Autoblog

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.

Penske's Indy racing team suffered disaster early this morning when their transporter truck – en route from the team's headquarters in Mooresville, North Carolina, to Sonoma, California – caught fire at 4 a.m. on Interstate 80 outside Cheyenne, Wyoming. The two Penske personnel on board managed to escape unharmed, but could not extinguish the fire, believed to have been caused by a faulty bearing in one of the trailer's wheels. They detached the truck cab from the burning trailer and could do nothing more but watch as an estimated $2 million worth of equipment – including two Dallara-Honda race cars – went up in flames.

When not watching racing buddy Helio Castroneves waltzing for his life on ABC's hit show Dancing with the Stars, Sam Hornish Jr. can be found in all manner of racing cars. Considered one of the Indy Racing League's star drivers, Hornish Jr. also carries around the accolade of being last year's Indianapolis 500. After eight seasons of racing IndyCar, however, Hornish Jr. will be be jumping ship and joining fellow Indy-defects and former Indy 500 winners Dario Franchitti, Juan Pablo Montoya and Jacques Villeneuve in the 2008 season of the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series. He'll be driving the No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge for Penske Racing with Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman as teammates.

Hornish Jr. has actually already made his NASCAR debut. Last year he began racing in the NASCAR Busch Series, competing in nine races and finishing as high as 15th. He's attempted to qualify for a Nextel Cup race six times in the past, but hasn't been fast enough. Hornish Jr. will make one last attempt to qualify for a Nextel Cup race this weekend at Phoenix before officially being announced as Penske's third driver.

[Source: Autosport.com, Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty]

First the good news for Audi Sports North America. The No. 7 R10 won the LMP1 class during last weekend's 9th Round of the American LeMans Series race at Mosport. With the win, Audi has clinched the LMP1 championship with three races left to run. Unfortunately, Audi has yet again failed to claim an outright win despite dominating the entire race ahead of those pesky LMP2 cars.

The Audi driven by Alan McNish had inherited the lead late in the race when Timo Bernhard pitted his LMPS Penske Motorsports Porsche RS Spyder. Things were going well, with the McNish building a comfortable 22-second lead. Unfortunately, the R10 then experienced some kind of gearbox malfunction with ten minutes to go that left McNish with only the higher gears. Every tight corner of the track gave Bernhard another opportunity to close the gap. Bernhard caught McNish with about five minutes left to go, and went on to build a 19.575-second lead.

Check out the rest of our recap and VIDEO of the last five minutes of last weekend's race at Mosport after the jump, courtesy of SPEED.

[Source: ALMS]

In an effort to further GM's plan of becoming one of the dominant automakers offering diesel-powered vehicles, the company announced plans to purchase a 50-percent stake in VM Motori S.p.A., an Italian diesel engine manufacturer owned by Penske.

The deal comes hot on the heels of Bob Lutz's comments last week about the expansion of GM's diesel lineup, allowing the company to grow its oil-burning offerings in expanding markets in China and India, while gaining a stronger foothold on the diesel market in Europe.

Look for the ink to dry sometime later this year.

GM's press release is posted after the jump.

[Source: General Motors]

Roger Penske's Porsche RS Spyders will have three-driver lineups for March's ALMS kickoff, the 12 Hours of Sebring. Car #7's regular duo of Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas will be joined by a very familiar name from the Penske stable: Helio Castroneves. The IndyCar driver (and two-time Indy 500 champ) will undoubtedly do his best to snag a season-opening win for the #7 car. If that happens, will "Spider-Man" be able to coax Bernhard and Dumas into a little post-race fence-climbing?

Follow the jump for Porsche's press release detailing what their factory drivers will be up to in 2007.

[Source: Porsche]

Click to enlarge

The 2006 ALMS season will wind down next weekend at Laguna Seca, and teams are already looking toward next year's effort. To that end, Penske Racing and Porsche have made the official announcement that they will once again partner for the 2007 ALMS season. As was the case this year, Penske will field two cars and contest only the ALMS races. Other events, such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans, are out. Penske has already locked up the 2006 LMP2 team championship, while Porsche has clinched both manufacturer's titles (chassis and engine). Penske/Porsche drivers Sascha Maassen and Lucas Luhr sit 1-2 in the LMP2 driver's championship standings heading into the final race.

Earlier this month, Porsche unveiled the 2007 RS Spyder, which is more aerodynamic, more powerful, and easier to maintain than the 2006 car. This week, the automaker showed it off in the yellow and red DHL livery that the Penske cars will once again sport next season.

ALMS '07 should be enormously entertaining, as the LMP2 class will see Acura join the fray, creating an instant rivalry with Porsche. Add in the independents like Intersport and you've got the makings for some compelling drama on the track. One could make a strong case that LMP2, and not the Audi-dominated LMP1, is going to be the class to watch.

Starting next year, the RS Spyder will be available to privateer efforts as well, though it remains to be seen if any other than the Penske duo will contest ALMS. It will be interesting to see if someone decides to independently run one of the Spyders at Le Mans.

So, even though the 2006 American Le Mans Series is wrapping up, there's no shortage of things to talk about. After the jump, we have a set of galleries that'll let you compare the 2006 and 2007 cars, as well as a selection of photos of the Penske Spyders contesting their inaugural ALMS season.

(Gallery, press release after the jump)

[Sources: Porsche, ALMS]

We recently made a visit to the Mercedes-Benz Classic Car Center in Irvine, California, to check out this restoration and retail facility. Located adjacent to a cluster of auto showrooms, it looks like just another modern dealership. But the cars inside are anything but modern. For starters, there's a 1954 220 Coupe out front. Once inside the building, you'll be greeted by some of the most desirable models from Mercedes' glorious past. Gullwings and Patent-Motorwagens, SLRs and Pullmen.

(Follow the jump for the rest of the story and a gallery of wallpaper-sized pics.)

With the recent announcement that Roger Penske's UnitedAuto Group will be offering SMART FourTwos in the US in 2008, DaimlerChrysler has decided to have a little fun and show people what the SMART brand is all about. To that end they have married a SMART car to a Unimog chassis developed by Greek rally racer Stefan Attart. Although similar to a vehicle created in 2005, known as the forfun, the forfun2 has a much higher stance and manages to be cute and imposing at the same time.

OK, so it's no Smartuki, but it's still wacky enough to be entertaining. While the Smartuki replaced the SMART 3-cylinder with a Suzuki GSXR1000 mill that had been massaged to 180 hp, this beast is Unimog powered. Although only capable of 84 hp, the torque is impressive at 191 ft-lbs. The quarter-mile might be a challenge, but rocks, sand and MINIs should be no problem: full press release and additional photos after the jump.

[Source: DaimlerChrysler]

LMP1: Audi R10 TDI (Capello/McNish)

Yesterday's ALMS Portland Grand Prix saw the Audi R10 pair finish 1-2 for the first time this season. The diesel sports cars started the race from rows two and three after IMSA enacted a late rules-change that allowed Dyson Racing to reduce the weight of its two Lola-AERs. The Dysons secured the pole and second grid positions and were running first and third when an incident involving one of the Penske Spyders and the Highcroft Racing LMP1 car brought out the yellow. On the restart the Audis took the lead and kept it. Dindo Capello and Alan McNish took the overall win in the #2 R10 TDI.

Follow the jump for more action-packed racing pics and to find out how the Corvettes fared in the GT1 Class, and whether or not the Porsche Spyders could pull out another victory in the LMP2 class.

[Various Sources via Motorsport.com and AmericanLeMans.com]