Racing and Competition

Aston Martin’s Innovation Partnership with Red Bull Racing is to be extended to cover the 2017 season following an agreement signed at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Aston Martin is also confirming that all 150 road car versions of its groundbreaking AM-RB 001 hypercar have been sold out. Customer deliveries of the AM-RB 001 will commence in early 2019. Red Bull Racing’s Chief Technical Officer, Adrian Newey, Aston Martin’s Chief Creative Officer, Marek Reichman and Aston Martin’s Chief Special Operations Officer, David King, created the AM-RB 001 to provide the ultimate blend of cutting edge F1TM technology with Aston Martin’s signature sports car design. Just 175 examples, including 25 track-only specials, will be built, with all 150 road versions now allocated to customers.

MINI USA is proud to congratulate amateur racer Craig Wilcox on his recent championship victories in the Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo Series and the Tire Rack Solo Nationals presented by Garmin VIRB. Wilcox, of Blue Springs, Mo., finished as the Year-End Points Winner in the ProSolo Series and was crowned the National Champion of the Solo Nationals in September at the Lincoln Airpark in Lincoln, Neb. The long time MINI owner was driving his 2012 MINI Cooper S Hardtop, which doubles as his day-to-day primary vehicle. It was the fifth time Wilcox finished as the Year-End Points Winner in the ProSolo Series and his fourth Solo Series National Championship. Even more remarkable, Wilcox finished with the largest margin of victory ever reported for the SCCA Solo National Championship with a class of 60+ competitors.  Wilcox was clocked at 115.778 seconds in the […]

Aston Martin Racing drivers Nicki Thiim (DN) and Marco Sørensen (DN) have today been crowned world champions after taking victory in the FIA World Endurance Championship’s season finale in Bahrain. Heading into the Bahrain race, the pair led the GT Drivers title battle by 12 points, with the team controlling the GTE Pro championship with a 2-point advantage. While a third place finish would provide the necessary points to take the GT Drivers title, the Danes claimed victory in style by taking their second win of the season, securing the GTE Pro championship for Aston Martin Racing in the process.

MINI announced the start of a new chapter in its long, illustrious motorsport history with the introduction of its latest in a long line of cross-country rally car greats: the MINI John Cooper Works Rally. Now there is a new MINI champion in the making… MINI John Cooper Works Rally: racing ahead into the future The introduction of the all-new MINI John Cooper Works Rally underlines MINI Motorsport’s long-term commitment to its involvement in motorsport especially in the arena of rally-raid and the FIA World Cup, the legendary Dakar Rally and the latest long-distance endurance challenge of the Silk Way Rally.

Often described as the “mother of all rally races” the Dakar Rally is, without doubt, the most arduous and demanding automotive race in the world of motorsport. Participation in the Dakar Rally involves months of planning by the teams, the very best of drivers, co-drivers and support crews and, of course, their weapons of choice – with the MINI ALL4 Racing it is a proven, reliable performer that has claimed four consecutive Dakar wins (2012-2015) and four consecutive FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup titles (2012-2015). Lady luck, experience and respect for the terrain the competitors will cover are also major players on the final outcome of this two-week off-road racing spectacle. MINI and its motorsport partner X-raid are pleased to reveal eight crews to participate in the 2017 Dakar Rally at the controls of MINI rally cars. Three of […]

From sweltering Hong Kong to the labyrinthine souks of Marrakesh – Panasonic Jaguar Racing’s second race in the 2016/17 FIA Formula E Championship will offer a striking contrast thanks to the heady flavours of Morocco, as both the all-electric Jaguar I-TYPE and the series make their first appearances on the African continent on November 12. The British manufacturer made a solid start to its motorsport return in October, but is hoping to use the lessons learned on the Hong Kong harbour-front street circuit for its second race. Britain’s Adam Carroll finished 12th in a hectic, safety-car interrupted race, while New Zealander Mitch Evans was forced into retirement by a technical issue.

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 […]