First art imitates life and now video games do the same, with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and Nissan having joined forces to create the GT Academy. Over the course of eight months, the academy culled a group of wannabe racers from a field of entrants who posted the best lap times in GT5 Prologue. Then, for five days at Silverstone, the finalists competed in the game and on the actual track, watched by ex-F1 racer Johnny Herbert and a panel of five judges.
The two winners were just announced, and Top Gun status went to Lars Schlomer and Luis Ordonez. Schlomer is a taxi driver in Bonn, Germany; Ordonez is an MBA student from Spain. Now that they've won, they'll be thrown into boot camp for four months to learn to how to race for real silver: in four months, they'll have to earn their racing licenses and get ready to drive a factory-backed Nissan 350Z in the 24 Hours of Dubai this coming January.The rest of us will have to be content with GT5 Prologue for now...
Steve Sutcliffe was wrapping up Autocar's annual 0-100-0 test when a well spoken Japanese gentleman wandered over and started checking out the cars. Now what would you do if you had a car park full of supercars, a private track rented for the day and a Formula 1 driver hove in to view?
Give him the keys then grab a video camera? Evidently Steve thinks the same way. Rather than let Taku embarrass Steve's 0-100-0 times "because he's small and lighter" (yes Steve, we're sure that's the only reason he'd be quicker...) Autocar let him off the leash on the full track. Click through to see what Taku, who drives a classic Mini Cooper in the UK and a Honda Beat when in Japan, got up to in his first few minutes in a real supercar -- and why he got red flagged all too early.
Taku, who lost his F1 drive when Super Aguri folded earlier this year, has an official test with Scuderia Toro Rosso on September 18th. On the basis of this video alone, it's a fair bet that Red Bull will finally have a popular spokesperson for the Japanese market next year.
More speeding in products from the Volkswagen corporate empire; only this time, the driver was smart and didn't try to run. The driver in this Italian incident, none other than Michael Schumacher, is probably capable of evading the Caribinieri -- though maybe he's not as adept at handling a real car as he is behind the wheel of a four-wheeled fighter jet. Schumi exercised fine judgement and politely accepted his 75 Euro fine, which carries a three-point penalty on his license.
The racing champ told German newspaper Bild that he was "very sorry" and that "it's out of character" because "speeding is for racetracks only." Maybe something's lost in translation, but we have this urge to say "now we know, and knowing is half the battle" after that sparely worded statement. Thanks for the tip, Ahmet!
click the R10 for a high res gallery from the Detroit race
The only real question in the P1 class of the American Le Mans Series this year was which Audi driver pairing would capture the championship. Audi only faced one actual challenger all season long in the LMP1 class from the Intersport Racing team, and they weren't really in the same class, if you know what we mean. Going into this past weekend's Detroit Sports Car Challenge, the pairing of Lucas Luhr and Marco Werner were leading their teammates Marcel Fässler and Emanuele Pirro with an opportunity to clinch the drivers' championship. Some mishaps for the Luhr/Werner team early on, however, suggested the battle would go on until at least the Petit Le Mans next month. Luhr hit a tire wall hard on lap 13 and Fässler went on to cross the finish line third behind a pair of Acuras in the LMP2 class. But the Fässler/Pirro car was disqualified after the race for being underweight, leaving the LMP1 drivers' title to Luhr and Werner. Hopefully the entry of Acura and Corsa Motorsports' hybrid racer in the LMP1 class for 2009 will give Audi a real challenge. If only we could convince Peugeot to run the full ALMS schedule with its diesel-powered 908s, LMP1 would be as much fun as the P2 and GT classes.
Click above for high-res gallery of Colin McRae's tribute
Oh, those Brits. When they're not faking making corn circles they're writing a rally legend's name using 1,086 Subaru Imprezas as pixels. This, of course, was the finale to the weekend long celebration of Colin McRae's life, which saw over 1,100 Scoobys converge on Prodrive's test track in Warwickshire. Precisely how many cars took part in the ensuing 30-mile convoy is unknown, but if you don't have anything better to do right now, you can have a go at counting them in the video after the jump (and look out for the near miss at 6:42). Even the local constabulary showed up in a WRX pursuit car.
The half-mile-long sign you see above broke the Guiness World Record for, err, writing signs with cars by a cool 800, but more importantly Colin's fans raised over $80,000 for the McRae family's chosen charities.
The closer we get to the end of this season and to the start of the next, the clearer the picture will become as to which drivers will be where for the 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship. While his team was undergoing testing alongside its competitors at the Monza track in Italy, Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo placed one of the bigger pieces in the puzzle in confirming that Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa would both be back in scarlet for next season. Although towards the beginning of the season it was onto Massa's future which doubt was cast, by now the tides have changed in that Kimi's performance has lagged behind his team-mate and it's Raikkonen's future that was being debated in the press. However Montezemolo confirmed that neither driver would be replaced for the coming season.
While in the paddock, Montezemolo also visited former champion Fernando Alonso and current leader Lewis Hamilton, but insisted that Alonso, who has been rumored to be angling for a seat with Ferrari, would have to wait at least a little while longer. Montezemolo also took the opportunity to express his displeasure with the new tracks being mixed into the calendar, stating that because overtaking is so difficult on these new circuits, the winner is often pre-determined in qualifying.
As the first season of the reunited IndyCar series winds down, the open wheel racers took to the Belle Isle track to close out the Detroit Grand Prix weekend. Scott Dixon sat on the pole holding a slim lead over Helio Castroneves in the season standings with three races to go including this one. If the race is still sitting on your DVR and you don't want to spoil the surprise, just enjoy the gallery for now, it won't spoil your appetite. Otherwise follow the jump for the results.
Click above for a gallery of David Sutton's rally car collection
In the eighties, the late David Sutton owned the company that prepared rally cars for Audi UK. It turns out he was collecting cars at the same time as he was preparing them, and putting them in his Historic Motors Ltd museum. The assortment includes seven Audis, some of which are Group B monsters, as well as an RS200 Cosworth, a couple of Lancias, a 1944 Volvo, and even a Skoda. Now the lot's being sold, 22 cars in all, through Morris & Welford. It's the kind of collection that, even if you had the time, money, and connections, would probably take you years to assemble individually. But you can have it all, right now... if you have what is likely to be an enormous sum of cash. Check out the other items on offer in the gallery below.
Click the C6.R for a high-res gallery from the race
As part of the revival of the Detroit Grand Prix at Belle Isle last year, the Detroit Sports Car Challenge was added as the highlight of Saturday's activities. The sports car race is back this year as the ninth round of the American Le Mans Series. For those who have never checked out an ALMS race, it's one of the best and most exciting forms of motorsport anywhere. Highcroft Racing's Acura ARX-01B captured the pole and led much of the first half of the race ahead of the De Ferran Racing Acura. If you TiVoed the race and don't want to ruin the surprise, you can just check out the gallery and come back later to see the full results after the jump. Otherwise, you know what to do.
Pro motor sports may draw immense crowds, but on the boob tube, the football is king. That could be the reason Team Mopar and BFGoodrich utilized the pigskin in its latest TV ad showcasing controlled drifting. Hit the jump to see Samuel Hubinette pilot the Mopar drift Charger to and through a tee'd-up football as the rear quarter panel plays placekicker. Though not as cool as the commercial that shows Hubinette sliding the Charger through an aircraft hanger, it's definitely worth a look.
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