Moss & Dewis recreate Jaguar history on Mille Miglia
Sixty years after they tackled the 1952 Mille Miglia in a C-type Jaguar equipped with a prototype disc-brake system, Sir Stirling Moss and his co-driver, Norman Dewis, have recreated history by taking the start of the 2012 Mille Miglia.
Once again, the pair were behind the wheel of a Jaguar C-type, the car being chassis XKC 005 – the very car which, later in 1952, Sir Stirling drove to victory in Reims, and recording the first ever competition win for a disc-braked car.
Just as they did in 1952, Moss and Dewis started this year’s Mille Miglia from beside rather than on the start ramp – as 60 years ago Moss was concerned about the danger of grounding out the C-type.
The participation of Sir Stirling Moss and Norman Dewis – then Jaguar’s chief development engineer – in the 1952 Mille Miglia represented the first competitive endurance test for the prototype disc-brake system. The C-type caused a stir at scrutineering that year as officials had to be convinced that the disc-brakes were brakes at all, and though the pair were forced to retire the car with steering damage, the escapade proved the worth of disc brakes. Following Sir Stirling Moss’ later win at Reims, in 1953 disc-braked C-types finished first, second and fourth at Le Mans marking another vital step in the development of the technology by Jaguar for wide-scale automotive use. Read the rest of this entry »
Nissan GT Academy star takes British GT pole position at Nürburgring
Less than a year after he first stepped into a racing car and Jann Mardenborough has taken a pole position for the first of this weekend’s British GT races (race 3 of the Championship) at the Nürburgring. This is also the first pole position for the Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 car.
What makes Jann’s performance even more spectacular is that this is the first time he has been to the Nürburgring. As the newest recruit to Nissan’s roster of GT Academy graduates, Jann has a lot to live up to, and results like this are proof of the success of the Academy programme.
“Jann’s performance today was exemplary,” said GT Academy Team RJN boss, Bob Neville. “He did exactly what I would have expected from a seasoned professional. We waited a moment or two at the start of the session then sent him and he was straight on the pace. To take pole with time to spare just shows the level Jann is at now.”
“I’m feeling pretty good at the moment,” said Jann. “That’s my first proper pole position as a professional racing driver. I had to work hard for it though. We tried a few things during free practice and going into qualifying we thought we would be okay but the car felt better than ever so I went for it!” Read the rest of this entry »
Aston Martin enjoys encouraging start to Nürburgring weekend
Ahead of its most ambitious Nürburgring 24 Hours campaign to date, Aston Martin has enjoyed an encouraging day of testing and preliminary qualifying with all four of its official entries showing promising pace around the legendary 25km circuit yesterday.
The first day of action began with a 90-minute free practice session. In dry conditions, Aston Martin broke into the top-ten as its #006 V12 Vantage GT3 (crewed by factory driver Stefan Mücke (D), Tomas Enge (CZ), Fredy Barth (CH) and Oliver Mathai (D)) set the sixth quickest lap time of the 170-strong field with a 8m 37.139s lap.
In the first of three qualifying sessions later in the day, the same car improved its pace even further, having set the fifth best time overall with a 8m 31.714s lap. During the four-hour session the sister #007 V12 Vantage GT3 of Darren Turner (GB), Johannes and Ferdinand Stuck (A) and Dennis Rostek (D) finished in seventh position having set a time of 8m 32.247s.
The GT3 cars, run in conjunction with Aston Martin Racing and its long-standing partner team Young Driver AMR, see the marque represented in the headlining SP9 category for the first time. Alongside the pair of V12 Vantage GT3s, Aston Martin is also fielding a V12 Zagato and a V8 Vantage GT4, both in the SP8 category. Read the rest of this entry »
Porsche Museum takes on the Mille Miglia
From May 17 – 20, the Porsche Museum is covering the legendary thousand miles of the Mille Miglia with its most impressive entry to date.
Porsche enjoyed great success in the famous Italian endurance road race throughout the 1950s, and the German sports car manufacturer will celebrate these achievements by demonstrating two examples of the Porsche 550 Spyder, a 356 Speedster 1500, 356 Speedster 1600, 356 Speedster 1600 S and a 356 Coupé with V-shaped front windscreen, the so-called “Knickscheibe” (bent windscreen).
The Mille Miglia follows some of the most scenic roads from Brescia to Rome and back, and is among the most important events in the calendar of the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart. The classic event, which is open only to cars of a type that competed in the race in period, remains a challenge for vehicles and drivers to this day as the 1,600 kilometre course is covered in only three days, and typically in changeable weather.
The first Porsche drivers to taste victory were the two-man team of Prince von Metternich and Count von Einsiedel in 1952 in a Porsche 356 1100. The first three places in the 1.1-litre class were taken by the sports cars from Stuttgart.
In the following year, 1953, a group of 18 Type 356 sports cars took their place on the starting line in Brescia. The most successful Porsche teams were Hans Herrmann and Erwin Bauer, who took first place in the 2-litre sports car category, with Hans Leo von Hoesch and Werner Engel winning the 1.3-litre class. Read the rest of this entry »
Toyota enters GT86 & Lexus LFA for Nürburgring 24 Hours
Toyota’s Lexus LFA and GT86 will be competing in the 40th running of the ADAC 24 Hours race at the Nürburgring this weekend.
Gazoo Racing will be back at the Nordschleife to field the LFA (in the SP8 class) and two new race-prepared GT86 cars (SP3 class). The team personnel, including technicians and drivers, will include Toyota employees from Japan, taking part to hone their skills and gain experience that will hopefully feed directly into their work developing future vehicles.
Gazoo Racing already started its 2012 season with two shorter-distance races at the Nürburgring, in which the LFA was twice a class winner, and the GT86 showed promising progress.
Speaking after the most recent race, Gazoo Racing driver Akira Iida said: “The momentum of our team is very good. Our target for the 24 Hours Nürburgring race is to maintain a steady pace, in line with the way we have chosen to set up the vehicles. Nevertheless, we have run at good speed and confident we will be full ready before the 24-hour event.” Read the rest of this entry »
Double R to make Euro F3 debut at Brands Hatch this weekend
British F3 team, Double R Racing, will make its first appearance in the F3 Euroseries this weekend, 19th/20th May, during the championship’s visit to the Brands Hatch Indy Circuit.
Also forming part of the FIA European Formula 3 Championship, the event’s three races at the 1.2-mile venue are intended to provide Dallara-Mercedes drivers Fahmi Ilyas and Geoff Uhrhane with some essential seat time.
With both drivers, who compete in the International Class in British F3, having only agreed their 2012 race deals very late in the day, testing has been at a premium, up until now. The added experience of additional races against some of the top European talent should prove highly beneficial.
In addition to the Brands Hatch races this weekend, the Woking team has also confirmed it will contest the subsequent round of the F3 Euroseries at the Red Bull Ring in Austria on 2nd/3rd June ahead of the resumption of the British F3 season at Rockingham in Northamptonshire a week later. Read the rest of this entry »
Daniel Lloyd completes charity run
Huddersfield racer, Daniel Lloyd, swapped his Porsche Carrera Cup car for a pair of running shoes on Sunday, 13th May, to help raise £1,100 for the Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice, by taking part in the Jane Tomlinson’s Leeds Half Marathon.
Marking the 20-year-old’s first ever attempt at an endurance running event of any kind, the Porsche Carrera Cup GB Scholar completed the 13-mile (23-kilometre) course through the centre of Leeds in a time of 1 hour 39 minutes, placing him in the top 12 per cent of the 4,600 person entry.
Racing against elite professionals and fun-runners, Daniel was delighted with his performance, which equated to an average of seven and a half minutes for each mile. With online and off-line donations combined, he’s so far managed to raise £1,100.
“I absolutely loved it, I got such a buzz when I crossed the line and saw the time I’d managed – I’m over the moon with that”, said Daniel, “I’m really grateful to everyone who supported me by donating to the hospice, it’s a fantastic cause and it was a really fantastic day. I definitely want to try and do more of these, it’s hard work but so rewarding when you cross that finish line. Read the rest of this entry »
Total Control Racing returns to Ginetta GT Supercup
Total Control Racing is to return to the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup in time for the fourth event of the season, next month’s visit to Oulton Park in Cheshire, after today confirming deals with multiple category race winner Carl Breeze, and talented series rookie Jamie Orton.
Already fielding cars in the Renault UK Clio Cup and Ginetta GT5 Challenge this year, the Wednesbury-based team has been hungry to return to the forefront in Ginetta’s flagship GT Supercup championship, and is confident of doing so with Breeze and Orton back on-board.
Carl Breeze raced with TCR in the championship for the previous three years, and was championship runner up in 2010 and 2011. Budget restrictions ahead of the new season initially dictated a move to another team in the paddock, but the 32-year-old is now back in the TCR fold.
“It feels like coming home”, said Breeze, “I’m really looking forward to being back with TCR and I want to get back to winning ways. I knew Lee [Brookes – TCR team principal] was keen to have me back in the team and we wanted to be there, but we’ve had a situation with our budget this year which has made things difficult. Luckily, we’ve now managed to do a deal for the rest of the season. Read the rest of this entry »
