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Posted
Oct 09 2009, 03:30 PM
by
Rod Chong
with 3 comment(s)
Ok, let's pick up the story of Klaus Ludwig and see what he's been up to from 1984 until present. At the end of Part1 , his fortunes were starting to flat line just a little bit. Klaus had chosen to race for Zakspeed Ford racing team instead of Porsche a few years previously, and it was becoming apparent that this perhaps was not the best long term decision for a 1980s sports car driver. As the Group C and IMSA GTP eras entered their third year in '84, Porsche was the sports car to have...
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Posted
Sep 11 2009, 11:38 PM
by
Rod Chong
with 11 comment(s)
Around the office at EA, the Speedhunters audience is always referred to as "the hardcore" ... That is, you guys are so much more than casual automotive fans; you eat, sleep and breath this stuff... But among automotive enthusiasts there are the hardcore and then there are the REAL hardcore . People whose automotive knowledge reaches encyclopedic depths in whatever area they've chosen to specialize in. One genre of these car culture extremists are people who specialize in the cataloging...
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Posted
Sep 09 2009, 11:21 AM
by
John Brooks
with 19 comment(s)
It happens only rarely but when it does you know, just know, with absolute certainty that a car is right when you first look at it. One such instance was back at the beginning of 1997 when the McLaren F1 GTR "Longtail" appeared. The original McLaren F1 GTR was a thing of beauty and as such normally should have been left alone and not "improved", at least that would be conventional wisdom. However the dictates of competition meant that 'something must be done' so remarkably...
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Posted
Sep 04 2009, 01:00 PM
by
John Brooks
with 8 comment(s)
There are times when the features that I write for SpeedHunters develop a life of their own. In this case what started out as a quick look at the BMW V12 LMR's victory at Le Mans back in 1999 has turned into something a little bigger than that. The events from that week in June 1999 still echo around racing today in physical and commercial terms and looking back has brought me face to face with those issues. One thing that is certain, it is doubtful that we will ever see the 1999 scale of manufacturer...
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Posted
Sep 02 2009, 12:36 PM
by
John Brooks
with 11 comment(s)
Party like it's 1999 !!! OK the year was given some special significance in some areas and by most folks as it marked the end of a century, whether the sense of fin de siecle was real or induced mattered not, change was going to come. I mean, "Things can only get better" so the politicians' siren song went. The Le Mans 24 Hours was subject to the same forces that assaulted us all that year, a physical manifestation of this was the presence of brand new pits, paddock and administration...
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Posted
Sep 01 2009, 01:26 PM
by
John Brooks
with 9 comment(s)
It is received wisdom amongst the cognoscenti who infest the La Sarthe department of France each June that it takes three attempts for a manufacturer to win the big race, Les Vingt Quatre Heures du Mans. Ask Peugeot who will tell you through gritted teeth of the blood, toil, sweat and tears expended in pursuit of victory, that was finally achieved earlier this year. It is not enough to be fastest around the track, you have be strongest as well. Ask Nissan or Toyota, who despite being the favourites...
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Posted
Jun 18 2009, 06:50 PM
by
John Brooks
with 11 comment(s)
Ok let's jump straight in and look at the dramas from further down the field at the 2009 Le Mans 24 Hours. Behind the diesel class, here was another prototype race going on, that of those powered by petrol. Although a factory effort in name, the Lola Aston Martin team is closer in resource terms to the best of the privateers. A titanic battle ensued between the two quick AMR cars, the ORECA's, the Pescarolo and the Speedy Lola. This was resolved in the 007 Lola Aston's favour which had...
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Posted
Jun 18 2009, 07:00 AM
by
John Brooks
with 25 comment(s)
When two tribes go to war, one is all you can score.............................. Well they finally did it, Peugeot won the Big One. The 2009 24 Heures du Mans. The Lion has roared. The number 9 Peugeot 908 Hdi-FAP driven by Alexander Wurz, Marc Gene and David Brabham covered 382 laps of the 13.629 kilometre circuit, 5206 kliks in total or 3,235 miles. The average speed was a tad under 135 miles per hour, a sobering thought. The winners were one lap up on their team mates Stephane Sarrazin, Franck...
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Posted
Jun 12 2009, 10:25 AM
by
John Brooks
with 14 comment(s)
Anniversaries are tricky things, looking back tends to fade the negative and accentuate the positive. Nostalgia for a safe past rather than the uncertain present or unknown future. But the years do rattle past quickly so some form of marker post is necessary if only to give focus to the things to come. Back in 1984 I never imagined that I would be still be following the circus some 25 years later. Although in my twenties I still had no clue as to what the future would bring, I was between careers...
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Posted
Jun 08 2009, 10:20 PM
by
John Brooks
with 12 comment(s)
Day One in the run up to the 2009 Le Mans 24 Hours...............stars of the show for Monday were Audi with their trio of diesel powered R15 prototypes and making the last appearance in their stellar career, Corvette with a brace of C6.R s. The "Verifications Administratives et Techniques 24 Heures du Mans" is perhaps a unique occasion in top line motorsport as the fans can get up close and personal with the cars. Of course Rod seemed to have sent his New Jersey weather to La Sarthe.....
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Posted
May 01 2009, 11:40 AM
by
John Brooks
with 13 comment(s)
Back in the days before the internet, and yes there was such a time, most folks would get their entertainment at home from a television set. There was even a time before satellite broadcasting, let alone cable, so in the UK there was choice of only four TV channels. For advertisers and their agencies this was the "Happy Time" as audiences were coralled into watching this limited menu. On two of the channels advertising was the main source of income, the other two were, and continue to be...
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Posted
Apr 08 2009, 09:20 AM
by
Rod Chong
with 7 comment(s)
I've been running this image all week on my Crackberry and thought it would be a good thing to share with the rest of you.... it's a beautiful image don't you think? Respect to John Brooks. :Rod
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Posted
Mar 22 2009, 05:38 PM
by
Rod Chong
with 10 comment(s)
We'd like to congratulate the four class winners from the 2009 12 hours of Sebring, no doubt one of the most grueling motorsports challenges on the planet.
First in the P1-class went to the number 2 Audi driven by the all-star cast of McNish, Kristensen and Capello, in what must be a dream debut for the R15....
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Posted
Mar 20 2009, 04:10 PM
by
Andy Blackmore
with 3 comment(s)
Garage 419 posted a 'making of' video of Truth in 24 yesterday, so we are posting this up as a quick reminder to our American readers this documentary will air on ESPN tonight at 8pm (ET) - Best check local listings!
You can read Antonio's review of the Truth on 24 from earlier this year. It has received excellent reviews everywhere, regardless of the reviewer being a car nut or not.
More potential good news. John Hindhaugh of Radiolemans.com advises me that a DVD release is under consideration for later this year. Nothing firm yet, but it will be after Le Mans if it happens.
Have a good weekend. Don't forget, The 12hrs of Sebring will covered on Radio Le Mans.com, Speed TV and Motors TV on Saturday.
-Andy Blackmore
Antonio's review of Truth in 24
Truth in 24 Movie Website
Garage 419.com
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Posted
Mar 12 2009, 01:00 PM
by
John Brooks
with 12 comment(s)
It's that time of year again. The cars that are going to star in the coming season start to emerge from the winter gloom and in 2009 that gloom has gone on for far too long. So it was a relief to get on the plane bound for Marseille en route to Le Castellet for the Le Mans Series Test days. Star of the show was the first public appearance of the Lola Aston Martin LMP1, decked out in the iconic blue and orange of Gulf Oil. There is a saying in motorsport that if a car looks right at first glance...
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Posted
Mar 10 2009, 04:30 AM
by
Andy Blackmore
with 5 comment(s)
I love bare unpainted Carbon race cars, so saved this image from the Audi R15 post for a seperate random snap! From left to right, the Audi R8 'LM' GT3 racecar, the Audi R15 TDi which we featured yesterday and the Audi A4 DTM race car. Wallpaper of this image is available here . - Andy Blackmore Image: Audi Sport Speedhunters - Car Spotlight>>Audi R15 TDI Speedhunters - New Cars>> Audi R8 GT3
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Posted
Mar 09 2009, 03:40 PM
by
Andy Blackmore
with 11 comment(s)
Earlier today, Audi Sport took the 'official' wraps off of their new R15 TDI LMP1 racecar. Regular Speedhunters will have seen the testing image , which Audi was forced to release after a number of spy images appeared during February. The new R15 TDi's first event will be the Sebring 12 Hours in less than two weeks time. Two chassis will be entered. Audi call the R15 the first of the 'second' generation diesel race car. This new car is powered by a newly developed V10 TDI engine...
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Posted
Feb 27 2009, 01:55 PM
by
Andy Blackmore
with 17 comment(s)
With so much doom and gloom in the car industry at the moment, its great to pass on some exciting positive news coming out of Nissan Motorsports. Nissan today announced its 2009 Super GT programme, but the main news was the plan to develop the FiA GT1 NISMO GT-R during 2009, in preparation for the 2010 season with Gigaware Motorsport. Gigaware Motorsport have previous experience running a Aston Martin DBR9, in addition to having the ex- Ferrari team manager, Nigel Stepney (!) as their team manager...
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Posted
Feb 26 2009, 11:16 AM
by
Andy Blackmore
with 18 comment(s)
The ACO released the provisional entry list for the 2009 24 Heures du Mans this morning. The ACO choose which entries to accept, based, mainly upon performances in the previous 24 Hour races, European and American Le Mans. 82 entries were received for 55 places. The full list is available here , but I’ll just highlight a few of the cars to look out for. LMP1 Despite the economic crisis no fewer than 12 LMP1 cars have been entered. A three way battle between Audi, Peugeot and Aston Martin Lola...
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Posted
Feb 18 2009, 11:35 AM
by
John Brooks
with 24 comment(s)
Some ideas look really good on paper, it's the real world that causes the problems. Back in 1995 Toyota decided to make a car for the GT500 class of the Japanese GT Championship. They took the JZA80 as the starting point, threw out the stock block twin turbo and installed a 2.2 litre 4 cylinder that had been developed by All American Racing for IMSA. It was much lighter and needed little or no money to be spent. So far so good but then some bright spark said "Let's go to Le Mans!"...
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