Buick may get more Opel-based models to its revived North American lineup after the success of the Insignia-based Regal.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Buick may get Opel Astra GTC based variant - and a convertible too
Buick may get more Opel-based models to its revived North American lineup after the success of the Insignia-based Regal.
Karthikeyan Makes Surprise F1 Return With HRT
Narain Karthikeyan has made a surprise return to Formula One after being announced as one of Hispania HRT’s drivers for the 2011 season. The Indian driver was unveiled as the first racer to be working with the Spanish based squad, who look likely to enter into a second season of racing despite on-going financial concerns. [...]
Thursday, May 5, 2011
AMA DSB: Dane Westby - A Different Breed
Daytona SportBike contender Dane Westby doesn't fit the stereotype, but that hasn't stopped him from making a rapid ascension in the world of professional motorcycle racing.
DAF 380 ATI Tractor
This is my first 1 / 24 scale truck ever.This is a DAF 380ati Space cab, an old kit. The kit went together quite well except for some minor issues with battery box, which did not fit well. I also had problems with the painting that caused a rough surface on the passenger side. But besides that, it was a fun kit to build. Hope you all like it. I'm still adding little details every now and then.
Team order rule needs a re-think
 Jean Todt arives for Wednesday's hearing |
?Whether you are for or against team orders, if the FIA could not back up its own rules and nail a competitor in a blatant case such as this the rule really does need reviewing. Perhaps Ferrari?s thinly-veiled threat to take the matter to the civil courts if they were punished too harshly scared the governing body, who as much as admitted the flimsiness of its rule."Paul Weaver, reporting for the Guardian in Monza, was in favour of the ruling which keeps alive Ferrari?s slim chances in an enthralling championship.
?The World Motor Sport Council was right not to ruin a compelling Formula One season by taking away the 25 points Alonso collected in Germany. That would have put him out of the five-man title race. But the council was widely expected to increase the fine and possibly deduct points from the team, as opposed to the individual. In the end, it could be argued that common sense prevailed. But the decision will dismay those who were upset by the way Ferrari handled the situation as much as anything else.?The Daily Mail's Jonathan McEvoy expressed outrage at the FIA tearing up its own rule book by allowing Ferrari to escape unpunished.
"Although the race stewards fined them �65,000 for giving team orders in July, the FIA World Motor Sport Council, to whom the matter was referred, decided not to impose any further punishment. It leaves the sport's rulers open to derision. It was, after all, their rule they undermined. In a statement, the WMSC said the regulation banning team orders 'should be reviewed'."
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
2012 BMW 3-Series spied with less camouflage
The strip tease continues as our spy photographers have caught the 2012 BMW 3-Series wearing minimal camouflage. 
Justin Wilson Vic Wilson Joachim Winkelhock Manfred Winkelhock
Fiat linked to News Corporation bid for F1 | 2011 F1 season
An investment group close to Fiat is considering joining News Corp's bid to take over Formula 1.
FIA gives Bahrain leeway
The F�d�ration Internationale de l?Automobile has granted the Bahrain Motor Federation and the Bahrain International Circuit an extension until June 3 to decide whether or not it can host a Grand Prix in 2011. The decision was taken after consultation with the Bahraini authorities and Formula One Management. June 3 is the date of the [...]
F1 2011 Race Calendar
The most prestigious event in global motorsport racing is back, and the new season is set to be more entertaining than ever, with a variety of new drivers and teams that will make the playing field more exciting than it has been in years. There are also two new tracks in China and India that [...]
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
1/25th scale Batmobile
Greetings all. A very close friend of mine was asked to build and review a test shot of the 1/25th scale 1966 BATMOBILE deluxe kit by Polar Lights. I thought you all might like to see a few pics of the build.
Keep in mind the kit has not been polished yet.
The striping on this model is all hand painted with neon red, and the decals are sourced from different places as the decal sheet was not available at the time of this build. The kit's decal sheet will include all striping and the deluxe glue kit may even come with paint masks. Niether myself or the builder is an employee of Polar lights but I should be able to answer any questions you may have. Enjoy!
Robert Kubica Hospitalised Following Rally Accident
UPDATE ON KUBICA’s CONDITION: �http://wp.me/p3uiu-11K Renault Lotus F1 driver Robert Kubica has been airlifted to hospital following a car accident while competing on a rally. The incident, described as a high speed accident, left the Pole injured and he had to be airlifted to hospital. �His co-driver Jakub Gerber was uninjured in the incident. While [...]
Paul Goldsmith Jose Froilán González Oscar González Aldo Gordini
55 Ford Panel truck
I have a started 55 Ford Panel from Mongram. I am not sure what to do with it and looking for some ideas. can anyone post some photos of the model build? I tried looking for photos of real ones and models and cant find any. I would like to do as stock as possible, but i am not sure where to get a 24th scale flathead ( I think that is what they had?) Also wheels, Any help? The ford v8 from the kit looks small so going 25th scale isnt gonna work .
Enrique Bernoldi Enrico Bertaggia Tony Bettenhausen Mike Beuttler
Chevrolet has no plans for a Malibu SS
If you were hoping for a Chevrolet Malibu SS, keep dreaming as company has no plans for any performance models as of yet. 
AUTOS: Saab Gets Much-Needed Cash
Short-term loan gets production back in operation while investment from Chinese automaker could lie ahead.
New season providing memories to savour
I'm sitting on the plane that is bringing me home from the opening trio of races, and I'm reminiscing.
I'm not daydreaming about the first time we heard the engines roar for 2011 in Albert Park, Sebastian Vettel's dominant start to the season, Vitaly Petrov flying or Lewis Hamilton's slow, steady reeling-in of Vettel this weekend.
Nope, I've gone a little further back: I'm re-living 1995. Trawling through the plane's CD library I've stumbled upon the breakthrough album Different Class by Pulp. It reminds me of my mum's pistachio green VW Polo, studying for my A-levels, David Coulthard's first Formula 1 win and me, at 17, thinking the world started and stopped at the Norfolk county border!
However, one thing slightly tainting the fun of air-drumming to Common People is that I've just realised Vettel would have been seven years old at that time. Ouch!
OK, I'm going to park memories of my oversized The Sweater Shop jumper - which was a must-have item for a lanky lad in Norwich in the mid-90s - and cast my mind back to the more recent memory of two races that have set the benchmark for the 2011 season.
Lewis Hamilton celebrates victory at the Chinese Grand Prix. Photo: Getty Images
To be totally honest, I think that, while we all enjoyed the opening round in Australia, it disguised just how frenetic this year is likely to be. I was chatting to some guys in the paddock on Sunday who were speculating that if that race was run again tomorrow, Pirelli would bring the even more marginal Supersoft tyre to Australia.
I think that is an indication of the success of having these new tyres. As DC said at the end of the commentary on Sunday: "Thank you Pirelli".
While I agree with that sentiment, I think we should be thanking F1. I've been sharing this flight with the likes of Ross Brawn of Mercedes, Williams designer Sam Michael and Paul Di Resta, who has been mightily impressive for Force India. Those three guys, and the rest of the designers, technicians, drivers and team principles up and down the pit lane, want cars that are fast in every circumstance.
The drivers ask for consistency and reliability, while the manufacturers want something that is so quick it helps shift their road cars. However, they have agreed to totally compromise their work for the sake of you guys sitting at home.
To improve the show. Vettel didn't want a car that simply "dropped off a cliff" as its tyres were worn at the end of Sunday's race. The strategists aren't keen on the pit wall resembling Air Traffic Control as they desperately try to outwit their opponents and make themselves look clever, and team bosses don't want to have to defend strategic mistakes after every race.
Look back to 12 months ago in Bahrain. Hardly an overtake, and most cars stopping once. This year the sport is totally unrecognisable, and it makes for compelling TV.
I don't envy the boys having to call such frenetic racing in the commentary box but I think they're doing well. Particularly DC, whose experience, knowledge, eagle-eyes and quick wit have surprised even me.
As for Martin Brundle, he's welcome to have his grid walk back! Logistically, it was impossible for him to do it in China so I bravely took on the challenge. But I have enough to think about doing 60 minutes of live TV pre-race, with stories developing around me, and I really didn't like having to doorstep the drivers. It felt a bit like walking into your office and shoving a microphone under your nose as you sit at your desk.
Martin has done more than 200 of them whereas Sunday was, believe it or not, the first time I've been on the grid pre-race. I'm just happy to have survived interviewing a seven-time world champion despite DC totally abandoning me!
After I'd finished that, it was time for the racing. Almost 60 stops in Malaysia, a further 55 in China. And amongst it all a chance to look like a real hero. McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh told me on the pit wall after the race that his team had actually got their strategy wrong and wanted to do only two stops.
Yet, while Vettel demonstrated that, even with his skills it was impossible to make such a tactic work, Hamilton and Mark Webber made a stop more and it paid dividends. In fact, the success of the tyres has totally overshadowed the introduction of DRS (Drag Reduction System) and re-introduction of KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System).
It is clear the FIA is still fiddling with the DRS rear wing to encourage overtaking. I don't find it artificial as it still takes skill to make a move stick. What I think we need to avoid is drivers overtaking in only one place, following their rival and not making a move until they can use their DRS advantage. We may also see two zones in Turkey.
You couldn't accuse Lewis of lacking ambition when overtaking though, could you? I was watching the race unfold in the McLaren hospitality area and while everyone was leaping around, hands on heads, almost unable to believe what was happening, the messages coming in thick and fast on Twitter were almost identical.
A good example of the power of Twitter was someone tweeting me a photo of Fernando Alonso's DRS operating outside the prescribed zone. I told the producer what I'd seen and the guys in VT called up the same clip and played it to the nation while Martin and David commented on it.
Anyway, the Pulp album has now rolled around to Monday Morning so I'm going to return to the 90s and leave you guys to a lovely shortened working week. We've stacks of stuff planned for a few weeks' time when we get to Turkey.
Thanks for setting your alarms in your droves the past month - it's good to know that plenty of you were watching as we marched around the pit lane and paddock. Below are my five favourite moments of the season so far - here's hoping for plenty more until 27 November!
1. Lewis's interview in the garage after his first win of the season. He was as open, honest and relaxed as I've ever seen him. I was blown away by the clarity of thought that he described as he closed in on Sebastian.
2. Petrov''s podium. What a car Renault have produced this year, and how cool was Vitaly in Australia? The first ever Russian podium in F1 and a great reward for the team's faith in him.
3. Eddie Jordan totally forgetting his question to Jenson Button on the F1 Forum in Malaysia. Thankfully DC stepped in as JB and I were both corpsing at that moment. Classic EJ and I missed him in China.
4. The RB7. Adrian Newey is an enigmatic individual who seems to have a God-given ability to design the most incredible racing cars - Williams, McLaren, Red Bull. They must all be so grateful they could afford him.
5. The racing. Paul Di Resta beating his classy team-mate Adrian Sutil, Felipe Massa beating Fernando Alonso, Vettel's dominance, Webber's doggedness, Team Lotus mixing it with the midfield and Kamui Kobayashi's racing instinct. Bodes well for the next seven months, eh?
Monday, May 2, 2011
BMW brings back the Ultimate Driving Machine [video]
BMW fans rejoice! The company has brought back the Ultimate Driving Machine tagline 
974 Pics at NNL east 2011
Hi, here are my 974 photos.
Thank organizers are great show! I hope to next year ;) Jean-Jacques NNL east 2011
Formula 1 and Bahrain
Bernie Ecclestone has been saying that Formula 1 should give Bahrain more time to revive its Grand Prix. The country has a deadline of May 1 to ask for a new date for the Grand Prix. There seems to be little enthusiasm in F1 circles for a race in the Gulf kingdom, even if it [...]
Karthikeyan Makes Surprise F1 Return With HRT
Narain Karthikeyan has made a surprise return to Formula One after being announced as one of Hispania HRT’s drivers for the 2011 season. The Indian driver was unveiled as the first racer to be working with the Spanish based squad, who look likely to enter into a second season of racing despite on-going financial concerns. [...]
Ricardo Rodríguez Alberto Rodriguez Larreta Franco Rol Alan Rollinson
Maybach Exelero sold for $8 million - report
Sure, you can buy a Maybach 57S Cruiserio Coupe for a million dollars (€675,000) but why bother when you can have the real thing for just $7 million (€4,721,200) more? 
Your F1 2011 questions answered - part I
Are the new rules a good thing? What are my views on the Hispania debacle at the start of the season? Do the new tyres leave too much rubber on the track? Which new driver has made the best impression so far? What's going wrong at Ferrari?
Watch my answers below.
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What is your "Holy Grail" kit (with a tip of the hat to Mrmike)
Mike's post got me thinking - if money was no object and you could get any kit you wanted, what would it be? For me, it would be Tamiya kit # 12016 - The Texaco/Marlboro McLaren M23. Highly collectible and selling between $300-400 typically, this is the one that I would love to have in my collection. I'm wondering what other kits fall into the extremely sought after category...
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Campaign launched to save Team Lotus
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F1 modeling magazine #8
I am looking for issue #8 of F1 modeling magazine. Deals with the Ferrari F1 2000. Published Dec. 2000 in Japan.
GM likely to regain top dog status given Toyota's production woes
Toyota's production and recall woes will hit its sales this year giving GM the opportunity to reclaim the number one spot. 
F1 Driver Sebastian Vettel takes win at the first race of the F1 2011 season
Red Bull seems poised for a repeat performance of a fantastic Formula One season in 2010, as F1 driver Sebastian Vettel was first past the chequered flag at the season?s opening race in Melbourne.
Vettel?s race was charmed from the start of the Australian Grand Prix, with the German F1 driver taking a 2.4 second lead [...]
Vettel?s race was charmed from the start of the Australian Grand Prix, with the German F1 driver taking a 2.4 second lead [...]
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