As the excitement builds towards the centenary edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, fans of endurance racing will have a chance to make their voice heard about the sport. Photo by: Motorsport.com Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO), Le Mans Endurance Management, promoter of the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) and Motorsport Network today launched the 2023 Global FIA WEC Fan Survey, aimed at capturing the views of racing fans around the world towards the sport. The survey will operate in 11 languages across Motorsport Network ’s flagship Motorsport.com website, with data analysis from motorsport data specialist Iris Sport. Announcing the global fan survey in Le Mans, FIA WEC CEO Frédéric Lequien , said, “The fans around the world make our sport what it is. On this historic race weekend, as we celebrate 100 years of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and welcome the new Hypercar era, we want to understand what our fans think and how they value the WEC. It is … [Read more...] about FIA WEC and Motorsport Network team up to launch Global WEC Fan Survey
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‘Wiradjuri strength’ look for Jones Camaro
Brad Jones Racing was today the second team to unveil its First Nations-inspired livery for Supercars' official Indigenous round in Darwin. The Pizza Hut-backed entry will carry a colour scheme designed by the Elders group at the Mungabareena Aboriginal Corporation, a service body dedicated to the indigenous community in Albury and north east Victoria – the region where BJR is based. Their artwork has features such as a 'googar' (goanna) and three blue lines to represent the Murray River, the Victorian/New South Wales border that splits Albury and Wodonga. “[BJR general manager] Chris Westwood contacted Mungabareena Aboriginal Corporation in mid-April to see if we would like to be a part of designing the Indigenous design livery for BJR’s cars," said MAC's Carl Tunstall. "After having a think about which MAC programme should design the Indigenous livery, the Planned Activity Group (PAG), which is a social group for our local Elders that promotes physical activity, … [Read more...] about ‘Wiradjuri strength’ look for Jones Camaro
Red Bull issue clear warning to rivals following RB19 floor reveal
Red Bull have warned rivals that if they think an “ignorant” copy and paste of their RB19 floor will propel them up the order, then they should think again. Crashes for Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez during the Monaco Grand Prix weekend gave rivals a detailed look at the crucial undersides of those challengers as the crane hoisted them away from the circuit. Naturally, that left engineers from rival teams with plenty of photos to study for how they may be able to take inspiration for the floor on their respective cars, with Red Bull’s arguably of greatest interest considering their all-conquering form so far in F1 2023, having won all seven grands prix. McLaren team boss Andrea Stella has already said “hats off” to Red Bull for their work, though Red Bull’s chief engineer Paul Monaghan stressed that it is work which is successfully integrated into their package, and certainly not plug-and-play solutions. Red Bull then now wait to see the results of that … [Read more...] about Red Bull issue clear warning to rivals following RB19 floor reveal
Aston Martin tease ‘something is coming’ to rival Mercedes upgrades
Wanting more from Aston Martin after falling behind Mercedes in Spain, Aston Martin team boss Mike Krack has confirmed that “something is coming” for the Canadian Grand Prix. Off the podium at his home race in Barcelona, Alonso wasn’t dejected by the result but instead determinedly said that “it will not happen again” and that Spain was Aston Martin’s “last race without podiums”. But with Mercedes having taken a notable step forward with the introduction of their B-spec W14, Alonso is facing tight competition for that final spot on the podium. In Spain it went to Mercedes where Lewis Hamilton and George Russell capitalised on an off-weekend for Sergio Perez to finish 2-3 behind race winner Max Verstappen. Alonso has made it clear he not only wants that to be a one-off but he wants to be fighting Verstappen for the race wins, and soon. “I think that in two weeks we will see a completely different picture and, hopefully, we will fight with the Red Bulls soon,” he said. “In … [Read more...] about Aston Martin tease ‘something is coming’ to rival Mercedes upgrades
Ferrari locks out front row on its return to the top flight at Le Mans · RaceFans
Ferrari secured a front row lock-out in hyperpole qualifying for the Le Mans 24 Hours, claiming their first pole in the famous race in half a century. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free The number 50 Ferrari shared by Antonio Fuoco – who drove the pole-winning lap – Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen will start famous 24-hour endurance race from the front of the field, ahead of their team mates in the number 51 car. Toyota will start third on the grid with the number eight car, ahead of the number 75 Porsche Penske. The half-hour hyperpole session, unlike other rounds of the World Endurance Championship, saw all classes on the track at the same time. After Wednesday’s qualifying session, the eight hypercars participating included both Toyotas, both Ferraris, two Cadillacs – the number two and number three – and two Porsche Penskes, the number five car and number 75. The Toyotas were the first cars over the line to begin their first flying laps of the session … [Read more...] about Ferrari locks out front row on its return to the top flight at Le Mans · RaceFans
Porsche Wants To Own The ‘Ring With Its New EV Hypercar Concept
When most people turn 75, simply being alive and well is enough of a gift. For Porsche's 75th birthday, however, the iconic sports car company has given itself one hell of a birthday present, a hypercar that the brand says will be the fastest production car ever around the Nurburgring. And yes, it'll be an EV. The Mission X Or it will be, at least, if Porsche decides to build it. This is the Mission X, just a concept for now, but a strong indicator of what Porsche's next moon-shot could look like. Gallery: Porsche Mission X Concept 7 Photos How big of a shot? Porsche says this thing will offer a remarkable power-to-weight ratio of at least one horsepower per 2.2 pounds of weight from a new, all-electric, 900-volt architecture. If we use Porsche's last hypercar as a benchmark, 2015's 918 Spyder and its 3,700-pound curb weight, that would mean somewhere … [Read more...] about Porsche Wants To Own The ‘Ring With Its New EV Hypercar Concept
1996 Lexus LX 450 Project Car: From Ragged To Rugged Part 2 – Tires
One of the first things I noticed when I inspected the new-to-me 1996 Lexus LX 450 sitting in my driveway was the horrid condition of the tires. Date-coded to 2011, the Toyo Open Country A/T rubber showed plenty of dry-rotting and visible cracks – as well as some regrettable gloss black overspray on the spare tire from when the previous owner repainted the trailer hitch. The first order of business was a $1,700 trip to the mechanic, who resealed the front axle, replaced the front wheel bearings, installed a new set of oil pan gaskets, cleaned the throttle body, and reset a check-engine light. But with that out of the way, Noah and I sourced a set of LT285/75R16 Firestone Destination X/T tires. The stock 275/70R16 size is surprisingly hard to find, and the 265/70s already on the Lexus look like roller skate wheels. Hopefully, the 32.8-inch-diameter Destination X/Ts would fit the bill, so to speak, measuring 2.2 inches taller and about eight-tenths of an inch wider than the … [Read more...] about 1996 Lexus LX 450 Project Car: From Ragged To Rugged Part 2 – Tires
Le Mans 24h: Ferrari locks out 1-2 ahead of Toyota in third practice
Toyota had seemed set to return to the top of the Le Mans timesheets for the first time since opening practice on Wednesday with Kamui Kobayashi heading the majority of the session. However, a late 3m26.579s from Antonio Fuoco in the #50 499P LMH smashed Kobayashi's best by almost a second. And, with eight minutes to go, Alessandro Pier Guidi set a 3m27.013s lap to go second, despite the #51 Ferrari having spent the first half of the three-hour session in the pits. The Toyota GR010 HYBRIDs were denied the chance to respond as a late full-course yellow, when Manuel Maldonado went off, hampered any further late improvements. Instead, Kobayashi had to settle for third in the #7 Toyota. Mathieu Jaminet in the #75 Porsche 963 LMDh was the initial pacesetter on a 3m28.454s but was soon usurped by the two Toyotas. Kobayashi claimed top spot with a 3m27.822s in the #7 car, before Sebastien Buemi went second in the sister #8 machine on 3m27.879s. However, Kobayashi … [Read more...] about Le Mans 24h: Ferrari locks out 1-2 ahead of Toyota in third practice
Le Mans 24h: Ferrari locks out front row, Cadillac suffers fire
Fuoco paced the 30-minute session, featuring the fastest eight cars from Wednesday's first qualifying, with a best time of 3m22.982s at the wheel of the 499P he shares with Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen . Both of the Ferrari LMHs jumped to the top of the timesheets early on, with Alessandro Pier Guidi initially leading the way on a 3m23.987s in the #51 car ahead of Fuoco in the sister #50 entry. Pier Guidi then improved to a 3m23.478s, which was scrubbed for a track limits infringement, before Fuoco upped the ante by posting the first sub-3m23s effort of the week so far, outpacing his team-mate by 0.773s despite getting baulked by a GTE Am Ferrari exiting Indianapolis. That time remained the benchmark when the session was red-flagged with five minutes left on the clock as a result of Cadillac driver Sebastien Bourdais stopping at the first chicane after suffering a dramatic fire. Bourdais was able to escape the smouldering #3 Cadillac V.Series-R unscathed, having … [Read more...] about Le Mans 24h: Ferrari locks out front row, Cadillac suffers fire