Racing and Competition

Following the most successful season in GT racing to-date for McLaren, with the 650S GT3 enjoying success across all continents on which it has competed, the customer racing team line-up has been further strengthened by Strakka Racing. The British-based team will field a minimum of four examples of the 650S GT3 in the full 10-round Blancpain GT Series throughout 2017, including the world-famous Total 24 Hours of Spa. The announcement marks the start of a long-term partnership with Strakka Racing, focusing on talent development. As part of the programme, McLaren GT Academy Drivers will complete the driver line-up in one car, while Strakka Racing founder and driver Nick Leventis has also been confirmed. The remaining seats will be filled during an extensive testing programme over the coming months with the full line-ups to be confirmed ahead of the first Blancpain […]

Aston Martin Racing has secured a third consecutive GTE Am victory in the FIA World Endurance Championship, as the team’s #98 V8 Vantage GTE stormed to the chequered flag at the 6 Hours of Shanghai. After securing pole position in yesterday’s qualifying session, the trio of Paul Dalla Lana (C), Pedro Lamy (P) and Mathias Lauda (A) performed yet another faultless display to take their fifth victory of the season.

For our video of the week, we have uncovered a great one. Sir Patrick Stewart hosts this documentary where he spends time with motorsports legend Sir Stirling Moss in order to discover and learn more about the great man and his life. Not much we can really add to this one other than if you are a Stirling Moss fan, and who isn’t, make sure to check out the new biography from Philip Porter, “Stirling Moss: A Definitive Biography – Volume 1“.

Stirling Moss is one of the greatest sportsman of all time. He was successful in all forms of motor sport but most particularly in Grand Prix racing. The ‘Beckham of his era’, Moss not only dominated the back pages of the newspapers but regularly made the front pages with his glamorous, jet-setting lifestyle in the ’50s. He raced hard; he played hard. He was the James Bond of motorsport. This new work is, to say the least, a serious biography. Author Philip Porter, a personal friend of Sir Stirling, has composed a detailed history of the man. From his parents and their automotive exploits down to the registration numbers of various cars, this new book is encyclopedic in its coverage. But it is no dry account. Just as his life, book is spiced with humour, tragedy and period flavour with liberal […]

Bentley Team Absolute has won the GT Asia Series teams’ title for the second consecutive year with its three Bentley Continental GT3s, straight off the back of a China GT double race-win last week. The Shanghai-based team went into the final round of the 12-race series at the Shanghai International Circuit with two goals in mind; to retain the teams’ title and win the drivers’ title, and it started well when Duncan Tappy recorded the fastest ever GT3 lap of the track in the first practice session.

MINI USA is proud to congratulate the MINI JCW Race Team and LAP Motorsports Team Owner Luis Perocarpi on completing their first full season of the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge series in the Street Tuner class. The first factory-supported race team for MINI in U.S. sports car racing had an amazing season, building on the momentum of the partial season last year that concluded with the #73 MINI JCW driven by Mat Pombo and Derek Jones on the podium with a second place finish at Road Atlanta. In true MINI fashion, the team was certainly the underdog among the fierce competition in a class that included well-funded race teams from Porsche, Honda, Audi, Mazda, Nissan and BMW. Under the direction of LAP Motorsports Team Owner Luis Perocarpi, the near-production MINI John Cooper Works Hardtops, three in total, lived up […]

Our Video of the Week the Wednesday features a car we don’t talk about often, in fact, I don’t think we have ever mentioned an Allard here before.  And that is quite a shame actually, as they were handsome cars that combined British style with American power into a fearsome competitor. This video on the rare Allard J2X comes via the folks at Fifth Gear. Although made in England with a Cadillac powerplant, the Allard was always aimed at the American market. Production began in 1949 and lasted no more than a decade.  For a few short post-war years an Allard was often the car to beat, but by mid-1950s Allard found it difficult to keep with the ever more sophisticated products of larger rival manufacturers and in 1959 finally stopped making cars. These days, there are probably more Allard replicas […]

Aston Martin Racing continues its dominant GTE Am form in the FIA World Endurance Championship, following both pole position and a class victory in the 6 Hours of Fuji for its #98 V8 Vantage GTE. After starting the 6 Hours of Fuji in pole position, Pedro Lamy (P) drove a clean series of opening laps and quickly set about creating a healthy lead. After both Paul Dalla Lana (C) and Mathias Lauda (A) had completed their first stints at the three-hour mark, the trio had amassed a lead of over one lap.

This year The Classic & Sports Car Show will honour the Jaguar Le Mans hero that never was – the incredible XJ13 – and the man forever associated with it, Norman Dewis OBE. On entry to this year’s event, visitors will be greeted in the Palm Court area by this iconic prototype, which this year celebrates its 50th anniversary.

Bentley Motors enjoyed an exciting and successful weekend at the 18th Jochpass Memorial and Historic-Rallye in Bad Hindelang, Germany. A total of ten Bentley teams competed with their historic Bentleys in the world-renowned classics event between 6 and 8 October, including the Team ‘Blower’, R-Type Continental, Speed 6 and a Bentley 4,5 Litre Le Mans.

The autumn series of lectures at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu gets underway as speaker Mac Hulbert talks about his passion for historic cars which led him on The Road to R4D. On Saturday 22nd October the academic, who was Professor of International Marketing at Columbia University in Manhattan, will explain how he came to own and race a huge variety of vehicles including the ERA R4D from 2001 to 2015.

Staff at MG Motor are celebrating this week, after British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) driver Ashley Sutton took home the coveted Jack Sears Trophy in his MG6 at Brands Hatch (Sunday 2 October 2016). The award, which recognises the highest scoring rookie driver in the championship, was especially poignant this year given the fact that Sears, who was the first ever winner of the BTCC Trophy, died in August aged 86. The battle for the Jack Sears Trophy went down to the wire this year, with the Essex-born racer still unsure of clinching the title until the finish line. While he just had to complete the final race of the season to secure the title, with three laps to go Sutton experienced unexpected vibration issues. Taking no chances, the Triple Eight Racing team called the Number 116 MG6 back to […]

Jaguar North America, headquartered in Mahwah, New Jersey, is excited to welcome the FIA Formula E Championship, the world’s first fully-electric racing series, to New York City. At a press conference today in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn, Alejandro Agag, CEO of Formula E, announced next year’s New York City ePrix double-header will be the first FIA-sanctioned open-wheel race to take place within the five boroughs of New York City in modern history.

Brand Events, the company behind a raft of successful motoring events including CarFest, Top Gear Live and the recent IGNITION Festival of Motoring has developed a dynamic new international Conference and Exhibition in London to champion and celebrate historic motorsport. Reflecting the UK’s leading role in the world of historic motorsport and rallying, Historic Motorsport International will be a platform for engineering and preparation experts, event organisers, promoters and suppliers.

Our video of the week this go-round features  a couple fast Minis at Jay Leno’s Garage. Well, I should say a fast Mini and an outrageously fast oh-my-lord-what-was-that Mini.  The show is presented, with Jay Leno, by Graham Reid of the Heritage Garage garage out in California. Graham Reid takes Jay for a ride in his vintage Mini Cooper. I you are into Minis, or any of the derivatives, you owe it to yourself to check out Heritage Garage. They carry a great supply of Mini parts and pieces – including racing and tuning trinkets that are quite hard to come by. Plus they really seem to know their stuff. For those of you who are not familiar with Jay Leno’s Garage, here is the official blurb… ‘After retiring from his perch atop the late-night TV ratings in 2014, comedian […]

Aston Martin Racing has cooled down to the taste of champagne, after winning both GTE Pro and Am classes in a scorching 6 Hours of Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas. After clinching the GTE Pro pole yesterday, Nicki Thiim (DN) and Marco Sørensen (DN) continued their strong form to bring their #95 V8 Vantage GTE home first at the six-hour mark. Aside from the pit-stop windows, the duo led the GTE Pro field for the entirety of the race with both single stinting throughout.

Triumph Motorcycles has confirmed that the current stage of its land speed record attempt has been postponed due to the course conditions at Bonneville. Rain at the start of the week has continued to affect the team’s running during the last seven days. While track inspections have shown that conditions improved, it has not been possible to create the constancy across the full eleven-mile course required for the Triumph Infor Rocket Streamliner to safely conduct a Land Speed Record attempt. Triumph Infor Rocket Streamliner designer Matt Markstaller said: I know people will be disappointed at this news, but the safety of the rider, Guy Martin, and the wider team supporting the Triumph Infor Rocket Streamliner has to be our prime consideration. The course conditions on the salt flats have forced us to wait for another window of opportunity. The team […]

Our Video of the Week this go-round comes from the vintage racing circuit. Vintage racing is great, and classic British sportscar racing is even better. So take a look at the new racing course in Palmer, Massachusetts, from the view of George Pardee racing his MGTF there. For a brief overview of historic MG racing, make sure to check out the MG Vintage Racers website. We were unable to get to Waterford Hills, but did try out the spectacular new course at Palmer, MA with VSCCA/VRG. The video from our street equipped TF1250 stars Peter Ross and Jim Warren (MGA) two true gentleman drivers, and features a brilliant start by Mark Sherman. — George & Nick Pardee This video is from the The Whiskey Hill Classic at in July of 2016.