Gallery: Fun Cup at Willow Springs

Continue reading Budget Bug: Grassroots racing reborn with the Fun Cup

Budget Bug: Grassroots racing reborn with the Fun Cup originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 25 Feb 2008 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Brookes of England are dedicated Renault fans. Family patriarch Steve woks at a Renault dealer, son James drives a previous-generation Clio 172 Cup, and his brother Will drove a Clio, too. The family was planning to buy a name-stretching but route-shortening Renault Clio Renaultsport 197 F1 Team R27 until Will unfortunately succumbed to injuries incurred in a road accident last September and sadly passed. A family friend contacted Renault, which has arranged for a special version of the car that will be delivered to the family in Will's memory.

The car will be the last of 500 R27 edition Clios built, and will be finished in a unique Glacier White paint job instead of the standard yellow. The F1 Team R27 edition, which is now finishing its production run, was the first to feature the tightened Cup suspension on the new Renaultsport Clio 197 that is now available on the standard Clio RS.

Press release after the jump.

[Source: Renault]

Continue reading Last Clio 197 R27 dedicated to a Renaultsport fan

Last Clio 197 R27 dedicated to a Renaultsport fan originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 23 Jan 2008 18:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's been all the rage in motorsports recently: Formula One refugees hopping the trans-Atlantic to race in NASCAR. Juan Pablo Montoya has found considerably more success than Jacques Villeneuve (even Michael Schumacher was offered a drive), but they could have some company soon.

Recently interviewed by ESPN, F1's elder helmsman David Coulthard said he would consider racing in NASCAR in the future. The Scottish driver is now entering his 15th season in F1, having started with Williams and driven nine seasons for McLaren before brokering Red Bull's purchase of Jaguar Racing from Ford. If DC did decide to make the switch, Red Bull's NASCAR team (pictured, right) could potentially provide him with an "in".

Although once a competitive driver, Coulthard has slipped to back-marker status over the past few seasons, and may soon have to face retirement from F1. If he does, NASCAR could offer a challenging alternative - joining his long-time friend Jacques in stock cars - because DC stated he was less keen on the idea of racing in IndyCars.

[Source: F1-Live, photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images for Puma]

Coulthard the next to defect to NASCAR? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 17 Dec 2007 14:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Those who have followed the post-Talladega Nights stream of Formula One refugees fleeing to NASCAR will be happy to learn that former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya has been awarded Rookie of the Year in the Nextel Cup.

The announcement of Montoya's citation comes right after the series' season closer at Homestead, where Jimmie Johnson took the title after a hot season-long showdown with teammate and title rival Jeff Gordon.

Montoya becomes the fourth Rookie of the Year for Texaco/Havoline Racing, who, in their 21 years in NASCAR have also sponsored star newcomers Davey Allison (who got the award in 1987), Kenny Irwin, Jr. (1998) and Jamie McMurray (2003). Montoya's award also calls to memory the Rookie of the Year award which fellow former F1 driver Robert Doornbos took this year in Champ Cars with Team Minardi USA, which likewise crossed the ocean to oval tracks for this past season. They're coming for you, Ricky Bobby.

Press release after the jump.

[Source: Chip Ganassi Racing]

Continue reading Montoya of the Year

Montoya of the Year originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 23 Nov 2007 08:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Team-mates and title rivals Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson at Homestead

Continue reading SPOILER ALERT: NASCAR Nextel Cup wraps up at Homestead

SPOILER ALERT: NASCAR Nextel Cup wraps up at Homestead originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 19 Nov 2007 16:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Click on the pic above for more images

Want a cheap racing car? Using one of the cheapest cars on the market would be a good place to start. That's the idea behind the Dacia Logan Cup, a series of racing mods available for the budget automobile.

The Logan Cup clearly draws on the expertise from its parent company's in-house motorsports and tuning shop Renaultsport, applying the same formula used on hot versions of the Clio and Megane, but to a much smaller scale. The Dacia Cup is available in three different versions for track, road rally and off-road rally racing. The running gear remains stock to keep the ease and cost of acquisition and servicing down to a bare minimum. Depending on the version, the Logan Cup is then fitted with all manner of racing-spec equipment from roll cage to Bilstein shocks and from rear wing to racing harness.

The packages will be available from Renault and Dacia dealerships wherever Logans are sold - that counts out the American market, for one - and can be used in a variety of low-level racing series, and the manufacturer is organizing regional one-make racing series around the world. The idea is so simple, it just might work.

Check out logan-cup.com for more info and gallery below for more small pics of the small racing car.

Gallery: Dacia Logan Cup

Racecar for the Masses: Dacia Logan Cup originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 14 Oct 2007 18:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MS Design's Fiat 500 Cup looks ready to rally through the alps originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 13 Oct 2007 17:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Ferrari is apparently running out of F1 teams to supply with engines, so it's looking to other racing series altogether for new customers. For the current season, the Maranello-based team had to have the rules bent so that they could supply their engines to not one but two additional teams on the grid (Spyker and Toro Rosso). No wonder then that half of the cars that finished in the points at this past weekend's penultimate Chinese Grand Prix were powered by Ferrari.

Like other single-seater racing series, A1GP, the self-described "world cup of motorsport", uses the same chassis and engines for all the teams. Lola and Zytek have been supplying the cars and power respectively, but with contracts up for renewal, rumors started to fly when Ferrari's sporting director Stefano Domenicali was seen at Silverstone during an A1GP test session. Ferrari has now confirmed that they're in negotiations with the series' organizers.

Rumor has it that the engine deal isn't the only thing A1GP chief Tony Teixeira is discussing with Ferrari, as insiders tip the South African businessman as a potential partner in Scuderia Toro Rosso, which would effectively become Ferrari's B-squad in the developing "super team" saga.

[Sources: F1i.com and autosport]

Ferrari negotiating engine deal with A1GP originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 08 Oct 2007 20:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

After 17 years, Nigel Mansell is returning to the wheel of a Ferrari. The former world champion will be driving an F430 GT for Scuderia Ecosse in the second round of the 2007 FIA GT Championship, held at the same Silverstone track where Mansell scored three celebrated grand prix victories.

The old dog can apparently still learn new tricks - at 53 years old, this will be the first time the champ will be racing sports cars. Driving alongside him will be one of Scuderia Ecosse's team drivers, either fellow British pilot Andrew Kirkaldy or Canadian driver Chris Niarchos, to be confirmed before the race this Sunday.

Although he evidently welcomes the new challenge, Mansell's remains understandably apprehensive about his prospects: "The Ferrari is fun to drive, but it remains to be seen how I will get on in a race situation, as ex-F1 drivers tend to go out with a target on their backs!"

The race looks set to gather quite a crowd. In addition to Mansell's participation, the Silverstone race will also mark Jaguar's return to GT racing.

[Source: Auto Express]

Mansell returns to race at Silverstone in a Ferrari originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 03 May 2007 15:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

DaimlerChrysler would like to see more of its super-luxe Maybach limousines at local country clubs and has launched a new marketing campaign, principally in Europe, to promote its brand in the golf world.

The campaign includes a sponsorship deal that places legendary professional golfer Nick Faldo as a "brand ambassador" (a marketing maneuver popular with luxury brands), and the launch of the Maybach Golf Cup tournament. Faldo says he's "delighted to be so closely associated with a brand that shares the very same values as my own," which he cites as being "the absolute pinnacle of motoring style and technology." This makes us wonder if he's some sort of golf-playing Transformer, which would be really cool. Faldo has won over 40 worldwide tournaments and was appointed captain of the 2008 European Ryder Cup team.

The Maybach Golf Cup, meanwhile, is open to existing and potential Maybach customers, starting with four European qualifier tournaments in Spain, Russia, Austria and Germany before culminating this December with the finals in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Part of the tournament includes a special hole-in-one prize of an SLR McLaren, whose program is grouped together with Maybach's under CEO Klaus Nesser, pictured above (right) with Faldo (left) as the endorsement deal was announced.

Press release after the jump.

[Source: Maybach]

Continue reading Watch out Buick! Maybach drives for golfers

Watch out Buick! Maybach drives for golfers originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 19 Mar 2007 13:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Skip Barber to host MX-5 Cup racing school

Skip Barber to host MX-5 Cup racing school originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 17 Mar 2007 09:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione is clearly an object of desire, but what if it lived up to its literal name by breeding a competition automobile? Picchio has come up with the answer in the form of its new Daytona prototype.

The car is being created by Europe's only Grand Am-certified manufacturer in order to fill an anticipated demand emerging from new regulations in the race series, which allow for a race car's body to be adapted to match an engine supplier's styling. In other words, if it's running an Alfa powerplant, it can and should look like an Alfa.

In anticipation of Alfa Romeo homologating its new V8 engine for racing, Picchio redesigned its DP2 racing chassis to accommodate the engine and adapted the bodywork to mirror the styling of the roadgoing 8C Competition coupe. The result is a beautiful concept that we hope to see on the race track in the near future. As with Alfa Romeo's own impending re-emergence into the US market, until then this car will just have to keep our hearts racing.

Gallery: Picchio Daytona Prototype

[Source: Picchio via Car Body Design]

Alfa Romeo 8C Daytona Prototype by Picchio originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 18 Feb 2007 09:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Click image for hi-res photo gallery

Ferrari wins world championships and it applies the knowledge to building a beast like the 599 GTB Fiorano. Renault wins the championship and they make... a supermini. But that's cool, we remind ourselves, because everyone does what they do best, and nobody makes hot hatches like Renaultsport, the performance division that builds the F1 cars and the hottest of pocket rockets.

So to coincide with the launch of the new R27 Formula One race car, Renaultsport has taken the wraps off their latest offering: the Clio Renault F1 Team R27, complete with checkered-flag decals, special "Sirius" yellow paint, red brake calipers and a numbered plate. With all that frivolous fluff, what more could you ask for? Inside, this special Clio is outfitted with Recaro racing seats, but the only real "meat" of this special edition is the Cup-based suspension, lowered with new shocks and springs, plus 17" Anthracite wheels at all four corners.

The Renault Sport Clio Renault F1 Team R27 will be officially launched at the Geneva show in March, but somehow we're just not all that excited. After producing special edition after special edition, we're left wondering when Renault will actually build something really special, worthy of its on-track achievements.

Related posts:

• eBay Find of the Day: Fernando Alonso's Renault
• VIDEO: Renaultsport Clio and R26
• Megane Renaultsport 225 celebrates company's F1 championship
• Renault R26 F1 car meets the new Clio RenaultSport
• Renault plans diesel for Megane RenaultSport in '07
  

Gallery: Renaultsport Clio Renault F1 Team R27

[Source: Renault]

Continue reading That's Special: Renaultsport hatches Clio Renault F1 Team R27

That's Special: Renaultsport hatches Clio Renault F1 Team R27 originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 24 Jan 2007 20:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This past Sunday, the Stade de France in Paris played host to the 2006 Race of Champions. For those unfamiliar with the concept, the ROC is an event that draws racing drivers from a variety of motorsports - including F1, NASCAR, Champ and Indy cars, rally racing, touring cars and more - to compete for one day on equal footing. The event is divided into two competitions: the individual Race of Champions and the team-effort Nations Cup. Drivers raced against each other this year in the Citroen Xsara WRC, the Porsche 911 GT3, the mid-engined Renault Megane Trophy, in the race-prepped Aston Martin V8 Vantage and in single-seat sprint cars. They race on a purpose-built 1.2-kilometer figure-eight track with a cross-over bridge.

The race results and commentary can be found after the jump.

[Source: Motorsport.com]

Continue reading SPOILER ALERT: 2006 Race of Champions

SPOILER ALERT: 2006 Race of Champions originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 19 Dec 2006 13:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We just can't seem to get enough of Jacques Villeneuve's impending switch to NASCAR. Maybe it's the converging of the two worlds of motorsports, the tragic failure of a one-time king, his heroic stature in this writer's home town, the legendary association of the name.... The latest news on JV's deal with Roush Racing comes from the Globe & Mail, one of Canada's largest national newspapers.

While at first we reported that Villeneuve was looking for sponsorship to start his own team with assistance from Roush, it now seems the sponsorship cash is to pay his way into a Roush racing seat.

The deal would start Jacques in the Craftsman Truck Series in 2007. (Yeah, that's right...from F1 cars to pick-up trucks.) Later in the season, he'd move on to the second-tier Busch Series, which will feature a race in the champ's hometown of Montreal next year on the F1 circuit that bears his father's name. If and when Jacques would graduate to the top-level Nextel Cup will likely be determined by how he does in Craftsman and Busch. Bonne chance, Jacques!

[Source: F1i.com]

Update: Villeneuve's NASCAR deal originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 11 Dec 2006 10:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The latest reports in the saga of Jacques Villeneuve's impending switch to stock cars say it won't be happening just yet.

As we reported earlier, the former world champion was talking with Roush Racing, one of the biggest outfits in stock cars, to race in the second-tier Busch series for 2007 in preparation for an anticipated assault on the big-league Nextel Cup for 2008. Roush is now calling any such prospect "an outside shot", leaving the French Canadian driver without a ride for next year.

With a Busch race scheduled for Villeneuve's home town of Montreal next season, he had looked like a shoe-in, holding the F1, CART and Indy 500 titles, but it looks like he may have to start even smaller - like fellow defected F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya has - if he hopes to make it in the world of moonshine racing.

Related posts:

• Villeneuve headed for the Busch leagues
• Reports: Villeneuve signed NASCAR deal with Roush
• Mais, oui! NASCAR developing a French connection?

[Source: GrandPrix.com]

Not coming for you, Ricky Bobby: NASCAR sans Villeneuve in 07 originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 13 Nov 2006 12:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Rumors and speculation have been circulating (partially self-fueled) of Jacques Villeneuve moving to NASCAR since the former world champion lost his race seat with BMW-Sauber that put the final nail in the proverbial coffin of his atrophying F1 career. The latest reports place Villeneuve in a stock car for a few events next season in the Busch Series for Roush Racing.

Given recent developments, we doubt they'd miss the opportunity to put JV in the Busch race at the track that bears his father's name in his home town: the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, scheduled for August 4.

The Busch Series is a step below the top-tier Nextel Cup where NASCAR's up-and-coming stars learn the ropes, and where Nextel Cup racers compete as well for a little extra practice (and prize cash). Like Juan Pablo Montoya (who's started even lower in the ARCA series when he switched from F1 to stock cars), racing in the Busch Series should give Villeneuve the opportunity to acclimate to stock car racing, though as a former Champ Car champ and Indy 500 winner, Jacques knows his way around an oval track.

Related posts:

• Canadian race shuffle: NASCAR comes to Montreal, CART moves to Tremblant
• Reports: Villeneuve signed NASCAR deal with Roush
• Mais, oui! NASCAR developing a French connection?
  

[Source: GrandPrix.com]

Villeneuve headed for the Busch leagues originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 15 Oct 2006 18:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The A1 Grand Prix World Cup of Motorsport is in the process of being sold to a consortium of investment firms. Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum, literally the biggest name in racing and the founder of the series, is selling all his stock in A1GP for an as-yet undisclosed cash (yes, we said cash) sum.

Maktoum will step down as head of A1GP and a new chairman and director will be named, after which the Maktoum will be focusing his attention on his "other business interests".

The announcement comes at the start of A1GP's second season, currently kicking off at the historic Zandvoort track in Holland. The multi-million dollar transaction will be completed within a month's time, in advance of an anticipated IPO.

The it's-a-small-world-afterall racing series was Maktoum's brainchild, but his departure is expected to help the series grow from a fledgling start-up to a permanent part of international motorsports.

[Source: A1GP.com]

Sheikh-up in A1 GP ownership originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 01 Oct 2006 09:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.