Australian V8 2009 New Zealand Race 4

Australian V8 2009 New Zealand Race 3

TC2000 - San Luis - Potrero de los Funes - 2008

Before the FIA-GT race, the Argentine TC2000 inaugurated the wonderful Potrero de los Funes circuit in San Luis. Pechito Lopez won the race. At the end of the video you will hear the broadcaster praising Lopez as the 2008 champion, but the stewards penalized Risatti with 30 sec., so Silva was third postponing the championship's definition for the next race in Punta del Este, Uruguay, on 12 December.



Race Results:
1. J.M. López
2. C. Ledesma
3. J.M. Silva
4. L. Pernia
5. M. Rossi

Argentina's TC2000 - Mendoza 2008-10-31

Great Race in Mendoza with Werner in a Toyota starting out well in front. But finally Gabriel Ponce de Leon with Ford Focus was the winner. It's now 2 races in a row for Ford, that were very worried with their whole year lack of winners, the tide has changed it seems.



Mendoza Results
1. P de León
2. M. Werner
3. J.M. Silva
4. J.M. López
5. C. Okulovich

ALMS - Audi ends 2008 with one-two Laguna Seca finish

Racing series	ALMS
Date	2008-10-18 (Monterey, CA)

By Barret Bumford - Motorsport.com

Audi Sport North America closed out the 2008 racing season by taking the final overall victory in the American Le Mans Series. To top it off, they finished one-two after charging to the front on the final restart. Then the battle began between Emanuele Pirro and Marco Werner for the final bragging rights.

Two of the Acura teams finished 3rd and 4th overall, giving the marque a 1-2 in LM P2, however

 Porsche won the manufac- turers' title.

 

#9 Patron Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-01B Acura: David Brabham, Scott Sharp leads #66 de Ferran Motorsports Acura ARX-01B Acura: Gil de Ferran, Simon Pagenaud, #7 Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyder: Romain Dumas, Timo Bernhard and #15 Lowe's Fernandez Racing 

The last race of the season at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca had everyone talking about Acura, who needed to sweep the podium to win the LM P2 manufacturers' championship. They nearly pulled it off, with Andretti Green Racings's Tony Kanaan crossing the line just 0.054 seconds ahead of rival Acura driver Simon Pagenaud of de Ferran Motorsports. A failed battery left earlier Acura contender Lowe's Fernandez Racing a lap down to finish ninth overall. Driver Adrian Fernandez had set fastest lap with a 1:11.156 (113.23 mph).

The race began with David Brabham in the Highcroft Racing Acura on pole position alongside Fernandez

 Racing's Luis Diaz. By the first turn, Gil de Ferran had sped past the Penske Porsche RS Spyder of Timo Bernhard, locking out the top three spots for the American constructor ahead of the manufacturers' title leaders, Porsche.

A series of yellows interrupted the racing throughout the first two hours, mixing up the field as cars from both the prototype and GT classes ran off into the sand, but the dust finally settled as the sun sank behind the hills of the Monterey Peninsula. Pirro, leading LM P1, led a string of P2 Acuras after Romain Dumas ran wide in turn six in his Penske Porsche RS Spyder. de Ferran Motorsports' Pagenaud harangued the more powerful Audi R10 TDI diesel down the corkscrew and around the legendary 2.238 mile circuit, with the Acuras of Fernandez and Franck Montagny in tow.

After yet another series of back-to-back caution periods, the track went green around the three hour mark, until the then-leading #6 Penske of Sascha Maassen coasted down into the sand at the bottom of the

 Andretti hairpin, bringing out the 11th caution of the race. Kanaan inherited the lead in the for Andretti Green Racing, but the two Audis were right behind.

At the restart, Pirro, in what was his last race in the R10 TDI, wanted to get by race leader Kanaan in his Acura ARX-01b. Kanaan slid to the inside, expecting the faster Audi to pass on the outside, but Pirro surprised him and shoved Kanaan out of the way. Eight tires have more grip than four, and Kanaan slid helplessly toward the outside of turn two as Marco Werner followed his teammate's inside line. "Restarting with the two Audis behind is not fun," Kanaan said. He called the contact "a race pass."

It was at the three hour and 34 minute mark that Werner took the lead from Pirro. "It would have been nice if he could go out with a victory," Werner commented.

#6 Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyder: Sascha Maassen, Patrick Long

Ten minutes after the Audis swapped places, Pagenaud out-braked Kanaan into turn eleven and took the lead in P2. Kanaan passed him back in traffic up the hill into turn six, and held off a gutsy charge by the determined Pagenaud for the class victory. An unlucky attempt to charge down the outside of the corkscrew was thwarted by lapped traffic. On the last lap, Pagenaud tried to carry a drive out of turn eleven and just missed the P2 class victory by 0.054 sec.

The Penske Porsche RS Spyders of Bernard and Helio Castroneves claimed third and fourth places in P2, securing the class manufacturer's title by a single point, with 214 to Acura's 213.

P1 co-champions Werner and Lucas Luhr claimed the P1 and overall victory ahead of 2nd place teammates Pirro and Christian Albers. Third in the P1 class fell to the Corsa Motorsports team of Johnny Mowlem, Gunnar Jeanette, and Stefan Johansson, whose Zytek 07S put in one of the team's strongest first stints of the season. An unlucky wiring problem during a driver change ended hopes of a top-five overall result.

In the LM GT2 class, Tafel Racing's Dirk Mueller in his Ferrari 430 took the lead from Jamie Melo of Risi Competizione after the midway point, with Dirk Werner and the Farnbacher Loles Porsche following in third. The trio would finish in that order, but Mueller's team was excluded by IMSA for a ride height violation, gifting third place to the Panoz Team PTG and drivers Tommy Milner and Joey Hand.

The LM GT1 Corvettes also swapped places after the three-hour mark, giving the victory to Olivier Bertta and Oliver Gavin ahead of Jan Magnussen and Johnny O'Connell. Corvette will switch to the GT2 class next year following the final running of the C6.R at Le Mans.

A total of 12 caution periods, often coming back-to-back, befell the race. At the post-race press conferences, many drivers complained about the lack of speed of the pace car. The low grip surface of Laguna Seca, and the cold ambient temperatures of the evening race compounded the problem.

Race Results

Porsche race report

WTCC 2008 - Team Chevrolet Logistics

In this video we can see how the WTCC Lacetti cars are prepared for travelling to a circuit and the logistics it entails.



Here we have an older video but interesting enough about the WTCC Lacetti

Argentinian TC 2000 - Viedma - 2008-10-12

Great race, overtakings, bumpings, etc. Martin Basso with a Ford Focus was first to cross the checker flag.


Race results:

FINAL - TC 2000
Viedma

1 3 BASSO MARTIN F. FOCUS 27 42;21,532 
2 5 LEDESMA CHRISTIAN CH. ASTRA 27 42;31,932 10,400
3 13 DI PALMA LUIS JOSE F. FOCUS 27 42;33,843 12,311
4 11 FONTANA NORBERTO T. COROLLA 27 42;35,175 13,643
5 9 SILVA JUAN MANUEL H. NEW CIVIC 27 42;35,571 14,039
6 37 LOPEZ JOSE MARIA H. NEW CIVIC 27 42;35,831 14,299
7 2 ORTELLI GUILLERMO R. MEGANE 27 42;36,219 14,687
8 14 CARDUCCI LEANDRO F. FOCUS 27 42;38,894 17,362
9 4 PONCE DE LEON GABRIEL F. FOCUS 27 42;39,314 17,782
10 8 PERNIA LEONEL H. NEW CIVIC 27 42;41,211 19,679
11 42 GONZALEZ ALEJANDRO F. FOCUS 27 42;43,981 22,449
12 33 BUGLIOTTI MARCELO CH. ASTRA 27 42;47,890 26,358
13 38 CACERES JUAN IGNACIO H. NEW CIVIC 27 42;48,810 27,278
14 12 WERNER MARIANO T. COROLLA 27 42;50,152 28,620
15 20 FINESCHI DAMIAN H. CIVIC 27 43;02,006 40,474
16 41 LLAVER BERNARDO H. CIVIC 27 43;05,940 44,408
17 19 VENTANA SANTIAGO H.CIVIC 27 43;11,469 49,937
18 17 YANNANTUONI FABIAN CH. ASTRA 27 43;27,457 1;05,925
19 24 DER OHANESSIAN GUSTAVO VW POLO 27 43;29,860 1;08,328
20 39 BENAMO LUCAS H. NEW CIVIC 26 41;35,613 41;35,613
21 10 OKULOVICH CARLOS H. NEW CIVIC 25 39;24,958 39;24,958
22 23 SALERNO RUBEN VW BORA 17 27;52,337 27;52,337
23 27 BELLI DANIEL H. CIVIC 15 24;24,215 24;24,215
24 6 RISATTI RICARDO CH. ASTRA 13 20;52,131 20;52,131
25 16 PEZZINI FRABRIZIO H. CIVIC 9 14;48,375 14;48,375
26 18 CANAPINO AGUSTIN CH. ASTRA 6 9;49,078 9;49,078
27 15 COSCIA FRANCO H. NEW CIVIC 2 3;24,685 3;24,685
28 40 RIVA NESTOR VW POLO 0 0,000 0,000

Record Auto: 3 (Basso) a 1m33s057/1000 turn: 26 at: 159.348 km/h
Winner's average speed: 157.530 km/h 

DTM 2008 - Ekstrom wins rain lottery at Le Mans

By Nancy Knapp Schilke - Motorsport.com

Mattias Ekstrom and his Audi Abt Sportsline crew won what truly was a rain lottery today on the Le Mans Bugatti circuit. The one major variable in the German Touring Car Masters series (DTM) race in France was the ever changing rain in the area -- from light showers to driving rain -- adding to the usual action in the German series.

Ekstrom inherited the lead when Audi factory teammate and points leader Timo Scheider dived into the pits on lap 11 and remained on slicks. Soon the track was starting to form rivers along the circuit and the usual mandatory two pit stops became four or more.

Even with a case of the flu, the Swede was able to take his third race win this season by over four seconds to second place Paul di Resta from the Mercedes camp.

"This wasn't bad for a sick racer. After I was frustrated with a bout of flu all weekend I'm now totally happy about victory," said Ekstrom. "The race was great and my Audi A4 was running perfectly from the start to the final lap. I couldn't wish for more than this except, of course, that I would have liked still being in the race for the title. The decision has been postponed to the finale. There, we'll be giving everything to clinch the title with Timo for Audi."

While Ekstrom celebrated his 13th career victory, di Resta was also pumped about his podium finish. Placing his AMG Mercedes second in the penultimate round forces the championship battle to the season finale in Hockenheim on October 26th.

"It was not the right decision to start with rain tyres, but in conditions like today, it is difficult to make the right choice," di Resta said. "It's super that I finished second despite my extra pit stop and that I am only two points behind Timo Scheider -- we knew that it would rain in the final third and my team had the perfect timing for the change; that was crucial. My speed was good despite the handicap weight which we now got rid of for the final race.

"I look forward to Hockenheim and I want to win in the great finale and thus clinch the championship title," he added.

Frenchman Alexandre Premat for Audi Sport Team Phoenix ended third in the 2007-spec on his home turf. He was one of only four drivers who did just the required pit stops and ran the entire race on slicks.

"A fantastic weekend! Standing on the podium at my home race makes me very proud," smiled Premat. "My team and I gave everything in qualifying and the race and were rewarded by third place. My team did everything right in terms of strategy so that I was able to attack at any time during the race."

Scheider finished sixth and holds a two point lead over di Resta. The German now needs to stay in front of the Scotsman in the DTM finale. "It was the right decision to go into the race with slicks. Advancing from fifth to first is definitely something special. Unfortunately, we timed our second stop two laps too early, that's too bad. We'll chalk this up to experience now and concentrate on the finale," he said.

Race results 

Standings after Le Mans 

See DTM race videos at Power Sport 

ALMS - Petit Le Mans - AUDI STORMS TO ANOTHER PETIT VICTORY

The battle that everyone expected at Petit Le Mans powered by the Totally New MAZDA6 lived up to its billing. Audi remained unbeaten at Road Atlanta as Allan McNish, Dindo Capello and Emanuele Pirro spotted the field two laps at the start of the race but came back for a stunning victory in the 11th annual 1,000-mile/10-hour endurance classic.

McNish and his Audi R10 TDI crossed the finish line 4.512 seconds ahead of Peugeot's Christian Klien and the Peugeot 908 HDi that he drove with Stephane Sarrazin and Nic Minassian. A record weekend crowd of 113,000 witnessed the week-long fight between the top two powers in sports car racing.

The victory was sweet redemption for McNish, who crashed the car on the grid formation lap prior to the race. The team got the Scot on track two laps behind the field but was back on the lead lap after a two-hour, 45-minute stint.

"It was more than a good race," said Pirro, who won at Petit Le Mans for the first time since 2005. "Allan would not have been happy with a normal win. He had to crash the car to make it extraordinary. With team strategy and the yellows we were able to bring the car back. It was a real treat and I was pleased to share the car on this day. It really was a dream race and a lot of people deserve this race."

Pirro and Capello continued to chip away at the lead before McNish's final stint. He passed Klien with about 40 minutes left and continued to drive away from the Peugeot. Even getting in position to contend for victory seemed doubtful early on. Capello had a problem with his seat insert, and the car ran hot as the temperature increased during the afternoon in Capello's stint.

"I didn't think this afternoon when it got so hot that we had a chance," he said. "Sometimes you need luck. We didn't get much luck at the Le Mans Series but we had luck here."

The climatic moments came as darkness enveloped Road Atlanta. The Audi crew called for two stops late - one for fuel and another for tires. McNish came back in during a late-race caution for more fuel and tires, a move that gave him an advantage during the late-race push.

"This race belongs to the team," McNish said. "To get 16-17 people from both crews on that and get it repaired when I thought we were out, they did something I didn't think was possible. No one in our team does the work to finish second. There's no question in my mind that when we got in the position at the end that I was going to do everything I could do to win this race. If it took us to the top step, then it was just desserts for the team.

"I got a run on Christian out of Turn 5 and he got caught up in traffic," McNish said of the winning pass. "You get one opportunity to overtake and you have to take it. I was able to dive in at seven and he couldn't get a clean line to pass me on the straight."

McNish and Capello became the first drivers to win at Petit Le Mans for three consecutive years. Audi's Marco Werner and Lucas Luhr, newly crowned LMP1 champions finished third.

Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe won in LMP2 for Penske Motorsports in their Porsche RS Spyder. Castroneves is the first driver to have won both Petit Le Mans and the Indianapolis 500. He finished 21 seconds ahead of Penske teammates Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas, who won their second straight drivers championship.

"I have to thank Roger and Tim for letting me be in the car," said Castroneves, who won in his second Series start. "These guys did an incredible job. Timo and Romain did a great job, and Ryan was awesome. This is a very challenging track and very difficult. It turned out to be a great race for all three cars."

Saturday marked the first time Briscoe and Castroneves - teammates in the IndyCar Series for Team Penske - shared a car together. It obviously worked out well with Briscoe setting class records in qualifying and the race. The pairing also led overall five times.

"It was a great opportunity given to us by Penske and Porsche," Briscoe said. "We've been really working closely together. It was a great result and great for the whole team. We managed to be the sole P2 cars on the lead lap for a long time before Timo and Romain made a lap up. As we saw last year, the P1 cars are quicker but we can stay with them on the lead lap."

Penske swept the Petit P2 podium with Sascha Maassen, Patrick Long and Emmanuel Collard finishing third. The victory also gave Penske its third straight team championship in class.

"The year was very special," Dumas said. "It is an honor to win this championship again. From my point of view, this is the biggest moment for me with Porsche and the RS Spyder. The competition with Acura has not been easy. A lot of people were thinking before this race, 'What is happening with Penske?' We worked very hard during the month to increase the level of the car."

Bernhard and Dumas benefitted from an early retirement of the Patrón Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-01b. After having the car being completely rebuilt following a crash Thursday, Sharp spun the car coming out of Turn 10B and smacked a concrete wall, damaging the rear end beyond repair.

"I felt bad for them but it was only one hour into the race," Bernhard said. "There was a long race ahead of us and the same could happen to us. With the traffic here, sometimes you need some luck. I really wanted to try to stay focused and bring this home."

Johnny O'Connell, Jan Magnussen and Ron Fellows won in GT1 for Corvette Racing by six laps to take their second endurance victory of the season. They also won in class at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. The win Saturday gave O'Connell and Magnussen the class championship with their eighth victory.

"It's a very special win because we won the championship," said Magnussen, who won his first title. "The race today was hard between the two cars. We were pushing hard on the track and in the pits and everywhere. In the first half of the race we had to push like crazy to stay ahead of the No. 4 car. It was difficult in the daytime and in the nighttime."

Oliver Gavin, Olivier Beretta and Max Papis finished second in class. The two Corvettes exchanged the lead twice in the pits before misfortune again befell the No. 4 car. A malfunctioning throttle linkage left Gavin crawling around the track before the six-hour mark. It was eerily similar to Sebring where the trio lost laps to a broken driveshaft early on.

"Winning Petit Le Mans is very special. For some reason, this race has never gone our way," O'Connell said. "For Ron and I, this is our eighth Petit Le Mans and only our second win. We lost the lead on one pit stop but we got it back on the next one. We kept building gaps and I felt like we had things in hand."

Jaime Melo and Mika Salo followed their GT2 endurance victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with another hard-fought endurance win Saturday in their Ferrari F430 GT. Salo finished just 2.317 seconds ahead of Flying Lizard Motorsports' Joerg Bergmeister and his Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. The result with Marc Lieb was enough for Bergmeister and Wolf Henzler to wrap up the class championship.

"It was really hard," Melo said of the race. "To win Le Mans and Petit Le Mans is great for the whole team. It was a very difficult race. We had to move to the back of the field at one point and we had to push hard to get back on top. The car was working very well and comfortable to drive. It made it easier for us to do it."

Tafel Racing's Dirk Mueller and Dominik Farnbacher placed third in their Ferrari.

Salo had to weather a stuck throttle and a broken drink system during his stint. It was a refreshing change considering some of the horrible luck Risi has had this year. After winning eight times last year, this was only the second victory in the Series for the team.

"Yes we won but it doesn't completely make up for the bad luck this year," Salo said. "We knew since the first day how quick the Flying Lizard guys and the Porsches were. Our car worked very well and we had to work hard. It was a really nice fight."

Henzler and Bergmeister have finished on the GT2 podium in every event this year except St. Petersburg in March. Four class victories helped give Bergmeister his third championship and Henzler his first.

Flying Lizard also won its first team championship.

"This is unbelievable," Henzler said. "I can't describe it. Flying Lizard has tried for so many years. With the support of Joerg, the team and Porsche, we never had any issue throughout the year."

Bergmeister also won championships in 2005 and 2006 with Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing.

"It's the first time for the Lizards, so it is like a first time," Bergmeister said. "The team was really ready to win the championship. To have it both the team and driver makes it doubly special."

In the debut of the Green Challenge, the Penske entry of Long, Maassen and Collard were the prototype winners. In the GT category, the Corvette of O'Connell, Magnussen and Fellows were victorious for General Motors.

The cars had the best scores for overall performance, fuel efficiency and environmental impact.

The final round of the 2008 American Le Mans Series is the Monterey Sports Car Championships from Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The four-hour race into darkness is scheduled to start at 2:45 p.m. PT on Saturday, October 18. NBC Sports will air the race from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, October 19. XM Satellite Radio will air the race from 4 to 8 p.m. ET on the same day. American Le Mans Radio will have live coverage on americanlemans.com, which also will feature Live Timing & Scoring.

-credit: alms

Final results 

ALMS petit le mans 2008 part1

See the rest of the Petit Le Mans here 

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

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

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

BMW Z4 M Coupe vs Porsche 997 RSR @ Nurburgring 24 Hr Race

A lap around the Norschleife in the BMW Z4 M Coupe against a Porsche 997 RSR @ the Nurburgring 24 Hr Race in August 2008.

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

ALMS Utah Start 2008 - Intersport vs Audi

ALMS start to the 2008 Utah round. Jon Field taking it to the R10s. Spectacular race start.

LeMans Series - August 2008 @ Nurburgring - First few laps

What the title says, enjoy



View more here

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

MOTORSPORT Vx: FIA-GT - Bucharest - First Race - 2008-08-23

MOTORSPORT Vx: FIA-GT - Bucharest - First Race - 2008-08-23

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

FIA-GT - Bucharest - 2nd Race - 2008-08-08

FIA-GT Second Race in the streets of Bucharest, Romania. Spectacular racetrack within the city. Again a Corvette comes in first in the GT1. See race summary and Standings

Le Mans 1966 - Ford GT40 MK II

A video of Le Mans 1966 won by the Ford team with the three famous Ford GT40 MK II cars (in German).

In 1966, the Ford Mk. II had become reliable. Shelby test driver Ken Miles managed to win at the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring with the big block Ford. Ford sent no less than eight Mark II to La Sarthe, entered by three teams: Shelby, Holman & Moody and Alan Mann Racing.

Ferrari sent only two works P3s to compete against the Ford armada. Another P3 was entered by NART, and four 365 P2 were entered by Ferrari's usual private partners.

The two works P3s were involved in an accident. At 01:45 the P2s had already exhausted their engine in trying to keep contact with the Mk. II and the last Ferrari prototype, the Pedro Rodríguez/Richie Ginther NART P3 retired with overheating. The race was won for Ford.

At the last pit stop, three GT40 Mark IIs were in front. Ken Miles and Denny Hulme were leading, followed by Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon in the same lap. Ronnie Bucknum and Dick Hutcherson were third, but twelve laps behind.

At the finish, Ford decided to stage publicity photo between Miles/Hulme and McLaren/Amon with the No. 5 following, too. According to witnesses, McLaren left a small margin to Miles and it was expected that Miles/Hulme would be declared winner after the examination of the photo finish. But the ACO declared the McLaren/Amon car had won the race, having covered more distance in 24 hours, as it had started the race several places behind the Miles/Hulme car. The ACO estimated the difference to 8 meters. This was a terrible disappointment for Ken Miles who expected the triple crown Daytona-Sebring-Le Mans as a reward for his investment in the GT40 development. The well-known photograph published by the Ford Motor Company showing McLaren leading Miles, with the GT40 MkII of Ronnie Bucknum and Dick Hutcherson third, may have fooled some people, but this document doesn't show the finish line and the public doesn't know at what time the picture was shot. The finish remains, however, the closest in Le Mans history.

Also see this on-board camera on a 1969 Ford GT40 in Le Mans

Official Results and more info at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1966_24_Hours_of_Le_Mans