DTM - Paul di Resta keeps up title chase with Catalunya win

By Tom Haapanen - Motorsport.com

Paul di Resta needed a victory to keep his DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters) championship hopes alive, and it's the first-place trophy that he will be taking home from today's race at the Circuit de Catalunya, near Barcelona.

Paul di Resta, Team HWA AMG Mercedes, AMG Mercedes C-Klasse. Photo by xpb.cc.

"I probably had the fastest car in the field," di Resta reflected. "It was (part of) my goal to avoid too many risks as I didn't want to drop back in the points' standings."

di Resta started his Mercedes C-class from the second row, behind teammate Bernd Schneider and the championship leader, Audi's Scheider. The two title chase rivals took the lead from the start, dropping Schneider to third before the first corner, and the fight was on from there.

"Unfortunately, I had wheelspin at the start," Schneider rued his start. "I really had to battle for third place in the first corner."

In the lead, Scheider made his Audi A4 look as wide as the rules would allow, and while di Resta could hound him, he was unable to make his way past. Through the first pit stops, the gap never grew to a full second.

"I was having a great fight with Timo (Scheider)," di Resta recounted. "At some parts of the circuit, he was faster, but at other parts, I was. The overtaking manoeuvre was absolutely clean and Timo played along perfectly. I knew that I would have to be very close to him all the time in order to being able to start an attack at all."

With Mattias Ekstrom choosing a different strategy, he took the lead after the the leaders made their first stops on lap 15, with Scheider and di Resta slotting in behind him. On the second stint, though, di Resta had the measure of Scheider, the young Scot making his move stick with a pass into the La Caixa turn at the end of the back straightaway.

And that was it for Scheider: the German could do nothing but watch di Resta's taillights disappear into the distance, as his rival stretched out his lead, eventually getting the gap up to about five seconds, and 4.531 seconds at the finish.

"I am not at all disappointed with second place," said the Scheider after his second-place finish. "My start was good and I was able to overtake Schneider before the first corner. After that, di Resta put me under quite some pressure. He was a little bit faster and made good use of a slight gap. Being on the podium today was our goal!"

	Start: Timo Scheider, Audi Sport Team Abt, Audi A4 DTM and Paul di Resta, Team HWA AMG Mercedes, AMG Mercedes C-Klasse battle for the lead. Photo by xpb.cc.

The gap between Scheider and di Resta shrank down by two points with today's race, and there are now seven points separating the two, with two races remaining. Scheider needs a second and a third place to guarantee the championship, were di Resta to win the last two remaining races -- a tough task in itself, with DTM adding another 5 kg of weight to the winning car after each race.

Meanwhile, Paul Green and Stefan Ekstrom are now effective out of the hunt; the two tangled hard and repeatedly on the final lap in their struggle for fifth place, and the end result was that Ekstrom received a 50-second penalty in lieu of a drive-through one.

After Audi protested the penalty, the stewards upped it to a disqualification, and assigned a 30-second penalty to Green as well, dropping him to eighth place. Green and Ekstrom are now 16 and 18 points behind Scheider, a daunting task given the German's consistency in scoring points this season.

Outside the championship fight, Schneider drove a steady, quiet race to finish third, moving up the field toward the end of the race. 7.2 seconds separated Scheider and Schneider at the finish.

"I couldn't really keep up with di Resta and Scheider out in front," the Mecedes-Benz veteran admitted. "I had hoped to be able to fight with Timo for second place. But unfortunately, we had a slight problem during the pit stop which cost us some time. After that, I could work with my tyres quite well and I was running pretty much on my own. For a man of my age, it is quite comfortable not having somebody right behind me all the time."

Bernd Schneider, Team HWA AMG Mercedes, AMG Mercedes C-Klasse. Photo by xpb.cc. Results Standings after Catalunya

Martin Tomczyk took fourth for Audi, 4.2 seconds adrift of Schneider, followed by the 2007-spec Audis of Mike Rockenfeller and Alexandre Premat.

After Tom Kristensen's grid penalty and Ralf Schumacher's fines for pit lane violations in qualifying, the stewards were kept busy in the race as well. Apart from Ekstrom's and Green's last-lap antics, Susie Stoddart, Katherine Legge and Oliver Jarvis were all penalized. Gary Paffett, who finished 11th, raced under appeal after being initially excluded for a parc ferme violation.

WRC 2008 - Team Subaru

A review of the past, present and future of the WRC Subaru Team


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Subaru WRC Tribute
Richard Burns - WRC Tribute
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Baby laugh

Argentinian TC 2000 - Rio Hondo - 2008-09-21

Great race at Rio Hondo, Santiago del Estero, Argentina. Team Renault made its day with a 1-3 at the podium. Nice passes between drivers: Pechito López, Ledesma, Pernía, Fontana, Rossi, Buglioti, Basso, Ortelli, Silva. The race was won by Matías Rossi (Renault Mégane), 2nd. was Juan Manuel Silva (Honda New Civic), 3rd. Guillermo Ortelli (Renault Mégane), 4th. Marcelo Bugliotti (Chevrolet Astra), 5th. Martin Basso (Ford Focus). Pechito López (Honda New Civic) leads the championship.


TC 2000 2008 Standings

Audi takes surprise Silverstone win and title

2008-09-14 - By John Dagys - Motorsport.com


Heading into Sunday's season-ending Le Mans Series race, Team Peugeot Total was the odds on favorites for taking LM P1 top honors. Wins in all four of the previous races this season gave the French Lions a comfortable margin over their German rivals. The two Peugeot 908 HDi-FAPs had the pace to beat the Audi R10 TDIs, but they instead faltered at the worst possible time. Call it racing or call it luck, but Audi Sport Team Joest pulled through to claim victory in the Silverstone 1000km, also snatching the championship away from Peugeot in dramatic fashion.

#1 Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R10 TDI: Allan McNish, Rinaldo Capello. Photo by Diego De Col.

Allan McNish and Dindo Capello co-drove their No. 1 Audi to the team's maiden Le Mans Series victory, but how they landed on the top step of the podium was the story of the race. Capello overcame a collision with the Stephane Sarrazin's No. 8 Peugeot in the second hour, rebounding from a two-lap deficit thanks to the misfortunes of others.

"I believe that Dindo and I deserve this victory, and so does everyone in the team," McNish said. "We fought hard this year. For Dindo and me things weren't always going as well as they should have. We had incidents when we were in the position to win races. I think 24 hours ago nobody would have expected Audi to win the race and the manufacturer's and drivers' title."

The first contender to fall by the wayside was the championship-leading No. 7 Peugeot of Nicolas Minassian and Marc Gene. Minassian, who had suffered a spin at the start of the race, worked his way back up to third by the end of the first hour. However, the Frenchman crashed out in a major way only 80 minutes into the race. His car nearly toppled over following contact with a LM GT2 Porsche on the Hangar Straight, a move he admittedly said was his mistake.

Then, just 20 minutes later, Capello and Sarrazin collided while fighting for second place, sending both cars into the gravel trap. While both drivers limped their cars back to the pits for repairs, Sarrazin's Peugeot lost over 13 laps due to damaged suspension pieces, whereas Capello's Audi only needed a fresh set of tires.

The incident dropped Capello two laps down, but he and McNish slowly worked their way back up the leader board during the middle stages of the race. What looked to be a runner-up finish turned into a surprise win when the then-leading No. 2 Audi of Mike Rockenfeller and Alexandre Premat suffered suspension failure with just 23 laps remaining. While Audi's young guns rejoined, they were 5 laps down and out of reach for the win.

Capello was there to pick up the pieces, cruising to a two-lap victory over the second-placed Charouz Racing System Lola B08/60 Aston Martin to take Audi's first Le Mans Series win in three years. It was also he and McNish's first win since their 24 Hours of Le Mans triumph in June.

	Race winner Allan McNish and Rinaldo Capello and Le Mans Series 2008 Champions Alexandre Prémat and Mike Rockenfeller celebrate with Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich and Audi Sport Team Joest team members. Photo by Audi AG.

"After the accident with Stphane Sarrazin, in which I feel - 101 percent - that I was not at fault, I thought that this race was over for us as well," Capello said. "But we never gave up. Seasoned drivers, an experienced team and a great car make for a good combination to win a race which - just like Le Mans - seemed to have been lost already on paper. This race showed that people with a lot of will power and commitment can make the seemingly impossible possible. That's why Allan and I are proud to be part of this fantastic team."

Rockenfeller and Premat rebounded from late-race suspension failure to finish fourth, enough for them to secure the drivers' title. The newly crowned champions didn't win a race this year, but showed that consistency does indeed pay off. Sunday's event was the only time the duo failed to finish on the podium all season.

"I always believed that we could make it - and now it's come true," Rockenfeller. "In a championship you've got to consistently score good points and we did that at the first four races. And today we scored the necessary points as well. Of course we'd have liked to win this race. But I'm extremely happy that our 'sister car' clinched this exploit here for Audi."

On top Rockenfeller and Premat's drivers' title, Audi walked away with the teams' and manufacturers' championships as well, thanks to non-points placing Peugeots. What looked to be a tough fight heading in turned out to be a test of survival for the R10 TDIs.

"We're proud to have won the Le Mans Series straight in our first year against such strong rivals," said Dr Wolfgang Ullrich, head of Audi Motorsport. "Maybe we dreamt that we'd be going home from here with race victory and the championship title but it was hard work. The whole team did a great job. The pit stops and the strategy were very good and the boys drove a constantly fast pace."

#7 Team Peugeot Total Peugeot 908 HDi FAP after the crash of Nicolas Minassian on the Hangar Straight. Photo by DPPI.

The No. 8 Peugeot of Sarrazin and Pedro Lamy finished 19th overall, 11th in P1, whereas the Minassian-driven No. 7 example retired early on. The worst-case scenario indeed came true for Peugeot.

Stefan Mucke and Jan Charouz in the Charouz Racing System Lola Aston Martin recorded their best finish of the year in second, after leading a portion of the early stages. With their second podium finish of the year, the Czech team takes home top gasoline-powered P1 honors, finishing fifth in the championship.

"We not only confirmed the fact that we are fastest petrol car today but we also beat three turbo diesels, they did various mistakes," Charouz said. "We put in consistent lap times with Stefan and it was very important. One slower car damaged the bodywork when I was overtaking him but fortunately it was not a serious problem. It was one of the biggest races for me and I am very happy that we pleased Czech fans with such result."

The No. 16 Pescarolo Sport Judd of Jean-Christophe Boullion and Romain Dumas completed the podium in third, holding off the championship-winning No. 2 Audi in the closing laps. It marked the French privateer's first podium finish of the season.

Van Merksteijn Motorsport capped off a dominating season in LM P2 with another class win, its fourth of the season. Jos Verstappen and Peter van Merksteijn drove their No. 34 Porsche RS Spyder to a fifth place overall result, coming home four laps ahead of the competition.

"From the beginning onward, the car felt really good," Verstappen said. "There were no problems at all. We were able to do very quick lap times. For me, it was a really challenging race and track. It's a shame the season is over because the car is so much fun to drive. It's been fantastic."

The Dutch team, though, didn't have everything go their way this weekend. On Friday, Verstappen crashed the RS Spyder, requiring a rebuild overnight. But the very next day, the ex-Formula One driver put the purple and white machine on pole. And in the race, he put in another impressive drive.

	#34 Van Merksteijn Motorsport Porsche RS -Spyder: Jos Verstappen, Peter Van Merksteijn.Photo by Alessio Morgese.

"Jos drove so fast, I was able to sleep a little when I got in the car!" van Merksteijn joked. "I drove a little bit cautious because we had such a large gap. We won, and I'm really happy. The team is really good and one of the best in the field. The car is one of the best too. You can see that by the difference between the LM P2 and LM P1 cars, as we're right up there."

The No. 27 Horag Racing Porsche of Didier Theys, Fredy Lienhard and Jan Lammers came home second, matching their best finish of the year at Spa. The Swiss team also earned the season-long Michelin Energy Endurance Challenge, which awards an automatic entry to next year's 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Lienhard, though, will not be part of the action next year, as the veteran Swiss racer announced his retirement from racing this weekend. He topped off an impressive 40-plus year run in motorsports with a runner-up finish today.

"It's been a long time, 40 years," Lienhard said. "I've had so many good experiences and challenges. The present I got on my birthday today from my teammates and the Horag team couldn't be more valuable. I'm so happy and I would like to thank everyone who is engaged in this beautiful series and track."

Tomas Enge and Antonio Garcia drove their Team Modena Aston Martin DBR9 to victory in LM GT1, outpacing the pole-sitting IPB Spartak Lamborghini Murcielago of Peter Kox and Roman Rusinov throughout the 1000km enduro. It was the British team's third victory of the season, but still not enough to claim the class championship.

"As we had said before the start our aim was to win and then wait for result of our biggest competitors," Enge said. "They scored points so we did not get the title. Three wins out of five races is pleasant, especially today's one. Team Modena is based in Silverstone and it is always great to win at home."

The championship went to Luc Alphand Aventures' Guillaume Moreau and Patrice Goueslard, who steered the team's No. 72 Corvette C6.R to a third place finish in the race. With their win today, Enge and Garcia wound up runner-up in the standings.

#96 Virgo Motorsport Ferrari F430 GT: Jaime Melo, Robert Bell. Photo by Alessio Morgese.

LM GT2 honors went to Rob Bell and Jamie Melo in the Virgo Motorsport Ferrari F430 GT. It was the small British team's fourth victory of the season and second consecutive class championship. Bell once again celebrates as sole GT2 drivers' champion, as regular co-driver Gianmaria Bruni had other driving commitments this weekend and did not score points.

"Its not just the result today, it's the culmination of two years hard work," Bell said. "For sure we have the best tires at the moment in Dunlop, but it's not happened overnight. It's been two years development to lead to a good consistent tire that can produce a good lap time. Everyone at Virgo has worked towards that."

Runner-ups, both in the race and standings, was the No. 77 Team Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 997 GT3 RSR of Marc Lieb and Alex Davsion. Pierre Ehret, Pierre Kaffer and Anthony Beltoise in the No. 90 Farnbacher Racing Ferrari rounded out the podium Sunday, finishing third.

While the Le Mans Series season comes to another memorable close, it won't be the end of the year for many competitors. A number of European teams will be making the trip to the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in October for the 1000-mile/10-hour American Le Mans Series enduro. The likes of Peugeot and others will be crossing the pond to take on America's finest, in what's rapidly becoming a classic event on the international sports car racing scene.

Race results

2008 Driver final standings

WV WRC bound for 2011 in a Scirroco?

According to rallye-magazin.de VW reprentatives have been discussing intensely the new WRC regulations at recent FIA technical meetings.

Rallye-magazin.de states that Motorsport aktuell have learned that VW wants the width of a WRC car increased to 1820mm instead of the current 1800mm. This would indicate that Volkswagen is considering the Scirocco as a World Rally Car. VW also wants to ensure that the paddle shift gear change remains on WRC cars, so they can promote their in-house DSG motorsport system.

According to insiders VW is drastically reducing its Dakar Series programme with the Touareg and may pull out after Dakar 2009. VW boss Kris Nissen and other VW motorsport representatives have been attending recent WRC events gathering data adding to speculation that they will commit to the WRC maybe in 2011.


For more on the DSG motorsport system click here

FIA-GT race at Brno - 2008-14-09

ACA Argentina Ferrari 550 Maranello: Esteban Tuero, Martin Basso

FIA-GT race at Brno, Check Republic. Here I edited the video to show the best I could find of quite a boring race. You'll see quite a lot of both Ferraris of the Argentine teams.

Race results here
Standings after Brno

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

Argentine Federal Rally Championship - round 8

Carlos Levy

Walter Rodriguez

Rojas, Argentina - 13 to 14 September 2008
CARLOS LEVY, PUTTING HEAT ON THE CHAMPIONSHIP

On roads that in spite of their excellent previous state, deteriorated throughout the rally as a consequence of the lingering drought that affects this region, a new edition of the traditional Rally of Rojas took place on Saturday and Sunday. A rally with seventy participating crews, and amongst which Carlos Levy (Misubishi Lancer Evo IX) stood way out, a record man in participations at this rally. Levy based his victory on an extremely meticulous driving, to come in front of, with comfort, Walter Rodríguez (Misubishi Lancer Evo IX), being both now practically tied in the tournament, with only four more rallies to go. Daniel Marrocchi, this time returning to his old EVO VI of the N 4 2000 class, arrived in third place. (Special thanks to Carlos Varela for the info).

Results here

More information at: Rally Association of Argentina (in Spanish)

Rally Noticias (in Spanish)

Chevrolet WTCC Ultra

It began as a design study into a new generation of touring car. It became a popular symbol of Chevrolet’s success in the World Touring Car Championships. From the moment our designers unveiled the WTCC Ultra, crowds were attracted to its aggressive street racer style. But it’s what the Ultra has inside that makes it so unique as a concept.

 Performance beyond measure

By raising the turbo boost pressure, the Ultra gets an impressive 190 hp out of the same 4-cylinder diesel found in the Captiva and Epica. Lessons in handling were gained by placing McPherson struts on both axles, and improving wheel control via an A-frame arm at the front, with two additional wishbones and a trailing arm at the back. To keep weight low, advanced glass fibre and carbon fibre laminate make up the “Stealth Blue” body finish, while a rear diffuser creates added down force for improved aerodynamics.

Styled to thrill

Speaking about the genesis of the WTCC Ultra, lead designer Ewan Kingsbury commented, “As the chosen theme was to create a concept race car, this gave me license to push the passion and aggression of the styling to the extreme. It has to look fast even when it’s standing still.”

See more of the WTCC Ultra here

Rally-Raid Dos Sertoes 2008

Rally dos Sertões 2008: Volkswagen celebrates one-two win with Race Touareg in Brazil. Published June 27, 2008 in Race Touareg, Rally and Volkswagen Motorsport.


Great news from Volkswagen Motorsport! We had a good time watching the guys compete and win. There were 5 Mitsubishi L200’s in the Top 10 but the Race Touareg 2 is an incredible machine but lets not leave out the driver teams of Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz and Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford.


Giniel de Villiers & Dirk von Zitzewitz catch air in the Volkswagen Race Touareg 2
Commanding one-two win for Volkswagen: At the Rally dos Sertões the factory duos Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (RSA/D) as well as Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/RSA) captured first and second place overall.

The Volkswagen Race Touareg 2 powered by a 280-hp TDI diesel engine thus managed a successful maiden race in Brazil. On the tenth and last leg from Mossoró to Natal, de Villiers/von Zitzewitz reached the finish on the Atlantic coast as the stage winners yet again, while Miller/Pitchford finished the stage in fourth place. All of the ten possible stage wins at this extremely varied and demanding rally across a total distance of 4,500 kilometres across Brazil thus went to the “Dakar” prototype from Wolfsburg. This overall victory and second-place finish increase the tally of the Race Touareg sporting the distinctive, blue Red Bull livery to nine overall wins and a total of 28 podium places at 23 races since 2004.

For Volkswagen, the Rally dos Sertões marked another step in its preparation for the 2009 Dakar Rally, which will lead through Argentina and Chile from 03 to 18 January. After the desert classic, the 10-leg rally across Brazil has been the second-longest for the Volkswagen squad, which ventured onto new territory in terms of the geographic location as well as from a sporting perspective. The cross-country rally through Brazil held new types of routes in store for both driver pairings and put drivers and co-drivers to the test with technically demanding terrain and difficult navigation. In addition to fast sections across service roads, slow, trial-like rocky passages and slippery mud, the rally’s profile featured extremely deep water passages. The highly demanding routes thus posed a new challenge for Volkswagen and the entire team.

After winning the prologue and clinching seven subsequent stage victories, Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz took the overall lead from the outset, with the Volkswagen drivers competing against seasoned local rivals. With three stage wins and consistently high speed, Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford constantly maintained contact to their team-mates. However, due to a 48-minute time penalty after a delayed start to the penultimate special stage, they were deprived of the chance to fight a direct duel with them. Nevertheless, the advantage of the factory teams at the finish was significant: In the end, after 4,500 kilometres, overall winners de Villiers/von Zitzewitz were three, and runners-up Miller/Pitchford two hours ahead of the third-placed local Mitsubishi team Reinaldo Varela/Marcos Macedo.

Kris Nissen (Volkswagen Motorsport Director)
“This one-two win is a fantastic result for us. In sport, particularly in cross-country rally racing, it’s impossible to calculate successes in advance or to firmly plan them. There are too many crucial factors involved, even if – as was the case with us at the Rally dos Sertões – you go into the race as clear favourites. The entire squad, from the drivers and co-drivers to the mechanics, did a truly fantastic job. I’m proud of everyone. The Sertões Rally served as preparation for the 2009 Dakar Rally and we learned a lot here, particularly with regard to the technical demands made on the material by these types of routes. A special thank you from us to Volkswagen do Brasil for their good support.”

#302 – Giniel de Villiers (RSA), 1st place (leg) / 1st place overall
“This is a good day for Volkswagen, and I’m very happy about this exploit. We started to this rally as favourites and again proved that the Race Touareg is a winning car. For the whole team, this was truly a challenge because the terrain was different than in Morocco or Mauritania, for example. Very difficult to drive, very difficult to navigate. Ten days with extremely tough legs and without a day of rest for the squad as well as for us drivers, this was an extreme strain. I think we can take a lot of positive things with us from here and have taken another step forwards in our preparations for the Dakar rally in January 2009.”

#302 – Dirk von Zitzewitz (D), co-driver
“We went to Brazil without knowing what to expect. 4,500 kilometres over ten legs, these were just statistics for us. From the first day, the rally showed us why it’s considered to be extremely tough. The legs really put high demands on us drivers and co-drivers. But we also got something in return: The spectators gave us an extremely warm welcome and the routes led through fantastic landscapes. For Volkswagen, this has been an entirely positive experience.”

#303 – Mark Miller (USA), 4th place (leg) / 2nd place overall
“Despite all the strain, the Rallye dos Sertões will leave pleasant memories with all the team members, myself included! I won three stages for Volkswagen, my first ones since joining the team. How great the team works in difficult situations was demonstrated to me on the penultimate day when my mechanics changed a defective turbocharger on the liaison stage to the start of the special stage in record time, enabling me to continue the race. They deserve part of the credit for the fact that we finished second overall.”

#303 – Ralph Pitchford (RSA), co-driver
“I’m very happy that we finished the Sertões as the overall runner-up. We didn’t know a lot about this rally and weren’t able to prepare ourselves for the navigation by extensively studying maps as we usually do. Still, we found perfect conditions here. The roadbooks were very good and extremely detailed. On the one hand, this made the job of navigating easier, but on the other it also required full concentration. I’m very satisfied with our result.”

Tentative final results Rally dos Sertões (BR), 17 Jun – 28 Jun 2008

Pos. Team, Vehicle, Total time
1. Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (RSA/D), Volkswagen Race Touareg 2, 29h 28.32s
2. Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/RSA), Volkswagen Race Touareg 2, + 1h 06m20s
3. Reinaldo Varela/Marcos Macedo (BR/BR), Mitsubishi L200, + 3h 02m18s
4. Joao Franciosi/Rafael Capoani (BR/BR), Mitsubishi L200, + 4h 50m50s
5. Sven Fischer/João Luis Stal (BR/BR), Mitsubishi L200, + 4h 56m46s
6. Jean Azevedo/Youssef Haddad (BR/BR), Mitsubishi Pajero, + 5h 21m07s
7. Marlon Koerich/Bruno Mega (BR/BR), Chevrolet S10, + 5h 28m26s
8. Riamburgo Ximenes/Stanger Eler (BR/BR), Wormem Sherpa, + 5h 35m05s
9. Adriano Leão/Rodrigo Costa (BR/BR), Mitsubishi L200, + 6h 06m50s
10. Marcos Baumgart/Kleber Cincea (BR/BR), Mitsubishi L200, + 9h 16m15s

See a video of the rally-raid in 4 parts here

TC2000 31-08-08 - Oberá

The TC2000 raced in Oberá, Misiones, Argentina. Some nice
overtakes and unfortunate crashes. Pechito López had his
day winning the race with the pace-car in the lead.




Information about the race here