Full grids for MSV F4

The BRDC Formula 4 Championship has now sold a remarkable 24 cars for its inaugural season, less than a month after applications were made available. Initially series organisers MSV planned on building 20 cars but huge demand from teams and privateers means that an additional four MSV F4-013 cars will now be supplied by Ralph Firman’s RFR company.

Jonathan Palmer, Formula 4 Series Director, said: “The fact that our full grid of 24 cars has been sold in just one month is an outstanding success story in a challenging economic climate. It is also clear proof that the concept of our BRDC Formula 4 Championship is exactly what competitors have wanted for many years.”  Palmer added: “At MSV we recognised that a new state-of-the-art single seater, with wings and slicks, the greatest control on equality and lots of track time, was vital to appeal to young aspiring F1 drivers. And that to make it attainable our F4 car had to be much more affordable than other new single seaters and also set new standards for low operating costs. I am absolutely thrilled with the response and the BRDC and MSV are very excited about making the BRDC Formula 4 Championship super-competitive and prestigious for drivers whilst providing teams with thriving sustainable operations.” Full story at Petrol Heaven full grids for MSV F4

Formula Ford brings you WINGS

Championship promoters Racing Line have announced the first worldwide test of the new-for-'13 Formula Ford racer – and it comes adorned with front & rear aerodynamic wings for the first time. The series will be part of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car package, which is due to be televised on ITV4.

The 1.6-litre turbo's Ecoboost engine has also had a tweak to give it over 200ps. Testing is scheduled for the 15thDecember at Silverstone's Stowe circuit,but hurry places are limited!  The exclusive sampler day will cost £250 for drivers, refunded on registration for the 2013 championship – Championship promoters Racing Line released the details below: Prospective competitors for next year’s BTCC-supporting Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship will get their first chance to drive the new EcoBoost 200 car next month. The first two Formula Ford chassis to be fitted with front and rear aerodynamic wings and power-boosted 1.6-litre turbocharged EcoBoost engine will be in action on Silverstone’s Stowe circuit on Saturday 15th December, and championship organisers are expecting heavy demand for test drives. “We will be limiting testing to 18 prospective drivers that day and we are expecting the first wave of places to be filled quickly by drivers wishing to be the first anywhere in the world to sample the new Formula Ford,” said Sam Roach, of championship promoter RacingLine. “Each of them will get a drive slot in order to sample the new car and they will also have the opportunity to meet representatives of the teams planning to contest the series, meet the Formula Ford championship organisation and take part in technical and sporting presentations.” Although driving slots are limited, non-driving guests are welcome to attend for the full day. Drivers wishing to be considered for a test are asked to submit their applications and racing CVs to championship co-ordinator Penny Mattocks via email: p.mattocks@racingline.com The Formula Ford EcoBoost 200, which will race for the first time next Easter, will be the quickest junior single-seater in the UK thanks to a remapped engine producing in excess of 200 PS. The chassis is equipped with a fully adjustable aerodynamic package, FIA safety compliant chassis, Formula 3-specification six-speed sequential gearbox and on-board data logging and track mapping. Formula Ford has signed to support the UK’s premier motorsport package, the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, for the next three seasons. The deal includes live TV at each of the 10 events, broadcast on ITV4. The first 15 drivers to sign up to contest the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain will receive free championship registration and race entries for 2013, as well as free pre-event testing. The opening rounds of the 30-race championship are scheduled for 30/31 March at Brands Hatch, the birthplace of Formula Ford in 1967.” More information is available from http://www.racingline.com/ Full article at Petrol Heaven

MP Motorsport win Britcar 24hr

In the 8th running of the 24 hour Britcar event and with conditions worsening, the MP Motorsport team took their class two BMW E46GTR to overall victory at the Silverstone circuit.The Mission Motorsport crew of injured ex-servicemen brought their Nissan 370Z home in a remarkable 17th place, 9th in class, with one-legged driver Jimmy Gillborn taking the 'driver of the weekend' award.

As the rain pounded the track, Richard Abra nursed MP Motorsport's BMW E46 GTR for the last 60 minutes of the race, protecting the team's (Richard Abra, Mark Poole, Clint Bardwell and Michael Symons) 4 lap lead and ensuring a comfortable win, and also Class Two honours.Class One fell to the MB Racing Aston Martin GT3 rather easily after problems befell their competitors, Neil Garner Motorsport’s Mosler their nearest challenger in sixth after late, wheel hub problems. Perfection Racing Europe completed the overall podium with their Aston Martin GT4, though 37 laps behind MP Motorsport.Red Camel/Jordans.nl SEAT finished fourth overall and won Class four, with Brunswick Automotive keeping second place by a lap over the Toyota Team GB team. The Martin Short led Rollcentre Racing GT86 completed the overall top ten, but lost out on the class four podium. 2012 Britcar 24 Hours unofficial Final Standings Class One: 1 – MB Racing – West/Wall/Brown/Cripps 2 – Neil Garner Motorsport – White/Cintrano/Morcillo/Sharpe 3 – Team LNT – Tomlinson/Kimber-Smith/Dean/Simpson Class Two: 1 – MP Motorsport – Poole/Symons/Bardwell/Abra 2 – Optimum Motorsport – Osborne/Mowle/Fletcher/Rattenbury 3 – GT Classic – Fairbairn/Littlejohn/McLean Class Three 1 – Perfection Racing – Spires/Jensen/Johanson/Holmgaard/Klosterman 2 – MMC Motorsport – Spencer/Cassar/Lewis/Pettit 3 – Corum Sport – Anley/Joseph/Hyman/Ellis Class Four 1 – Red Camel.nl – Breukers/Thijssen/de Heus 2 – Brunswick Automotive – Griffiths/Green/Kirkpatrick/Forsbrey 3 – Team Toyota GB – Hodgetts/Hodgetts/Primrose/Meaden from http://www.petrolheaven.co.uk

Toyota Hybrid Racer Withdrawn Due To Testing Accident

From the Toyota Hybrid Racing website, we have just learned that a testing accident has written off one of their fledgling racers chassis. The full release from Toyota says:

TOYOTA Racing regrets to announce that, as a result of a testing accident, it is not able to participate in the WEC Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.

During testing at Paul Ricard, on Wednesday 4 April, the TS030 HYBRID was involved in an accident which damaged the team’s only monocoque.

Regrettably this damage is too severe to repair. A replacement monocoque cannot be produced and sufficiently tested to ensure reliability within the limited time available.

Therefore TOYOTA Racing has informed the organizers of the FIA World Endurance Championship of its decision to withdraw from the WEC Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, due to be held on 5 May. The team will make its first appearance at the Le Mans 24 Hours in June.

Yoshiaki Kinoshita, TOYOTA Racing Team President: “We are deeply saddened to announce this decision and our sympathies are with the drivers, team members and fans who have been anticipating the Spa race so eagerly. Since the accident we have looked into all options but unfortunately there is no alternative course of action open to us.”

TOYOTA Racing will now urgently prepare a new monocoque to allow it to resume testing as soon as possible and prepare itself for the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Formula 1 2012 Season Preview

Lewis quickest

On the eve of the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, Autoview brings you the low-down on what promises to be an epic season. 12 teams, 24 drivers, 6 World Champions!


Friday, up and down the pit lane, the buzz was intense with no one team truly knowing where they stood before the Saturday qualifying joust began the action in earnest.


Mclaren and Lewis Hamilton powered into a dominant early lead in qualifying 3, which he was never to relinquish, the only serious challenge came from team mate Jenson Button, however the top 8 were covered by less than a second, which shows the competitiveness of the whole field - HRT excepted, the spanish squad failing to make the 107% cut-off time and therefore travelling all the way to Australia to not race - oh dear!


Romain Grosjean, brought back from the after-life of GP2 competition - where he was series champion last year - excelled with a time only 2 1/4 tenths slower than the Mclaren of Jenson Button, very impressive for a young driver who has only driven the Albert Park circuit twice in his career. His much more experienced -  and also returning from the wilderness - team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, was not as pleased with his afternoon's endevour, a beautifully held slide at a very fast part of the circuit, followed by a communication error with his team, meant a misjudging of the number of timed laps left - result = Raikkonen 18th on the grid - look out for fireworks as he powers his way through the slower runners.


Mercedes are embroiled in a deal of controversy, with several teams threatening to protest their rear wing, DRS activated F-duct system (it's complicated!), this didn't stop Michael Schumacher from blitzing his way into 4th spot on the grid, 3 tenths quicker than Mercedes compadre Nico Rosberg, who must surely deliver on his promise this year, and starts from 7th place on the grid.


Double world champion Sebastian Vettel never really seemed as comfortable in his RB8 (not sure if he's named it yet!) as he did with dirty Kate and filthy fiona (or whatever!) last year, but although he was outqualified by team mate Mark Webber it was by the slightest of margins, less than a hundredth of a second between them, although Mark Webber lost his KERS electric-motor boost for quali 3. They line up fifth and sixth, and will be expecting to make forward progress!


Pastor Maldonado : “It was a great start to the season for the team today. We have shown that we are competitive, and we now need to keep pushing. The car has been improving throughout the weekend, and we need to keep going in that direction. It’s now down to our pace and strategy for tomorrow’s race.”

So the neat, tightly packaged williams looks good and about time too! let's hope Pastor can keep it out of the fence! Bruno Senna didn't fare as well on his debut for Williams, ending the day over 7 tenths farther back from his Venezuelan team mate, in fairness though he didn't get a full day's running on Friday - Senna starts the race from 14th

Nico Hulkenburg and Paul di-Resta had very mixed fortunes, Nico settling into 9th position, with a time that was over half a second slower than Pastor Maldonado - though whether that was just to ensure the place, as daniel Ricciardo in tenth didn't run - and Paul a lowly 14th, disappointed that he didn't work his tyres hard enough on his out-lap to a sufficient heat in them. Hopefully we should see a determined Paul trying to make his way forward along with Kimi tomorrow!

Daniel Ricciardo qualified a magnificent 10th at his his home Grand Prix, just a place ahead of his Rookie team mate Jean-Eric Vergne. Both drivers are highly thought of, having been very successful in the lower formulae. But Ricciardo has a little something about him, and I suspect he will make his own luck tomorrow and spring something of a surprise.

Have I forgotten someone?? oh yes..... Marussia they finished 21st and 22nd

All that remains is to set the alarm clock for 5AM and make sure the kettle is in the tyre warmers!

Infiniti - Emerg - E - Hybrid Concept sports Coupe

Infiniti Emerg -e's and seduces Lady

Infiniti is a Nissan spin-off,  much like Lexus is Toyota's luxury and sporting brand. Created as an entirely new brand and launched initially in the U.S in 1989, Infiniti hasn't quite captured european imaginations conceptually un-like Lexus, but with new creations such as Emerg - E and Infiniti's sponsorship of Formula 1 World Champions Red Bull, maybe that's all about to change!

The Emerg-E has been designed using funding from a UK government sponsored initiative to produce clean technology cars, and is the first Infiniti to be designed in Europe.

That the car is striking there can be no doubt, with its mid-engined rear wheel drive layout, it features a Lithium-ion battery pack and two electric motors to provide enough thrust to make 0-60MPH possible in just 4 seconds! thanks to over 700lb-ft of Torque being available as soon as you depress the (not-so) loud pedal.

No word on whether the Emerg -E will make it to production (let's hope they change the name if it does!) but we will almost certainly see some of the technology lifted from this sexy beast!

Bentley EXP 9 F - SUV Concept

Bentley EXP 9F at the Geneva show

Bentley has unveiled its latest concept the EXP 9F at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show which runs from the 8th -18th March. In case you were wondering F stands for Falcon, as the team at Bentley feel that this Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) shares features in common with this fastest of all earth's animals (Falcons can apparently achieve upwards of 180MPH in flight!).

The Bentley EXP 9F will be powered by the company's W12 engine and will be the very last word in 4 X 4 luxury, complete with champagne chiller cabinets and Traditional handcrafted elements such as wood, leather and polished metals including aluminium, bronze and gunmetal are used to create a decadent sense of British luxury, soft-touch leather contrasts with highly durable surfaces.

Looking a lot like a cross between a Range Rover and the BMW X5 you can't really blame Bentley for jumping on the 4 X 4 bandwagon, with emerging markets such as China, India and Russia clamouring for this kind of vehicle, but it seems a pointless irrelevance when most of the rest of the motoring world are rushing to develop smaller, lighter and more fuel-efficient transportation devices. Bentley used to be a company which innovated, not followed the herd. Would W.O Bentley be proud of this behemoth bearing his name?

It's not entirely fair to say that Bentley are doing nothing towards a more environmentally sustainable future, with the company looking towards Bio-fuels to power their future internal combustion engines (ICE), but they're hardly pushing the bounds of what's feasible, and their future seems to depend on ensuring that the obscenely wealthy keep squandering our precious and finite resources whilst looking down their noses at the rest of humanity cycling in the gutters.  Well done Bentley!

1st Class carriage