Gemballa Ventures Into Motorsports with McLaren MP4-12C GT

German based tuner Gemballa is known first and foremost for the personalisation of Porsche cars, something it has been doing for 30 years with notable examples including the Avalanche, based on the Porsche 911, the Tornado, based on the Cayenne, and the Mirage GT, based on the Porsche Carrera GT.

Now, the famous tuning company is venturing into motorsports with its newly formed racing division headed by Gemballa Supervisory Board director, Marco Marquardt.

Surprisingly, Gemballa Racing won't be using a Porsche for its motorsport debut as the company announced today that the new team will enter two McLaren MP4-12C GT3 cars in the 2012 motorsport season.

Team owner and GEMBALLA investor, Steffen Korbach explained: “We chose the McLaren MP4-12C GT3 because we think this car has the potential to be one of the season’s leaders. We have also put together a team of drivers and mechanics who are proven winners. Racing is in our blood! We want to win!”

The Gemballa Racing team will be managed by Sascha Bert, a former German kart champion, Formula 3 and FIA GT driver, who has stood on the winners' podium at the Nürburgring VLN 24-hour race amongst others. “Sascha Bert is an absolute pro, and is ideally qualified to manage our new racing team," said Korbach.

Gemballa's GT3 racecar is based on the recently launched McLaren MP4-12C supercar featuring a 3.8-litre, twin-turbocharged V8 engine, bespoke racing gearbox, carbon safety cell, race front splitter, large fixed rear wing, optimised air vents at the front and a racing diffuser at the rear.

The German company said it will released more details on on the GEMBALLA racing team, its partners and sponsors at a later date.

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Ferrari Gives Up on 2011 Championship to Prepare Next Year’s Car

Truth to be said, Scuderia Ferrari had a bad start in the F1 season this year. Nevertheless, changes to the personnel and, more importantly, to the Ferrari F1 car's aerodynamic package gradually improved its pace considerably, yielding a win in Great Britain and four podium finishes for Fernando Alonso.
But even with Felippe Massa saying that nothing's over and Luca di Montezemolo claiming that he expects more wins in 2011, team principal Stefano Domenicali revealed to the Telegraph that the Scuderia will stop developing this year’s car in September.
From this point on, Ferrari will concentrate all of its resources on next year’s car. And, given Red Bull’s huge points advantage, no one can really blame them.
“OK, if you have to do some fine tuning you can do it. But otherwise you will lose a lot of time on development of the new car. The more time we can spend on the wind tunnel the better” said Domenicali. “What I really want to avoid is another difficult winter like the last two years," he added.

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Ferrari's Montezemolo Expects More Wins this Season

Ferrari president, Luca di Montezemolo, has stated that he expects the Scuderia to win more races this season. And this despite the fact that in the 11 first races of the year they have won only once, with Fernando Alonso in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Alonso lies fourth at the Drivers’ championship and his teammate Fernando Massa sixth, trailing championship leader Sebastian Vettel by 89 and 164 points respectively with just eight races remaining. In the Constructors’ championship, Ferrari is in third position, with 215 points, trailing Red Bull (383) and McLaren (280).
Still, di Montezemolo came out with a positive mood after a meeting with team principal Stefano Domenicali, technical director Pat Fry and engine boss Luca Marmorini:
“I can see the right spirit in the team after a very difficult start to the season. Domenicali and his crew seem very determined, concentrating on their tasks for the second part of the year which I am sure will feature Ferrari in the role of a key player. I expect we will pick up wins to add to the historically very significant victory achieved at Silverstone”.
Ferrari’s boss does have a point since the 150 Italia seems to be much more competitive after recent aerodynamic changes, with Alonso being on the podium in the five of the last six races.
No one mentioned the championship, though. This, despite the fact that everything is still possible, seems to be going the way of Red Bull –unless McLaren and Lewis Hamilton can prove them wrong. But the Scuderia is satisfied with the progress after its worst start of the year in many seasons –and can surely play a big role in deciding the championships.

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McLaren Opens its First Two Dealerships

True to its original plan of expanding its dealer network throughout the world, McLaren Automotive today opened its first two dealerships in Germany in the cities of Düsseldorf and Hamburg just in time for the Formula 1 German Grand Prix this weekend.
These are the first dealerships to open after McLaren’s flagship showroom in London. They will be followed by two more in Munich and Frankfurt, while by the end of the year, 30 more showrooms in 19 countries in Europe, North America, the Middle East, South Africa, Australia and Japan will be added to the network.
Aside from the road version of the MP4-12C, every showroom will have a different competition model from McLaren’s rich racing history.
In Hamburg, the car on display will be the MP4/6 with which the late Ayrton Senna won his third, and final, Formula 1 world championship in 1991, while the Dusseldorf dealership will play host to the MP4/5 that won the 1989 title with Alain Prost.

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Ferrari 458 Italia Grand Am

Italian sports carmaker Ferrari has set its eyes on the North American Grand Am series, which it plans to compete in with the new 458 Italia Grand Am that was given its track baptism today at the Fiorano circuit completing several laps in the hands of Maurizio Mediani and Jaime Melo.

Developed in cooperation with Michelotto Automobili, the racing model is based on the European GT3 version of the 458 Italia but features less efficient aerodynamics as well as a detuned V8 delivering 500-horses due to the different regulations in the American series.
In addition, the Grand Am sports a modified braking system, as the car has neither ABS nor traction control.
Other differences compared to the GT3 include the strengthened roll-over bar to deal with the more frequent collisions in the American series, while the car is also fitted with Continental tires, the sole supplier to the series.

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Über Rare Porsche 911 GT1 Straßenversion

It might not be the prettiest Porsche to look at, but the 911 GT1 Straßenversion is without doubt one of the most rare and radical street legal 911s ever to leave the Stuttgart firm’s factory.
You see, the 911 GT1 Straßenversion is the fully road-legal version of Porsche’s 1997 GT1 race car, While based on the 993, it features many modifications including a bespoke carbon-fiber body made to improve aerodynamics and lower the car's weight, and a detuned version of the competition model’s turbocharged flat-six engine delivering some 540 horses.
And now, one of the very few examples that were built to homologate Porsche's 911 GT1 contender in the late 1990s (Porsche is said to have built around 20 cars) is up for sale on a German site with an asking price of €1.2 million or about US$1.7 million.
Notably, the seller says the car is located in Tokyo, Japan, but will deliver anywhere, and that the car’s engine is rated at 700-horses.

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BMW M3 Coupe Racer Concept

New DTM racing cars are like public transportation: you wait for ages and then , all of a sudden, three or four buses appear at the same time. Just yesterday we posted Audi’s new entry into the German Touring Car Championshipor, as it’s more commonly known, DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters). Today, BMW pulled the wraps off its new own DTM racer based on the coupe version of M3.

And mind you, unlike Audi, BMW revealed the M3 in the flesh clad in carbon fiber and looking quite menacing with its matte paint, flared wheel arches and aerodynamic package.

This isn’t the final form of the racer as BMW Motorsport’s engineers will hone it for its 2012 premiere. Set to debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, it is powered by a 480HP V8 built according to the racing series’ new regulations.

This is the first time that BMW will officially participate in the DTM series since its departure in 1994.

“The DTM comeback sees BMW return to its roots” said member of the board Dr. Klaus Draeger. “We will be facing our main competitors in the premium sector and we are looking forward to this challenge. We have enjoyed great success in the past, and I am convinced we will follow on in 2012 where we left off”.

BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen commented:

"The entire team at BMW Motorsport is approaching this exciting project with absolute commitment. We began making technical preparations following our declaration of intent in April, and established parameters for a high-performance vehicle concept for deployment in the DTM. The positive decision of the BMW Board of Management means we can now shift up a gear and give the green light for development."

Now we’ll have to wait for Mercedes’ competitor which will, more than likely, be based on the brand new C-Class Coupe. This three-way battle between the German premium automakers’ pumped-up coupes should be quite interesting to watch.

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New Audi A5 Coupe DTM Racing Concept

Get excited DTM fans because there’s a new kid coming to town. We’re talking about Audi’s freshly revealed A5 Coupe racecar, internally named “R17,” that will replace the four-door A4 with which Audi has conquered the DTM title four times since 2004.

Ingolstadt’s new touring model is based on the facelifted A5 Coupe that was presented earlier this week and it complies with the new technical and safety regulations that will come in effect in the German touring model championship next year.

The new Audi A5 DTM sports a high-strength carbon-fiber monocoque combined with a steel tube cage. The racing model adopts the current A4 DTM’s V8 engine with some minor changes and an output or around 460-horses. A six-speed transmission will continue to be used as well.

For now, Audi has shared a trio of renderings of the A5 DTM but we’ll get the chance to see the real thing at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show in September.

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VIDEO: Bugatti Veyron Super Sport at Goodwood

There’s nothing faster, short of a Formula 1 car, than a Bugatti Veyron, right? In particular, a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport boasting a 1,200HP quad-turbocharged 16-cylinder engine, four-wheel drive tech and a 258 mph (415 km/h) top speed. Whoever is behind its wheel must feel invincible, right?

Well, actually, no. A few days ago, at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, a Veyron Super Sport that was ready to begin its climb up the hill pulled over and let another car start first. What car was that?

A bright yellow Hennessey Venom GT with 1,200HP and a 0-200 mph (0-320 km/h) time of just 15.9 seconds. Watch the in-car video past the jump as the Venom GT tackles the hill climb.

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Kelleners Sport Tunes the BMW 1-Series M Coupe

German aftermarket firm Kelleners Sport is one of the first official tuners to get its hands on the new BMW 1-Series M Coupe and offer a complete conversion. Named KS1-S, the modified 1 M Coupe’s turbocharged straight-six now delivers 410-horses, or a good 20% more than the standard car, and just 10HP short of the E92 M3, while torque is increased from 450 to 550 Nm or 405.7 lb-ft.

As a result, the power to weight ratio drops from 4.4kg per HP in the stock model to 3.8 kg per hp in the KS-1 S.

Visually, the KS1-S differs from the standard 1 M Coupe thanks to new aerodynamic parts designed to minimize drag and increase downforce at high speeds, as well as the quad 83 mm exhaust pipes.

Kellener’s 1 M Coupe now rides on new 20-inch alloy wheels shod in tires size 245/30 at the front and 265/30 at the rear.

The company also worked on the suspension settings and added an adjustable coil-over system, which gives the driver the opportunity to adjust both rebound and compression independently.

Changes were also made also in the interior with two-tone black and white perforated leather and alcantara covering the dashboard, door panels and front and rear seats.

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Siemoneit Racing’s VW Golf R Black Pearl

While VW’s 270-horsepower Golf R hatchback is hardly underpowered, the engineers over at the German tuning firm Siemoneit Racing felt like it could use some extra ponies.

Siemoneit Racing calls its tuned VW Golf R the ‘Black Pearl’for obvious reasons- and it offers customers a choice of two performance packages. The first boosts the 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine’s output from 270HP and 320Nm to 355-horses and 485Nm (357.7 lb-ft) through thanks to the updated ECU software, custom exhaust and a new air intake system.

The second and more comprehensive package transforms the Golf R into a 530-horsepower monster by further tweaking the engine software, and adding a larger turbocharger, a new intercooler and a different exhaust system.

Other available options include a lightweight hood made out of carbon fiber.

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