Schumacher Returns to F1 Racing
July 30th, 2009 by Elusive MediaVideo Source – http://www.youtube.com/user/itnnews
In the latest comeback by a retired legend, Michael Schumacher will sit in for the injured Felipe Massa on Ferrari’s Formula One team. As with Lance Armstrong, who finished third at the Tour de France after more than three years away, “I have no doubt in my mind that he can be competitive, maybe even win the next race,” says former F1 driver Mario Andretti, who finished third in his first race in a similar situation in 1982. Mr. Schumacher, a 40-year-old, seven-time F1 champion will race Aug. 23. “All he needs to do is some testing,” Mr. Andretti says.
—Darren Everson
Massa could leave hospital in one week
July 28th, 2009 by Elusive MediaVideo Source – FastLaneDaily
Story By: Motorsport.com/GMM
Felipe Massa’s personal doctor believes the Ferrari driver will be able to check out of hospital in central Budapest within one week.
Dr Dino Altman’s prediction to the Brazilian media was backed up by the Hungarian intensive care doctors, who agree that if the current rate of progress continues, Massa should be ready to return to Sao Paulo in between a week and ten days.
“(Massa is) sleepy but he gives adequate and spontaneous answers to questions we ask him,” said AEK’s chief surgeon Lajos Zsiros.
Massa’s father Luis Antonio revealed that his son may be out of intensive care within two days.
“He is doing well and soon he will be giving joy to all in his little red car on the track,” Massa’s pregnant wife Rafaela told Brazil’s Globo.
Zsireos added that the drain for Massa’s skull wound was removed, on the same day the period of induced coma was ended and artificial breathing stopped.
“(Massa is) very well and everyone is very happy with his condition,” Altman continued. “He wants to know what happened to him and he answered some questions.”
Schumacher would consider return
July 28th, 2009 by Elusive Media
Source - http://news.bbc.co.uk
By Andrew Benson
Michael Schumacher is not ruling out the possibility of standing in for injured Ferrari driver Felipe Massa.
The Brazilian fractured his skull in Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying and may be out for the rest of the year, while Schumacher, 40, is a Ferrari adviser.
“The whole thing will be considered by Ferrari. If they approach Michael, then he will consider it,” the seven-time champion’s spokeswoman told BBC Sport.
“But there is no reason for him to step into their discussion.”
Schumacher, who retired from Formula 1 at the end of the 2006 season, told the BBC in an interview at the German Grand Prix two weeks ago that he was not interested in returning to F1.
However, his spokeswoman Sabine Kehm said that was a reference to a permanent return.
“Usually, I would say he’s not interested because he’s fine with his life and he doesn’t miss anything but now the situation is so different – it’s very hypothetical – and Michael doesn’t want to step into that [discussion],” she stated.
She added that Schumacher still trained every day but that she did not know whether he was fit enough to race an F1 car again.
“Michael had a motorcycle accident in February when he had a neck problem – and I really can’t tell you if his neck would be fine to drive an F1 race,” she said.
“If Ferrari asked him whether he would consider driving, he would have it checked – and remember he is a 40-year-old man, too.”
Massa has had surgery on a fractured skull sustained when a spring from Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn hit him on the helmet at more than 160mph during qualifying in Hungary on Saturday.
He is in a “severe but not critical” condition, according to the hospital that is treating him in Budapest and there is also concern about damage to his left eye.
The surgeon treating him, Robert Veres, revealed it was “too early to say” whether Massa would be able to compete again.
But he will almost certainly not be able to drive at the next race, the European Grand Prix in Valencia in Spain on 23 August – and probably not for the rest of the year either.
That means Ferrari need to find a team-mate for Kimi Raikkonen for the Valencia race.
Schumacher, who won a record 91 grands prix in his career, is under contract to the team after taking on a consultancy role following his retirement.
The German is close to Massa, who was his team-mate in his final season, and has taken a close interest in the Brazilian’s career.
But he has not driven an F1 car since April 2008 and may consider that he has nothing to gain from a temporary return.
A number of other drivers have been mentioned as possible replacements for Massa.
Among them is Renault’s Fernando Alonso, who is expected to move to Ferrari in 2010 anyway – although the team have not confirmed that report and the Spaniard has denied it.
Renault have been banned from the Valencia race after allowing Alonso to return to the track with a loose wheel following a pit stop.
The wheel and its fairing both became detached from the car as he toured slowly back to the pits – an alarming sight only 24 hours after Massa’s accident.
Renault have appealed against the decision to suspend them and a hearing of the court of appeal of governing body the FIA is expected in the next couple of weeks.
It has been speculated that Alonso’s move to Ferrari may simply be brought forward – but that would leave Renault without a recognised top driver for the rest of the season.
The team were on the verge of sacking Alonso’s team-mate Nelson Piquet before the Hungarian race and while Alonso, a two-time world champion, qualified on pole in Hungary, Piquet qualified 15th and finished 12th in a similar car.
Ferrari have two reserve drivers, the Spaniard Marc Gene and the veteran Italian Luca Badoer.
Spaniard Gene – who raced intermittently for Williams as a stand-in during 2003/2004 and has competed in 36 races with a best result of sixth – is the more likely to be given the drive.
Badoer has been a test driver for Ferrari but has not raced since 1999 and has never scored a world championship point.
A number of other drivers have been mentioned as possible stand-ins.
The most qualified, Schumacher aside, is BBC F1 pundit David Coulthard, who won 13 grands prix before retiring at the end of last season. He is under contract to Red Bull, who would need to give him permission to race if Ferrari approached him.
Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais, who was sacked by the Toro Rosso team before the Hungarian Grand Prix, has been mentioned as he has the same manager as Massa – Frenchman Nicolas Todt.
And last winter, Italian Formula Three champion Mirko Bortolotti reportedly impressed Ferrari in a test. The 19-year-old is racing in Formula Two this season.
Source - http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk
Tania Bourbonnais Prepares for Chicago D1
July 16th, 2009 by Elusive MediaDriver: Tania “Spooky” Bourbonnais
License: D1 Professional
Vehicle: Pontiac
Model: GTO
Engine: LS7
Horsepower: 540
Source - http://www.d1gp.com
We have been talking with Tania for some time now who in 2008 started drifting when she entered the DMCC Canadian drifting series, as a BFGoodrich Canada team driver. Tania drove basically a stock GTO carrying the BFGoodrich name which was her first time drifting a car and claims she had a lot to learn about the sport. She had fun getting the car sideways and grew to love it! Prior to drifting, Tania raced 125 shifter karts and Formula Fords. This year…Tania will be driving a different GTO…this one prepared by a drift master…Rhys “Madskills” Millen. Now that’s a sweet car to drift! Tania will be competing in a few Canadian events and also will make her début with D1GP USA Round 3 in Chicago.
When not going sideways…Tania works as a driving Instructor and facilitator for many car manufactures and race schools in North America. A few years ago Tania started working as a precision driver for TV/ film, and is currently an apprentice member of ACTRA in Canada. ”I had a lot of fun filming the movie Banshee, it was about a girl who stole cars for a living and out drove the cops who were after her.” So that was me, for a month…getting chased around the city by cameras and cops, talk about having some fun! … and no tickets!
“This is my first D1 event and in preparation I have been…”Drifting in Canada in the DMCC Canadian Championship, placed third in the first 09 event in my new drift car, better known as “The Girl” the RMR GTO was very sweet to drive! Keeping in shape by karting, just won a 4 hr Enduro with fellow racer and Indycar driver Alex Tagliani. I am looking forward to Chicago!”
Source - http://www.d1gp.com
Selling in High Volume—Top Products for the 4-Cylinder Crowd
June 26th, 2009 by Elusive Media
Scion’s second-generation xB shares Toyota’s 2AZ-FE engine with the Camry, Camry Solara, Corolla, Matrix and the Scion tC. Source - http://www.sema.org/
Six of the top 10 best-selling engines are four- or five-cylinder engines. According to Ward’s Auto, these engines are included not just in some of the top-selling vehicles in North America, but are also spread across models without many significant changes.
In economics, the economies of scale depict this scenario as essentially profitable since the average costs to produce these non-unique items are reduced as their volume increase. This is tantamount to the “bulk buy” phenomenon for purchasing, and commonly used in many forms of mass production and vehicle manufacturing.
For specialty-equipment manufacturers, this level of consistency over a wide range of products helps reduce costs downstream as well.
For 4- and 5-cylinder vehicles, the most numerous engines come from Asian and German manufacturers, many of which are relatively unchanged between models. There are always variations, but the foundations are highly related.
Source - http://www.sema.org
Honda’s K-series engines, for example, have been used in models ranging from the Honda Civic to the Element as 2.0-liter through 2.4-liter iterations. The architecture and characteristics come in a multitude of varieties but their similarities often allow for engine modifications to be shared within the engine-family.
Lumped together, the primary units used in Toyota, Volkswagen, Honda and Nissan vehicles were available in over 2.6 million vehicles in 2008 and many have been carried over for 2009. Domestic engines from General Motors, Ford and Chrysler do make the top 10 in units and accounted for about 600,000 units in 2008.
Both the GM 2.4-liter and Chrysler 2.4-liter engines were crammed into the engine bays of half-a-dozen models each.
Source - http://www.sema.org
It is not always just about engine modifications, though. SEMA market research collects enthusiast data for vehicle modifications and always builds in a provision for engine-size classifications. From the annual surveys of 3,000 or more enthusiasts, the most common and first modifications purchased help underscore the primary motivations for those within the hobby.
The most common upgrades were performance tires (54.93%) and 15 of the top 20 products purchased were not directly related to engine modifications. Perhaps the initial purchase of a small-displacement vehicle lends itself to approaching vehicle customization differently than the V8 crowd. It also speaks towards the overall perspective of vehicle ownership, regular use (“daily drivers”) and affordability.
Many of the most common items purchased by this crowd address vehicle handing and comfort: polish/wax, suspension, lighting, mobile electronics and brakes. — SEMA Research & Information Center
Source - http://www.sema.org/
Monster Energy’s off road truckers McGrath, Huseman Greaves back in TORC action Sat/Sun
June 23rd, 2009 by Elusive Media
Monster Energys Rick Huseman. Source - http://www.monsterenergy.com/
The M-claw logo should rock the Pro 2 amp; Pro 4×4 division podiums as Wisconsin local Johnny Greaves leads the Monster assault at the legendary Crandon track
CORONA, Calif., (June 18, 2009) – Monster Energy off road racers are going to get a big dose of ‘Whoaa!’ this weekend, namely Crandon International Raceway first-timer Jeremy McGrath (Monster/Toyota), when the gate drops, so to speak, on the off road Mecca’s famous “Land Rush Start” and the king of supercross finds himself battling side-by-each for the first turn with the rest of the 15-truck PRO2WD field at rounds five and six of the 2009 Traxxas TORC Truck Series, presented by AMSOIL.
“I’ve heard a bit about it from the other drivers, seen it on TV of course and honestly can’t wait to get after it,” said McGrath, who should draw some added fans from the region that followed him during his 1990s run of supercross wins at the nearby Minneapolis Metrodome. “(I’m) hoping it’ll be a bit less painful to have a truck door up against mine versus a set of handlebars stuck in my ribs (laughter).”
While McGrath (currently 3rd overall in his PRO2WD Toyota) will no doubt draw some additional fans to the already popular facility dubbed off road racing’s “Big House,” it’ll be local Wisconsinite Johnny Greaves (Monster/Toyota/Potawatomi), running 2nd overall in the PRO 4×4 Truck standings, that’ll fill the most seats. A two-time winner of the Crandon “Brush Run” (Crandon’s 1.25-mile short course race, which’ll be run this weekend), Greaves hopes to re-create his recent top-of-the-box efforts from 2003 and ’06.
“Nothing like coming home to race Crandon,” said Greaves. “This’ll be a great chance for me to make up some points on Rick.”
The “Rick” Greaves speaks of is Monster Energy’s Rick Huseman (Monster/Toyota). Huseman has dominated the opening California and Texas rounds of the PRO 4×4 class, winning three races in four rounds and leading Greaves by 15 points (99-77). In addition, Huseman is the leading driver the Oakley Bomb Run Award for the fastest lap time of the race.
The Monster Energy-backed racers contesting the Traxxas TORC Truck Series will be in action this weekend at Crandon International Raceway in Crandon, Wis. (June 20-21). For more information on the series check out its website at: www.torcseries.com
Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it off road, MX, rally, insane distance jumping, SX, MotoGP, road racing, supermoto, FMX, skate, MTB, rock crawling, wake, mini bikes, surf, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the types – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault, Monster Khaos, Monster’s fruit juice hybrid dubbed “M-80,” the party-friendly MIXXD, the ground-breaking Java Monster premium coffee amp; cream drink line supercharged with our Monster Energy blend, along with the new Monster Energy “Hitman” energy shot. The Monster Energy guys running the Traxxas TORC Truck Series dig ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterarmy.com and www.monsterenergy.com
Vettel untouchable as Red Bull dominate British Grand Prix
June 22nd, 2009 by Elusive Media
Race winner Sebastian Vettel (GER) Red Bull Racing and second placed Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull Racing soak Adrian Newey (GBR) Red Bull Racing Chief Technical Officer on the podium. Formula One World Championship, Rd 8, British Grand Prix, Race, Silverstone, England, Sunday, 21 June 2009 Source - http://www.formula1.com
What seemed to be a foregone conclusion after qualifying became one almost the moment Sebastian Vettel launched his Red Bull RB5 into the lead of the British Grand Prix. In a crushingly dominant drive, which underlined the major step forward that the Milton Keynes team have made on high-speed circuits, Vettel pulled away from Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn by as much as a second a lap in a series of quick tours, and never looked remotely challenged.
Team mate Mark Webber finally got ahead of Barrichello during the first round of stops and likewise had no trouble staying ahead thereafter. But Vettel was still 15.1s ahead when the chequered flag fell.
The Brazilian held on to take third place, 25.9s adrift, while the race was enlivened in the closing laps as Jenson Button’s Brawn began to develop decent tyre temperatures. The world championship leader had run between seventh and ninth places for much of the race but vaulted ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and Toyota’s Jarno Trulli during the two pit stops, and launched a blistering attack from sixth place on Felipe Massa in the other Ferrari and Williams’ Nico Rosberg, who were running fourth and fifth respectively. By the last lap 0.8s separated the Ferrari from the Williams and 0.3s the Williams and the Brawn.
On a day when damage limitation mattered the most, Button lost only three of his 26-point advantage over Barrichello. He now has 64 to the Brazilian’s 41, Vettel’s 39 and Webber’s 35.5s.
Trulli hung on for seventh for Toyota, while Raikkonen fended off the Italian’s team mate Timo Glock, but only just. Behind them, Giancarlo Fisichella took a fighting 10th place for Force India ahead of Kazuki Nakajima in the second Williams.
Lewis Hamilton had a terrible race. It was compromised early on as Renault’s Fernando Alonso slid off the track ahead of him but obliged him in turn to go off in avoidance as he jerked back on to the tarmac. That left him embroiled in a fight with the Renaults and the BMW Saubers, which saw all of them lapped.
In the end, Nelson Piquet emerged in 12th place, just ahead of BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica and Alonso. Nick Heidfeld in the second BMW Sauber was 15th, some way ahead of Hamilton after he spun his McLaren at Vale on the 43rd lap.
Adrian Sutil and Sebastien Buemi completed the finishers after Sebastien Bourdais misjudged an overtaking move at Abbey on the 34th lap on McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen, and both subsequently retired because of the damaged caused.
WRC: Loeb aiming to put Greece behind him
June 19th, 2009 by Elusive Media
Source - http://www.autosport.com
By David Evans
Sebastien Loeb’s crashed Citroen, Acropolis Rally 2009Sebastien Loeb says his biggest challenge at next week’s Rally Poland will be to forget the crash which ended his Acropolis Rally on the last round.
The Frenchman rolled his Citroen C4 WRC six times while pursuing the lead of the Greek event. He admits the he could have been distracted by changing a pace note in the middle of the corner.
After winning the first five rounds of the World Rally Championship, Loeb arrives in Poland – the first time the WRC has been there since 1973 – with only five points from his last two events.
Loeb said: “With six rolls, this is the first time [I have had such a big accident] and I hope this is the last. I make no secret that since it happened, I have thought a lot about it. The hardest part now will be to successfully ignore it the next time I take off at the wheel of my C4.
“My accident [in Greece] is difficult to explain. I made a small mistake in swerving at a right turn, as can happen, except that here, as I was slightly off line at the entrance to the following left turn and cut the corner a little, there was a stone hidden by a bush that I had not noticed during recce.
“This stone threw us to the outside of the corner, tearing off the wheel and that is where we started to spin [roll]. What is certain is that this was a driving error. But at the same time, I missed it [the rock], I was in the process of changing a note for the second pass.
“I asked Daniel to replace a ‘minus – minus’ with a ‘minus’ to just make this section a little faster in the afternoon. Is this what I was distracted by? I do not know.”
Loeb added that the fight for this year’s world title, where Ford’s Mikko Hirvonen trails him by seven points, remains wide open.
“Do not believe that because I won the first five rallies of the season, the story is over,” he said.
Le Mans – Porsche celebrates LMP2 success
June 19th, 2009 by Elusive Media![Elgaard/Poulsen/Collard - Essex Racing Porsche RS Spyder [Pic credit: Porsche]](http://pix.crash.net/motorsport/360/AU513410.jpg "Elgaard/Poulsen/Collard - Essex Racing Porsche RS Spyder [Pic credit: Porsche]")
Source - http://www.crash.net
Having finished second last season, Team Essex secured class honours with a 14 lap winning margin over its closest challenger in the hands of Casper Elgaard, Emmanuel Collard and WTCC racer Kristian Poulsen.
“After claiming second last year we are absolutely over the moon with our victory today,” Elgaard said. “This is a huge success for our Danish team, which only began competing in long distance racing last year.”
Porsche had looked good for a 1-2 finish in class, with the NAVI Team Goh entered car running second place before Seiji Ara was caught out on oil heading into the first chicane on the Mulsanne Straight and went off heavily into the barriers.
“I had no chance,” he said. “Two wheels hit the oil that I couldn’t see while braking. It’s a bitter end of a great race. I’m pleased that the RS Spyder is not only fast, but also safe.”
GT2 however turned into a race of disappointment for Porsche, with none of the 997 RSRs entered in the race classified at the finish as Ferrari dominated. Indeed, the lone Spyker was the only non-Ferrari running at the finish.
Amongst the main disappointments was the performance of the Felberymayr-Proton entered car shared by factory drivers Marc Lieb, Richard Lietz and Wolf Henzler which stopped with a fuel problem on the entrance to the pit lane and refused to restart in the early hours of the event.
“Of course I’m very disappointed,” Lieb said. “But we are looking ahead and already looking forward to the next race in the Le Mans Series, where we want to extend our championship lead with another victory.”
Ford: Featured Automaker of the 2009 SEMA Show
June 18th, 2009 by Elusive Media
A longtime partner with the specialty-equipment industry, Ford is the Vehicle Manufacturer of Show for the 2009 SEMA Show.
Ford Motor Company will be the featured automaker of the 2009 SEMA Show, taking place November 3–6 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
“Ford has always been a strong supporter of SEMA and our industry,” said Christopher J. Kersting, president and CEO of SEMA. “We are pleased to announce their participation as Vehicle Manufacturer of the Show and to be collaborating with them on several branding and technology programs.”
Ford has long recognized the benefits of partnering with the specialty-equipment industry. The automaker participates with SEMA members on several technology sharing programs.
In recent years, Ford received several of SEMA’s prestigious design awards for creating accessory-friendly vehicles. Ford also paved the way for other automakers in the SEMA Technology Transfer Program and also participated in the annual OEM Tech Talks and measuring sessions.
“Ford Motor Company is pleased to be the featured manufacturer for the 2009 SEMA Show,” said John Felice, General Manager, Ford and Lincoln Mercury Marketing. “The SEMA Show provides us with the opportunity to showcase the flexibility of our vehicles for personalization and accessorization and ultimately drive sales of our new cars, trucks, crossovers and SUVs.”
“Ford’s involvement this year is much more than a Show sponsorship,” adds Kersting. “SEMA will be making some exciting announcements in the coming weeks about several “first-ever” programs at the 2009 Show. These programs will further demonstrate how the SEMA Show represents one of many year-round activities that help us all do better business.”
Details about and registration for the 2009 SEMA Show are available at www.SEMAShow.com.
Contributers
