Autoblog

click for a high-res gallery from the 2008 Detroit Sports Car Challenge

2009 will be a transition year for the American Le Mans Series as the GT1 class all but disappears after the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Corvette Racing team announced a few weeks ago that it will switch from GT1 to the GT2 class. In an ALMS conference call, program manager Dough Fehan revealed that the engineering work on the new car is done and assembly of the first car will start in the next 7-10 days. Visually, the new car will be almost indistinguishable from the GT1 racer, with the biggest difference being a smaller rear wing. Underneath the skin, the carbon brakes will have to go as they aren't allowed in GT2 so steel rotors will have to dissipate the kinetic energy. Creating kinetic energy will be a new, smaller, 6.0L version of the engine currently used. The GT2 engine will continue to run on cellulosic E85.

The GT2 cars will likely make their competition debut at the Mid-Ohio ALMS race in early August. Before that happens, the GT1 cars will make three final runs at Sebring, Long Beach and of course Le Mans to try and win one more time.


[Source: American Le Mans Series]

GT1-class racing is one of the most hotly contested in Europe, with cars like the Aston Martin DBR9 and Maserati MC12 competing among others for top honors in the Le Mans Series and FIA GT Championship. Here in the American Le Mans Series, however, officials are considering the possibility that they'll have to shut down the class altogether.

This season, the Corvettes have had the category all to themselves, which has made the class uninteresting, with predictable outcomes. Bell Motorsports announced their intention to run Aston Martins to compete with the Corvettes for GT1 victory, but that may be another case of too little too late. Itching for a good fight, GM is reportedly dropping down to the paradoxically more competitive GT2 series. Not anxious to run another season of an empty GT1 roster, ALMS could very well cut the class out altogether.

[Source: AutoWeek]

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Earlier this fall there was speculation that Chevrolet would withdraw the Corvette Racing team from the 2008 race season due to a lack of competition. Throughout most of the 2007 ALMS season, the two bright yellow C6.Rs were the only GT1 cars on the track. Corvette fans can now rest easy because the thundering 'Vettes will be back for the full 2008 race calendar. The two-car factory team will run all twelve ALMS races as well as shooting for another class victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Even if you aren't necessarily a Corvette aficionado, the distinctly memorable sound of the C6.R hurtling down the track is definitely something worth experiencing, and race fans will be lucky to have another opportunity in 2008.

[Source: GM]

Click the C6R for a gallery of Detroit GP ALMS race action

Ever since the end of the factory Dodge Viper racing program, the American Le Mans Series GT1 class has been dominated by the factory C5R and C6R Corvettes. For a while they were challenged by assorted Panoz GTR1s, privateer Vipers, Ferrari 575s and Aston Martins. In 2007, aside from an Aston Martin at Sebring, the 'Vettes have had the GT1 class to themselves.

Without some serious challengers there really isn't any point in GM continuing to fund the program. Program Manager Doug Fehan has said that they would only run unopposed for one year. If Aston Martin, Ferrari or someone else doesn't step up to the plate, 2007 is likely to be the last year for the factory C6R GT1 program. The team will definitely run at Le Mans next year but anything else is unclear right now. Beyond 2008 the team could switch to GT2 where they might challenge all the 911s and F430s.

[Source: AutoWeek]

The Suzuki Hayabusa is one of the fastest things I have ever seen in motion. A friend riding his was in front of me once at a stop, and the road ahead of him was long, straight, and wide open. The only way to describe how it looked from my car was "Millenium Falcon makes the jump to hyperspace." And to think, his was only mildly tuned.

The 'Busa's 1300cc engine is strong enough to see duty in cars, too. The Westfield Megabusa immediately leaps to mind, and the German Car Blog has tipped us off to another example of Hayabusa-powered four-wheeled fun courtesy of the madmen at H.R. Engineering in Essex.

These guys have taken a Mk1 VW Golf, converted it to rear-wheel-drive, and dropped a turbocharged, 350-horsepower Hayabusa mill under the hood. It looks like a ton of fun, sounds completely evil, and its acceleration is, well... rather brisk, as you'll see in the pair of vids embedded after the jump.

Chewy... PUNCH IT!

[Source: H.R. Engineering, YouTube via German Car Blog]

Click image to enlarge

Under its new ownership, Aston Martin continues to forge ahead into a brighter independent future. In addition to the production announcement of the Rapide and the rumors of an upcoming "DBX", Aston is not missing a beat on its racing agenda, which should come as no surprise considering the background of its new chairman, David Richards.

To headline its Le Mans endurance racing program, Richards has brought in a big-name former F1 driver. Johnny Herbert, who in his eleven-year Formula One career drove for the likes of Benetton, Lotus, Sauber and Jaguar, will be driving the Aston Martin DBR9 for the Prodrive-run team at this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans. Herbert is no stranger to endurance racing, having won the race for Mazda in 1991 and having driven the dominating MC12 for the Maserati factory team and Audis for customer teams, before briefly returning to the F1 paddock as Jordan/Midland's sporting relations manager. Richards withdrew Aston from the American Le Mans Series for this season, so they'll only be competing in the title race at Le Mans, leaving Herbert with enough time to consider other possibilities, including the Grand Prix Masters. (Aston also announced a new sponsorship deal with luxury hotel chain InterContinental.)

Recruiting Herbert, however, is about as close as Aston Martin will be getting to Formula One anytime soon. David Richards quelled any speculation that the Aston Martin name would be linked to his upcoming re-entry into F1 with Prodrive. Likely taking a page from former corporate cousin Jaguar's unfortunate experience in F1, Richards has wisely decided to leave Aston out of his grand prix venture rather than risk dragging its valuable name through the mud.

[Source: Aston Martin]

click above image to view 15 for high-resolution images

Ron Fellows history with the current Corvette Racing team dates back to its beginnings, when he helped develop the original world-beating C5.R. Fellows drove the C5.R to its first race victory in 2000 and won the American Le Mans Series GTS-class championship in 2002 and has remained an instrumental part of the perennial-champion Corvette Racing team right through today.

To honor Fellows' important role in shaping Corvette Racing into the premier outfit it is, Chevy has created the Ron Fellows ALMS GT1 Champion Corvette Z06 (that, my friends, is a mouthful of a name worthy of a JDM vehicle). Only 399 cars will be built, and they all get finished in Arctic White with Monterey Red and Victory Silver accent graphics on the front fenders. The red elements incorporate a maple leaf to acknowledge Fellows' Canadian heritage, and his name and the team's championship seasons are also also featured in Victory Red. A full-width race spoiler, "CORVETTE" windshield graphic and chrome rims complete the special edition's look.

[Source: GM]

Autocar has cobbled together what we know about the GT1 so far to create this rendering of what the Bugatti Veyron-beater might look like when it surfaces sometime in 2009. The info we already know hasn't changed much. The car will be a 950-bhp, street-legal version of Porsche's future Le Mans racer and use the Carrera GT's carbon fiber frame with a new nose and tail. The GT1's top speed will be 254 mph, 2 mph more than the Veyron.

Autocar's drawing is said to be inspired from leaked technical drawings, so this is more than an artist's best guess. The magazine also claims that Porsche has already begun testing 950-bhp engines, despite not knowing whether the GT1's powerplant will be a turbocharged version of the Carrera GT's V10 or a bored-out, twin-turbo version of the Cayenne S's V8. Regardless of which engine is chosen, the GT1 holds the promise of stealing the top podium spot away from the Bugatti Veyron.

[Source: Speed TV via GermanCarBlog]

The Bugatti Veyron is the gold standard for supercars. There are but a few cars as fast and none as opulent or expensive as the seven-figure exotic. According to Autocar magazine, Porsche may be getting ready to go head to head with Bugatti using a roadgoing version of the Le Mans racer it is currently developing. Dubbed the GT1, the uber exotic will produce 950 bhp and hit a top speed of 254 mph, a couple clicks over the Veyron's best effort of 252 mph.

The GT1 could be view as a replacement to the recently cancelled Carrera GT, as it will use a modified version of that car's carbon fiber chassis but be skinned with a different body and feature a closed cockpit. The GT1's prodigious amount of power could be produced by either a modified version of the Carrera GT's V10 or a turbocharged version of the Cayenne's V8 with a larger displacement.

PistonHeads reports that Bugatti is already working on a faster Veyron, so Porsche better step on it before Bugatti moves the target.

[Source: Autocar via PistonHeads]