Ferrari 458 Crashes Into Brazilian Crowd and Leaves Three Injured

A festive racing event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, turned into a horror story this past Sunday when the driver of a yellow Ferrari 458 Italia crashed through the rail guard and plowed into spectators crowded along the course injuring three people.

"We were behind the guard rail and he (the driver of the Ferrari yellow) lost control in the curve," Cida Alves, a spectator at the event told Brazil's Gaz News. "Upon impact, a cyclist (who was in the audience) was thrown into the air and the rails fell on him. He was wounded in head."
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New 911 GT3 and GT3 Cup at the Geneva Motor Show

Cameras whizzed, zoomed and flashed as Porsche lifted the covers off the two new models it unveiled at the 83rd Geneva Motor Show: the all-new, 991-based 911 GT3 and its Cup racing edition.

As the Stuttgart-based company’s manager of high performance cars (…) Andreas Preuninger put it, even though they are fully aware of what they have created, “the reaction of the crowd is always the final test”.
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Chevrolet SS NASCAR Team and Red Bull Racing do The Harlem Shake

There's no end to The Harlem Shake videos popping up right and left on the internet, and as one would expect, the new viral phenomenon has caught the attention of advertisers and marketing people in the auto industry as well.

Following in the footsteps of so many others, Red Bull Racing Australia and even four-time champion NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon (with the help / push of sponsor Pepsi) and his team who will run the new Chevrolet SS, joined in on the “Harlem Shake” silliness and posted their own videos.
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Rally Fighter Flips Over and Keeps on Racing

Well, you know what they say, when you fall down, get back up and keep trying, which is precisely what a driver in a Local Motors Rally Fighter did during the Parker 425 off-road race in Arizona last week.

The Baja-style crossover coupe hit a bump on the course and performed a scary 360-degree flip. However, far from being discouraged, the driver continued the race as if nothing really happened!
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Lexus LFA Loses to Ferrari 458 Italia in C&D's 2013 Lightning Lap Test

It's a fact that Nürburgring lap times have become something of a standard when it comes to comparing sports cars’ performance. Car & Driver magazine decided that it was impractical to conduct its annual Lightning Lap event in Germany as they had 20 cars to test, so its editors chose the Virginia International Raceway (VIR) as the U.S. equivalent of the ‘Ring.

While the 4.1-mile long track is one-third of the Nordschleife, it features more than 30 turns and elevation changes and, according to C&D, it makes for a demanding venue in which to test each car to its limits.
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Porsche’s 917/20 “Pink Pig” Le Mans Racer is a Tasty Piece of History

Racing cars that don’t win races are quickly forgotten even by their own creators. Winners make history, second is the first loser: that’s the way it’s always been. Surely, nobody remembers a Le Mans contender that didn’t even make it to the finish line, right?

That may be true for most cars but not for Porsche’s 917. The brainchild of current VW Group supremo Ferdinand Piech, it is deeply etched in racing history not only for giving Porsche its first-ever victory at La Sarthe in 1970, followed by another one the next year but also because it starred in Steve McQueen’s 1971 Le Mans film.
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McLaren Updates MP4-12C GT3 Racer for 2013, WRC Champion Loeb to Compete in FIA GT

Non-motorsport fans may overlook racing versions of sports cars but the fact is, they make for a very lucrative business for automakers that, naturally, are very happy to put some effort into them.

Like Ferrari, Porsche and Mercedes-Benz, McLaren has developed a GT3-spec variant of its MP4-12C supercar that was supplied to 13 customer teams last year. In its inaugural season, the 12C GT3 took part in 98 separate events, mostly in Europe, and claimed 19 victories and a further 19 podium finishes.
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Honda Gets Super Busy for 2013 Tokyo Auto Salon with a Barrage of Concepts and Tuned Models

Honda will be unleashing a host of new production and prototype vehicles and motorcycles at Japan's largest aftermarket event, the Tokyo Auto Salon 2013 that runs from January 11 to Sunday, January 13, 2013.

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BMW Returns to DTM After 20-Year Absence – Video

BMW will return to Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) after an almost 20-year absence. To celebrate the occasion, which will occur this weekend, the automaker release a video showing its awesome car running around a track with dramatic music in the background.

Based out of Germany, the series will pit BMW against its main competitors: Audi and Mercedes-Benz. Six M3 DTMs will compete in the series in an effort to further bolster the automaker’s record, which includes 49 wins, 30 pole positions and three drivers’ titles.

The car seen in the video below uses a 4.0-liter V8 that makes 473 hp and 369 lb-ft of torque through a six-speed sequential transmission to sprint from 0-60 mph in about three seconds.

VIDEO

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Ford Focus Electric to Become the First EV to Pace a NASCAR Race

In a new marketing effort to promote its pure-electric Focus, Ford says it will make history this month, as the battery-powered version of its compact hatchback will become the first all-electric pace car to lead the pack at a NASCAR race.

The new Focus Electric, which rolled off the production line in December at the company's Michigan Assembly Plant, will perform all pace care duties for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at the Richmond International Raceway on April 28.

The Focus Electric pace car will make its public debut at the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond on April 25.

"Ford research shows the majority of Americans would consider buying an electrified vehicle but do not yet understand the different technologies," said Mark Fields, president of The Americas. "Highlighting the Focus Electric as a pace car is a fun way to educate consumers about the kinds of benefits our electrified vehicles deliver."

Ford noted that according to research, around 35 percent of new car intenders are motorsports fans and 78 percent of them support NASCAR. The company added that Ford race fans are 67 percent more likely to consider Ford products than general market consumers.

Source: Carscoop

PHOTO GALLERY

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Cam Shaft Turns the Renault Clio 200 RS Cup into a Track Racer

German car wrapping specialist Cam Shaft has made its own Clio RS R3 track racer (of sorts) out of the sportiest version of the French hatch.

The company started out by stripping the Clio RS' interior down to bare studs and then adding an assortment of race-specification goods ranging from a full roll-cage and a pair of Sparco bucket seats to the LCD instrument panel and removable Sparco steering wheel.

The mechanical improvements are far more restrained and include a lowered KW suspension, Brembo brake kit, K&N sports air filter and an Akrapovic Evolution exhaust system, while the car now rides on new lightweight OZ rims.

The final touch comes from Cam Shaft's own wrapping service for both the exterior and interior panels along with a new rear wing.

Source: Carscoop

PHOTO GALLERY

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Nico Rosberg Delivers First Mercedes F1 Win Since 1955

This Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix race weekend enjoyed many firsts. Mercedes GP driver Nico Rosberg scored his maiden Formula 1 pole position and succeeded in taking the momentum from his strong qualifying performance over to race day, earning his first ever F1 GP victory.

Controlling the race from start to finish, Rosberg commented, “It’s been the perfect weekend. Everything’s gone [well]. It couldn’t be better. Very happy. It was a great race. It was impressive to see really how we’ve managed to progress so quickly. We’ve really had some difficult times in the races, the first two, but we’ve made a lot of changes, worked hard at it and all of a sudden it’s come good. That’s been fantastic to see today. I’m just so happy for all of us and I really look forward now to spending some time with the team later on.”

Giving major credit to team efforts for his victory, Rosberg’s career first win also marks the first win for the new Mercedes GP team, since the factory-backed racing team returned to the stage back in the 2010 season. Prior to this weekend, Mercedes-Benz‘s last factory-backed Formula 1 victory was back in September of 1955, when Juan Manuel Fangio won his last race for Mercedes at Monza.

During the Chinese GP post-race press conference, reporter Frederique Ferret asked, “Nico, you said you wanted to win with Mercedes, now you have done so, just like Fangio and Stirling Moss. What does that mean to you?”

“Ah, it’s definitely very special, the whole thing. Firstly just to win the race, to win my first race is special and everything that comes with it, with the Silver Arrows, with the team that I have, with everybody who has been working together for more than two years now,” said Nico Rosberg. “Yeah, it’s a very happy moment.”

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Toyota 86 Makes its D1GP Debut in Japan…and Crashes!

We all know that the Toyota 86 (or GT86/Scion FR-S) was not made for outright power and top Nürburgring lap times but for having some fun behind the wheel of a nimble sports car. One of the things that the 86 is happy to oblige with is drifting thanks to its rear-wheel drive setup, limited-slip diff and a stability control system that can be fully deactivated.

It goes without saying that the modern-day hachiroku would participate in pro drifting series. But while the standard boxer may be satisfactory for road use, for racing, more power is needed.

Manabu “Max” Orido has already replaced the stock flat-four with a Lexus IS-F-sourced V8. Of course, the former JGTC GT300 class champion was present at the D1 Grand Prix drift series premiere to please the crowds with his drifting skills.

Another contestant didn't have a V8, but a pair of turbos slapped on the boxer engine. He didn’t have much luck, though, as he lost control of the car during a badly executed drift and ended up hitting the barrier and damaging the 86's rear end.

You can watch both the crash and Orido-san videos right after the jump.

Videos

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Caterham SP300.R Video Review

With a Lola-developed chassis, 300bhp supercharged 2.0-litre Ford duratec engine and weight of just 545kg, the new £81k Caterham SP/300.R is a new breed of car for the British marque. Matt Prior tests it on track.

Source: Autocar

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2013 SRT Viper GTS-R Revealed, Set to Run in American Le Mans

The all new SRT Viper was revealed today at the 2012 New York Auto Show, along with an announcement from Chrysler that a race focused GTS-R will be returning to the American Le Mans racing series in 2012.

The GTS-R will be a non-street legal Viper, and will be backed by an SRT factory team in the Le Mans series. “Racing has been a significant part of the illustrious history of Viper not only with wins on the track, but also in the continued development of the street cars – and our new 2013 SRT Viper models are proof of those lessons learned,” said Ralph Gilles, President and CEO of SRT.

Two identical Viper GTS-Rs will compete in the production-based GT class, and four drivers have already been confirmed for the SRT factory team.

Even the organizers of the American Le Mans series are excited for the return of Viper to high stakes racing.  “I don’t think it’s possible to overstate the significance of the SRT Viper returning to the top level of professional sports car racing,” said Scott Atherton, President and CEO of the American Le Mans Series. “The Chrysler Group has a long, storied and very successful history of competing with the American Le Mans Series. The fact that they’re coming back concurrently with the introduction of the new production car and doing it simultaneously, we would be hard-pressed to come up with a better-case scenario. What a great way for SRT Viper to come back to racing.”

The Vipers race history will be carried on by the new SRT Viper GTS-R, and as they say, win on Sunday, sell on Monday. This will no doubt be the hopes of Chrylser for the all new Viper.

PHOTO GALLERY: 2013 SRT Viper GTS-R

PHOTO GALLERY: 2013 SRT Viper GTS

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