Racing and Competition

Aston Martin is celebrating as Beechdean AMR took victory and the British marque’s factory entry finished fifth in the 2015 MSA Dunlop Britcar 24hr race at Silverstone. Both the V8 Vantage GT4 of Beechdean AMR and Speedworks Motorsport entries enjoyed a trouble-free 24-hour race. With a line-up completed by Aston Martin Evolution Academy racers Jamie Chadwick (GB) and Ross Gunn (GB), the former circulated the 5.9km Northamptonshire-circuit a total of 529 laps to take overall victory with the latter finishing 4th overall and second in class. Aston Martin’s factory entry also enjoyed the taste of success. The race, which marked CEO Dr. Andy Palmer’s first competitive outing as an Aston Martin race driver, saw the team battle changeable conditions as wet weather played a key part in determining the team’s strategy throughout the late evening. The Castrol-liveried Vantage GT4 has been […]

The inaugural race of the Jaguar Heritage Challenge 2015 is set to begin at the Donington Historic Festival over the May bank holiday weekend. The first race of the Jaguar Heritage Challenge – run with the Historic Sports Car Club (HSCC) – will feature a full field of 34 Jaguars including a 1957 MK I saloon driven by 1988 Le Mans winner, Andy Wallace. The series is open to all Jaguars manufactured before 1966 including the XK-series, C- and D-types, MK I and MK II saloons and E-type. It complements the growing portfolio of Jaguar Heritage activities, which also includes the recently launched Jaguar Heritage Driving Experiences and factory sourced Heritage Parts and restoration – all under the expert direction of Jaguar Land Rover’s Special Operations division. John Edwards, Managing Director of Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations said: “We are […]

The Mitty is recognized as one of North America’s most prestigious vintage racing events. Sanctioned by Historic Sportscar Racing (HSR), The Mitty attracts a diverse lineup of legendary machines from all eras and brings them back on track just as they raced in their glory years. It’s like a living, breathing museum of racing history unleashed on the famous Road Atlanta circuit. Whether your interest is Can-Am, F1, Trans-Am, Camel GTP, or even NASCAR- you’ll find a great lineup of cars that is sure to bring back memories. Vintage racing’s promise is to resurrect the past glories of sports car racing for a modern audience, and no event does that better than the Classic Motorsports Mitty. BMW will be the featured marque when the Mitty plans to return to the beautiful Road Atlanta circuit in Braselton, Georgia on April 24-26, […]

An impressive convoy of 146 cars drove around the Rockingham Circuit in Corby, Northamptonshire (UK) oval circuit in order to set a new Guinness World Record for the largest parade of MGs. Officially, the world record will be 144 cars – as two MGs were discounted from the attempt as they were over the maximum distance of two car lengths between vehicles. The record was set on 11 April and was organised by Lancaster Insurance and the MG Owners’ Club. Lancaster’s managing director Richard Morley, who helped lead the parade in a race-prepared MGF said: ‘We’re so thrilled with how it went. When we first got to the track it was raining and miserable, but luckily the sun came out and so did the cars.’ Martin Wills, who drove a race-prepared MG ZR, added: ‘I thought it’d be quite naff but it’s […]

Aston Martin Racing (AMR) has won the GTE Am class of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) Six Hours of Silverstone today (12 April) but narrowly missed out on a podium position in GTE Pro.   The #98 Vantage GTE of Pedro Lamy (PT), Paul Dalla Lana (CA) and Mathias Lauda (AT) stormed to class victory after qualifying on pole for the Championship’s season-opener. The trio of GTE Pro cars, which started from first, second and third on the grid, all had a great opening stint but a full course yellow gifted competitors a pit-stop advantage that couldn’t be made up by AMR throughout the six-hour endurance race. The #95 finished in fourth, the #97 in fifth and the #99 in sixth in GTE Pro and the #96 finished in fourth in GTE Am. AMR Team Principal John Gaw commented: […]

Bentley’s motorsport season is set to continue this weekend with the first European race of the 2015 season for the works operation, Bentley Team M-Sport. The pair of Continental GT3 race cars, a new favourite amongst GT racing fans, will open their Blancpain Endurance Series accounts at Monza in Italy in a three-hour race on Sunday 12th April.   Having started their season in February with a fourth place finish at the gruelling 12 Hours of Bathurst in Australia, and a second place finish in the Blancpain Endurance Series last year, Bentley is looking to challenge for the title in its second season of GT3 racing. Preparations for the contest have been extensive, with the winter off-season spent refining the setup of the Continental GT3 and recruiting three new Bentley Boys for car #8. Bentley’s Director of Motorsport, Brian Gush, […]

Time for a little vintage racing. Yes, our video this weeks comes from the VARAC. The VARAC, the Vintage Automobile Racing Association of Canada, is the main Vintage Racing Club in Eastern Canada. All VARAC members share a desire to preserve, restore and race historically significant cars in a form as close to the original specification as possible As for the video itself, it is a profile of MG. Who doesn’t love the MGs? (Don’t answer that. We don’t want to hear it.) Featured in this fantastic video by KarmaComa Studio are three uniquely different versions of the MG. Owned by VARAC members David & Evan Holmes, Dave Good and Gary Allen, these cars have been restored and carefully prepared to race the toughest circuits in North America. More info about racing with VARAC is available at www.varac.ca and about […]

Belated news … On September 7, 2014, Milwaukee Midget Racing established a new Bonneville course record of 122.539 mph for the I/GT class. This was the oldest standing record in the GT category—it stood unbeaten for more than 22 years.The 1971 MG Midget, running a 999cc, 5-port A-series engine, and driven by owner Chris Conrad, ran a best speed of 126.684, with an average record speed of 122.539, during the 2014 Utah Salt Flat Racing Association’s World of Speed event. Through continued work and racing development, it is Milwaukee Midget Racing’s intent to keep and maintain class dominance in the one liter stock bodied sports car category, and maintain MG’s presence as both a historic and relevant marque in Land Speed Racing.

Carroll Shelby‘s son Patrick and grandson Aaron made the winning $539,000 bid at Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale auction in January to return Carroll’s first race car to the family home in Dallas, making the diminutive but singular 1949 MG TC the world’s most expensive MG for a long time to come. Per the description on the Barrett-Jackson website: The first car that Carroll Shelby drove in a road race. The car that started his racing career. In May of 1952, his good friend Ed Wilkins let Carroll Shelby drive this MG TC in a road race at Norman, Oklahoma. It was Shelby’s first sport car race. He won it, and the second race, too, easily outrunning the Jaguar XK120’s. That race and this car changed the course of his life as he went on to achieve immortality as creator of the Shelby […]

The 2015 Aston Martin Racing Evolution Academy squad has been unveiled at the manufacturer’s state-of-the-art headquarters in Gaydon, Warwickshire UK and includes stars of the future who will race in four of the world’s top national and international GT championships. The ten ‘up-and-coming’ drivers, selected by a panel of judges at Aston Martin Racing, have been named as: Matt Bell (GB); Jamie Chadwick (GB); Jade Edwards (GB); Jody Fannin (GB); Jake Giddings (GB); Ross Gunn (GB); Daniel Lloyd (GB); Devon Modell (GB); Dennis Strandberg (SE); and Jonathan Venter (AU). “We are extremely pleased with the line-up of the inaugural Evolution Academy,” commented Aston Martin Racing’s Team Principal John Gaw. “There’s no doubting we have ten very talented participants but the question is, who will prove to us that they have what it takes to be an Aston Martin Racing works […]

Young British sportscar driver Jann Mardenborough has been involved in a crash in a race in Germany which has resulted in the death of a spectator. Mardenborough was competing in the VLN1 event at the Nurburgring Nordschliefe when his Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 flipped up in the air as it crested a rise in the circuit. With the nose of the car pointing up in the air, it soared for around 30 metres before landing on its tail and bouncing over the catch-fencing into a crowd of people. A VLN statement read: ‘The opening round of the VLN Endurance Championship at the Nurburgring was marred by an accident on Saturday which injured several spectators. ‘One of the spectators died, despite the immediate actions of the rescue crew in the medical centre at the circuit. The other injured spectators have been taken […]

An ex-London to Sydney marathon car abandoned in a scrap yard has been rescued by enthusiasts at one of the UK’s biggest MG clubs. The car, which took part in the 1968 event, has been dragged out of the Southampton scrappy and given a new home by the MG Car Club. Driven by Jean Denton, UMD534F was not a Works entry, but did receive significant support from the BMC Competitions Department. The car was prepared for racing by her husband, Tony Denton, and Tom Boyce – Jean’s navigator for the rally. That meant double-welded seams, uprated headlamps and a double fuel tank in the boot. The passenger seat could also be converted into a bed. After finishing in 42nd place, the sports car was put out to pasture and finally dry stored in the 1980s. Now the club’s MGB Register […]

Via Aston Martin, Gaydon: Aston Martin is announcing its largest and most ambitious works race programme to date, comprising a five-car campaign in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and 24 Hours of Le Mans, and two GT3 entries in the Nürburgring 24 Hours. In its eleventh year of competition Aston Martin Racing returns to the WEC with three Vantage GTEs in the GTE Pro class and two cars in the GTE Am class. Looking to add to its impressive tally of 19 race wins and three championship titles, the team aims to claim the coveted GT manufacturer’s title, as well as both GT titles at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Meanwhile, in its third year competing at the Nürburgring in the world-famous endurance race’s top SP9 class for GT3 cars Aston Martin Racing is doubling its entry, underlining […]

After both Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado showed the Lotus E23 Hybrid’s potential by qualifying in the top ten, cruel fate ended any chance of points after just two corners. Romain felt the impact of bad luck before the flag was waved, with a loss of power noticeable on the formation lap. Unable to recover, when the race began the Frenchman fell down the order and, despite his best efforts, was forced to bring the car into the garage and retire the E23 Hybrid. “I lost power on the formation lap,” said Romain. “I was unable to recover the power and we’re not sure where the issue came from. It’s a shame but it’s the first race and anything can happen and unfortunately it was bad luck for us today.” He was soon joined by Pastor who, in contrast to […]

Carmen Jordá is one step closer to her goal of racing in Formula 1 today, as it was announced she would be joining the Lotus F1 Team family for the year as a Development Driver. With her sights firmly set on driving the E23 Hybrid before the year is out, Carmen will work closely with the team on an intensive simulator programme in Enstone, while being put through her paces thanks to a comprehensive fitness regime to prepare for the opportunity. Combined with attending Grands Prix and tests for Lotus F1 Team, Carmen’s role will focus on assessing the latest developments of the team’s 2015 challenger. With racing experience in both Europe and America, Carmen’s distinctive perspective will serve to further enhance the E23’s evolvement curve. Daughter of ex-driver Jose Miguel Jorda, Carmen Jordá has been racing professionally since 2001 […]

MG’s British Touring Car Championship team has signed youngster Jack Goff to partner 2013 champion Andrew Jordan. The 23-year-old, who won the 2012 Renault Clio Cup UK title, joins the Triple Eight-run operation for his third season in the BTCC. Goff earned a career-best finish of second in his debut season in 2013, narrowly missing out on winning the season finale at Brands Hatch behind Honda’s Gordon Shedden when driving a Team Hard-run Vauxhall Insignia. He switched to Team BMR for the 2014 campaign, sticking with the Insignia for the first half of the year before changing to one of the team’s Volkswagen CCs for the final five rounds. “Obviously as a kid growing up, driving for a works team is the pinnacle,” said Goff. “I probably began watching touring cars when Triple Eight were hugely dominant and to now […]

Feb. 19, 2015, Southlake, Texas – SVRA and Motostalgia have entered into a joint venture and multi-year agreement, with Motostalgia being recognized as the Official Auction Company of SVRA and hosting exclusive car auctions at select SVRA events- beginning this year with the Brickyard Vintage Racing Invitational. This joint venture will provide the true enthusiast the opportunity to enjoy two of the most exciting experiences in motorsports: auctions and vintage racing! “Working with Motostalgia Auction Company was the next logical step for SVRA, given our demographics and national footprint,” said Tony Parella, President and CEO of SVRA. “Adding a car auction to the Brickyard Vintage Racing Invitational will make this an even more special event.” “SVRA’s schedule is a perfect fit for us. This leading racing organization offers us access to world class cars. With the scale of SVRA’s customer […]

A Winter Storm Warning is in effect this week for many Eastern States, including Georgia. Due to the threat of more severe winter weather, SVRA has canceled the Southern Vintage Classic, scheduled for this weekend, Feb. 20-22 at Road Atlanta. The decision to cancel came after a discussion with Road Atlanta Raceway staff. The area is already dealing with harsh winter conditions, with more forecast for the weekend. “It’s really a safety issue,” said Tony Parella, president and CEO of SVRA. There are safety concerns for the racers, the volunteers and staff. With a storm warning being issued for the whole region, expectations are for snow, high winds, and freezing temperatures. Spectators who purchased tickets for the event will be given a full refund. SVRA Southern Vintage Classic entrants will be able to seek a refund, or to apply their […]