Archive for June, 2010

Here’s a great in-car video of Jeff Zwart during Friday qualifying for this year’s Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado. Zwart was driving a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car with about 460 bhp—rear drive, normally aspirated, 6-speed sequential manual gearbox.

Wait until you see how sideways he gets in the dirt—some stellar driving.

Zwart qualified fastest in the Time Attack 2WD class, and on Sunday finished first in class and posted the 6th fastest time overall with an 11:31.095, demolishing Rhys Millen’s previous Time Attack 2WD record of 12:09.40 set last year in a turbocharged Hyundai Genesis Coupe. The only cars quicker than Zwart were three Unlimited cars and two from the Open Wheel category.

Related posts:

1. Pikes Peak International Hill Climb: The Mountain Remains King
2. Rhys Millen’s Pikes Peak Race Car In The Flesh
3. Revealed: Rhys Millen’s Hyundai Genesis PM580 Pikes Peak Car

Edmunds has scooped a few new photos of the 2012 GT-R at Nurburgring again today. This time shes wearing even less camouflage than before so we can start to properly appreciate the new curves up front.

What’s most surprising and what they failed to comment on was the completely new wheel design. It’s long been predicted that Nissan will also need to refresh the wheel design to complete a facelift and it looks like they have. Not a huge departure from the original design which is a good thing because the original wheels were great. These are expected to be slightly lighter than the 2009 versions.

Link: Edmunds Straightline Website

View Entire Article: 2012 Nissan GT-R Spied With Updated Wheel Design at GTRBlog.com Originally appeared on and © GTRBlog.com. 2010. | Read comments.

NOTE: This post is from an outside source.

Thanks to all who sent this in!

Related posts:

1. New Gran Turismo 5 NASCAR Video
2. More Gran Turismo 5 Damage, NASCAR Details
3. GT5 E3 Demo Includes NASCAR Cars, Exclusive Video

NOTE: This post is from GT Planet.

Filed under: Motorsports, Racing

The record that everyone was talking about at the 2010 Pikes Peak Hill Climb, the overall course record, will remain for at least one more year, but there were plenty of other records broken in 2010. The extra 1.9 miles of pavement at the top of the mountain made for some very fast times, and some of the old times were smashed by a wide margin.

For starters, perhaps the most impressive record was one that was set in the Time Attack 2WD class. The previous record was just set last year by Rhys Millen in his Hyundai Genesis Coupe, but Jeff Zwart smashed Millen’s time of 12:09.40 with a 11:31.095 in his Porsche 911 Cup. Other record-breakers include Clint Vahsholtz in Super Stock (Ford Mustang, 11:33.320), Doug Mockett in Vintage (Oldsmobile Super 88, 13:05.71), and Ikuo Hanawa in Electric (EV Sports Concept HER-02, 13:17.575).

Of course, not all of the records were about time. Colorado Springs native Randy Schranz tied the record for the most completed hill climbs at 36, matching Louie Unser. He also set the propane fuel record at 11:57.098 in his Shelby Cobra (pictured above). In her very first run, Denver resident Savannah Rickli became the youngest female to ever complete the race, finishing third in the Time Attack 2WD class with a time of 13:58.232 in her Mini Cooper S. Finally, Jason Taylor was the first person to complete the hill climb in a rock buggy, finishing with a time of 14:07.620. You can see all of the record-breakers from this year’s Pikes Peak in the high-res gallery below.

Gallery: 2010 Pikes Peak Hill Climb Record-Breakers

Photos by Drew Phillips / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.Pikes Peak 2010: The record-breakers originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 28 Jun 2010 19:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When my very good friend Roger Becker retired from Lotus after 44 years with the company, I believed that Lotus lost part of its soul. He has been an important part of the company for nearly a half decade, being a vital part of every car produced in that time. He was also an accomplished driver–legend says he drove for the car stunts in the James Bond thriller, The Spy Who Loved Me.

In celebration of his now legendary input over the years, Roger Becker (RGB) will have a series of Lotus Elise and Lotus Exige sports cars in bespoke RGB Special Edition specification produced and set for release from September 2010.**The Elise SC and Exige S RGB Special Editions will both be specified to a high level with Sports and Touring packs as standard. The Elise SC RGB Special Edition has a supercharged 217 hp (220 ps) 1.8 litre engine which blesses it with a 0-60 mph time of 4.3 seconds (0-100kmh in 4.6 seconds). The Lotus Exige S RGB Special Edition uses the range topping 257 (260 ps) supercharged and intercooled 1.8 litre engine which endows it with a 0-60 mph in around 4 seconds and a phenomenal aerodynamic downforce figure of 92.5 lbs (42 kg) at 100 mph (160 kmh).

Roger Becker said, “I am honoured that Lotus has named these two special editions after me, especially as it allows me to offer the customer my favourite specifications. The past 44 years have been an incredible journey and I’m looking forward to watching Lotus progress in the future, I have no doubt that the company will continue to go from strength to strength.”

Related posts:

1. 2010 Lotus Exige Scura – First Look
2. Video: 2011 Lotus Elise
3. A Green Milestone for the Elise

Filed under: Motorsports, Classics, Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford, Celebrities

The 28th Annual Dana Point Concours d’Elegance took place this past Sunday and once again found the Monarch Beach Golf Links at the St. Regis Resort to be a perfect venue. As beautiful as the resort is, though, we were a bit perplexed to hear visitors talking so openly and enthusiastically about all of the snakes they had been seeing there.

“Did you see The Snake? There are four snakes up on the hill! The Snake was riding around in a golf cart a few minutes ago, make sure you go see him.”

The well-traveled Reptilia was none other than Don “The Snake” Prudhomme, the honorary chairman of this year’s concours. “The Snake” didn’t come empty-handed to this party either. No, he brought with him a quartet of his funky funny cars from the 1970s, including the sole remaining Mattel Hot Wheels 1970 Plymouth Barracuda Funny Car that became famous during the “Snake vs. Mongoose” match races between Prudhomme and Tom “The Mongoose” McEwen. Back in the day, these two warriors famously squared off in match races across the country while also making countless appearances at toy stores, retail outlets and other locations.

The Barracuda was parked atop the same 1967 Dodge D-700 crew cab Hot Wheels Ramp Truck that was used to transport the race car on that promotional tour. The gorgeous yellow duo emerged from frame-off restorations just in time for SEMA last year, and seeing it there instantly transported us back to our youths, when our Hot Wheels checklist included not only this screaming yellow Plymouth, but Prudhomme’s red, white and blue Hot Wheels and ARMY cars as well. Imagine our delight, then, when we saw some of those cars parked right alongside the Baracuda and transport in Dana Point on Sunday.

Front and center sat the white 1972 Hot Wheels sponsored Plymouth ‘Cuda funny car, to its left the 1974 Army sponsored Chevrolet Vega funny car and to the right the 1978 Army Plymouth Arrow funny car which proudly carries the “Number 1,” reflecting Prudhomme’s fourth consecutive NHRA World Championship season. The Snake himself was also part of the attraction on Sunday, recounting old racing tales and signing autographs for the masses. He even took a few minutes to visit with the Cagahys, a couple who happened to bring their own Prudhomme car to the event – a 2009 Shelby Mustang Prudhomme Edition. We took lots of pics, which you can check out in the gallery below.

Gallery: 2010 Dana Point Concours ? Don Prudhomme

Photos by Frank Filipponio/ Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.2010 Dana Point Concours: Don “The Snake” Prudhomme tribute originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 28 Jun 2010 18:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Motorsports, Hyundai, Suzuki, Racing

I had a choice to make for the race day of this year’s Pikes Peak Hill Climb. Do I stick to the more photogenic middle portions of the course or do I head to the finish line to potentially see history made? The decision was easy. If the infamous ten-minute mark was going to be broken, I wanted to be there to see the car at the checkered flag. After all, the chances seemed quite good. “Monster” Tajima had smashed the qualifying record the previous day and had looked incredibly fast during the practice sections. The track conditions and weather were ideal in the morning, and the first few groups showed plenty of promise. In fact, a few track records were broken in the morning groups of cars, including Rhys Millen’s recent fastest time in the Time Attack 2WD class.

There was an atmosphere of excitement and tension near the finish line as it was announced Tajima had started his run, and we all waited impatiently to hear the shriek of his Suzuki’s twin-turbo V6. It soon arrived, echoing around the surrounding mountains. Within 30 seconds Tajima came tearing around the last turn, the rear tires breaking loose momentarily as he fought to keep it pointed towards the finish line. The Suzuki came tearing across the finish line, and we all looked at one another, wondering if the record had been broken.

Make the jump to read the rest of the story about race day at Pikes Peak.

Gallery: 2010 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb

Photos by Drew Phillips / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.Continue reading Pikes Peak 2010: Tajima fastest man on the mountain, but ten minute mark remains unbroken

Pikes Peak 2010: Tajima fastest man on the mountain, but ten minute mark remains unbroken originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 28 Jun 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Drift Mania Round 2 by JHDproductions

JHD Productions put out this fantastic piece from Round 2 of the 2010 DMCC championship. These guys pieced together a great reel of shots highlighting the weekends events which lead to a victory from Pat Cyr. Don’t miss out on this great video from 2010 Drift Mania Round 2.

Watch the video: http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/watchvideo/drift-mania-round-2-by-jhdproductions

NOTE: This post is from an outside source.

It looks like James Deane is still on a rampage this 2010 season taking home the victory at Prodrift in Dublin over the weekend. I was even told that Dean Kearney showed up at Citywest in Dublin to make a return to the series. Regardless of that it was the Deane brothers taking home first and second for the event. James was able to defeated his older brother Mike to take home another win in the 2010 season. Here is how the top four finished up.

1st- James Deane

2nd- Mike Deane

3rd- Alan Sinnot

4th- Chris Brady

NOTE: This post is from an outside source.

InsideSimRacing.tv has just published their extensive*Gran Turismo 5 E3 2010 Special Report, filling more than half an hour of footage with their detailed impressions and thoughts on the demo featured at the big show. It’s a refreshingly detailed look at the latest build of the game by “hard-core” sim racers, as they discuss everything from physics, to head-tracking, to 3D gameplay — it’s the best impression of the demo you can get short of getting your hands on it. Thanks for the GTPlanet shout-out, guys!

Related posts:

1. GT5’s Photomode, Online Features, NASCAR, & More Details Revealed
2. More on Gran Turismo 5’s Head Tracking
3. Live GT5 Gameplay Featured on G4TV, Streaming Now

NOTE: This post is from GT Planet.