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Monday, 26 April 2010
 The other day we told you that Team MRF was all set with a two-car team for the 2010 Asia Pacific Rally Championship. The Malaysian Rally just got over and what a great finish that was! India's Team MRF Tyres delivered a 1-2 finish at the Malaysian Rally 2010, the first round of the APRC. Katsu Taguchi won the title ahead of Gaurav Gill. Both drove Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10 cars. 38-year old Taguchi has formerly been an APRC champion. Great benefits came in when leader Alistair McRae with co-driver Bill Hayes dropped out on with a broken radiator to abandon his 27-second overnight lead over the Japanese veteran. With co-driver Mark Stacey, Taguchi’s performance was phenomenal. Our very own Gaurav Gill did very well too. The 28-year old from Delhi and Indian champion, along with co-driver Glen Macneall, amazed everyone with spectacular performance. He was the quickest through the opening five stages. It was the overheating brakes that posed a problem and Gill fell behind. Team MRF won in spite of the presence of excellent contenders. Their Mitsubishi cars stood by the racers and saw them end the Malaysian Rally successfully. The field included three topnotch competitors, former World Rally drivers Chris Atkinson and Alistair McRae, and Karamjit Singh, the former World Rally production car champion. Both Atiknson and Malaysian Karamjit packed up on the first day. 39-year old McRae’s case was a little different though. It seemed like the Scotsman would win the title. A nasty bump at the end of Stage 10, with six more to go, destroyed the racer’s dream. The bump left his Proton Satria Neo S2000 with a damaged radiator and he was forced into an early exit. Taguchi never looked back as he seized the opportunity to coast home to victory in a total time of three hours, 19 minutes, 07.7secs over the 589 km rally. In the end, he had something to say. 'Accidents do happen in rallying and it can cost you the race. It has happened to me before. Today was my day I suppose. But to be honest, I must admit that Alistair has a very fast car and for me to close the gap would have been quite difficult. What's more, all of us have to face up to a very tricky venue with plenty of challenges, especially the condition of the track,' said the Yokohama native Taguchi. The Proton R3 had a real sad ending. Everything went on well until Alistair's mishap and the problems undergone by the team’s other entrant, Chris Atkinson with co-driver Stephane Prevot. His car suffered an electrical failure. 'But that's rallying. You can have a perfect day and then you pray everything will be fine the next. But sometimes, it don't work out that way,' said McRae. While Team MRF grabbed both first and second positions, coming in third was Indonesia's Rifat Sungkar in a Subaru Impreza WRX with Malaysia's Muhammad Rafiq Udhaya, also in a similar vehicle, finishing fourth. In fact Rafiq's achievement had taken the limelight off local favourite Karamjit Singh and his desire to win his 11th All-Malaysian Rally title. The Malaysian, however, had never-ending problems popping out of his eight-year old Mitsubishi Evo-8 that crashed his dreams on the very first day. Race cars can have their own way. Labels: APRC, Asia-Pacific-Rally-Championship, Car-Racing, Gaurav-Gill, Malaysian-Rally, Mitsubishi-Cars, Team-MRF
Monday, 19 April 2010
 On Friday, Carazoo said that Force India, staying ahead of the Williams and STR, had seen its best season opener so far and would want to continue the excellent performance. Just three days, and we see the difference. Force India returned empty-handed from the Chinese Grand Prix yesterday. The team’s point-scoring streak encountered a sudden end in a messy Chinese Grand Prix. While Adrian Sutil finished 11th, his teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi retreated after an opening lap brake problem. Force India saw a real good start and achieved three positions in just the first corner. The way conditions panned out, it could have been a very interesting race. The drivers had to gamble with the rains. The tyres and positions kept changing because of the unstable rain conditions. Only 17 drivers brought home the car, the last being Hispania's Karun Chandhok. Great job, Karun Chandhok! Karun, who started from pit lane, was delighted, and had to be, to finish yet another race. Because of a necessary change of hydraulic components on the car, he had to start from the pit lane and this change was profitable. The car remained fully operational until the end of the race. Karun said that it was a good outing for Hispania since both the cars made to the chequered flag. Despite having a difficult debut in Bahrain and the rains this time, Karun had finished his race yet again. Vijay Mallya, the Force India chairman was extremely disappointed. He wanted the team to make more of the weather conditions and was saddened when the run of points ended suddenly. But, that is what happens; when the weather is so unpredictable, the game becomes unpredictable too. The adrenaline rush had finally slowed down. Mallya hasn’t lost hopes though. He says, “We've got some work to do now that Renault has opened up a sizeable advantage but we have some developments in the pipeline and the season has a long way to run. We'll regroup and come back strongly in Spain I'm sure”. Now, that’s the spirit. Sutil felt that strategy was crucial and thought things could have been a little different but for the last pit stop which cost him a couple of extra seconds. The sudden rains and sudden dry tracks made it very difficult to predict which the best tyre to be on was. It was all a game of strategy. Sutil lost a couple of positions in that final stop. He dropped back to 13th. He just ran out of laps to get past Michael Schumacher when they were actually close to within a second of Schumacher. That's how it is. You sometimes win in these races, and sometimes, it just doesn't go your way. Liuzzi too was upset after seeing a premature end to his race. He spun his Force India into Kamui Kobayashi's BMW Sauber and Sebastien Buemi's Toro Rosso, bringing out the safety car. He had a problem warming up the brakes on the formation lap due to the cold and the rain. And then, unfortunately, the rear completely locked when he went into corner four on the first lap and braked. He lost control of the car and went off. The nail-biting race saw the McLaren team at the top. While McLaren’s Jenson Button won the race, teammate Lewis Hamilton trailed close behind finishing second. Jenson Button took his second victory of the year by controlling a hectic, wet Chinese Grand Prix. He kept his head in tricky conditions and even stretched away from McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton in the closing stages when it came down to who had looked after their tyres the best. Rosberg couldn't quite challenge for victory, but racing ahead of Fernando Alonso, he had no trouble coming third. The Spaniard managed to finish third despite five pitstops, including a drive-through for jumping the start. Labels: BMW, Car-Race, Car-Racing, Chinese-Grand-Prix, Force-India, Grand-Prix, Karun- Chandhok, Michael-Schumacher
Thursday, 15 April 2010
The Chennai-based tyre manufacturer is geared up. Yes, Team MRF is all set with a two-car team for the 2010 Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC). National champion Gaurav Gill and Japanese ace Katsuhiko Taguchi will be on the hot seat. The APRC has seven rounds and this year’s first round has been scheduled for April 23-25 to be run at Johor Bahru in Malaysia. MRF has chosen not to take part in the Caledonia round. However, the team will participate in other rallies. The Japan rally would be on the 22nd and 23rd May and Team MRF would participate in the New Zealand (July 3-4), Australia (July 31-Aug 1), Indonesia (Sep 25-26) and China (Nov 6-7) rallies too. This year’s APRC marks the debut of the Super 2000 cars against the Group N4 cars in the series. The Super 2000 class was, in fact, introduced by FIA in order to encourage more car makers. It is an entirely modified production car without the turbo charger for the APRC. The Group N4 cars, on the other hand, are unmodified automobiles which will have a drawback over the S2000 Proton Satria. These Group N4 cars, however, will be allowed to use a larger restrictor which is likely to give the cars a 30+ bhp advantage. With great teams participating this year, the chase too for the APRC title is believed to be great. Subaru driver Cody Crocker may have opted out. But, Team MRF will still have to be fully prepared to fight its way with the even more alarming Subaru World Rally Championship driver Chris Atkinson. Chris had been quite successful in the recent WRC. Chris Atkinson has Stephane Prevot as his co-driver and will be racing in a Proton Satria S2000 for the Proton R3 Team. Proton R3’s second team would comprise of Alistair McRae and co-driver Bill Hayes. Hiroshi Yanagisawa with Yoshimara Nakahara as his co-driver will also be battling it out at the APRC. The experienced Japanese driver and his team-mate will be driving a Mitsubishi Evolution-10 for the Cusco team. Also in line, we have Indonesian Rifat Sungkar, the single-handed Subaru Impreza WRX driver racing for the Pertamina Oil Team from Indonesia. Labels: 2010-APRC, 2010-Asia-Pacific-Rally-Championship, APRC, Asia-Pacific-Rally-Championship, Auto-Racing, Car-Racing, Gaurav-Gill, Group-N4-Cars, MRF, Super-2000-Cars, Team-MRF
Thursday, 29 October 2009
Thirty-two cars, seventies countries and a distance of 3000 kilometers! Yes, we are talking about a world car race, but this car race is far, far different from regular car races. Can you guess, why and how?
Well, all these cars are powered by solar power. Believe it or not, all these cars participating in this big feat resemble huge insects, solar planets and spaceship!
The World Solar Car Race was kicked off this Sunday from Darwin and will finish at Adelaide on Saturday. These solar-powered and fuel-efficient cars will travel through Australia's tropical rainforests, desert and coastal plains, all in the name of environment. Hence, this car race is also called the Global Green Challenge.
These cars are mainly designed by the engineering students from across the world. Each team comprises of four drivers who take turns to drive the cars. Starting at 8 am daily, the drivers would stop and put up camp at 5 pm daily before continuing the race the next day.
As usual, this time too, the spectators will see some unique cars in the race. There is this distinctive car Sunswift IV form Australia's University of New South Wales. This solar car is a three-wheeled, carbon fibre machine, which can reach a top speed of 115 km an hour using just 1,300 watts, the same power it takes to toast two slices of bread! Unbelievable, huh?
A team of Dutch from Delft University was expected to start out as the race's favourite after taking home the prestigious Silver Sun trophy for the last four races, who also set a record in 2005 with an average speed of 102.75 km per hour.
The Global Green Challenge for the first time will also have a second category, the Eco Challenge. The Eco Challenge will flag off seventeen cars from ten manufacturers to prove their fuel efficiency. These eco-friendly cars from the ten manufacturers are already in showrooms or soon-to-be on sale. The Eco Challenge will include automobiles like the fully electric sports car Tesla and the Ford Kia. Besides, Honda, Hyundai, BMW, Skoda, Suzuki, Holden, and HSV are also a part of this Eco challenge. Labels: Car-Race, Car-Racing, Global-Green-Challenge, Solar-Car-Race, Solar-Powered-Car
Thursday, 9 July 2009
 Ross Brawn, the British motorsport engineer and Formula One (Brawn GP) team owner was on the ninth cloud after being honoured with the Motorsport Industry Association’s (MIA) Award. This prestigious award was for his outstanding contribution to the motorsport industry. The award function was organized at the MIA's annual summer reception at Britain's House of Lords. Brawn collected the impressive award in the presence of over 300 guests which comprised of Ministers of State, Ambassadors, VIPs, MIA members and leaders from the motorsport industry. With this award under his wings, Brawn will be sharing the list of other esteemed winners of the award from Formula One Motorsports which includes Professor Sid Watkins, Frank Williams, Stirling Moss, Jackie Stewart and Bernie Ecclestone. Brawn’s contribution in the motorsport is clearly evident as he has promoted the F1 global industry in numerous ways. With his strategic planning and quick thinking Brawn gets the credit for many F1 victories. In his appreciation, MIA CEO, Chris Aylett commented that “His exceptional race engineering talent is coupled with integrity, sincerity and humility - a rare combination in this aggressive competitive sport.” Ross Brawn has served various championship-winning F1 teams such as Benetton and Ferrari as the technical director. In 2007 he took a small vacation and showed his presence again in 2008 season as a Team Principal of Honda. He owns Brawn GP team (he took over the Honda team in early 2009, as Honda was hit by recession. He is a man of inspiration, hard work, integrity, confidence and it is these characteristics that made him successful. Beside Formula One as his first love he is also a great lover of fishing and gardening. Labels: Car-Racing, Ferrari, Formula-One
Thursday, 11 June 2009
For more than a decade, car racing has become one of the premier sports of the world. The thrill of pushing vehicles to the limits and gauging the endurance of human beings is a passion followed by many. The popularity of Grand Prix, Formula One racing, World Rally, Dakar Rally, and Le Mans Race have been extremely popular with people. Here’s one race that is completely different from any of the above mentioned car races - the 36th Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Race. It is an event that serves to showcase the top vintage cars and people from the start of motorsports to the present day. The vintage car racing event is a spectacle of a different kind. It is set to be held at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca racing track on August 14-16, 2009. This year, the event will honour Porsche for its storied racing heritage. Former Porsche drivers Brian Redman and Vic Elford have led Porsche to many titles in the 70s with the legendary Porsche 917 race car. It is expected that other legendary Porsche race cars - the 1969 Porsche 911 S, 1974 Porsche RSR, and the famous Porsche 917 will race along with 150 other Porches at the event. Over 450 participants and 30,000 spectators are expected to gather at the event to witness track runs by the some of the world’s most exotic and historic racing machines. The cars will race in 15 different race groups over the three day motorsport event. At the end of the race, Rolex will hold its award winning Motor Sports history display “Moments in Time” which honours singular outstanding achievements of six different cars and their drivers throughout the history of formula one and other car races. Labels: Car-Racing, Porsche-Race-Cars, Rolex-Monterey-Historic-Automobile-Race, Vintage-Cars
Friday, 5 June 2009
Volvo has released a new video game that allows gaming enthusiasts to race with Volvo cars at highly detailed circuits around the world. The company has created the game in collaboration with leading video game developer SIMBin. Generally, Volvo has been associated with safety and comfort when it comes to cars but the term motorsports has had a distant connection with the brand. The Swedish car manufacturer has participated in several auto racing events but has found only limited success there. However, race enthusiasts will now get a chance to drive their favourite Volvo cars in the virtual world. Players can choose their favourite Volvo car from a list and make runs across Gothenburg Eco Drive Arena in Sweden or Chayka circuit outside Kiev in Ukraine. The list of cars includes C30, S60, S40, 850 estate, and 240 Turbo Group A. The brand new S60 concept too is available. All these cars have raced before. The C30 is currently participating in the Swedish Touring Car Championship (STCC), the Volvo S60 has previously competed in STCC, the S40 has notched up many notable successes in British TCC, and the 850 estate car is a legend in British TCC and is titled a true racing classic. The game developers at SimBin took special care to make gameplay as realistic as possible. They’ve test driven the cars on real race circuits to record their sounds. The game can be operated using game steering wheel and pedals connected to a computer or a game pad. Varying skill levels can be set ranging from novice to professional. The level of assist systems in the car, from ABS to traction control, too can be set to manage game difficulty. Game detail is accurate and each car exhibits unique handling characteristics. The game is available for download on the internet. Labels: Car-Racing, Car-Video-Game, Volvo
Monday, 1 June 2009
For the first time in the history of Formula One racing, a participant team has put its wares up for sale. So far, Formula One fans could flaunt their love for the game through merchandise like T-shirts, Caps, Key chains, and other kinds of apparel. Now Toyota Motors has put up a lot of high tech parts from its past racing cars for sale. Toyota has been participating in F1 races for over three decades. The Toyota Motorsports team regularly takes part in Formula One Race, NASCAR, IndyCar, ChampCar, Sports car racing, and other car rallies. The high tech auto parts for sales include carbon fiber wings, brakes, light alloy wheels, and several other parts. They are all marketed through a special Toyota website. The auto parts costs from Rs 13,000 to Rs 3,34,000. The parts available at the cheaper end are usually wheels, brake discs, and suspension parts at prices starting from Rs 15,000. The front and the rear wing assemblies are available at prices between Rs 54,000 to Rs 1,52,000. Toyota is also offering complete rear wing, engine cover, and the underbody section which is virtually half the car. These are sold at prices starting from Rs 3,34,000 – currently available only on first come first serve basis. This will be the biggest bonanza for motorsports fans across the world. No other company including Formula One staples like McLaren, Ferrari, BMW, Honda, and Mercedes have attempted this kind of campaign yet. These companies have always sobered the F1 technologies to meet the needs of production cars. Toyota has gone where no other F1 team has gone before- reaching the people through their F1 technologies. The sale of F1 car parts comes as no surprise to many Toyota enthusiasts as Toyota recently pulled away its Fuji Speedway race track from the Japanese Grand Prix and is considering closing down all its F1 circuits completely. Labels: Car-Racing, Formula-One-cars, Toyota
Monday, 30 March 2009
Last weekend the Formula One fans were glued to their couches with their eye fixed on the TV screens as the Formula One racing begins another season in Australia. The Brawn GP bagged one-two victory on their debut in Formula racing. Similar triumph was witnessed by a team driven by Juan Manuel Fangio and Karl Kling for Mercedes-Benz in the French Grand Prix in 1954. Amazingly, this time the history is repeated by Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello for Brawn-Mercedes winning the ‘race of two halves’ in Australia. The drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello of Brawn GP celebrated the victory with the Brawn (owner of the team). This was the same team that was sold by Honda last year due to financial crisis. No one had ever imagined that this newbie would take off in full swing in the first race it self. The team Brawn GP is owned by Rose Brawn and promoted by the Richard Branson of Virgin. The car includes new changes like revolutionary KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) which further boosts up the engine offering an additional 80 bhp. Also, the improved aerodynamic of the car supported the win. The 2009 season is the 60th FIA Formula One World Championship with ten teams participating in the race. The season was started with the Australian Grand Prix on 29 March 2009 and will end on 1 November 2009 with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Abu Dhabi Grand Prix track is the latest addition on the race calendar for the first time. Labels: Car-Racing, Formula-One, Honda
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The other day we told you that Team MRF was all set with a two-car team for the 2010 Asia Pacific Rally Championship. The Malaysian Rally just got over and what a great finish that was! India's Team MRF Tyres delivered a 1-2 finish at the Malaysian Rally 2010, the first round of the APRC. Katsu Taguchi won the title ahead of Gaurav Gill. Both drove Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10 cars.
