06 February 2012
Silly season starts: First three F1 teams launch 2012 machines
Words by Niky Tamayo
For the first time in Formula One history, the Caterham F1 team (formerly Team Lotus) came in first... to unveil their 2012 contender, that is. Unfortunately, it doesn’t count towards the season’s point tally and means little for their standings in the championship. Still, the Caterham CT-01 is a good preview of what many F1 cars may shape up to be this season.
With new rules imposing a stringent maximum height for the nose and a minimum height for the bodywork behind it, the Caterham’s duck-billed countenance is no surprise. It’s not pretty, but Caterham’s road cars have never been praised for their beauty, anyway. Still, it remains to be seen how competitive this fledgling team will be this year.
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Motorsports
After riding 24 hours non-stop on a 1,200 gruelling kilometer loop around Luzon, only 160 of the 250 starters successfully crossed the finished line on January 15, 2012 at the 7th edition of the BOSS Ironman Challenge. Organized by the BMW Owners Society of Saferiders (BOSS), the only club in the Philippines recognized by the BMW Clubs International Council, the Ironman Challenge is not a race, but there is undeniably an unspoken achievement to finish at the final stop in first. Still, finishing the 1,200 kilometer jounrney proves to be equally satisfying. The Asian Carmakers Corporation (ACC), the official importer and distributor of BMW vehicles and BMW Motorrad in the Philippines, awarded the finishers of the challenge. In the car category, Elbert Cuenca in a diesel powered BMW X1 was the first to reach the destination with a total time of 14 hours and 19 minutes - a welcome improvement over his second place finish last year in a gasoline powered X1. Meanwhile, Joey Almeda, Enteng Gonzales, Max Kienle, Hubert Soriano, and Nani Pascoguin were the first four riders to arrive in the motorcycle category. All four men were riding BMW R1200 GS Adventure's, except for Nani who was on a S1000 RR.
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Motorsports
31 January 2012
Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3: Godzilla for sale. Serious buyers only.
Words by Niky Tamayo | Photos courtesy of Nissan Motorsports
Before the Nissan GT-R made a name for itself as the supercar-slaying cult hero of the streets, it was already widely known as a giant-killer on the racetrack. The legendarily super-sports car first gained notoriety for its utter dominance in Japan’s Grand Touring Car and Super GT championships as well as Australia's Super Car series. Its unbeatable performance on the track is what first earned it the name "Gojira" (Godzilla).
Of course, these were purpose-built racecars with little in common with the road-going version; but now, interested buyers can own an honest-to-goodness GT-R racecar through Nismo’s GT3 customer program.
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Motorsports
27 January 2012
NASCAR: Ford pips all-new 2013 Fusion for life on the fast lane
Words by Ken Tamayo | Photos courtesy of the Ford Motor Company
The latest machineries on the NASCAR circuit have traded looks for outright aerodynamic performance. And besides those stickers representing faux headlights and grills, there's hardly any way to tell these cars apart as they whiz around an oval at over 200 mph (300 km/h). Thus, for the 2013 season, Ford is taking a totally different approach for its next title contender.
Forgoing the modern cookie cutter body shell, the blue oval brand is bringing back the essence of “stock car racing” in favor of a sleeker and more identifiable silhouette. After a bit of sculpting and wind tunnel testing, their new Sprint Cup car now more or less resembles the all-new 2013 Fusion, which was launched at the 2012 North American International Auto Show.
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Motorsports
Words by Christopher Kho | Photos courtesy of Toyota Motorsport GmbH
Succeeding the iconic TS010 and TS020 race cars that competed in the 90's, Toyota is finally marking its return to the Circuit de la Sarthe in 2012 with the TS030 Hybrid. Developed by Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG), the same people behind the Panasonic Toyota Formula 1 team, the TS030 will be the first hybrid entry into the FIA World Endurance Championship after Peugeot announced their immediate withdrawal from competition last week. This means that it will all be up to the Japanese team to challenge Audi's dominance in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
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Motorsports
18 January 2012
Peterhansel clinches 10th Dakar win with MINI in 2012
Words by Christopher Kho | Photos courtesy of the Amaury Sport Organisation (A.S.O.)
After 14 stages covering 8,377 gruelling kilometers over gravel, mud, and sand in three different South American countries, Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel in his X-raid MINI Countryman ALL4 Racing emerged victorious and took his 10th overall Dakar rally win in Lima, Peru. With this win, Peterhansel indeed is the master of the Dakar after winning it six times on a bike (1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997, and 1998) and now four times on a car (2004, 2005, 2007, and 2012). He is joined on the podium in second place by teammate Joan “Nani” Roma from Spain in the sister MINI ALL4 making it a one-two finish, while Giniel de Villiers in the South African-built Imperial Toyota Hilux V8 surprised all with a third place finish on the pick-up's debut.
Back in January 1, 2012, 443 bikes, quads, cars, and trucks took off from the starting line at the coast of Mar del Plata in Argentina for the 33rd running of the Dakar rally. 15 days later, only 249 of those who started made it to the finish line in Lima, earning the Dakar the title as the toughest off-road race in the world.
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Motorsports
17 January 2012
AAP publishes comprehensive 2012 Philippine motorsports calendar
The Automobile Association Philippines (AAP), the country's motorsports authority, has just published the complete Philippine motorsports calendar for 2012 covering almost anything and everything on four wheels. Under its affiliated clubs, AAP sanctions all motorsport competitions in six disciplines: circuit racing, karting, slalom, car rally, rally cross, and 4WD off-rod racing.
Big races in store for this year are the Philippine GT, Philippine Touring Car Championship (PTCC), RMSC's National Slalom Series, Hillclimb Series, RallyEKross, National Karting Series, and Asian Karting Open Championship (AKOC). These championshipo will visit the country's premier race tracks such as the Clark International Speedway (CIS), Batangas Racing Circuit (BRC), and Carmona Race Track (CRT).
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Motorsports
03 January 2012
MINI, Hummer, and Toyota faces-off in Dakar 2012 (w/ video)
Words by Christopher Kho
The 34th edition of the Dakar rally is already well underway as 443 bikes, quads, cars, and trucks race through the deserts of South America. This year's route of what is considered to be the most demanding off-road race in the world will cover 8,300 gruelling kilometers, starting from the coast of Mar del Plata in Argentina on the 1st of January 2012, over the Andes Mountains into Chile, and finish in Lima, Peru on the 15th. And with last year's winner Volkswagen sitting it out in the sidelines this year, it's going to be a fierce three-way battle between MINI, Hummer, and Toyota for the top spot on the podium.
On its biggest Dakar campaign ever, X-raid is heading the field with five MINI ALL4 Racing machines this year. The newly developed MINI's are built ground-up with a tubular steel chassis and carbon fiber bodywork based on the Countryman. Powering this four-wheel-drive Monster is a 315hp 3.0L twin-turbo diesel sourced from BMW. Leading the pack of MINI's is nine-time Dakar champion Stéphane Peterhansel, with fellow drivers Nani Roma, Krzysztof Holowczyc, Leonid Novitskiy, and Ricardo Leal dos Santos piloting the other four.
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