Designed and constructed in fewer than six months at Aston Martin’s global headquarters in Gaydon, working with key supplier Multimatic Inc, under the leadership of Special Projects and Motorsport Director David King, the finished look of the two-seater CC100 is the work of Design Director Marek Reichman working alongside the brand’s Chief Exterior Designer Miles Nurnberger.

The Aston Martin CC100 Speedster Concept Car looks HOT and SPORTY and looks like a machine that is going to attract lots of attention in the near future if it turns from concept car into a production car.

The 6.0-litre V12-powered concept car completed a lap of the famous Nordschleife at Germany’s ADAC Zurich 24 Hours of Nürburgring race. It is lapping the circuit together with the 1000km race-winning 1959 DBR1 with British racing legend Sir Stirling Moss at the wheel. It is the most tangible expression yet of the brand’s year-long 2013 centenary celebrations.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxsw-eiHh2s

Here are some of the first images of the all new Aston Martin CC100 Speedster Concept Car.

Images of the Aston Martin CC100 Speedster Concept Car

The post Images: Aston Martin CC100 Speedster Concept Car appeared first on 3D Car Shows.

Aston Martin is celebrating its centenary in world-class style with the debut today (19 May) of the exceptional CC100 Speedster Concept.

Created as a stunning celebration of the great British brand’s 100 years of sports car excellence the one-off CC100 looks both to the past and the DBR1 – Aston Martin’s greatest sporting triumph on the track – and to the future with its teasing glimpses of potential future design direction.

The 6.0-litre V12-powered concept car today makes its world debut by completing a lap of the famous Nordschleife at Germany’s ADAC Zurich 24 Hours of Nürburgring race. It is lapping the circuit together with the 1000km race-winning 1959 DBR1 with British racing legend Sir Stirling Moss at the wheel. It is the most tangible expression yet of the brand’s year-long 2013 centenary celebrations.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxsw-eiHh2s

Viewed by tens of thousands of lucky spectators in Germany, the radical speedster is being driven today by Aston Martin CEO Dr Ulrich Bez. He said: “CC100 is the epitome of everything that is great about Aston Martin. It represents our fantastic sporting heritage, our exceptional design capability, our superb engineering know-how and, above all, our adventurous spirit!

“I have nicknamed it ‘DBR100’ because of its affinity to the great 1959 race-winning cars and, of course, our 100-year anniversary in 2013.

“But this car is more, even, than a simple ‘birthday present’ to ourselves: it shows that the soul of Aston Martin – the thing that differentiates us from all the other car makers out there – is as powerful as ever and I very much hope that everyone who catches a glimpse of it at the Nürburgring today enjoys seeing it.”

Designed and constructed in fewer than six months at Aston Martin’s global headquarters in Gaydon, working with key supplier Multimatic Inc, under the leadership of Special Projects and Motorsport Director David King, the finished look of the two-seater CC100 is the work of Design Director Marek Reichman working alongside the brand’s Chief Exterior Designer Miles Nurnberger.

Miles explained: “The brief was very simple, yet enormously testing: create something that reflects the 100 years of Aston Martin heritage and signals the future of the brand.

“The idea of an iconic speedster concept that nods to the Le Mans − and Nürburgring – winning cars of 1959 soon came, and we have had complete freedom to shape this car.”

Marek Reichman said: “I’m extremely proud of the entire team at Gaydon for creating this remarkable sports car concept in such a short time.

“The need to create a truly fitting tribute to 100 years of the Aston Martin brand has brought out the creativity and talent that makes Aston Martin such an exceptional luxury sports car maker.”

Measuring almost four and a half metres nose to tail, and more than two metres wide (including mirrors) the Speedster Concept body is a classic example of the almost infinitely flexible nature of Aston Martin’s trademark Vertical Horizontal engineering philosophy.

With a body and interior crafted from carbon fibre, tooled and provided by low volume specialists Multimatic, the CC100 utilises the latest generation AM11 naturally aspirated V12 gasoline engine mated to a six-speed hydraulically actuated automated sequential manual transmission. Controlled via steering column-mounted paddle shifts the lightweight ‘box delivers truly sporting changes perfectly suited to the Speedster’s track-focused nature.

The drivetrain will power the CC100 from rest to 62 mph in a little over four seconds, while the top speed is limited to 180 mph.

Dr Bez added: “The future of Aston Martin is, very clearly, more exciting now than perhaps at any time in its history and I’m looking forward to seeing the excitement and anticipation that CC100 creates among Aston Martin owners and enthusiasts worldwide.”

The post ASTON MARTIN’S RADICAL CC100 SPEEDSTER CONCEPT BREAKS COVER appeared first on 3D Car Shows.

The blue and yellow Bilstein-liveried V12 Vantage GT3, run by Aston Martin Racing, performed faultlessly throughout six hours of the earlier two qualifying sessions to secure its spot in the top 40 shoot-out. Five-times N24-winner Pedro Lamy was then tasked with completing two flying laps in the dramatic new qualifying format and was the second car to be flagged away following a lottery draw for the starting order.

Seventh fastest after his first flying lap, Pedro improved his time by more than two seconds on his next lap to post a time of 8:18.362, good enough to secure a front row place.

Earlier in the day, Aston Martin also successfully qualified its unique Hybrid Hydrogen Rapide S with all four drivers completing at least a lap on pure hydrogen.

The #005 close-to-production specification V12 Vantage had some bad luck with traffic on its qualifying lap and will start from an unrepresentative sixth in class having topped the class in Friday’s night qualifying.

David King, Head of Motorsport at Aston Martin comments: “Given the strength of the competition here that’s a remarkable performance by the Aston Martin Racing team. What a great way to set us up for our centenary celebrations – the whole team is absolutely delighted.”

Pedro Lamy adds: “It was great that I could start from second position and get past the first place car in the warm up lap. I got two clear laps and the car was perfect, the set up allowed me to push hard and the team did a great job. I’m looking forward to the race tomorrow.”

The 2013 Nürburgring 24 Hours starts at 17:00 CET on Sunday 19 May.

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Brands Hatch – Two weeks after the season opener at Hockenheim, the historic Brands Hatch track in Kent plays host to the DTM. Gary Paffett (EURONICS Mercedes AMG C-Coupé), who is contesting his home race, will be starting from twelfth on the grid. The Englishman missed out by 36 thousandths on the third segment of qualifying after posting a lap time of 41.363 seconds. His Mercedes-Benz team-mate Robert Wickens (stern Mercedes AMG C-Coupé / 41.440 seconds) starts from P14 in Sunday’s race.

Placed third in the season-opener at Hockenheim, Christian Vietoris (DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé), finished the first qualifying session in P17 with a time of 41.709 seconds and missed moving into Q2 by 26 thousandths of a second. Roberto Merhi (THOMAS SABO Mercedes AMG C-Coupé / 41.748 seconds), Pascal Wehrlein (DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé / 41.783 seconds) and Daniel Juncadella (stern Mercedes AMG C-Coupé / 41.787 seconds) will start the second race of the season from positions 20 to 22 on the grid respectively. Less than one tenth of a second separated all four drivers from progressing to the second qualifying segment. The small distances between cars in the first qualifying session are a testament to the highly competitive nature of the DTM: A mere four tenths of a second covered all 22 drivers in Q1.

Looking ahead to the race: The second race of the DTM season gets under way (live on ARD television, beginning at 1:05pm) on Sunday, 1:30pm, at the historic Brands Hatch circuit. Martin Tomczyk (BMW / 41.158 seconds) starts from pole position. The race at the shortest track to feature on the DTM calendar covers 98 laps and a total distance of 189.042km. Gary Paffett won his home fixture last year at Brands Hatch from pole position.

Comments after Qualifying

Gary Paffett (32, England, EURONICS Mercedes AMG C-Coupé):

• 12th, (41.363 seconds)

„Qualifying was a big disappointment. I took pole position last season and went on to win the race – I would’ve liked to repeat that result this year. The balance of the car did not feel too bad, it was alright. I had no major understeer nor oversteer, but unfortunately, we were not fast enough. On this short circuit, three tenths of a second make a big difference. I extracted the maximum out of the car and was on the limit on every lap. Hopefully, by tomorrow we will have found even more speed in the car, and then we can have a clean and fair race in which I aim to secure as many points as possible.“

Robert Wickens (24, Canada, STIHL Mercedes AMG C-Coupé):

• 14th, (41.440 seconds)

„It was really tight today; anything could have happened. I would obviously have liked to make it through to Q3, but unfortunately, my lap time wasn’t good enough. We need to investigate the reasons for that. We know that our race performance isn’t bad, and with the introduction of DRS and the new option tyres, it should still be possible to finish in the points tomorrow. Also there is the weather factor: if it starts to rain, that could completely reshuffle the pack and shake everything up.“

Christian Vietoris (24, Germany, DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé):

• 17th, (41.709 seconds)

„My position on the grid for the second race of the season is a disappointment after achieving a podium in Hockenheim, for sure. The team did a great job and I don’t blame them – the car felt good. I missed going through into Q2 by only 26 thousandths of a second, so it was extremely close. Qualifying at Brands Hatch is always like trying to balance on a razor blade; you have to be out on track at the right time and cannot afford to make a single mistake on this short circuit. Qualifying is over and done with and cannot be rerun, so we’ll just have to make the best of things in the race. Of course, I hope to pick up at least a couple of points.“

Roberto Merhi (22, Spain, THOMAS SABO Mercedes AMG C-Coupé):

• 20th, (41.748 seconds)

„That was a crazy session. We don’t know why we were lacking the speed to get us into Q2. Obviously, I would have wished for a better grid position for this second race of the season. There is hardly any difference in lap times on this short track, which means that even the slightest error is heavily punished. But the race isn’t lost yet. At Hockenheim, Dirk Werner finished on the podium after starting from 20th on the grid. I’ll be trying to achieve something similar tomorrow.“

Pascal Wehrlein (18, Germany, DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé):

• 21st, (41.783 seconds)

„That was hugely disappointing. I tried my best to push, but I couldn’t go any faster. On a track like Brands Hatch, even the tiniest detail can make a big difference, and unless everything clicks into place, you won’t get a good starting position. Even so, I’m not giving up; a lot can happen in the race and I’ll be attacking right through to the finish.“

Daniel Juncadella (22, Spain, stern Mercedes AMG C-Coupé):

• 22nd, (41.787 seconds)

„The track at Brands Hatch has its pitfalls; you have to position the car just right on the bumps to achieve the maximum. I didn’t manage to do that today. The car didn’t feel as good in the qualifying as it did in practice. We simply failed to get the best out of the tyres, and so I didn’t improve my time. Now tomorrow, I’ll just have to charge up the field from the rear. Hopefully, we’ll see one or two surprises in the race just like we did in Hockenheim two weeks ago.“

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport:

„Well, putting things in a nutshell, we had quite an unfortunate day and our performance in qualifying was definitely not good enough. On such a short track like Brands Hatch, drivers are normally very tightly bunched, and of course, one must always bear in mind the actual set up that was dialed in – and as we speak, Sunday’s weather forecast does not rule out rain – but that by no means fully excuses today’s poor performance. Now we will have to make the most of the situation and mount an all-out offensive on Sunday. Dirk Werner proved at the start of the season in Hockenheim that it is possible to go from 20th on the grid to finish on the podium. Saturday was not good enough, but that does not mean that we have completely given up hope for Sunday.“

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Less than a month after the announcement of Alpine’s return to motor racing, the revitalized Renault Group brand has released the name of its first racecar in more than three decades, the all-new “Alpine A450″. The French brand says it chose the name as a tribute to the Alpines which raced at Le Mans in the 1970s.

The Renault Alpine Racing Car Looks hot and it’s performance on the racetrack may just become legendary in the future of motor racing.Here are some images of the Renault Alpine Racing.

Images of the Renault Alpine Racing Car

The post Images: Renault Alpine Racing Car appeared first on 3D Car Shows.

After being represented by works drivers Jean-Pierre Jabouille (Alpine A440), Jean-Pierre Jarier, Jacques Laffite, Jody Scheckter and Henri Pescarolo (Alpine A442) at Imola in the 1970s, the French make returned to the famous Italian venue this weekend with an Alpine A450 shared by Signatech-Alpine’s Nelson Panciatici and Pierre Ragues.

The first day of free practice saw the team top the order as it prepared for the second round of the 2013 European Le Mans Series. In qualifying, Nelson Panciatici put the Alpine A450 on the second row of the grid.

The Frenchman defended fourth place during his first stint and, on Lap 24, the Alpine A450 was the first car to pit for fuel. Nelson Panciatici handed over to Pierre Ragues, although Signatech-Alpine’s chief rivals all opted for a single driver- and tyre-change.

Pierre Ragues re-joined in fifth place and the car made its second stop shortly after the race’s halfway point. This time, he stayed at the wheel and the team’s offset strategy began to pay dividends, since he re-emerged in third place and started to gain ground on the top two cars.

Despite a few drops of rain at different places round the track, the Normandy-based driver continued to reduce the gap. After the car’s last pit stop and driver-change, Nelson Panciatici kept up the pressure and soon moved up to second place to claim Alpine’s first podium finish since the brand’s triumph at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1978.

“We were fast throughout the race,” noted Nelson. “Despite the traffic, we managed to stay at the front of the field and I kept up a strong pace all the way to the flag. It’s a great result for the team, but I can’t help feeling we had the potential to win…”

“The race enabled us to learn a great deal about the car on Michelin slicks,” added Pierre. “I am very pleased with our lap times and this result is a big confidence-booster ahead of Le Mans. Next time out, we will need to put in a strong performance for a whole 24 hours!”

“Both our drivers did a splendid job,” observed Signatech-Alpine’s Team Principal Philippe Sinault. “We still need a little time to fully grasp the potential of our Michelin tyres in race trim. We preferred not to take the risk of double-stinting, but our tyres would have allowed us to. We are competitive and we will now be able to optimise our strategy thanks to the data we collected at Imola. There is a great deal of interest in this project and a podium finish in Italy puts us in a very positive frame of mind for the Le Mans 24 Hours.”

Alpine’s junior driver Paul-Loup Chatin won the LM PC class at Imola and has moved to the top of his championship.

Signatech-Alpine will now commence a specific programme in order to prepare for Le Mans. Next week, Nelson Panciatici, Pierre Ragues and Tristan Gommendy will all be at Nevers Magny-Cours, France, to get in some night-time running in the Alpine A450. The team will then have two Alpine A450s for the official pre-Le Mans Test Day on June 9 when it will have a new ‘low downforce’ aerodynamic package.

Imola – final positions:

1. Thiriet by TDS Racing (Beche / Thiriet), 108 laps
2. Signatech-Alpine (Panciatici / Ragues), +46.2s
3. Morand Racing (Mailleux / Gachnang), +1 lap
4. Race Performance (Frey / Niederhauser), +1 lap
5. Greaves Motorsport (Kimber-Smith / Heinemeier), +1 lap

European Le Mans Series standings (after two rounds):

1. Thiriet by TDS Racing (40 points)
2. Signatech-Alpine and Race Performance (30)
3. Jota Sport (27)

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The main contenders for the South African Rally Championship seems to be between the Toyota Hilux Pick-up’s and the Ford Ranger Pick-up’s. Here is some action photographs of the Ford Ranger in the South African Rally Championship!

Images Ford Ranger Rally Racing

The post Images: Ford Ranger Racing appeared first on 3D Car Shows.

De Bruyn and Hugo (Micaren Excel Toyota Hilux) were late starters and after early results it was taken for granted that championship leaders Chris Visser/Japie Badenhorst, in the factory Ford Racing Ranger, had won ahead of the Team Castrol Toyota Hilux works entries of Anthony Taylor/Dennis Murphy and reigning champions Duncan Vos and Rob Howie. All that went out the window when de Bruyn and Hugo put together a sparkling performance that saw them finish 20 seconds ahead of the Ford crew.

Visser/Badenhorst were suddenly demoted to second place and the two Castrol Toyotas also slipped back a notch. It was a stunning result for de Bruyn and Hugo, but whether they can stay ahead of the factory cars in tomorrow’s racer is a moot point.

There were 21 seconds between the Micaren crew and Visser and Badenhorst with Vos and Howie a further 14 seconds adrift. With the Ford’s racing on home turf and the Castrol Toyota teams desperate for a win on a Toyota sponsored event, there is enormous pressure on the factory teams and the de Bruyn/Hugo result will have rattled a few cages.

The top five in the premier SP Class was rounded out by Gary Bertholdt and Siegfried Rousseau in the Atlas Copco Toyota Hilux, with North West crew Malcolm Kock and Johan Burger (Kock and Sons Toyota Hilux) continuing their good start to the season with sixth place. Bertholdt and Rousseau are having their final outing in a Toyota Hilux before switching to a new V8 powered Nissan Navara.

Pretoria crew Christiaan du Plooy and Henk Janse van Vuuren (RFS BMW X3) and Thomas Rundle/Juan Mohr (Regent Racing Nissan Navara) completed the top eight. After disappointing starts to the season both crews will have their sights set on top five finishes.

Brothers Johan and Werner Horn (Malalane Toyota Land Cruiser) took a comfortable win in Class D ahead of championship leaders Jason Venter and Vincent van Allemann (Trysome Toyota Hilux) who will be looking for their third win in a row. Third were former champions Jack and Sarel Oosthuizen in the LMC Land Rover.

There was also an upset in Class E where reigning champions Dirk Putter and Koos Claasens failed to see out the distance in the 4×4 Mega World Toyota Hilux. They retired after nine wins in the last 10 events and honours went to Douglas Fear and Kurt de Villiers in the Brytons Removals Toyota Hilux.

Tomorrow’s race starts at 8:30am at race headquarters at the Beaumont Eston Farmers Club, and public entrance to race headquarters and the designated service park is free of charge. There is free
entry into spectator viewing points along the route with all of these within 15 kilometres of race headquarters where spectator guides will be available.

The post DE BRUYN AND HUGO SHOCK FACTORY TEAMS appeared first on 3D Car Shows.

For Hutchison and Stassen it was their first win of the season, and one that took them to the top of the Special Vehicle and Class A championships. With early season championship leaders Clint Gibson and Gary Campbell (Dirt Sport Component Porter) only managing fifth overall, Hutchison and Stassen moved to the top of both championships after a dominant performance in the new car.

Former South African champions Quintin and Kallie Sullwald (Elegant Fuel BAT Venom) continued their good form to finish second, and another father and son team in Nick and Ryan Harper completed a good day for the Motorite squad by taking the final podium position in the BAT Venom. For both teams it was their best result of the season, and in unofficial scoring left them third and fourth in the championship behind Hutchison/Stassen and Gibson/Campbell.

“We had a clean run and it was the perfect start for a new car,” said Stassen. “It was a route where it was easy to make mistakes and we had to work hard for what was a great result for us.”

Hutchison and Stassen survived a whack up the backside from Production Vehicle crew Duncan Vos and Rob Howie, in the Castrol Toyota Hilux, at a road crossing on the first of the four loops that made up the race. The Motorite crew then took control of the Special Vehicle category when prologue winners Colin Matthews and Alan Smith (Century Racing CR3) were put out of action with steering failure after being hit by Anthony Taylor and Dennis Murphy in the second of the Castrol Toyotas.

Local crew Lance Trethewey and Carl Wichmann (LT Earthworks BAT) were running second at the end of the first loop, but the winners of last year’s Sun City 400 were headed for retirement with gearbox hassles. Gibson and Campbell, who were third on the prologue to determine grid positions, also slipped back with the Sullwalds and Harpers slotting in behind Hutchison and Stassen.

At the finish there was a 70 second gap between Hutchison/Stassen and the Sullwalds with the Harpers a further three minutes and 23 seconds adrift. A third KwaZulu-Natal crew, Daniel Brookes and Gavan Gray in the Ducatis Property BAT, bounced back from a disappointing non finish last time out and a solid display moved them ahead of Gibson and Campbell.

Philip de Vries and Johan Viljoen (Conqueror Porter) were another crew to bounce back from a disappointing result to come home a steady sixth. Behind them Coetzee Labuscagne and daughter Sandra (Raysonics Zarco) took advantage of the demise of Matthews/Smith to finish seventh and win Class P.

“It was very slippery but we kept it clean and never got out of the car,” said Labuscagne. “When that happens you usually get a good result.”

Bloemfontein crew Pieter Ruthven and Leander Pienaar (Ruwacon BAT) put a disappointing prologue behind them to finish a solid eighth with the top 10 rounded out by two other Class P crews. Jeremy Wood and veteran co-driver Ashley Thorn (K9 Racing Aceco) finished around 20 minutes behind the Labuscagnes and, in turn, were a little more than five minutes ahead of Nic Goslar and Andrew Massey in the SA Clinics Zarco.

The next event on the Donaldson Cross Country Championship calendar is the Toyota Kalahari Botswana 1000 Desert Race in Botswana from June 21 to 23. With the only marathon event in the series carrying points and a half it could have a huge bearing on the overall championship.

The post HUTCHISON AND STASSEN GIVE NEW MOTORITE BAT VIPER DEBUT WIN appeared first on 3D Car Shows.

The Toyota Hilux Pick-up have further dominated the South African Rally scene with numerous victories in local Rallies.

The Toyota Hilux Pick-up which have been a long time favorite pick-up for South African Farmers and Construction companies are now also becoming Internationally recognized as being one of the best pick-up’s money can buy!

Images of the Toyota Hilux Pick-up

Read more about the Toyota Sugarbelt 400 South African Rally.

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