DRIVER BLOG // JOEY ATTERBURY @ MID-OHIO

After some very encouraging weekends at both rounds 5 & 6 of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge we were headed to Mid-Ohio. Mitchum Motorsports accomplished a lot in the two early races in June; our 8th place finish at Lime Rock Park was the best of the year, and we were running in the top five for the first hour of the race at Watkins Glen before our rear bumper peeled off and we had to stop for repairs. Needless to say we unloaded the trailer in Ohio with high hopes for the weekend... [read more]

GRAND-AM, who is always looking to keep the playing field level, allowed the Camaro’s to drop a bit more weight, down to 3200lbs. The team is constantly working with the officials and this change would certainly help us compete with those M3’s and Mustangs! We had great weather the entire weekend in Ohio, and also had the pleasure of having regular co-driver Devin Cates back in the car. With the sun out and high humidity, I was constantly reaching back to the cooler for yet another water or Gatorade. Staying hydrated in the car for almost two hours during a race is very important, and it starts well before race day.

For qualifying we decided to put Devin in the car and he performed great, giving the Camaro a starting spot of P12 out of nearly 70 GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge cars. As Friday was coming to a close at the racetrack, things at the Mitchum Motorsports camp were just starting to get fired up. Chris Mitchum and I had planned a small meet and greet with several young, up and coming drivers to explore plans of racing in GRAND-AM in the years to come. Needless to say it was great to see the ‘new’ drivers in the paddock come and meet the team at Mitchum.

With race day upon us, that also meant the fan walk was drawing near. This is probably my favorite part of the weekend (besides the actual race), meeting our fans and sharing stories is always great! Attendance at Ohio was high - I love to see that people are interested in motor racing and are coming out to see it in person. I was even able to get an autograph of my own from the Sahlen’s ST car sponsor, ‘Hot Dog Boy’!

Saturday was the hottest day of the weekend, which made for an awesome crowd for Round seven of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. I don’t think the drivers or teams have let down the fans yet, every race has been action packed and Ohio did not disappoint. Devin made good work of his opening stint in the car moving all the way up to 5th position. I was able to get in the car just about half-way through and found myself 19th after the all the pit strategy worked out. Unfortunately I made a mistake with about 10 minutes left and spun the car, this resulted in another car clipping the front-end after I had come back on track to resume the race.

The damage was enough to force us to pit to check the car out before I could continue. Nothing could be repaired in pit lane but I was able to limp the car home to the checkered flag. It was a disappointing end to what seemed to be a great break-through weekend for the Mitchum Motorsports team. I made sure to apologize to the crew for the mistake I made and have learned from it so it will never happen again. With about a month before our next race at New Jersey, I’m confident that you will see the Black/Yellow #6.2 Mitchum Motorsports Camaro back at the front!



Photo(s): Curtis Creager
Editorial: Joey Atterbury

VIDEO // 1967 U.S. GRAND PRIX @ WATKINS GLEN

Our friends at YORK Motorsport just posted this video to their Facebook page, and I thought we'd reblog it. Filmed at the iconic Watkins Glen, enjoy nearly five minutes of footage from the 1967 United States Grand Prix, a race that saw Jim Clark beat his Lotus-Ford teammate, Graham Hill, by more than six seconds, collecting his third victory of the season // [comment]

NASCAR // MUSTANG TO MAKE NATIONWIDE DEBUT ON FRIDAY

The Ford Mustang will make it's NASCAR debut this Friday at the Subway Jalapeno 250 at Daytona International Speedway. To promote the Mustang's entrance into NASCAR's Nationwide Series, Ford has just announced that it will offer a brand new 2011 Mustang GT to the winner of Friday's race, provided they do so in a Ford branded vehicle of course. Additionally, Dodge will unveil their NASCAR ready Challenger on Friday night, and with ColdTrackDays correspondent, Curtis Creager, live at Daytona all weekend, we're excited to see how the two stack up. Stay tuned // [comment]

VIDEO // JEFF ZWART'S GT3 CUP CAR @ PIKES PEAK

Last weekend, our friend Will Roegge managed to put a camera inside Jeff Zwart's Porsche GT3 Cup car before qualifying for this years Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Looking to document the uber competitive 2WD Time Attack Class, Roegge managed to capture Zwart's record setting run of 5:01.642 // [comment]

2010 EUROPEAN GP // RACE RESULTS

Sebastian Vettel collected his second victory of the 2010 season, leading the field during Sunday's European Grand Prix in Valencia, Spain. The young German, who started on pole for the fourth time this season, managed to avoid a first lap incident with the hard charging McLaren of Lewis Hamilton and pulled away to an early and commanding lead. Vettel would stretch that lead to over 14 seconds before the safety car was brought out following Mark Webber's rather incredible accident. When the green flag waved again, Vettel pulled away from Lewis Hamilton, who managed to serve a drive through penalty without loosing a position, and never looked back. Vettel would cross the line some 5.042 seconds ahead of Hamilton and 12.658 seconds ahead of Jenson Button who finished third.

Follow the link for complete results... [read more]

2010 European Grand Prix // Race Results:

1 5 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault
2 2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 5.042
3 1 Jenson Button* McLaren-Mercedes + 12.658
4 9 Rubens Barrichello* Williams-Cosworth + 25.627
5 11 Robert Kubica* Renault + 27.122
6 14 Adrian Sutil* Force India-Mercedes + 30.168
7 23 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 30.965
8 8 Fernando Alonso Ferrari + 32.809
9 16 Sebastien Buemi* Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 36.299
10 4 Nico Rosberg Mercedes + 44.382
11 7 Felipe Massa Ferrari + 46.621
12 22 Pedro de la Rosa* Sauber-Ferrari + 47.414
13 17 Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 48.239
14 12 Vitaly Petrov* Renault + 48.287
15 3 Michael Schumacher Mercedes + 48.826
16 15 Vitantonio Liuzzi* Force India-Mercedes + 50.890
17 25 Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth + 1 lap
18 20 Karun Chandhok HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps
19 24 Timo Glock** Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps
20 21 Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps
21 18 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth + 4 laps
10 Nico Hülkenberg* Williams-Cosworth + 8 laps
19 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth
6 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault

Image and Info: F1 Fanatic
Editorial: Justin W. Coffey

MotoGP // LORENZO VICTORIOUS @ DUTCH GRAND PRIX

Going into Saturday’s Dutch TT at Assen, MotoGP fans could be excused for feeling like they were in some sort of alternate universe. If at the beginning of the season anyone had predicted that by round six Valentino Rossi would have been out for two races already with no return imminent, Casey Stoner would have yet to be on the podium and that Randy De Puniet would have twice qualified second ahead of the factory Hondas, it would have sounded a bit outlandish.

In short, the narrative of the unassailable aliens has been somewhat debunked in 2010. Fortunately, for those craving consistency, there has been Jorge Lorenzo. Ominously strong even before Rossi’s nasty accident at Mugello, Lorenzo has qualified on the front row of every race so far and has yet to finish lower than second place. Going into Saturday’s race, he was beginning to look unstoppable... [read more]

Lorenzo got off the line well, his starts having improved since the beginning of the year, but the two most noteworthy were Dani Pedrosa and Randy De Puniet. Pedrosa did a characteristic catapult from seventh place into third while De Puniet blew his second place with a wheelie off the line, immediately slamming his front tire back down to earth. He slid back to ninth place and crossed the line after lap one having clawed back to sixth, all his hard qualifying work undone. Meanwhile, American rookie phenomenon, Ben Spies, had quietly jumped into second place with Pedrosa, Stoner and Andrea Dovizioso making up the initial top five. Lorenzo immediately began to drop the pack and it looked as if he was about to repeat his runaway win at Silverstone from six days previous.

After two or three laps, it became apparent that Spies was in fact holding up the pack rather than Lorenzo skating away. Once Pedrosa and then Stoner got past Spies, it seemed like a battle of the three remaining aliens was underway. Unfortunately, Pedrosa was never able to do more than look ominous and by lap nine or ten, Lorenzo had put his head down and began to pull away, the top three finishers effectively settled. What was left was the battle for fourth place between Dovizioso, now past Spies, and De Puniet in sixth. With twelve laps left, Spies began to close on Dovizioso, passing him about two laps later in the run up to the chicane just leading into the start/finish line. Their battle had allowed De Puniet to close in and move into fifth place another two laps later. Unfortunately for the Frenchman, his tires began to turn on him in the waning laps and in a reprise of Silverstone he lost the battle and landed in sixth, Dovizioso securing fifth and Spies in a very respectable fourth. Behind that group was Nicky Hayden in a lonely seventh followed by Colin Edwards, Marco Simoncelli and Aleix Espargaro rounding out the top ten.

Lorenzo’s win puts him an astounding 47 points ahead of second place Dani Pedrosa. It’s tough to estimate what the standings would look like if Rossi hadn’t been knocked out, as Lorenzo was already looking dominant as of round two. With twelve races still to go, it is still far from over but one gets the sense that Lorenzo is running away with the championship the same way he has run away with the last few races.

MotoGP // 2010 Dutch Grand Prix:

1 25 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 171.5 41'18.629
2 20 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 171.3 +2.935
3 16 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Team Ducati 171.0 +7.022
4 13 11 Ben SPIES USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 170.6 +13.265
5 11 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda 170.5 +15.323
6 10 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 170.4 +15.772
7 9 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 169.7 +25.867
8 8 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 169.5 +28.991
9 7 58 Marco SIMONCELLI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 169.1 +35.658
10 6 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 169.1 +35.837
11 5 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Pramac Racing Team Ducati 167.7 +56.769
12 4 40 Hector BARBERA SPA Paginas Amarillas Aspar Ducati 167.7 +56.890
13 3 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 167.4 +1'00.615
14 2 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 166.9 +1'08.074
15 1 64 Kousuke AKIYOSHI JPN Interwetten Honda MotoGP Honda 163.4 1 Lap

Images and Info: MotoGP
Editorial: Jeff Winterberg

VIDEO // BRIAN REDMAN + 1971 PORSCHE 908/3

Courtesy of our friends at the Axis of Oversteer and Checkered Flag Films, check out this wonderful footage featuring Brian Redman and the legandary Porsche 908/3. Powered by a 360hp 2997cc air-cooled flat-eight, and weighing just 1200lbs, the 908/3 was built to compete in but two races, the Targa Florio and Nurburgring 24 Hours. Just 13 examples were produced, eleven in 1969-1970, and two in 1971. In the video featured above, watch as Redman drives the 908/3 to a Group 7A victory during last years Monterey Historics // [comment}

SPOILER // WEBBER FLIPS @ EUROPEAN GRAND PRIX

Mark Webber's European Grand Prix came to a dramatic end this morning when the Australian driver collided with Heikki Kovalainen. The two were battling for position heading into turn 12, a notoriously dangerous portion of the Valencia street circuit, when Webber's RB6 struck the backside of Kovalainen's Lotus. Both drivers are reportedly okay. More when we know more // [comment]

2010 EUROPEAN GP // QUALIFYING RESULTS

On Saturday, Red Bull Racing finished atop the time sheets after three rounds of knock out qualifying ahead of this weekends European Grand Prix. Held on the streets of Valencia, Spain, Sebastian Vettel managed to lap the 3.367 mile circuit in just 1:37.587, besting his Red Bull teammate, Mark Webber, by a mere 0.075 seconds in Q3. Finishing third overall was Lewis Hamilton with a 1:37.969 lap time, followed shortly thereafter by Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa.

Follow the link for complete results... [read more]

2010 European Grand Prix // Qualifying Results:

1 5 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1′38.324 1′38.015 1′37.587
2 6 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1′38.549 1′38.041 1′37.662
3 2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1′38.697 1′38.158 1′37.969
4 8 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1′38.472 1′38.179 1′38.075
5 7 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1′38.657 1′38.046 1′38.127
6 11 Robert Kubica Renault 1′38.132 1′38.062 1′38.137
7 1 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1′38.360 1′38.399 1′38.210
8 10 Nico Hülkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1′38.843 1′38.523 1′38.428
9 9 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1′38.449 1′38.326 1′38.428
10 12 Vitaly Petrov Renault 1′39.004 1′38.552 1′38.523
11 16 Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1′39.096 1′38.586
12 4 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1′38.752 1′38.627
13 14 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1′39.021 1′38.851
14 15 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1′38.969 1′38.884
15 3 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1′38.994 1′39.234
16 22 Pedro de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1′39.003 1′39.264
17 17 Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1′39.128 1′39.458
18 23 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1′39.343
19 18 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1′40.658
20 19 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1′40.882
21 25 Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1′42.086
22 24 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1′42.140
23 20 Karun Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1′42.600
24 21 Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth 1′42.851

Image and Info: F1 Fanatic
Editorial: Justin W. Coffey

PPIHC // TAJIMA READY FOR TITLE FIGHT

Although Rhys Millen and his 750hp Hyundai PM580 are getting all of the attention heading into this weekends Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, current overall record holder, Nobuhiro 'Monster' Tajima, is not ready to relinquish the title just yet. Tajima, who snatched the overall record from Millen's father in 2007 with a time of 10:01.408, is looking to break the ten minute barrier this year with the help of his highly modified Suzuki SX4.

Powered by a 910hp twin-turbocharged 3.1-liter V6 that generates roughly 655 lb/ft of torque and weighs a mere 2,425 pounds, Tajima's Suzuki SX4 is certainly the right tool for the job. And, according to Autoblog, Tajima has spent plenty of time in the wind-tunnel fine tuning his Suzuki's shape. Sunday can't come soon enough. Stay tuned for continued PPIHC coverage throughout the weekend! // [comment]

VIDEO // FORMULA GULF 1000 TESTING @ DUBAI

Courtesy of our friend Phil McGovern, check out this video of a Formula Gulf 1000 lapping the Club Circuit at the Dubai Autodrome earlier this week. With an ambient temperature of 109.4° Fahrenheit, the car, which was running on a set of rather used Dunlop Spanish F3 tires, was able to reach 222kph heading into Turn 1 and managed to lap the circuit in just 1:05. A respectable time given the circumstances... [read more]



Image: Emirates Business
Editorial: Justin W. Coffey

VIDEO // 2010 MONACO GRAND PRIX HISTORIQUE

Courtesy of Swiss watchmaker Chopard and our friends at Motorsport Retro, check out this short bit of film shot at the 2010 Monaco Grand Prix Historique // [comment]

PPIHC // MILLEN'S HYUNDAI PM580 IN THE FLESH

Ahead of this weekends 88th annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, Rhys Millen Racing officially unveiled their Hyundai Genesis PM580. Powered by a 750hp 4.1-liter V6, Millen's Hyundai now wears the infamous Red Bull livery in preparation for this weekend's competition. Looking more like a Le Mans Prototype than a hill climb car, Millen hopes to negotiate the 12.42 miles to the top of Pikes Peak in under ten minutes, reclaiming the overall record his father once held for 13 years.

Follow the link for additional images... [read more]





Image(s) and Info: Hyundai
Editorial: Justin W. Coffey

DRIVER BLOG // CHRISTODOULOU @ MID-OHIO

The Mid-Ohio Race course has unique characteristics. With one long straight; plenty of elevations; tight, twisty and flowing combined corners; it's tricky for the drivers, the cars, and overtaking, but the flip-side is that guarantees action-packed races.

The start of the Mid Ohio race weekend didn’t go as planned, I had been to the track the previous week in an Indy Lights car, which went very well, but in a Mazda RX-8 GT car it was a different experience. The braking points were a lot earlier, the gears were different and the cornering speeds were lower. It was going to take some getting used to... [read more]

During testing I felt we were off the pace. We were around 8th fastest, but I really had to drive the car hard to get the times. I was also extremely busy behind the wheel which was unusual. We kept on making setup changes but nothing we did seemed to make much difference, and I didn’t have much confidence in the car. In the two practice sessions before qualifying on the Friday, we were still struggling. After pouring over the data and setup sheets we eventually decided to change a few final things before going into qualifying.

The fifteen minute qualifying period started at 5pm, and we waited in the pits to ensure I had clear track, which would help to get the best out the car. Those last minute changes had worked and it felt like a different vehicle; the whole car felt hooked up, I was braking so deep into the corners, yet able to stop it, turn and get out of the corner with no problems. Each lap I went faster and faster, and I was able to get into 5th place. Eventually I produced a lap of 1:24:38 seconds, securing 3rd and I then consolidated that with another lap one thousand of a second quicker. I was now within two-tenths of pole position, which meant we were the closest we had been to the right pace all weekend. Both my own and the team's confidence was lifted and we felt good for the race on Saturday evening.

On race day there was a threat of rain in the afternoon, due to start just as the race was scheduled to begin. During the morning session we tried a few more things, but with testing at 8.40am and the race at 5pm the day was very long. Luckily we had a busy driver meet and autograph session with the fans coming in for the Mid-Ohio race which broke up our day.

By the time the race started there wasn’t much sign of the predicted rain and instead it remained very hot. The start of the race was scruffy. The first corner was always going to be tight, and I was hoping to get down the inside of the 94 BMW, but I couldn’t quite pull it off here. He was battling for the lead and seemed unstoppable - the amount of torque he was producing was huge, and it meant there was no way of keeping up with him in a straight line. The BMW wasn’t necessarily the fastest car around the corners, but once it was pointing in a straight line it was shifting pretty fast, and I wasn’t exactly hanging around on the straight either, reaching around 160+ mph.

Twenty minutes into the race there was a crash at turn one. Two of my competitors had made contact and one of them ended up in the wall, luckily walking away unhurt. During the safety car period we planned to pit to top up with fuel, change tyres and rejoin the race in good time, but things didn’t quite work out that way.

The car was lifted up on the air jacks, but the front right wheel didn’t go on fully. The SpeedSource crew ended up having to jump back over the wall to tighten it up, and to me it seemed like a lifetime waiting in the car. It was the 1st mıstake the team had made in any pitstop all year.

The wheel was secured and I made my way to the end of the pit lane, but I had to wait for the safety car to come by again before I was released back onto the track. This also seemed to take forever. Despite it not being the quickest of stops, I think I was now roughly in 8th position. All I knew was I now had to pass as many cars as quickly aspossible. I found my way in 5th position before we had another safety car, but this time unfortunately it was for a crash between a car that had spun out in front of my SpeedSource teammates' number 70 car, and the water and oil leaks the crash caused meant they had to retire them from the race.

The safety car altered things again, and the other teams changed their strategies. I was in 5th place battling my way forwards with two other Mazda RX-8s. It proved to be extremely tough overtake, and I made a contact trying to leverage my way into 3rd position.

The Mazdas proved to be the hardest to get past, as they share the same strengths and weaknesses of my own car. I attempted to overtake whilst defending against the 94 BMW - there was a bit of contact from behind as well as from the side, rubbing fenders with the other cars. It was a hard and fair fought battle, and while no one did anything unexpected or out of control, it provided me with one of the most exciting battles for position that I have ever been involved in.

Yet again there was another safety car. The two cars in front chose to pit but I carried on, now in the lead and behind the safety car. Just as the safety car was ready to come in a had quite a heavy hit from behind. The 94 BMW was pressuring me. I held my ground and kept the lead for a number of laps, and although he was able to get alongside me on the straights, I positioned myself in the right places, managing to keep the lead by out braking and defending for the lead. This was another amazingly hard-fought battle, and something I never really encountered while racing single seaters which tend to hold your position more.

The BMW eventually got by me on the straight, and now I found myself trying to keep up with his first place car while defending off the 3rd place contender. The power of the other manufacturers was tough for us to compete with; but we made up for that with the better cornering speeds. Yet again there was more contact, the rear of my car was taking quite a bit battering, but the race raged on. I eventually earned myself a bit of a gap, just enough to catch my breath, and by this time roughly 1 hour 15 had past. Still in second, it was looking good, before the safety car made its way out again due to another car getting stranded in the gravel.

While the safety crew cleaned the track, I made my way into the pits to hand the car over to John Edwards, my co-driver. We had a fast stop. We only lost a few positions, but there was still plenty of time until the end of the race. John made good progress and we were still in the top five.

Whilst John powered on, I was taken to the medical centre. The extreme high temperature inside the car had dehydrated me, despite having a two 2 litre drinks bottle with me. I was fine when I stepped out of the car and whilst my adrenalin was still pumping, it was only shortly after I started to not feel well.

Luckily I didn't miss too much of the race. With an hour to go, and the safety car was out again, and John pitted for an extremely short stop. It put us in a position to just finish the race, and this strategy worked perfectly, as we were now in 3rd place. We knew the drivers in front were not going to make it on fuel, so with half a hour to go we were back in the lead.

The pressure was now on the 94 BMW who was in second place and slowly inching up. John drove amazingly well, and it was only until when of the prototype cars made a slow overtaking move on him that it allowed the 94 BMW to get up on the inside of Keyhole corner, nudging John and putting him off-position, giving the BMW the lead.

There were now just 15 minutes to go and the big question was would the BMWs fuel last. The last lap came; we were still in 2nd position, and that is where we finished.

For me the experience was a race to remember. The amount of action was fantastic. It was only afterwards that we discovered the BMW had to go onto reserve fuel for the final lap, meaning if there had been one more circuit to complete, we may well have won.

Either way, I was over the moon, and so was the SpeedSource Mazda crew. They had done a stunning job once again, and we were the top finishing Mazda, demonstrating once more that we have the speed, and pace to win more races and make it onto the podium.

I can’t wait for another action filled race like Mid-Ohio, but I'm looking to take one more step on the podium next time. The next race is on July 3rd at Daytona, Florida.

Photo: Curtis Creager
Editorial: Adam Christodoulou

NEWS // PIRELLI CONFIRMED AS F1 TIRE SUPPLIER FOR 2011

Pirelli has been confirmed as the official tire supplier to Formula One starting in 2011. The Italian tire manufacturer last supplied F1 teams in 1991. Tyrrell, Brabham, Dallara and Benetton used its products while the rest of the field was supplied by Goodyear. Nelson Piquet scored the last F1 victory for Pirelli at the 1991 Canadian Grand Prix after Nigel Mansell’s Williams broke down on the last lap. Prior to that, Pirelli had gone five years without a win... [read more]

The FIA confirmed Pirelli have a three-year contract to supply tires to Formula 1:

"Pirelli has been selected as the single tyre supplier for the FIA Formula One World Championship for a period of three years, commencing in 2011. The sole supplier will undertake to strictly respect the sporting and technical regulations implemented by the FIA."

Image: Tim Morson
Info: F1 Fanatic
Editorial: Justin W. Coffey

NEWS // FIA TO REINSTATE 107% RULE FOR 2011

The FIA has announced it will reinstate the 107% rule for the 2011 season. Essentially the rule states that drivers whose best times are more than 7% slower than the fastest time set in the first part of qualifying, will not be allowed to start the race. This presents a serious problem for F1's current backmarkers... [read more]

The World Motor Sports Council announced today:

"From 2011, any driver whose best qualifying lap exceeds 107% of the fastest Q1 qualifying time will not be allowed to take part in the race. Under exceptional circumstances, however, which may include setting a suitable lap time in a free practice session, the stewards may permit the car to start the race. Should there be more than one driver accepted in this manner, the grid order will be determined by the stewards."

Had the rule been in place this season, it would have prevented both of the HRT drivers from starting in Bahrain and Malaysia. Lucas di Grassi would have been out of the Malaysian Grand Prix as well, leaving just 21 cars on the grid. Bruno Senna would not have been allowed to start at Barcelona, as he would have failed to qualify by just one-hundredth of a second, and Karun Chandhok wouldn’t have qualified for last weeks Canadian Grand Prix.

The 107% rule was abolished at the end of the 2002 season.

Image and Info: F1 Fantatic
Editorial: Justin W. Coffey

GEAR // HKS RACING CONTROLLER FOR PS3

HKS has teamed up with InterWorks to create this racing controller for the Playstation 3. Looking to offer enthusiast an alternative to the rather pricey wheel-and-pedal setups that dominate the market, the HKS Hipermax III replaces the analog joysticks with a thumb wheel on the left side and throttle and brake buttons on the right side. The 'steering wheel' has a center stripe to aid in steering, and the inputs of the throttle and brake controls are registered in a digital readout located in the center of the controller. As of right now, the Hipermax III will only be available for the PS3 and is currently expected to see for $55 // [comment]

VIDEO // SUPERCHARGED K20A POWERED LOTUS ELISE

What do you get when you swap a 325hp supercharged Intera Type R motor into a featherweight Lotus Elise? Something like a shifter kart on steroids. Video courtesy of Brunodu68 // [comment]

RUMOR // ROSSI TO RACE FOR DUCATI & FERRARI?

Just to be clear, all of this is unconfirmed, but rumors are swirling about the blogosphere that nine time MotoGP champion, Valentino Rossi, following the 2010 MotoGP season, might join the Ducati factory team for 2011. The rumor also suggests that Rossi, if he were to ride for Ducati, would sign on as a test driver for the other Italian superpower, Ferrari.

According to TwoWheels, Rossi's two-year deal with Ducati would allow him time to test Ferrari's F1 cars, as well as guarantee a move to rally racing come the end of his motorcycle racing career. The rumor has gained some ground thanks in part to speculations that current Ducati factory rider, Casey Stoner, will be leaving the team at the end of the year and ride instead for the Repsol Honda team. Other rumors include the return of Aprilia to MotoGP come 2012 // [comment]

GEAR // GRAN TURISMO 5 COLLECTOR'S EDITION

With an official release date now confirmed (November 2nd 2010) we weren't surprised to hear that Sony and Polyphony Digital were ready to release the first of what we assume will be many 'collector's editon' copies of their forthcoming title, Gran Turismo 5. This particular collector's edition of GT:5 will include a copy of the 3D-capable game, a 1:43 scale diecast 2009 Nissan GT-R Spec V, a GT keychain, a voucher for five downloadable high-end cars and a 300-page guide. Click here for more info // [comment]

VIDEO // HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 2010 ISLE OF MAN TT

Most videos from the Isle of Man TT are poorly edited and often rot with commentary and rock music. This video, which comes courtesy of Hell for Leather, is quite the opposite. Featuring riders like John McGuinness, Bruce Antsey, Conor Cummins and Ian Hutchinson, follow the link for one of the best highlight videos we've seen in a long time. Oh, and did we mention we heart pure engine sounds... [read more]



Image and Info: Hell for Leather
Editorial: Justin W. Coffey

VIDEO // JOEY ATTERBURY @ WATKINS GLEN

Our good friend Joey Atterbury just sent us this video from the start of the sixth round of the 2010 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (CTSCC), the Continental Tire 150 at Watkins Glen. Watch as Atterbury takes his #6.2 Mitchum Motorsports Camaro from P13 to P4 in just a few laps! // [comment]

VIDEO // MILLEN'S 750HP HYUNDAI READY FOR PPIHC

Next weekend, Rhys Millen will attempt to break the infamous 10 minute mark at the 88th annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC). Millen will pilot his newly developed PM580 Pike's Peak Hyundai, a 1,850 pound, 750 horsepower V6 powered monster, designed specifically to conquer the 156 turns to the top of Pikes Peak. The video featured above, which comes to us courtesy of RMR, highlights a recent test session with the PM580 ahead of next weekends hill climb // [comment]

NASCAR // SCENES FROM THE SAVE MART 350 @ INFINEON

Friday afternoon was the first practice session for the Sprint Cup cars. I have to say that the sound of raw American V8 power is quite enjoyable. After practice was qualifying where each driver gets just one hot lap to put in their best time. If they make a mistake, there is no chance for a re-do... [read more]

Watching the drivers hustle these heavy powerful cars around the road course is quite exciting. The cars slide around a lot getting sideways under acceleration out the corners. Greg Biffle, a native of my hometown of Vancouver, WA is seen here leaping over the curbing on the outside of turn 4. The drivers come over the hill through turn 3 and then a steep hard braking zone before they smash the cars over the inside curbing and get up on two wheels. Then they run wide and jump over the outside curbing and use as much of the paved runoff area as possible.

The fans were out in force throughout the weekend. Here is a serious Kevin Harvick fan all decked out in the appropriate uniform. As a photographer, colors like these are what I live for.

I don’t quite understand how they get the trucks so tightly packed but somehow they do.

Fences, fences, fences…and more fences. This is what I was constantly having to work around, or most of the time having to work through for the whole weekend. It was a constant challenge trying to find locations with the least fencing in the way.

When I arrived at the track I couldn’t really believe how many people there was. The amount of motor-homes was astonishing as well. It would be great if the other American sports car and open wheel series could draw this many fans.

When the race started, polesitter Kasey Kahne led into the first corner, however by the end of the first lap Jimmy Johnson had already taken the lead. Kahne continued to fade down the field while Johnson started to pull away from the pack. Not to far was the Australian Marcos Ambrose who had been fastest in all of the practice sessions.

Farther down in the pack Montoya was having a steady run, working his way slowly up the field. Battling with Jeff Gordon for a while and then later Scott Speed, the Columbian had a solid run as could be expected on a road course from the former F1 driver.

Watching the cars from across the track, you could really get a feel for how much speed these guys were carrying through the esses on the backside of the course. These cars fly!

RedBull DTM driver Mattias Ekstrom flew out to have a taste of NASCAR and is the first Swede to ever start a race in the series. Having only driven a cup car once before in a test, this was quite a big challenge and was not in contention for a win. Here he is seen diving to the inside of Scott Speed in the second RedBull Toyota.

There was no doubt going to be some accidents, which led to yellow flags, which then led to double file restarts. These add to the excitement of the race by bunching the pack together for the restart. Here a number of cars are pictured through the NASCAR “chute” which connects turn 4 to turn 7.

Another angle of the same area of track on a different restart. It’s quite a site to see this many cars running so close together.

During the caution periods the teams took the time to pit the cars for fuel and new tires. At first the pits look calm as the crews waits for their cars to arrive…

…but then it turns into a complete jungle of color, motion, and noise. Although different pit strategies saw the leading cars get shuffled to the back at different times during the race, it was really just the two car fight between Ambrose and Johnson.

Ambrose was able to take the lead from Johnson and was on course to his first ever Sprint Cup win since moving over from the Australian V8 Supercar series a few years ago. The Aussie was able to hold off Johnson for a couple of the late race restarts and he looked sure to take the victory. However, trying to save fuel, he slowed down too much on one of the yellow flag pace laps. For this NASCAR gave him a penalty for not maintaining reasonable speed and was dropped down six places. This gave way for the double J of Jimmy Johnson to take his first road course win and his 51st career win.

Another brilliant California sunset signaled the end of the day which had brought heartbreak for some and joy for others.

Photo/Editorial: Camden Thrasher