Autoblog

The drivers after receiving traditional didgeridoos in Australia

Fans of open-wheel racing awaiting the results of today's season-finale Brazilian Grand Prix had something to keep them busy in the meantime, as the results of the Champ Car race Down Under came in with this season's champion one race early.

If you didn't tape the race to watch later, click through to the SPOILER ALERT to find out who won and who's champion this year in Champ Cars.

[Source: Autosport.com]

It's a sad state of affairs when the pure talent of a racing driver isn't enough to advance his career. In the case of Sebastien Bourdais, the top teams on the F1 grid have apparently been blind to his domination in Champ Cars, as our favorite Frenchman (okay, second favorite, after Talladega Nights arch-villain Jean Girard) looks like he's headed for his fourth consecutive title in the open-wheel series.

Enter Nicholas Todt, who is out to change Bourdais' fortunes and secure him a drive for the 2008 Formula One season. The fellow Frenchman did wonders for Felipe Massa, who started out at Sauber (then powered by Ferrari), then took a test seat at Ferrari (where Nick's dad Jean is king), before moving him back to Sauber (still with Ferrari engines) to race for another season, before taking the race seat at Ferrari alongside Schumacher. Now Massa is a contender for the title.

Nicholas Todt has now signed on to manage Bourdais' racing activities in Europe. In between ChampCar races, Bourdais is driving at Le Mans for Peugeot, and has been testing for Scuderia Toro Rosso. Todt has reportedly arranged for the talented 28-year-old driver to test again for the STR, which uses engines supplied by (you guessed it) Ferrari, and the rumors are that they might have secured a race seat with the squad for next season.

Could Bourdais prove to be the next star "rookie" in F1? Time will tell, we hope, but this proven entity is no rookie. Shame he'll have to start from the back of the grid, but his apparent willingness to do so only confirms his determination.

Related post:
F1 is missing out on Sebastein Bourdais

[Source: GrandPrix.com]

There's smug satisfaction and then there's smug satisfaction. And the folks over at Citroen Sport are enjoying some serious smug satisfaction after taking a brilliant 1-2 finish in the Monte Carlo Rally. Taking first AND second is enough to make any team happy, but to compound that, this was the first race for Citroen's factory rally team since returning to the World Rally Championship, and the first race for their shiny new baby, the Citroen C4 WRC.

First place was taken by three-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb and his co-pilot Daniel Elena. To make the victory even sweeter, Loeb was fresh back at the wheel after recovering from a broken arm. Claiming the checkered flag at Monte Carlo set a new record for Loeb as his 29th career rally win. This was also the fourth time Loeb won in Monte Carlo, tying the record shared by rally legends Sandro Munari, Walter Rohrl and Tommi Makinen.

The second Citroen factory team driven by Dani Sordo took second place behind Loeb and ahead of Marcos Gronholm's Ford Focus. Not a bad day for Citroen and for Loeb, who are off to a great start to claim another championship.

[Source: Citroen]

It's been almost four years since the Champ Car series has raced in Europe, but organizers are planning on bringing it back. 2003 was the last season the declining American open-wheel series raced in Europe, when French ace Sebastien Bourdais – now three-time Champ champ – won both the races at Brands Hatch in England and the Lausitzring EuroSpeedway in Germany.

The latest reports suggest that the 2007 season will include two new races in Europe, though not at the same venues as previous seasons. On September 2, Champ Cars will be racing around Holland's Assen circuit, a former road track that has since been developed into a full facility. A week later, the second European race will be competing with the Italian Grand Prix at Monza when Champ Cars race at Zolder, once the site of the Belgian Grand Prix.

The two new European venues bring the Champ Car calendar up to a very full 17 races around the world, joined by events in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia and China. By comparison, the competing IndyCar series also has seventeen races scheduled for 2007, though the Motegi race in Japan stands alone as the IRL's only race abroad. If you were a driver aiming to climb up the ladder to Formula One, which would you choose?

[Source: GrandPrix.com]

Having unveiled the 908 LM racing car at the Paris show this past September, Peugeot is gearing up to race their new car in the European Le Mans Series. The French company is serious about competing at Le Mans and in the entire series, and they've signed on some key drivers to get them to victory lane.

The biggest name is none other than Jacques Villeneuve. For those coming late to the game, the French Canadian driver recently left Formula One and is trying to make his way into NASCAR. With his efforts looking less-than-likely to materialize for the 2007 season, Jacques is joining the Peugeot racing program in a bid to become the first driver ever to have won the F1 championship, the Champ Car title, the Indy 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. As if his CV wasn't full enough as it is...but unfortunately, despite the enormous success of his early career, subsequent seasons in F1 were less than spectacular, to put it mildly.

Joining Villeneuve behind the wheel of the 908 are Nicolas Manassian, Stephane Sarrazin, Pedro Lamy, Marc Gene (of Ferrari test-driving fame) and three-time Champ Car champ Sebastien Bourdais. Eric Helary, who won Le Mans for Peugeot in 1993, joins the new team as a test and back-up driver.

The Peugeot 908 follows the smashing success of the Audi R10 diesel racing car with an all-aluminum twelve-cylinder common-rail direct-injection twin-turbo diesel with the latest advanced particulate filter system. Between the green power, the big-name drivers and the return of the French carmaker to the series, there are a lot of reasons to keep an eye on Peugeot this season, kicking off at Monza on April 14.

[Source: Peugeot]

The world of motorsports was watching when Sebastien Bourdais got back behind the wheel of an F1 car on Thursday at the Jerez test track, and managed to get within spitting distance of Scott Speed's lap times in the same Red Bull car.

The reigning champ of Champ Cars, Sebastien Bourdais is an irrefutably talented driver. He's got three Champ Car titles under his belt, along with the Formula 3000 championship from 2002 and the French Formula 3 title from 1999. Bourdais is a winner, plain and simple. But despite its stature as the pinnacle of motorsports, supposedly flaunting the best drivers in racing, Formula One has been missing out on Bourdais.

Thursday's test was not the French driver's first time behind the wheel of an F1 car. In 2002 he tested for Arrows and for Renault. Arrows didn't pan out, and Renault missed the opportunity when Flavio Briatore insisted that Bourdais sign an additional personal management contract with him if he wanted to join the team. More recently BMW failed to snatch him up as well.

As a French driver who made his name in American racing, Bourdais could bring with him audiences from both countries; convenient for F1, since it's has been lagging in popularity in both France and the US. Several leading teams (McLaren and Renault, we're looking at you) have delved straight into the feeder series to fill race seats for next season, while Bourdais returns to dominate in Champ Cars for yet another season. F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone, being the shrewd operator he is, could do worse than to recognize the talent they're missing out on and make some suggestions to team principals lest a talent like Bourdais go to waste in a dying series.

[Source: GrandPrix.com]

Capitalizing on their participation in rally racing has emerged as the marketing ploy du jour for carmakers. Far be it for us to complain when that nets us exciting new hot models from Japanese manufacturers like Subaru and Mitsubishi, but their French compatriots just don't seem to know how to translate racing prowess to road cars. Case in point, the all-show-no-go "by LOEB" Special Series hatchbacks from Citroen.

Parent company PSA says it's released the special editions to honor their all-star driver Sebastien Loeb, but this strikes us as just as big a disgrace to an esteemed racing name as the (thankfully departed) Fiat Stilo Michael Schumacher Edition.

The "special" editions start with the C4 coupe and C2, but badge engineers didn't go anywhere near the engine bay. All the changes are purely cosmetic. According to Citroen, "The C4 by LOEB offers drivers a harmonious blend of sporting passion and day-to-day driving pleasure." That should tip you off, because racing beasts like the Subie STi and Mitsu Evo are anything but harmonious.

Both the C2 and C4 by LOEB are available (overseas only, thankfully) in red or black. They both get rear spoilers, upgraded wheels and special badging to let everyone know the driver's a poser. Inside surfaces are all black with red trim: the steering wheel and shift knobs are black leather with red top-stitching, the seats are black fabric with red trim, little red chevrons are embroidered all over the place, and are complimented by select aluminum accents.

Poor Sebastien. You'd think after winning the WRC title three times, his name would be gracing something with a bit more bite.

Glutton for punishment? Follow the jump for the press release and more images.

[Source: PSA Peugeot Citroen]

Rally racing star Sebastien Loeb was crowned World Rally Champion for a third time in a row...a little early. Loeb's title was secured at a race he wasn't even at, let alone racing in. And he didn't race in the stage before that one, either. Plus there are still two stages left to go, but the title's his whether he comes back to race or not.

The champ watched the Rally of Australia on Sunday from his home in France as he recuperates from a mountain bike injury. His main rival, two-time champion Marcus Gronholm (driving a Ford Focus) failed to finish in the top four in Australia, giving Loeb an air-tight twenty-one point lead, securing the title early. Between the two of them, Gronholm and Loeb won 13 out of 14 races so far this season, virtually locking out the rest of the field.

Two rally stages remain, in New Zealand (November 17-19) and Wales (December 1-3). But with the pressure off, the French driver is likely to focus on his healing and rehab a little longer before hopefully returning for the final stage in Wales. The win is even more remarkable when you consider that Loeb races for Kronos Racing, a private team supported by Citroen Sport, while other rivals race for full factory works teams.

Congratulations to Sebastien along with wishes for a full recovery as he sets his sights on the future to break the records of Finnish drivers Juha Kankkunen and Tommi Makinen, who each hold four championships. Next season Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena leave their old Citroen Xsara behind and move into the new C4.

[Source: Motorsport.com]