Being a bit of a connoisseur of fine motor sport photography, I'm glad Jamey Price's first career choice did not work out. You see, just a couple of years ago, Jamey moved to England from his native North Carolina to pursue his dream of becoming a professional steeple chase rider!
It did not work out and these days Jamey can instead be found chasing fast cars around some of the world's best tracks for major publications, from Road & Track to Autosport. His pictures and his ability to connect with the right people are quite amazing considering he's basically, just starting out...
While teams are poised for the 2013 Formula 1 season to start in Australia, engine manufacturers, Ferrari Mercedes and Renault are doing double duty with this year's V8 and developing the completely new, Turbo charged, double ERS 1.6 V6.
As you can imagine, much secrecy is involved. Sure, renderings have been shown, vague pictures with obsolete parts maybe. But yesterday on the Renault Corporate media site in a story about their engine facility in Viry-Châtillon, some rather detailed pictures appeared and Renault engineers are surely not too happy about it.
Teams routinely hire photographers to specifically take high resolution photos of every little detail on rival's cars but engines are always bolted so it's easy to imagine folks in Maranello and in Brixworth are taking a long, hard look at these pictures. Turbos, heads, headers, dyno graphs even some blueprints, could be gold for Mercedes and Ferrari. Unless that is, Renault is being fiendishly clever... (more picture courtesy of Renault Press after the break)
Sun is low on the sub arctic forest as a Citroen C2 WRC car tears through tree lined snowbanks. Snow rally testing is certainly nothing special in this part of the world, certainly nothing new for the driver of the Citroen, Kalle Rovanperä.
Now, if you are wondering why your country does not have any credible young rally drivers, it's probably because your country might arrest Kalle's father for child endangerment. You see, Kalle is 11 years old.
He also happens to be the son of WRC driver Harri Rovanperä who's more than happy to set him off alone, not to do some donuts in a parking lot, but dodging pine trees in a rear wheel drive Toyota Starlet. How amazing is that?
Father of the Year award for Harri!
You know that awesome video Chris Harris did, driving on a frozen lake track? Kalle has been doing that since he was nine years old!
I'm guessing we might hear more from Kalle in the next few years, what do you think?
Mick Batsch, number 421 with the green helmet
On a related note, Michael Schumacher's son, 12 year old Mick raced in his first big international kart race in Lonato del Garda, Italy. Mick, who races with his mother's maiden name Batsch, was competing in the KF3 class along with Giuliano Alesi in a meet rich with Formula 1 last names like Max Verstappen and Bas Lammers.
With the 2013 Formula 1 season only weeks away it's maybe a good time to brush up on or, for some of you perhaps, discover some of the events that led the series to becoming what it is now.
I finally managed to get a hold of Adam Parr's "The Art of War". Parr was CEO for Williams F1 from 2007 to 2012, those are the crucial years between the Mclaren spying scandal and the formulation of the next engine formula in effect in 2014. In between, FOTA, KERS, phantom budget caps, the Mosley affair, the global recession, Briatore, the new Concorde Agreement, five years in the mother of all shark tanks all laid out in a graphic novel. It is brilliant and a must read.
The documentary below is from a couple of year earlier, in the Williams BMW era and explores some of the very same existential questions, the correct formula for the series Parr spent five years arguing. Cars from the last decade may look ancient but the politics sure sound familiar.
Set aside 50 minutes to have a look, it's a good one.
Drivers weren't kidding when they complained about tire degradation in the recent tests. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels tire klag is the scourge of F1 racing, turning every track into a one car wide toboggan run.
I know it's hard filling space when there is not much to say but perhaps struggling reporters might try this tack with the Kimster... should be right up his alley.
We're not talking about presenting to the media in Geneva but the private showing for those chosen by Ferrari to potentially buy the car. Among the "chosen", our friend HFO, who must have been pretty excited to receive a very special red T800 carbon fiber box in the mail!
Inside the red box a block of aluminum and carbon fiber teases the shape
The name is still a closely guarded secret but referring to it by its internal code, perhaps a way to get back at Ford.
I've let some time pass since the incident intentionally, cooler heads etc. but revisiting what happened to CG at the Porsche Club of America's first race at Sebring, I'm still shaking my head.
Let's start with the outcome, not much damage on the cars, bent wheels and rubbed rear fenders. For CG though, the PCA came down hard: he was deemed 100% at fault, forbidden to race for the rest of the week end (this was the first of a series of races in the context of the annual 48 Hours at Sebring event, week end down the drain) and given a 13/13 probation, meaning if he's involved in another incident in the next 13 months he will be barred from racing for 13 months.
The reason given for the harsh penalty was that an overtaking driver is 100% responsible for making a pass which does not result in contact, this apparently true even if the other car turns in on him!
In this specific case, CG out-brakes the green car and cannot move much further to the left since he has the the white and red car on the inside. He was door to door with the green car when contact occurred, rear right to rear left.
Sebring's turn 1 is perhaps the widest turn in all of motorsport, how CG could have been found 100% at fault in this situation is beyond me, a racing incident at the very least. I was under the impression that PCA racing, while designed to look after doctor cars, was still racing, not something requiring point bys ...
What are your thoughts?
Here is the incident from onboard another car, right behind at the start.
...anyone serious about following the sport absolutely needs to see all three, beginning to end, probably more than once.
Designer Enrique Scalabroni, ex Dallara, Williams, Ferrari and Peugeot, is not shall we say, a natural on camera but, get passed that as I'm guessing you will and be rewarded with knowledge from someone with true command of the language of race car.
Kudos to Peter Windsor, quietly making his way back from the USF1 wilderness, for making these fantastic pieces available, more please!
You may have noticed we expressly avoided talking about the first tests at Jerez, it's completely pointless to try and make any guesses, not that that has stopped anyone apparently.
Even if the cars (save for a heavily reworked Ferrari and a very different Mclaren) are mostly evolutions from last year, with the aero rules essentially the same for 2013, some themes have emerged.
The first and maybe most obvious is the move to make the sidepods and the bodywork around the back of the car somehow even smaller and tighter. Tradeoff for the additional "floorspace" will be cooling and to that end interesting Ferrari did not, as had been anticipated by some, have the the radiators at an angle the way Red Bull has. Ferrari did make some pretty amazing work creating space under the gearbox and differential.
Another area you will notice more development in are the small vertical fins on the floor just in front of the rear wheels. Their function is explained in one of the videos.
Finally, if I had to guess, this year a big prize will go to the team that best develops a passive F-Duct or DRD (Drag Reduction Duct), the trick there is finding a way to tune it so that it functions only when you actually don't need the downforce. Lotus and Mercedes tried all last year without getting it quite right.
The second test at the Circuit de Catalunya this week might shed a bit more light trough all the sandbagging.
While we had a good time poking some fun at Mr. Jesus Take The Wheel Porsche driver a while back, he actually had the last laugh because, one way or another he made it around America's newest track and home of the US Grand Prix, the awesome Circuit of the Americas while we, and possibly you, have not! Curious, we asked our friend Annand Sharma, who happened to attend the very same event to give us his impression of the track and facilities. Take it away Annand....
Photos: MVP/SSP and Annand Sharma
First off, huge thanks to AC for letting me post this up for Axis of Oversteer. I’m not a pro race car driver like some the other contributors, but just a track-tard who got one of my dream track toys a few months ago, a 3.8 GT3RS. It’s my first 911 and CotA was my second track event in it (first was at Seca.)
MVP Track Time hosted the event and this was my first event with them. I was a bit nervous about that and the 3 day tow from the California Bay Area.
Obviously this was their first event with CotA so they tried to hold the run groups to advanced and intermediate only. As more videos come or any attendee can attest to, quite a few people inflated their resumes to get on track here. There were more incidents than there needed to be and a lot of egos that didn’t need to be.
Leading up to the track day the organizer, Mark, was very communicative and send out great, clear logistical information. During the entire “situation” where the track days were up in the air, he kept us in the loop and had our final confirmation that the day was still on.
They had organized a group rate at 2 hotels, both were 15-20 minutes from the track. The hotels were kind of in between downtown Austin and the track. The parking lot at the hotel was great fun every morning with tons of GT3s, GT3RSs and Corvettes being warmed up while the drivers fought off the inevitable BBQ comas and hangovers.
New car, new tires, same hotel rooms. BMW will field their Z4 GTE for the first time in North America this year, the final season of ALMS racing.
If you follow international endurance, it's a car you are familiar with and in this, its latest incarnation and with its insane widebody, it makes entries from Ferrari, Porsche and Aston Martin seem faily stock in comparison. Those flares look like something straight out of the wicked Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft era, except the aero actually works!
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing will be fielding two cars, now on Michelin rubber and with Crowne Plaza returning as title sponsor. Drivers will be BMW pillar Bill Auberlen teamed with Belgian Maxime Martin and Dirk Mueller will share the second car with Joey Hand and John Edwards. For Sebring, Uwe Alzen and Jörg Mueller will fill out the crews.
The debut is set for the Sebring 12 Hour on March 15th. where Uwe Alzen and Jörg Mueller will fill the crews.
You will find more pictures and car specs on the BMW press release after the jump
certainly puts a different perspective on Carrera Cup racing...in case you ever wondered what your life as a Porsche racing differential might be like.
Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche Aston, GTR...wait, was that a bike?
Vurrusjøen Iceway, plowed on a frozen lake in Norway where dealer Ferdinand Motor organizes its annual Ice Festival. Yes that was a bike, a ZX6R on studded tires, interesting choice for a frozen lake at -24C. I can't imagine the Fiskers did well though.
Two years after it was shown at the Swiss show, the Alfa Romeo 4C is ready for prime time with the first official images of the production car (curiously however, clearly renderings not photographs).
Alfa did not release all the specs nor shots of the interior but 4C will retain the original concept's carbon chassis, turbo 4 engine and double clutch shifter. Alfa claims a power to weight ratio close to but better to that of a PDK equipped Cayman S which is around 1hp per 4.2kg.
The focus is more on "adding lightness" than adding power, something any true enthusiast will appreciate. Given most expect the 1750cc direct injection turbo 4 to output 240/250hp that makes it what, a 1000kg car with a negative lift body? That would be more than awesome more like an aster to a tracktard's prayers.
Dimensions are a very square 2m in width (78") by 4m in length (157"). Compare to a new Cayman's 71x172.
Final interior pictures have not been released, Alfa is saying inspiration comes from the 8C and the classic 33 Stradale but with lots of exposed carbon fiber.
Sebastien Ogier gave VW their first WRC victory for the Polo R in just their second outing. For Sebastien Loeb instead, Rally Sweden will remain somewhat of a "bête noire" (or should it be a bête blanche?), his only winwas in 2004 and it was obviously one trophy he hoped to score in this his final abbreviated season.
2013 Rally Sweden:
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Sebastien Ogier VW 3h11m41.9s
2. Sebastien Loeb Citroen + 41.8s
3. Mads Ostberg Qatar M-Sport Ford + 1m24.5s
4. Jari-Matti Latvala VW + 1m30.6s
5. Thierry Neuville Qatar M-Sport Ford + 5m06.4s
6. Juho Hanninen Qatar M-Sport Ford + 5m43.1s
7. Martin Prokop Czech Ford + 11m25.4s
8. Henning Solberg M-Sport Ford + 11m42.7s
9. Evgeny Novikov Qatar M-Sport Ford + 13m04.7s
10. Yazeed Al Rahji Yazeed Ford + 16m27.0s
On a side note, Petter Solberg won the historic portion of the rally in a rwd Ford Escort MKII with his wife Pernilla as navigator and ...mechanic!
The race is now over, however you can watch the whole thing in the clip above. it got quite exciting with about one hour and a half to go when the skies opened up. No spoilers yet so you have a chance to follow along with the usual, great, Radiolemans commentary.
Day two of Rally Sweden and it's still the battle of the Sebastiens, with Ogier in the VW Polo R WRC leading Loeb in the Citroen by 30 seconds. Can Loeb conquer the one rally he has not dominated in his incredible career in this his final run at it?
The Maranello Motorsport Ferrari 458 had its best time taken away and 50 kilos of ballast added after setting a time faster than minimum time benchmark while qualifying for the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour. Perhaps someone Australian can explain to us how that works and why a delta time system is used rather than straight fastest time.
...driving their street cars at track days you know, because race car. Many think it's really to protect them from the merciless internet flaming they will get for their videos.
This anonymous gentleman gets extra points for the "elbow on the window" style and for the sheer awesomeness of his grabbing the A pillar in order to pull the car back on track
Kudos Porsche Stability Management.
NOTE: I don't know, nor do I care who the person driving in this clip is. I wish him all the best in coming to term with his awesome GT2 in the future. The video is preserved for, ahem... educational purpose.
...How it went is, shocker, Sebastian Loeb is leading after the first Special Stage. Rally Sweden is on of only four Loeb will take part of this season, others being Monte Carlo, Argentina and France. In fact, Sweden is one of the few rallies Loeb has not dominated in his career.
UPDATE: Perhaps Loeb's Swedish jinx are catching him out again, as of FRiday evening Ogier has caught him and gapped him by 10sSeconds
Mclaren's latest entry for the road legal class of the Track Day World Championship, the P1, is ready to race.
Battle is set to begin at the International Motor Show in Geneva in early March, a production P1 will be presented to the public to counter Ferrari's latest hyper car, the yet to be officially named F150. Pagani might have something up his and carbon fiber sculpted sleeve as well, should be one of the more interesting shows in years.
Mclaren is giving a first tease of the P1's instrument display, we learn the car has either nine forward gears or a 9K redline and an F1 style shift light display. Activating "Race mode" will also configure the rear spoiler for best downforce and presumably set shocks, transmission and engine parameters to their most aggressive settings.
There's a "spy" video out, you've probably seen it , of the next Ferrari super car the F150 or whatever it will be called, puttering around Fiorano. It sounds amazing but it looks just nasty in its camouflage, I think I rather wait a bit and see the real thing at the Geneva debut.
As amazing as that car may be I'm not sure it will be pretty, at least not in the sense Ferraris of the 1960s were pretty. In these two clips by Simon Kidston, a 250 LM owned by the swiss Scuderia Filippinetti and a 250 GTO driven by Jean Guichet at the 1964 Targa Florio and the 500 KM of Spa get the Ferrari Classiche treatment and we get the treat of watching them move.
call from the Maranello legal department in 5, 4, 3.....
UPDATE: I love our readers: turns out that's a BMW v8 powered tube framed kit car thing. Luca's looking for you! http://www.racecarsdirect.com/listing/45159/morisco_idr_m_car.html
Please tell me that does not say "Ferrari" on the air box...
The Mercedes AMG W04 looks to to be on trend with most other teams, an evolution of last year's model with a nose job. Unlike most other teams the W04 was shown with long non "Coanda" exhausts as it was driven by Nico Rosberg around Jerez ahead of tomorrows first day of winter testing.
Lewis Hamilton looks to have stepped into a bit of a political hornet's nest at Mercedes, a team with too many roosters at the top and no discernible vision yet. Not of much comfort to Lewis fans, he predicted 2013 as a transition year but if he's worried he does not seem to show it, tweeting on a new Blackberry, sporting a new hat with Monster Energy sponsorship and going home to Nicole on the brand new Bombardier Challenger 605 he just picked up.
As you can imagine, much secrecy is involved. Sure, renderings have been shown, vague pictures with obsolete parts maybe. But yesterday on the Renault Corporate media site in a story about their engine facility in Viry-Châtillon, some rather detailed pictures appeared and Renault engineers are surely not too happy about it. 
Battle is set to begin at the International Motor Show in Geneva in early March, a production P1 will be presented to the public to counter Ferrari's latest hyper car, the yet to be officially named F150. Pagani might have something up his and carbon fiber sculpted sleeve as well, should be one of the more interesting shows in years.
