Culture|Garage

By now you have probably already read that Chip Ganassi’s team took first place, for the third consecutive year, at the Rolex-24.  If you haven’t, Juan Pablo Montoya, Dario Franchitti, Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas piloted the Lexus Riley Daytona Prototype to a first place finish, for the third consecutive year.

Something about Daytona Prototypes just don’t excite me.  It’s almost like NASCAR for the elite class.

Personally, I just prefer GT class cars, LeMans Prototype, etc.

But that isn’t what this is about.  This is about one of our readers, Ricky, who provided me some of the shots he took at the event.  Wow!  Some great photos.  Check out his flickr page for more pictures.

ShareThis

Remember that TV commercial of all the Porsche’s revving? Well now the site is live, Cayenne GTS Bloodlines. On it you can “rev” multiple Porsche models and gain insight on their latest model.

But the enthusiast in all of us is going to run to the Audio IQ, where you are asked to take a test to identify various Porsche models based on, revving, deceleration, down shifting, etc. As you guess correctly, you can track your scores against other visitors and unlock content in the downloads section.

There is also a portion where owners will be able, to eventually upload video of them revving the engine in their Porsche.

ShareThis

Travis Pastrana was the assumed winner of Sno*Drift, until Bambi killed that opportunity. Antoine L’Estage, last year’s Canadian Rally Champion, took first place and the overall win at the first Rally America race of the season. He and his Open Class Hyundai were strong contenders from the get go, so the top finish doesn’t come as a surprise.

“I’m very happy for our win, but I’m speechless,” said L’Estage at the finish. “Travis was the designated winner, he beat everybody — until the end.”

Second place went to the Open Class Mitsubishi Evo driven by Andrew Comrie-Picard. Kyle Sarasin, last year’s Rookie of the Year, took third place overall — his first overall podium finish.

Visit Rally America for the full final standings and times.

ShareThis

The second day of stages at Sno*Drift brought about some interesting and unfortunate events. By mid day, fans were fairly confident that Travis Pastrana was going to take the overall win. He was enjoying a over a minute full lead with only a few stages left.

Then, in fitting fashion, some “hostile snowmobilers” with a bonfire refused to leave where they had staked out. The stage was called off and the sheriff was called. Hundreds of pissed off fans, who had hiked over a mile in and stood in the cold for two hours, echoed boos and threatened to chase after the snowmobilers. This marks the second time, in as many years, that snowmobilers have interfered and caused a stage to be canceled.

Going into the second to last stage, Travis Pastrana’s STI met up with a deer. Thus requiring him to have to retire from the race.

ShareThis

The Aston Martin Rapide concept has been revealed two years ago, but just this week pictures of the pre-production prototype of the the car have been seen.

Aston Martin informs us that production of the car will be between 1000 and 2000 units per year, slightly more from the original estimate of 500 per year. This is due to the fact of people’s strong interest in the Rapide.

The Rapide is built on the company’s VH (Vertical/Horizontal) architecture like all other Aston Models. And while the car may look sporty and not that big, its comparable to the Mercedes Benz S-class in size.

Full Gallery Read the rest of this entry »

ShareThis

Subaru Rally Team driver, Travis Pastrana and his co-driver Edstrom are currently in the lead after a days worth of stages.  They have distanced themselves by 46 seconds over the second place Ken Block.

Antoine L’Estage, the 2007 Canadian Rally Champion, is well versed in snow and ice stages and will prove to be a top competitor at Sno*Drift.

L’Estage and his Open Class Tiburon were in second place, but as the night stages progressed, Block pulled ahead.

More updates to come, we are off to track through the snow to watch the final day’s worth of stages.  In the mean time, check out the videos and pictures in the below posts.

ShareThis

Voiceover credit to Jon (Champ) and Andrew (ADouglas)

Stage one was an icecapade. Or at least at the area we were spectating from. Out of 40 plus cars, only three or four made this turn. Competitors would fly down the stage at 70-90mph and into a 90 degree turn. Only problem was, well, there was a ton of glare ice. We saw cars get stuck, cars go, 100 yards off track, etc. One of the highlights, was watching team Krolikowski in their 2000 Impreza, haul ass and then plow into a snow bank. Only problem was, the next competitor was quickly catching.

Of course he slid too. They nearly knocked each other out. But as the Krolikowskis broke free, team Hanson, in their PGT 2002 WRX slid past and then pulled in front.

More still shots, post jump

Read the rest of this entry »

ShareThis

As if there weren’t enough Hummers already (H1, H2, H2 SUT, and H3) this will be the fifth variant, the 2009 Hummer H3T. It’s set to debut at the Chicago Auto Show next month.

The H3T will have a longer wheelbase than the H3 which will also have a more usable bed than that found in the H2 SUT. The H3T will also feature a standard bed-rail system along with 4 compartments and available bed accessories through your Hummer dealership.

The truck pictured is the H3T Alpha model, which upgrades the H3’s standard inline-five for a V8 along with a couple other changes.

GM announced to produce the H3T in October and it will be built at GM’s Shreveport Plant, with annual production expected to be about 35,000 units.

Full Gallery Read the rest of this entry »

ShareThis