driving school there. )

Having grown up in Montreal, this writer can attest that it's a die-hard racing town through-and-through (in the summer, at least). Hosting F1, CART, Grand-Am and NASCAR will only allow more fans, teams and drivers to get a taste of the action.

[Sources: GrandPrix.com and Canada.com]