race car

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Audi RS Q e-tron preparation for Dakar

In January 2022 the next edition of the famous Dakar Rally will start, and over the years we’ve seen some really spectacular cars, bikes, and trucks competing in this grueling desert race, but the 2022 edition will see a rather special entry at the starting grid, the Audi Sport RS Q e-tron … yes, you are reading that correctly, a hybrid rally car.

You can only do so much testing in Germany or Spain, so to get some more ‘real time’ data Audi Sport took their RS Q e-tron together with the three driver crews to Morocco, none other than previous Dakar record winner Stéphane Peterhansel, Carlos Sainz and Mattias Ekström would be taking this highly complex prototype into the desert where temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius (or 104°F) were measured during these hard test sessions.

“We expect much lower temperatures at the Dakar Rally,” says Andreas Roos. “Nevertheless, we deliberately went to Morocco to test our concept under the most extreme conditions. Components such as the MGU, for example, were basically not developed for use in such high ambient temperatures, but the drivetrain and other components were also pushed to their limits or even beyond by the heat. The insights we gained in Morocco are invaluable, but they also show us that we still have a lot to do before the Dakar Rally and there is not much time left.”

To make sure this Audi RS Q e-tron has any chance at finishing the Dakar rally, they developed a bespoke high-voltage battery, where the main focus is on managing the temperature while being able to pull the maximum amount of power from this power cell for sustained periods of time, in a hot and dusty environment like the Dakar desert.

Power in the Audi RS Q e-tron comes from two Formula E electric motors, found in the FE07, one on each axle, while a turbocharged 2-Liter four-cylinder engine taken from the 2020 DTM RS5 race car will charge the 50 kWh battery as a generator … total power output is said to be 671 hp before regulations might come in to restrict that number.

In January we will be seeing three RS Q e-tron start the Dakar Rally, over the two weeks following the departure there will be daily stages, some nearly 500 miles, that will really put the new Audi electric powertrain to the test, and the Dakar Rally is only the first stop for Audi Sport, as they have left Formula E and the DTM now to focus entirely on Le Mans next.

September 28, 2021 / Comments Off

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Potential First Production Aston Martin Racing Valkyrie Le Mans Hypercar Reavealed?

While the recently announced Aston Martin Valkyrie Spider is the talk of the town, there was one specific image that Aston Martin put on their Twitter that may have dropped a heavy hint about 2022’s plans for the prestigious marque.

The Aston Martin Valkyrie family.#AstonMartin #Valkyrie pic.twitter.com/GOiqN7jeEe

— Aston Martin (@astonmartin) August 13, 2021

If the image or tweet doesn’t load, here is the picture in full:

From front to back, you have the beautiful Aston Martin Valkyrie Spider, the original Aston Martin Valkyrie Coupe, and then…. wait, wasn’t the Aston Martin Pro Le Mans Hypercar program originally canceled, and then announced it was delayed until the 2023 season?!

Taking a closer look…

It’s lowered. It has a hypercar-spec shark fin. It has a rear spoiler that is raised and solid. It has aerodynamically shaped wheels, which look to have at least some carbon fiber. It’s a full AMR Valkyrie Pro!

While Aston Martin has not announced anything yet for 2022, the Hypercar class, new for this year with Toyota and SCG running their models, is going to be quite heavily populated in 2022. Peugeot is returning with the 9X8, ByKolles producing the PMC Project LMH, and Ferrari recently announcing their intention to join the class in 2023, based on the successor to the LaFerrari. Aston Martin originally announced they would be producing the Valkyrie Pro LMH for 2023, but almost all pictures so far have been of prototypes or computer renders, and most of them are only about the customer race car program.

This picture, however, is real photographic evidence that they might be moving up a year. Especially considering how much Aston Martin and Ferrari are close competitors on the Formula 1 circuit…

The discussion on this tweet from Aston Martin has, naturally, been focused almost entirely on the race car in the background, so while this is just a rumor right now, could this be the first appearance of a WEC Hypercar class Valkyrie Pro LMH for 2022? Only time will tell!

August 13, 2021 / Comments Off

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The Ecurie Ecosse C-type, a reincarnation of the legendary Fifties racing Jaguar

In 1952 a young Ian Stewart, pioneer driver for Ecurie Ecosse, would visit Jaguar Cars in Coventry to collect his brand-new C-type. He would drive the car to its first race on Jersey to confront stiff competition from Aston Martin and Frazer Nash. The race was won at a gallop and in doing so he opened the first chapter in Ecurie Ecosse’s international motor racing career.

Considerable success on the racetrack ensued for Ecurie Ecosse, their trophy cabinet bursting at the seams with 59 podium places secured across the seven C-type chassis raced by the team. Through clever tuning by legendary team manager ‘Wilkie’ Wilkinson and meticulous planning by founder David Murray, they proved how capable the Jaguar C-type could be on the international stage and began a legacy that would take the Scottish national team to countless wins, including their crowning glory at La Sarthe.

The Jaguar C-type was a technological masterpiece. The first race car honed in the wind tunnel, first to use fuel ‘bag’ tanks (a technology borrowed from the aviation world) and the test bed for Dunlop’s revolutionary disc brakes. A steel space frame chassis formed the rigid backbone of these cars, clad in a lightweight, thin-gauge, streamlined aluminum body designed by Malcolm Sayer and powered by a silky smooth Jaguar ‘overhead cam’ straight-six engine. Stirling Moss once said: “I always really rated the C-type – for me it was a far better car than the D.”

Ecurie Ecosse have created a new car to pay homage to their past success. Current Ecurie Ecosse patron Alasdair McCaig said of their new car: “How better to celebrate the historic success of the Ecurie Ecosse C-types than to manufacture a batch of cars in their honor? The seven priceless chassis raced in period still exist today, coveted by their lucky owners, occasionally seeing the light of day for race or concours events. We are paying homage to these cars by creating a numbered sister car to each one. Meticulous in their detail, like their forebears, hand-built in Coventry and tuned by Ecurie Ecosse technicians.”

Ecurie Ecosse have retained all the key elements that contributed to the roaring success of the 1950s Jaguar racer while, in the true spirit of co-founder ‘Wilkie’ Wilkinson, making considered improvements. The aerodynamic shape remains, still crafted from thin-gauge aluminum alloy and mounted to a steel space frame chassis, but wider and stiffer than before, laser-cut for accuracy. The sonorous Jaguar straight-six XK engine remains too, although capacity has been increased to 4.2 litres and fuel injection fitted to bring power up to 300bhp.

The suspension and disc brakes have been uprated to cope with the additional performance and a five-speed gearbox added to maximize acceleration and top speed. The detail of the car is breath-taking, with the hand-crafted aluminum bucket seats clothed in supple blue leather by Crest, hand-airbrushed Ecurie Ecosse shields adorning the car’s flanks, and Tag Heuer ‘Master Time’ stopwatches on the dashboard. The first car is complete and available for viewing and test drive at their Henley-on-Thames dealership, Hofmann’s.

January 22, 2021 / Comments Off

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The M1 was the first BMW Motorsport car in the Eighties

These days everybody knows the BMW M3, the BMW M5 or the smaller BMW M2 … some of these even come in upgraded Competition versions, but all of these BMW Motorsport models that we know today had their origins back in the Eighties … with the M1, the first production car from BMW’s in-house Motorsport division.

1980 BMW M1 AHG – photo copyright BringATrailer auction site

At one point BMW even had Automobili Lamborghini SpA working on their new mid-engine super car … but sadly this didn’t go beyond a few prototypes being developed at Sant’Agata, the actual production models for the BMW M1 were assembled by Baur in Stuttgart, Germany.

Back in the early Seventies, BMW wanted to create a new model to enter into FIA Group 5 racing, and regulations required 400 cars to be sold to customers for road use, the BMW M1 was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro. The fiberglass bodies would be made in Italy and shipped to Germany for final assembly, where both road cars and bespoke race cars would be built side by side … a total of 450 BMW M1 would be built.

And now you might have a chance to own a piece of BMW Motorsport history in the shape of a bright white, 1980 M1 with AHG upgrades. This specific M1 (chassis WBS00000094301090) was delivered as a regular street version in late 1979, as a 1980 model, but only a few years later BMW dealer AHG added their ‘Studie’ package.

The AHG modifications included a power increase to 350 hp on the factory M88, 3,454cc in-line six cylinder engine, an impressive body kit inspired by BMW’s own Procar racers, complete with flared fenders, stunning 16″ BBS multi-piece wheels (8″ at the front, 9″ at the rear), a new exhaust, a bespoke, full black leather interior, and to make the look complete, a typical BMW Motorsport livery with the red and two-tone blue stripes.

Only 10 BMW M1 would be built with the AHG Studie package, which makes this already rare car, even more interesting, this BMW M1 ended up in the United States of America probably in the Nineties, but the current owner didn’t acquire it until 2014, today she is for sale at auction through a dealer in Costa Mesa, California … she holds a Montana title.

With still 10 days to go on the BringATrailer auction, this amazing 1980 BMW M1 has been bid up to $350,000, interested in placing a bid? Just go to the auction site, register, and try to put the winning bid in at BringATrailer 1980 BMW M1 auction

January 21, 2021 / Comments Off

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The Praga R1R, an actual race car for the road

We see many cars being advertised as a street-legal race car, and most of those are ‘dialed-down’ versions of the cars we encounter on the race track, but the Praga R1R is different … the R1R is an actual race car. Praga just added the necessary items that allow this racer to be driven on the open road … so this is probably as close as you can get to an actual race car that is legal to drive on the public roads.

Praga might not ring a bell to must of us, but they based in the Czech Republic, and have been for over 100 years. Founded in 1907, they have been designing, developing and producing not only race cars, but also road cars, airplanes, trucks, buses, motorcycles and go-karts that have been sold worldwide.

The Praga R1R is the ultimate track day car, you can do lap after lap at top speed on the track on Sunday, and still drive it home without a trailer. This is true racing technology for the road, be it a twisting mountain road in the Swiss Alps or the avenue in Monaco, the R1R feels at home on all of them.

The R1R is actually the first road car Praga has built since 1947, and they took their race-winning R1 as a base to add the required technology to make it a road car. Safety equipment was added, but also a suspension specifically tuned for the public roads, all while retaining the racing heart of the original.

There was no need to make the Praga R1R feel like a race car, because it was a racer from the start, they just added a certain degree of comfort and made a race car cope with everyday road driving. The teardrop design of the cabin was created for optimum aerodynamics, and the entire design of the R1R, complete with that massive rear wing actually generates more down force over 200 km/h than the overall weight of the car. This means you could theoretically drive this car upside down in a tunnel, but more importantly it offers amazing cornering capabilities.

January 15, 2021 / Comments Off

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McLaren Senna GTR Concept

A big reveal during Geneva Motor Show was the track-focused update to the McLaren hypercar, the Senna. Revealed online last year, the Senna is anticipated to be McLaren’s most compelling model produced since the original McLaren F1.

The technical specifications speak for themselves and are able to justify the million-dollar price tag. Firstly, the Senna is powered by a 4.0-liter V-8 engine, producing 789 brake horsepower, enclosed in a carbon fiber tub with an overall curb weight of slightly over 2,400 lbs. The twin-turbo engine can launch the Senna from 0–62 mph (0–100 km/h) in 2.8 seconds. Now imagine all of that, but exponentially faster, with a retuned transmission, suspension tweaks, fancy decals, big wing, and slick tyres.

The track-ready Senna GTR still needs a power boost (ha). I mean, it will still have the same four-liter engine with two blowers for boost. The folks in Woking, however, have not decided how much more power the GTR will need but it’ll definitely be no slouch.

The main focus of the Senna is a high power-to-weight ratio. If you can’t add more power, lose more weight and the latter is what McLaren did. Focusing on technological advances, McLaren heavily invested in carbon fiber technology, and how to save every gram of excess weight. The aerodynamics are improved with the wing generating downforce of 1,000kg. That’s the equivalent of an American bison sitting on top of the car, keeping the Senna GTR planted.

No official data has been released yet but will be an exciting addition to an already beastly hypercar.

March 7, 2018 / Comments Off

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Track Day Beginners Etiquette: Dos And Don’ts

If you are considering in attending a track day for the first time, there are a few things that you need to learn. Naturally, track day organizers want to provide a truly fun and unrestricted driving experience, but it is also vital for there to be rules and guidelines in the interest of safety.

Of course, it should also be pointed out that outside of the specific rules there are plenty of unwritten rules that simply serve as good etiquette for when you get out on a track day. Here we look at some of the dos and don’ts of track day etiquette to ensure that you have a fantastic day on the track, stay safe and avoid upsetting other drivers.

DO invest in some training

It’s the case with any kind of motorsport that if you turn up as a complete beginner to any kind of track day or race event, you can feel out of your depth. Don’t worry – this is a common occurrence for almost everyone who tries a motorsport for the first time. Thankfully, there are now many opportunities to do some learning or training in motorsport driving in a friendly and relaxed environment.

For example, before you get into rallying you can go on a beginner’s rally driving experience day to get an introduction to the skills required for this type of driving. The same is true for many of the race tracks in the UK – for example, Silverstone offers driver coaching that can help you master the track before you get out on the circuit alone.

DON’T treat it as a race

It is important to remember at all times that a track day is not a race. Yes, you are on a racetrack but the rules for track days explicitly state that any form of racing off lap timing is not allowed – and in many cases doing so will invalidate your insurance.

Driving on a track day is a chance to drive at speeds that are not allowed on the roads and to test the limits of your car and your driving ability, but it cannot become a race. Stick to the driving that is allowed or you will find yourself escorted from the track and banned.

DO listen carefully to the safety briefing

Before the driving fun begins on any track day there will be a safety briefing given by the marshals. This is the time where rules are explained and safety practice detailed. It is never acceptable to assume that you already know the rules and therefore you don’t need to listen. Different track days have specific rules that you will need to follow, and failing to do so can be extremely dangerous for you and the other drivers around you. So make sure that you pay attention to the briefing and take on-board everything that is said.

DON’T arrive with a faulty vehicle

The majority of track day sessions allow for unmodified road cars to be used on the track. It is actually very common for individuals to take their own car just to see how it will perform. But just because it is OK to turn up and drive in your everyday car, it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t do any preparation before the event.

At the very least you should be thoroughly checking your wheels and ensuring that the whole of the car is in good enough condition to be driven in anger. Obviously, it is impossible to guarantee that you won’t encounter problems, but you need to take as many precautions as possible to be sure that your car will be in good shape for the track day.

DO learn the overtaking rules

Once again, a track day is not a race. But overtaking is still allowed to ensure that faster cars are not held up by slower ones, so whether you are driving a quick or slow car you need to understand the rules and etiquette expected for overtaking. Rules may differ between courses and events but typically they state that overtaking can only be executed to the left of the car in front. Additionally, you can only overtake in designated areas of the track – usually on the straights.

February 16, 2018 / Comments Off

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Racetracks So Thrilling You’ll Be Scared

Seeing how fast a car can move and how violently your eyeballs can shake has long been an obsession of people’s. However, it is an obsession that has been restricted to a) those that have made it into racing into their profession, b) those that frequent Germany’s autobahn, c) those that are rich enough to build their own track and d) idiots.

However, there is one more way to get the ultimate driving thrill and that is to head to one of the many racetracks that litter this world, but not just any old racetrack, one of the world’s most dangerous. There is enough data in the way of race structure, route density, societies you pass through, courses you take on and, sadly, lives taken to know which racetracks are the most dangerous, and these are them.

5. Calder Park, Melbourne

Calder Park Raceway has made it onto this list because, as a complex, it offers enough in the way of fear as anywhere else, starting with the dragstrip; the home to drag racing and hot rod stand-offs. But that is just part of it. There is also a road circuit that can be configured to make several different courses, some of which could see you have to go here for fast towing, and the world-famous Thunderdome, which is a high-speed banked oval sure to separate the brave from the wannabes.

4. Nurburgring, Austria

This is arguably the most notorious racetrack in the world, which is partly thanks to Top Gear, partly thanks to Gran Turismo and partly thanks to the fact it is fourteen miles of winding, narrow country roads that come together to create the ultimate test of a person’s nerve and car’s ability. To give you some idea of just how scary this track is, it was taken off the professional circuit simply because it was deemed too dangerous for competition. Yet, somehow, you can still turn up there and take your own car for a spin. Now, a lot of people call this hell because, well, you are driving the world’s most notorious track alongside other amateurs. It’s nerve-jangling. Luckily, there are ways to get the thrill without the same level of risk; either you get in the passenger seat and endure the most terrifying and fastest taxi ride of your life or you learn how to drive this ring safely at their driving safety center. Whatever you choose, the hairs will stand up and you will pray to a god you didn’t believe in before.

3. Paris-Dakar Rally

We couldn’t have a list of terrifying racecourses and not mention the godfather of all races, the Dakar Rally. On paper, this is a simple A to B adventure. In reality, it is a race that covers some of the harshest terrains anywhere in the world. It is ferocious. It is unrelenting. It is incredible. Now, you’re right, this is not technically a track and the routes people take tend to differ according to certain external factors, such as car and political current affairs, but it is still a race and one that you can enter, so it makes our list. To give you some idea of just how dangerous this race is, it had to be moved to South Africa in 2009 as a result of safety concerns, and rightly so because in the thirty years before this move, 45 deaths were recorded. That’s a dangerous record to have

2. Baja 1000

The thing that we need to mention about the Baja rally is the track itself, which is by no means dangerous. It’s not simple, but it isn’t a matter of concern. What makes this racecourse so unsafe is, in fact, the spectators. This is partly to do with the where they stand in order to get a good look at what the drivers are doing, but mainly because kidnappings are so frequent. In fact, barely any competitive race has gone down without a kidnapping or two occurring, most of which involve firearms as a result of the gang warfare that has plagued this place for years. Of course, the most memorable kidnapping in the race’s history was when a driver – that’s right, a driver! – was kidnapped by former police officers and held hostage for ten days. Now, that is a driving fear that not many people ever give a thought to.

1. Isle of Man TT

It doesn’t matter what you have read, what you have seen or what tracks have made you fear for your life first-hand; no track in the world is as terrifying than the Isle of Man TT. This is the ultimate test of a motoring abilities. We’re talking about motorcyclists hitting speeds of 180+ miles per hour on a track that is made up of single country lanes, surrounded by high stone walls, incredibly steep walls and even houses. 180+ mph. Now, nothing is going to be able to sell just how brave and skilled you need to be to tackle this course – even if Closer To The Edge comes close – but to give it to you in cold hard facts, 252 riders have now died since its inception in 1907. It is a course that takes years to perfect, walking it, driving it, knowing exactly what gear to be in at what point as you approach a summit you can’t see or a hidden dip. It is unforgiving and anything less than perfect could see the worst outcome happen. This takes the podium. No questions about it.

And there you have it, our top five most dangerous tracks/races in the world. Of course, we are not saying this is a definitive list. No way. So, if you have endured a tougher track or one that could be classified as lethal, then do tell us about it. The world needs to know where the most dangerous events lie.

December 14, 2017 / Comments Off

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