Motorsports
Lotus is back in IndyCar! Will be part of the 2010 season
Right after qualifying 20th and 21st during the qualifying session of the Bahrain Grand Prix in Sakhir, Lotus has officially announced its return to IndyCar. The company announced a partnership with Cosworth and a current IndyCar team called KV Racing Technology.
The new team will take part in this year’s series which kicks start in Sao Paolo, Brazil on March 14th. The Lotus-Cosworth IndyCar will be piloted by former Formula 1 driver Takumo Sato. Lotus also said that the race car will be treated to the company’s classic green and yellow colour scheme.
KV Racing Technology was established in 2003 and has competed in two IndyCar championships. The team has thus far won two races, first by Cristiano da Matta and second by Will Power. Pictured above is a rendering of the Lotus-Cosworth IndyCar machine.
Prodrive Impreza N2010 Group N rally car
Prodrive, the British engineering firm famous for its association with Subaru’s World Rally Team has come up with the Impreza N2010, an FIA spec group N rally car. The N2010 was designed with performance to match Super 2000 rally cars but with a lower pricetag.
“On gravel the Impreza is certainly a match for any Super 2000, but it is on tarmac, that the additional engine performance will really come into its own and make the N2010 a competitive alternative to a Super 2000, but at about half the price and with significantly lower running costs,” said Graham Prew, Prodrive sales manager.
Upgrades to the 1,994cc boxer engine include a 33mm diameter air restrictor (from 32mm), introduced by FIA to help balance the performance of Group N and the unrestricted Super 2000 cars. That, plus the fitment of high flow fuel injectors and recalibrating the ECU increases peak power by 20 bhp and improves torque and responsiveness throughout the rev range. The Scooby’s dynamics is improved too – its Ohlins dampers have been revised with extra travel, while the suspension bushes have been strengthened.
You can buy one at £120,000, but there’s also a two-year lease programme with an option to buy the car at the end of the term. Best of all, the package includes insurance and system rebuilds.
More pictures after the jump. Read the rest of this entry.
More images of the Honda HSV-010 GT released
Honda Racing has released more pictures of its HSV-010 GT race car, which will make its race debut when the 2010 Super GT season starts in March at Suzuka. There was only one official image prior to this, while the rest of the pics and video you saw on this site were from “stalkers” who caught the Super GT Honda drivers testing.
The 3.4-litre V8 powered, rear-wheel drive HSV-010 GT competes in the GT500 class. Super GT is meant for production cars, but Honda has managed to find a loophole in rulebook that permits cars that are production ready (which this prototype NSX is), though not necessarily in production. HSV stands for Honda Sports Velocity.
Looks really evil, doesn’t it? More pics after the jump! Read the rest of this entry.
Honda HSV-010 GT starts pre-season testing at Suzuka – full gallery and video here!
UPDATE: Awesome 11 minute-long video of the HSV-010 GT added.
It was very stingy of Honda Racing to release only one image and a short announcement of its HSV-010 GT race car. But thanks to the eagle eyes from Motors Blog of Japan, we now get a better view of Honda’s replacement for the long serving NSX in the Super GT series.
The Motors Blog report states that four units of the HSV were running around Suzuka, three were shod with Bridgestone tyres and one with Dunlops. They speculated that drivers doing the testing were Loic Duval, Yuji Ide, Takuya Izawa and Yuki Nakayama, probably from their helmet designs. These four wheelmen drive for Honda backed GT500 teams namely Nakajima Racing (Epson NSX), Team Kunimitsu (Raybrig NSX) and Autobacs Racing Team Aguri (Arta NSX), so it’s probably Honda Racing gaining driver feedback for last minute tweaks before the season starts in March, on this track.
The HSV-010, which should have been the “new NSX” before the project got cancelled, looks really good in the pics. Here’s hoping that it will give the Nissan GT-R and Toyota Soarer a run for their money in 2010!
More pics and a video after the jump!
Source Read the rest of this entry.
Honda’s “new NSX” confirmed to race in Super GT next year!
For all of us who were disappointed to hear Honda shelving production plans for its “new NSX”, here’s the consolation. We’ll get to see it racing in the Japanese Super GT series! The picture above shows Honda Racing’s replacement for the NSX-GT which has served Honda well for 13 years in the domestic series.
The HSV-010 GT (that’s what it’s called; HSV stands for Honda Sports Velocity) is powered by a 3.4-litre V8 engine feeding power to the rear wheels, as per Super GT ruling. It will race in the GT500 class against the likes of Nissan’s GT-R and the Toyota Soarer.
The Super GT series is meant for production cars, but eagle eyes at Honda picked up a clause that permit cars that are “production ready”, which the NSX prototype is – it was regularly caught testing in Europe.
The HSV-010 GT will make 2010 Super GT debut on March 20-21 at Suzuka.
BMW Z4 GT3 race car to be available from second quarter of 2010
BMW has revealed on its motorsport website that the Z4 GT3 race car will be made available from the second quarter of 2010. The Z4 GT3 is motivated by a 4.0 liter V8 that can output approximately 480hp. The engine is controlled by the 408 ECU and has a Power400 control unit that is responsible for operating all actuators. The V8 is also paired with a 6-speed sequential transmission. Other features include rims with locking and safety clips, as well as racing ABS and air conditioning which is optional.
The Z4 GT3 is part of the customer racing program and teams can race the track-ready Z4 in various international and national championships in accordance with GT3 regulations such as the FIA GT3 European Championship, International GT Open and the ADAC GT Masters. The car can also compete in 24-hour endurance races. The price? Well prepare to part with 298,000 Euros (estimated, plus VAT). Unfortunately BMW has yet to release an image of the Z4 GT3. Pictured above is a standard BMW Z4.
Kovalainen to follow Raikkonen’s step and try out rallying?
Former McLaren driver Heikki Kovalainen made headlines this week when he was announced as one of Lotus F1’s drivers and now fresh from the announcement, rumors are circulating that the Finn is interested in trying out rallying and may take part in Arctic Rally with the Proton Satria Neo S2000 rally car. It all started when Jarno Trulli, Kovalainen and Fairuz Fauzy visited Proton’s Centre of Excellence (COE) in Malaysia this Tuesday.
You may ask why the Lotus drivers visited Proton, well thats because the Malaysian automaker is the parent company of Lotus. During the visit, Kovalainen looked interested in the Neo S2000 rally car that was parked in the centre. He even got on the driver’s seat and was very curious about the car. The car in question was used the day before for a rally experience event with Alister McRae. The Arctic Rally will take place next month and Kovalainen will join fellow Finn Kimi Raikonnen who will drive a Citroen C4, if Kovalainen decides to drive that is.
Ride with Alister McRae in the Satria Neo Super 2000 rally car: with video!
Couple of days ago I was given the opportunity to take a ride with Alister McRae in the Satria Neo S2000 rally car on a short rally circuit in Sepang, Malaysia. The event was organized by Proton and it gave a selected few the chance of sitting in the passenger seat while an experienced rally driver brings out of the best from the car. The event kick started at 5.00 pm local time and was ‘blessed’ with the typical Sepang weather. Remember the “out of this world” downpour that red-flagged this year’s Malaysian Grand Prix? Well, we got the similar ‘wet’ treatment as well.
But unlike the Formula 1 race, the organizers were somewhat looking forward to the rain, thinking that it would be more fun, which was true when I found out eventually. As mentioned the man behind the wheel was Alister McRae, with a very familiar last name because he is the brother of late rally God Colin McRae. The Satria Neo S2000 under him outputs 278hp and 271Nm of torque from its normally-aspirated 2.0 liter 4-pot. It is a Renault-sourced engine which is also found in the Proton Waja in a 1.8 form. The entire car was prepped by UK’s Mellors Elliot Motorsport (MEM) and features a 6-speed Xtrac sequential transmission.
McRae, partnered by co-driver Bill Hayes raced the Satria Neo S2000 in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) as well as in the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) this year and the campaign is scheduled to continue next year. In fact, the duo just came back from a second place finish at IRC’s Rally of Scotland. Back to the quick experience report. As the car returned to pick me up, I was able to hear to rumble of the engine about 100 meters away. I nestled myself onto the co-driver’s race seat and straight away gripped the roll cage bars. Away we went and I noticed that keeping the Neo S2000 smooth at low speeds looked a little difficult for the average Joe, it begs the driver to drive the car in racing mode all the time.
McRae was keeping his cool while we headed towards the rally circuit. Once there, he hit the gas and I was instantly pushed back further into the seat and my first expression: “arrrggghhhhh!!!” It was already about 6.00 pm and it was raining, so you can already imagine how dark it was. On top of that, the circuit was part of a palm oil plantation and having trees all over also helped reduce sunlight.
I mentioned that McRae kept his cool while heading to the circuit, well guess what? He was still cool when he was pushing it. I was screaming like there is no tomorrow as the Neo S2000 was driven on slippery, muddy surface. The element of fear was evident all the time as just about a meter or two from the car was a tree, all the time! And yet, McRae looked as though he was having evening tea!
The car looked like it was out of control but McRae was able to keep it in control. Through out the entire 2 kilometer circuit McRae looked like he was part of the car. Everything was so ‘fluid’ and I really respect the level of commitment a rally driver gives behind the wheel! This is where experience, good judgment and ‘bravery’ come into play. I was just lucky enough to go home with a dry pair of pants! Well, talking or in this case, writing can only do so much, hence we have something better, yes a video! Continue reading to check out the 2 minute 29 second-long video. Read the rest of this entry.
