Racing and Competition

Aston Martin and Red Bull Racing are today revealing their ground-breaking hypercar; codenamed AM-RB 001. The product of a unique Innovation Partnership between the British luxury brand and eminent F1TM team, this ambitious, uncompromising and wholly extraordinary collaboration combines the vision and skills of two world-leading brands to create a road car the like of which has never been seen before. The three men charged with realising this shared vision are Adrian Newey, Red Bull Racing’s Chief Technical Officer and the world’s most successful F1TM designer, Marek Reichman, Aston Martin EVP and Chief Creative Officer and David King, VP and Chief Special Operations Officer. Together they spearhead a formidable alliance. One that combines more than a hundred years of specialism – both with heritage, making some of the world’s most beautiful and charismatic GT cars, and with technological brilliance and […]

Aston Martin is celebrating another fabulous Festival of Speed after four days at glorious Goodwood, where a sell-out crowd witnessed the very best that the luxury British sports car brand has to offer. Billed as the world’s largest automotive garden party, the Goodwood Festival of Speed began in 1993 in the grounds of Goodwood House in West Sussex and has since become the automotive highlight of the British summer season.

Aston Martin Racing came away from the 84th running of the Le Mans 24 Hours leading the FIA World Endurance Championship GT Manufacturer’s title. After running a near-faultless race, both the #95 and #97 GTE Pro entries finished in fifth and sixth place respectively. With the team focused on ensuring a safe and steady pace throughout the early stages of the race and throughout the night, each of the entries were tasked to make progress at dawn. The #95 Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GTE, driven by Nicki Thiim (DN), Marco Sørensen (DN) and Darren Turner (GB) finished fifth, having given a spirited fight to its rivals and stayed in podium contention through the night. However, the cruel nature of Le Mans struck as Turner suffered a right rear puncture in the 20th hour, caused by debris on track. Turner said following […]

In 1960, Colin Chapman sought to identify the most straightforward and uncomplicated way of building a Formula 1 car. The result was his first rear-engined design, the trendsetting Lotus 18. Lotus 18 – Colin Chapman’s U-turn by Mark Whitelock, the new book from Veloce Publishing, charts the 18’s competition history, from its inception, up to 1966 – via sensational victories over Ferrari at Monaco and the Nürburgring. Colin Chapman’s previous attempts at producing a Formula 1 car had been a complete disappointment. Despite being technically advanced, extreme lightness led to numerous structural failures. In 1960, Chapman decided to start with a clean sheet of paper, assessing the basic requirements for a contemporary Formula 1 car, and identifying how to achieve them in the most straightforward, uncomplicated way. The result was one of Chapman’s greatest creations – the Lotus 18 – a […]

Bentley Motors returns to Goodwood Festival of Speed 2016 with a trio of powerful and luxurious UK debuts. The award-winning Bentayga SUV and new Flying Spur V8 S sedan will demonstrate their performance credentials on the Goodwood hill-climb, while both models will also be displayed on the Bentley stand alongside the new Continental GT Speed – the fastest production Bentley ever.

McLaren Automotive will return to the Goodwood Festival of Speed this summer celebrating race wins and titles spanning more than five decades. McLaren will honour the drivers and championships where the team has claimed the top step of the podium, in the ultimate expression of ‘Full Throttle – The Endless Pursuit of Power’. McLaren House will once again return to the lawns of the Goodwood Estate, with iconic racers displayed alongside the full range of modern-day McLaren models in the Sports Series, Super Series and Ultimate Series. The broad selection of models, spanning more than 50 years of the McLaren name, will be the most extensive display of McLaren models ever showcased, including the new 570GT. As in previous years, McLaren will also be present in the Supercar Paddock with models from each of the three tier range. The recently announced […]

This year’s Peking to Paris Motor Challenge, billed as the world’s toughest endurance rally for classic and vintage cars, will feature a Mini for the first time in the event’s history. Concerned for the Packard, Paul contacted Owen Turner from the Rover Centre whom he had met on last year’s Sahara Challenge, for some advice and seeing just how much work still needed to be done on the old American car, advised against taking it on the grueling 36-day 8,500mile event that journeys through some extremely difficult terrain. Needing a car in a hurry to meet the shipping deadline, the best option was to buy the Mini Owen had prepared for himself for the 2015 Marrakesh event as well as Le Jog. Owen explains: “The Packard needed a lot of work still doing and would not have coped with the […]

Motor racing luminaries came together with industry colleagues and, for the first time, the public, as the Motor Sport Hall of Fame moved away from its regular London ceremony to a day’s celebrations at the Royal Automobile Club’s Woodcote Park clubhouse in Epsom. The oldest motoring club and oldest motor sport magazine in Britain came together to present a motor sport spectacle, which started off with an early afternoon panel discussion on ‘The Great Rivals’ and included nine-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen, two-time Le Mans class winner Darren Turner, former Formula 1 driver and team owner Jackie Oliver, five-time Le Mans winner Derek Bell, Isle of Man TT winner and Motor Sport magazine writer Mat Oxley and Motor Sport editor Damien Smith. The panel was hosted by Formula 1 presenter Jennie Gow and covered both the sport’s historic rivalries […]

Bentley Motorsport has out-performed its second-year target for the Nürburgring 24 Hours by finishing well inside the top-ten with a seventh place result by the #38 Continental GT3 of European partner team Bentley Team Abt. The yellow #38 Deutsche Post-liveried Continental GT3 was the highest finishing British entry in the gruelling 24-hour endurance race, and beat all but two manufacturers, including many German marques that consider the 25 km track their home. Drivers Guy Smith (GB), Fabien Hamprecht (DE), Christian Menzel (DE) and Chris Brück (DE) completed 131 laps of the Nürburgring Nordschleife to cross the line ahead of more than 150 cars. “Success at the Nürburgring 24 hours requires at least a three-year plan and we’re pleased that at the end of year two we’re ahead of our target,”commented Bentely’s Director of Motorsport, Brian Gush. “We set out to […]

Bentley Motorsport will return to the Nürburgring Nordschleife this weekend in a bid to conquer ‘the green hell’ with its Continental GT3, as the proving ground for road and race cars alike once again plays host to the world’s toughest endurance race, Nürburgring 24 Hours. The two-car campaign will be run by Bentley’s Crewe-based works outfit – including senior personnel John Wickham, David Argent and Christian Loriaux – in conjunction with its new European partner team, Bentley Team ABT Sportsline.

Aston Martin and its official motorsport division Aston Martin Racing are set to contest the ADAC Zurich Nürburgring 24-hours this weekend (28-29 May). Aston Martin Racing will travel to Germany’s Eifel region with a pair of V12 Vantage GT3s, with their sights set firmly on the outright win which has so far eluded them despite strong performances in the past three years. With a circuit length of 16.123 miles, 170 turns, unpredictable weather and strong competition from a field of nearly 200 starters, only a perfect run will secure victory. Having competed at the Nordschleife earlier this year, achieving 4th and 8th place in the circuit’s VLN 2 race at the end of April, the team is confident of the potential of this year’s V12 Vantage GT3.

Not strictly a British car event, this will still be of interest to those loving classic cars.  The Endurance Rally Association (ERA) has launched an exciting new addition to its 2017 calendar. The Baltic Classic is a two-week rallying adventure which starts in Copenhagen on Sunday 28th May 2017. The route takes in Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland before finishing in Berlin on Saturday 10th June. Open to both Vintage and Classic cars, the event loops around and across the beautiful Baltic Sea and will see plenty of gravel driving and exciting forest sections on roads made famous by events such as the Rally of the Thousand Lakes and Rally Estonia. ERA Rally Director Fred Gallagher explains: “The Baltic Classic is aimed at both newcomers to long distance historic rallying as well as experienced ERA competitors. The route […]

The duo of Julian Thomas and Calum Lockie took their second consecutive race victory in the Jaguar Classic Challenge by a mere two-tenths of a second in the International Trophy at Silverstone over the weekend. After the morning’s qualifying session, Thomas and Lockie were in a strong position ahead of the afternoon race and put their low drag Jaguar E-type on pole – their second of the 2016 campaign. Just like the last round at Donington, adverse weather added an extra dose of complexity to the race. From the green light, Lockie surged ahead closely followed by Robert Dickinson, Martin Stretton and John Pearson. The lead changed hands on several occasions throughout the first stint before the compulsory one-minute driver change/pit stop. Once Lockie swapped with Thomas after 20 minutes, the duo has maintained their lead out front and were […]

‘Racing improves the breed’ is an overused and often abused saying, but is totally apt when it comes to a number of products offered by British Motor Heritage (BMH). So, in addition the company’s long-established range of original specification replacement bodyshells and panels, a host of specialist items is also now offered by this versatile supplier, including: Competition parts for the MGB BMH’s managing director John Yea has now been successfully campaigning the company’s FIA specification MGB in a variety of high-profile historic race series for some nine years. His first-hand experience of ‘Britain’s favourite sportscar’ on the track has directly resulted in the following being made available from BMH: 4.1:1 crown wheel and pinion Close ratio gear set for ‘4-synchro’ transmissions Alloy door and boot-lid skins FIA specification alloy front valance Seam-welded replacement bodyshells Bespoke bodyshells featuring full-range of […]

McLaren GT Factory Driver Alvaro Parente scored a double top-10 finish at the wheel of the K-PAX Racing 650S GT3 this weekend in the Pirelli World Challenge double-header at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. The results keep the Portuguese driver in the battle for the championship as the season now heads to Lime Rock Park in Connecticut. In Europe, fellow Factory Driver Côme Ledogar secured pole position and a podium on his championship debut as the 650S GT3 enjoyed more success at the second round of the 2016 International GT Open at Spa Francorchamps with customer team Garage 59. Parente rejoined customer team K-PAX Racing as he continued his title challenge in the 8th and 9th races of the 2016 Pirelli World Challenge season. At the historic 3.9-km Ontario-based circuit – which is notoriously difficult to overtake on – Parente qualified […]

On Thursday 19 May, the Royal Automobile Club hosted ‘A Salute to Women in Motor Sport’ dinner, celebrating the achievements of women across the whole spectrum of the sport and the motor sport industry. The evening was hosted by Louise Goodman, award-winning TV presenter and journalist with over 20 years in the motor sport industry who went around the room and spoke to 15 different women involved in the motor sport business. Some of the inspiring special guests and attendees included Claire Williams, who brought along nine members of the Williams Martini Racing Formula 1 team, from technical, engineering and other areas of the business. Sir Stirling and Lady Susie Moss came to show their support, along with the Secretary of the BRDC, Gillian Carr. Keeping it all in the family, there were two pairs of sisters in attendance; historic […]

Visitors to Concours of Elegance 2016 – held at Windsor Castle from 2-4 September –  will have the unique opportunity to see four of the remaining 1926 British Grand Prix cars in one place. In a celebration of Her Majesty The Queen’s 90th birthday, the historic racing cars will be joined by a revolutionary British car from each decade of Her Majesty’s life. Organised by the Royal Automobile Club, the very first British Grand Prix took place at Brooklands Motor Circuit, Surrey, in the year of Her Majesty The Queen’s birth, 1926. A total of 11 cars took part, with just three finishing the race, and Concours of Elegance 2016 will mark the first time that this many competitors have gathered since the race 90 years ago.

JD Classics’ legendary ex-Fangio C-Type took victory at the Monaco Historique over the weekend, cementing its place as one of the most consistently successful historic racing cars in current competition. This latest win marks its 24th award in 27 races. JD Classics’ in-house racing driver, Chris Ward, took the wheel for qualifying in what was his very first time racing at Monaco. Ward put in an incredible lap that put him in pole position around two seconds ahead of the nearest competitor.