F1
October 19th, 2011 by NZ Classic Car
Now that McLaren’s MP4-12C is a finished product on sale in it’s new global sales network the company is already involved in its next project. The new car in development is the successor to the now legendary McLaren F1. If reports from the UK prove true the first prototypes of this much anticipated machine are already being tested in various regions of Europe.
Nicknamed the Mega Mac, the new F1 is ambitiously being built to beat all other performance exotics that are available right now including the top dog Bugatti Veyron. Ferrari, Porche and Pagani aren’t running scared just yet but they are certainly on alert. To beat the pack McLaren is looking at a 5.0-litre V8 powertrain similar to the MP4-12C’s motor, it will be mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox and produce a power output of around the 600kW mark. Read the rest of this entry »
August 9th, 2011 by NZ Classic Car
Following its driving debut at last month’s Goodwood Festival of Speed in the UK, Hulme Supercars has announced it will be taking orders and pushing ahead with production of its Hulme F1.
The Hulme CanAm was one of just 55 invited supercars on display at the prestigious event held on the country estate of Lord March. Paul Radisich, double World Touring Car Champion, drove it up the famous Goodwood Hill in front of thousands of spectators.
After receiving interest from potential customers and experts in the Supercar industry, the decision was made to build the Hulme F1 – the concept first displayed at Goodwood in 2006.
Hulme Supercars is looking to get the car classed as a limited-production vehicle in Europe which means the supercar could be sold freely across the continent.
The Hulme supercar is named in honour of Denny Hulme, New Zealand’s only Formula One World Champion and double CanAm Champion. It’s designed to give a driving experience as close to a Formula One car as is possible for a road legal vehicle.
Read the rest of this entry »
July 19th, 2011 by NZ Classic Car
Ferrari won big earlier this month at the Silverstone GP. Team driver Fernando Alonso took Ferrari’s first F1 win for the season and also managed it on a historically significant occasion.
Alonso took the checkered flag for the Scuderia exactly sixty years after José Floilán González scored the team’s first ever victory at the same grand prix in 1951. That famous race was held on the same second weekend in July as this year’s race.
In an act of confident forward planning or just good luck, the very same car in which Gonzále took victory sixty years ago was at the race track. Alonso was given the historic race car and took it on a couple of hot laps, and even got it sideways coming out of a few corners.
This near-priceless 1951 Ferrari 375 today belongs to F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone, who brought it along to the circuit for an historic demonstration and entrusted it into the skilled hands of Fernando Alonso. Read the rest of this entry »
July 13th, 2011 by NZ Classic Car
It was a hard-tuned Toyota Celica that set the fastest time at this year’s Goodwood Hill Climb event (read news), but it wasn’t the most beautiful machine on the short course.
The most fascinating vehicles to go up the hill were the range of past F1 cars that tackled the event. These circuit racers ranged from a 1939 Mercedes-Benz W165 to 2010 editions of Ferrari, Lotus and Red Bull. Just the sound of these historic beasts firing into life is enough to give out goosebumps.
Don’t believe us, then check out the video from the 2011 Goodwood Hill Climb below for proof. Read the rest of this entry »
July 7th, 2011 by NZ Classic Car
The legendary Formula 1 alliance of Williams and Renault Sport is set to reform for the 2012 and 2013 seasons while the rules still stipulate the use of V8 engines. The two companies may also continue their partnership when the new turbocharged V6s are introduced.
Renault Sport F1 will supply the AT&T Williams team with the V8 engines for the next two seasons. This association was highly successful between 1989 and 1997 with four Drivers titles, five Constructors’ titles and a total of 63 race wins. The results were four driver’s titles in 1992 (Nigel Mansell), 1993 (Alain Prost), 1996 (Damon Hill) and 1997 (Jacques Villeneuve), as well as five constructors titles, in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996 and 1997.
“Renault remains in Formula One to achieve success in a cost efficient way and the partnership with Williams has great potential to add to the results we have notched up over recent years with our other partner teams,” said Bernard Rey, the president of Renault Sport F1. “From 2012 onwards the fact that we will have four partners in F1 puts us ahead of other engine manufacturers in terms of market share, but off track it will also enable us to further use Formula One as a marketing platform for our parent company, Renault, to try to bring this association to our fans and our customers worldwide. Read the rest of this entry »
April 14th, 2011 by NZ Classic Car
The third Grand Prix at Ardmore in 1956 was headlined by Stirling Moss, then the most brilliant young driver on earth – a 26-year-old Englishman who, six months earlier, had taken his debut world championship Grand Prix victory for Mercedes-Benz at Aintree with his mentor, Juan-Manuel Fangio, following in his wheel tracks. Two months earlier, Moss scored a now legendary victory around Italy in the Mille Miglia. Following the death of Alberto Ascari Moss was, without 
doubt, one of the two best drivers in the world and arguably even better than Fangio in a sports-car.
Stirling in NZ
In 1954 Moss raced a Maserati 250F, and would return to the Italian marque in 1956 following the decision of Mercedes to withdraw from the sport.
It was a 250F that he brought for his first visit to New Zealand, but even before the start of the race he’d already triumphed after taking a Porsche Spyder to victory in the sports-car handicap.
Moss’ grey Maserati started from pole, and by lap 15 had lapped all but the top six cars. Victory looked certain until lap 85, when petrol was being sprayed into the cockpit. He reduced his speed until pitting with just eight laps to run. Overcome with dizziness, he vacated the cockpit as a couple of gallons were splashed in, but in no time set a new lap record as he went on to score the first of his three New Zealand Grand Prix victories. Read the rest of this entry »
March 30th, 2011 by NZ Classic Car
Ex F1 champion Jenson Button has become the first person to ever run an F1 car around Australia’s iconic Mount Panorama Bathurst circuit.
In a special event that took place in the build-up to the recent Australian GP, Vodafone took Button and Aussie V8 Supercar driver Craig Lowndes to Mount Panorama to have a little fun and make history. The two drivers traded laps in a 2008 McLaren MP4-23 Formula 1 car.
Button took the honours of getting on to the track first and ran five laps of the circuit he clocked in a best lap of 1:48 before coming in and giving Lowndes a turn. Lowndes, always the professional, did very well in his laps, recording a best of 1:49. Lowndes also became the first Australian to take an F1 car around Bathurst, an honour Mark Webber may have liked.
Check out a video below of the two drivers taking the F1 car around the mountain. Read the rest of this entry »
February 22nd, 2011 by NZ Classic Car
Politics and car racing never mix well and with serious political unrest spreading through the Middle East Formula 1 has been given the short shift. While in most Arab nations this wouldn’t affect motorsport’s top tier in Bahrain it’s a different story. Travel warnings have been issued on Bahrain from various governments around the world, citing violence in the streets and a threat of terrorism. Yesterday, Formula 1 was left with little choice but to cancel its season opening Grand Prix.
According to the Bahrain International Circuit, which hosts the Bahrain GP, “The Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) today announced that the Kingdom of Bahrain would withdraw from hosting this year’s F1 Grand Prix race so that the country can focus on its process of national dialogue.”
Organisers had already cancelled the GP2 Asia Series race scheduled for this coming weekend, and are being forced to do the same with the F1 pre-season test that was due to follow. This cancellation means that the 2011 Formula 1 season will now start on March 27 in Australia which will give teams a few more weeks for testing and development.
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