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Posted Feb 10 2012, 03:00 PM by Charles Kha with 14 comment(s)

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Following the unveiling of the TS030 HYBRID, Toyota have announced the remaining drivers for their two car attack on the Le Mans 24 Hours. Joining Hiroaki Ishiura will be two former F1 drivers in Anthony Davidson and Sebastien Buemi. Davidson was without a drive since Peugeot's exit from endurance prototype racing, while Buemi was recently dropped by Toro Rosso. The driver line-up for the other TS030 - which will also compete in the World Endurance Championship - includes Alex Wurz, Kazuki Nakajima...

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Posted Feb 08 2012, 05:30 PM by Charles Kha with 45 comment(s)

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The Australian Touring Car Championship was an old stomping ground of Nissan's R32 Skyline GT-R; a car that local media quickly dubbed Godzilla. However it's utter domination of the ATCC series came to an end in 1993 when the governing body changed its Class A regulations. The GT-R was outlawed, paving the way for an exclusive Ford vs Holden V8 battle. 20 years on and Nissan have announced they will return to the V8 Supercars series in 2013. The Kelly Racing team will field four Nissans next...

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Posted Feb 06 2012, 09:00 PM by Mike Garrett with 18 comment(s)

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It's shaping up to be a very interesting year for Japan's Super GT series. In addition to the GT300 class Toyota Prius and Subaru BRZ cars that have already been shown, Honda will also be jumping into the fray with a new CR-Z GT300 entry. Team Mugen is planning to debut the car by the middle of the 2012 season, and word has it the GT300 CR-Z will be running a racing type hybrid powertrain. We'll certainly be interested to see how this plays out. -Mike Garrett Spotted over on Jon Sibal's...

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Posted Feb 03 2012, 11:30 AM by Charles Kha with 55 comment(s)

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Today Ferrari unveiled their new Formula 1 challenger online, with the live launch ceremony at Maranello cancelled due to heavy snow. The design of the Ferrari F2012 (codenamed 663) has certainly proven controversial, with the dramatic stepped nose being the main talking point. The Caterham and Force India 2012 cars both feature contoured 'humps' to get around the new regulations, while McLaren's MP4-27 features a more gradual nose transition. - Charles Kha

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Posted Jan 25 2012, 04:00 PM by Charles Kha with 7 comment(s)

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The first 2012 Formula 1 car has been leaked on Twitter. Ahead of its official unveiling in the next issue of F1 Racing magazine, the Caterham team (formerly the Malaysian-owned Team Lotus) popped this teaser photo of the CT01 on Twitter. The next F1 car launch will be McLaren's next Wednesday. - Charles Kha Caterham F1's Twitter

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Posted Jan 24 2012, 03:30 PM by Charles Kha with 26 comment(s)

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Toyota Racing has today taken the covers off the highly anticipated TS030 HYBRID. Based out of Toyota GmbH - the German facility used for their previous F1 campaign - Toyota Racing will enter two TS030 HYBRIDs in this year's Le Mans 24 Hours. The unveiling occured at Paul Ricard, where ex-F1 driver Alex Wurz and Nicolas Lapierre performed a shakedown. The TS030 uses an all-new carbon chassis and features Toyota's THS-R (Toyota Hybrid System - Racing) powertrain that was developed with Denso...
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Posted Jan 03 2012, 05:00 PM by Mike Garrett with 20 comment(s)

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The folks over at Motor Trend have an interesting scoop for those following developments on the Scion FR-S/Toyota 86. This week somebody spotted what is clearly a turbocharged FR-S doing some drifting at Laguna Seca. There's no word whether this is related to production car development, or testing for a competition drift car. On one hand the big wing says race car, but on the other it's not too often you see drift teams go to Laguna Seca for testing. Whatever it is, it's definitely promising! Head over to Motor Trend for more. -Mike Garrett...

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Posted Dec 17 2011, 07:00 PM by Casey Dhnaram with 55 comment(s)

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World Time Attack Challenge saw some of the greatest time attack machines arrive on Australian shores to do battle. And next year's event - which will take place at Eastern Creek on 10-11th August - promises to be just as enticing. Work has already begun on WTAC 2012, with the organisers flying to Japan to open discussions with the various teams. Question is, who would you like to see at next year's event? -Casey ...

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Posted Dec 12 2011, 07:30 PM by Larry Chen with 38 comment(s)

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It's just been announced that Daigo Saito will be joining Robbie Nishida and the Bridges Racing Team for the 2012 Formula Drift Season. “We are elated that Daigo and Robbie are part of the Bridges Racing team for the 2012 season" said team owner Bryan Bridges. "We are excited to see what 2012 has to offer. After having the pleasure of working with Robbie during 2011 Formula Drift season, the addition of Daigo to our team is another invaluable asset. Our goals are set pretty high...

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Posted Nov 30 2011, 09:30 PM by Linhbergh with 75 comment(s)

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With the Toyota 86 and the Subaru BRZ now unveiled to the public, it was time for the Scion version to have its moment in the spotlight. Tonight, in the heart of Hollywood, California, Scion put on an invite-only event to debut the fifth car in their line up, the FR-S. And here is the final production version in the flesh. The exterior of the car looks very much the same as Toyota's offering in Japan... ...Although there are some slight differences. Compared to the JDM model that Dino sampled...
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Posted Nov 29 2011, 01:00 PM by Mike Garrett with 73 comment(s)

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Subaru has released a couple images of the production-spec BRZ just ahead of the car's debut at this week's Tokyo Motor Show. This should hold us over while we wait for Dino's coverage from the show floor. Overall the car looks very similar to the 86, with a few changes to the front fascia separating it from the Toyota model. Curious to know your thoughts on the 86 vs BRZ choice now that you've seen this. Does this work for you? Will you wait for the STI version? -Mike Garrett...

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Posted Nov 16 2011, 11:00 AM by Charles Kha with 81 comment(s)

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One of the special cars that will be making an appearance today at the LA Auto Show is Subaru's BRZ Concept - STI. While Subaru are keen to stress that this is a Concept, the 2013 BRZ model is expected to be unveiled in Japan at the end of the month. The BRZ of course, is a departure from Subaru's AWD standard and will use a conventional FR layout. Last week we ran a poll asking our readers whether they preferred the FT86/FR-S or BRZ, with the votes split 60-40. Do you think these latest...
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Posted Nov 15 2011, 04:00 PM by Mike Garrett with 15 comment(s)

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Today Subaru announced plans to campaign the BRZ in Japan's Super GT series. Using the experience gained from racing the Legacy B4 in the GT300 class, the BRZ should be ready to race for the 2012 season. Subaru didn't release any details on the new race car aside from this drawing, but they plan to show more at Tokyo Auto Salon in January. Can't wait to see what this looks like! -Mike Garrett...

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Posted Nov 10 2011, 07:00 PM by Mike Garrett with 12 comment(s)

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This week Porsche released info on the latest version of the 911 GT3 RSR. Although it's still based on the previous 997 chassis as opposed to the new 2012 911, the RSR is sporting some significant changes for 2012....
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Posted Oct 27 2011, 10:30 AM by Mike Garrett with 74 comment(s)

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With all of today's technology it's nearly impossible for automakers to keep secrets about upcoming models, especially highly anticipated cars like Toyota's FT-86. If this is legit, we are looking at our first image of the production FT-86, found in a leaked catalog for Modellista aero parts. We'll have to wait until the Tokyo Motor Show to get all the details, but this gives us an idea of the changes made from concept to production version. What do you think? -Mike Garrett Source...

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Posted Oct 17 2011, 01:00 PM by Charles Kha with 7 comment(s)

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It was bound to happen. After Sebastian Vettel claimed back to back Formula 1 Drivers' World Championships in Japan, it seemed like only a matter of time before Red Bull Racing would also stitch up the Constructor's Championship. And that's exactly what they did in Sunday's Korean Grand Prix. Although McLaren were able to finally break RBR's stranglehold on pole positions, they weren't able stop Vettel from claiming his 10th win of the season. Congratulations to the Red Bull...

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Posted Oct 16 2011, 03:15 PM by Charles Kha with 36 comment(s)

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Today, the racing community suffered a terrible loss. Indycar driver Dan Wheldon passed away after a 15 car crash at the Las Vegas Indy 300. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Wheldon family. - Charles Kha Image from Sam Schmidt Motorsports

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Posted Oct 14 2011, 03:00 PM by Charles Kha with 15 comment(s)

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Toyota has announced they will be making a return to the Le Mans 24 hour race. Previously the Japanese giant showed plenty of promise when they competed in Le Mans with their famous GT-One prototype. The GT-One programme ran in 1998 and 1999, before the plug was pulled to make way for Toyota's entrance as a team in Formula 1. The chassis will be constructed by Toyota Motorsport GmbH - their ex-F1 factory in Geneva - while the motor will be assembled by Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan. Although...

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Posted Oct 14 2011, 02:00 PM by Mike Garrett with 24 comment(s)

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With the reveal of production Toyota FT-86 less than two months away, Gazoo Racing will be running a prototype version of the car at this weekend's VLN endurance race at the Nurburgring. I'd say this thinly disguised race car gives our best hint yet at what the real car will look like. Can the Tokyo Motor Show come soon enough? Source: FT86club.com -Mike Garrett...

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Posted Oct 14 2011, 08:50 AM by Dino Dalle Carbonare with 66 comment(s)

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It's not every day new tuning shops are born, especially in this current economic climate. But if you are coming into an already competitive industry where getting noticed is the name of the game, then you might as well go full out and impress people from the get go. That's precisely what Osaka-based BenSopra are doing. They haven't been around for long, only a few short months, but have already managed to get noticed in Japan by getting their Lamborghini Gallardo demo car featured in...
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