Marcos misses by this much

A SHATTERED Marcos Ambrose has missed what was his best chance of gaining a start in NASCAR’s lucrative 2014 Sprint Cup championship “play-offs”, taking second to A.J. Allmendinger in a heart-stopper at Watkins Glen on a sad day for American motor sport.

After winning what was his first career Cup race, Allmendinger offered his condolences to the family of Kevin Ward Jr, the driver killed in the sprint car incident with Tony Stewart the night before.

“We’re a community here, we’re thinking about you,” Allmendinger said.

In a two-lap dash to the finish, Allmendinger held off Ambrose through the first two turns of the Glen road course. They bumped, but Ambrose did get a second shot at winning the crucial race.

The Tasmanian drove in both the second-tier Nationwide Series and top-level Sprint Cup races at the Glen, needing a win in the latter to advance him into the Chase – the end of season races that decide the championship.

Ambrose showcased his road course abilities in a brilliant victory on Saturday – but the win came in the wrong race.

A day later, he came up short – just – in the Sprint Cup race.

His win in the Nationwide race, after being turned around in the early stages, was Ambrose’s first success in 2014.

Sydney’s Kerry Madsen third at Knoxville

DONNY Schatz extended his hot streak at sprintcar racing’s biggest event at the weekend when he won the Knoxville Nationals for the eighth time in nine years.

Schatz, who celebrated a $150,000 pay day, is now just three wins away from matching legend Steve Kinser’s Knoxville successes.

Held in the middle of nowhere – aka Iowa, USA – there isn’t a sprintcar race in the world with the prestige and the tough competition of the Knoxville Nationals.

This year’s 54th running drew 112 drivers from all over, with six drivers from Australia adding a punchy international flavour.

After a compelling fight with pole man Schatz, Brian Brown finished runner-up for the third year in a row. With seven laps to go at the dirt half-miler, Brown caught and passed Schatz, but Schatz took the lead back two laps later.

And after looking strong throughout the lead-up races and prelims, Sydney’s Kerry Madsen took a hugely impressive third, bettering his fifth in 2007.

Of the Australians, only Madsen and Knoxville one-lap record-holder Brooke Tatnell qualified for the 50-lap final. Tatnell was classified 20th.

Marquez lands perfect 10; Miller third

MARC Marquez’s incredible sequence of MotoGP victories this season extended to 10 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this morning, leaving his rivals wondering if they will ever win a race again as long as the precocious Spaniard turns up.

The redesigned Indy MotoGP layout is now a 16-turn, 4.2-kilometre circuit with exciting new turn configurations and braking zones and more passing opportunities.

Marquez, who led home Yamaha pair Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi, became the first rider to win 10 premier-class GP races on the trot since Mick Doohan in 1997, also on a Repsol Honda.

Aussie Broc Parkes finished 15th.

Marquez increased his lead in the championship, with a perfect 250 points to team-mate Dani Pedrosa’s 161.

Australia’s Moto3 charger, Jack Miller (KTM), finished a fighting third in the Moto3 championship race at Indianapolis, 0.2sec behind winner Efren Vazquez (Honda), who edged Romano Fenati (KTM).

Miller nevertheless holds a 21-point advantage over Vazquez in the championship battle.

Monopoly money gets Bernie off the hook

FORMULA One’s big news last week was (again) centred on dodgy off-track activities and the German court case against grand prix boss Bernie Ecclestone for bribery and incitement of breach of trust.

Little Bernie faced 10 years in jail if convicted of allegations involving a $US44 million payment to German banker Gerhard Gribkowsky, who is serving eight and a half years for taking the money.

Ecclestone, 83, denied any wrong-doing, claiming Gribkowsky, who was in charge of selling German bank BayernLB’s 47 percent stake in F1 in 2005, blackmailed him.

The long-anticipated smoking gun hadn’t materialised during the trial. Prosecutors and the great escapologist’s defence team, agreeing on a lack of conclusive evidence, called for proceedings to be closed, in exchange for a payment of $US100 million to the state of Bavaria.

Deals like this can happen as long as “the gravity of guilt” isn’t an impediment. Common under German law, they have to be approved by the court hearing the case, but normally don’t involve such staggering amounts of money. Fines are pinned to the assets of the defendant.

And Ecclestone was off the hook for a mere US$100 million, tea money for a bloke with a net worth of an estimated $US4.8 billion.

The unusual decision to end the trial with a payment means Ecclestone was found neither guilty nor innocent. He will continue to run F1.

What’s new?

Three new body colours and new digital cluster displays. Most interestingly, Fiat has given the Abarth a new halo model.

What colours are those?

Blue Jelly bean, Mint Milkshake and Vanilla Ice Cream.

Are you serious?

Deadly. However, they’re available on the 500 models only and not the Abarths.

Phew. Where are the new engines? Extra power?

Unfortunately the 500 range still consists of a 51kW 1.2-litre, 74kW 1.4-litre and 63kW 0.9-litre two-cylinder turbo engine. The ‘T-Jet’ 1.4-litre four-cylinder turbo still exclusively powers the Abarth models and has 118kW and 230Nm.

Fiat has ditched the ‘EsseEsse’ nameplate from the Abarth range and introduced two new ones: the ‘595 Turismo’ and ‘595 Competizione’. The latter comes as a convertible too.

Tell me about the fast ones.

The Turismo is now the entry-level Abarth available in a two-tone colour scheme for the more style-conscious. It gets the same oily bits as the higher-spec Competizione, like front Koni struts with dual-frequency damping (similar to the Dual Flow Valve tech on Volvo’s S60 Polestar), but doesn’t get the really cool stuff.

Mechanically the Competizione gets a “Record Monza” exhaust system, which doesn’t increase power but apparently improves the engine’s low-end torque delivery. It also gets beaut five-spoke alloys. On the inside its front seats are bucket items by Sabelt, while there’s also climate control and aluminium pedals to sweeten the range topper’s deal.

How much are we talking?

The trick exhaust and seats come with the $3K premium the Competizione attracts. Having said that, it sounds unbelievably mean for a 1.4-litre and complements the whole sporty theme Fiat has happening, which includes those Sabelt seats that hug you like a corset. Great for antisocial cornering.

Now we’re talking. Is it fast?

Err, it won’t have your passengers swearing, put it that way. For both 595 models Fiat claims 7.4sec to 100km/h. Hardly worth bragging about, but it is fun to drive. It accelerates like a fox terrier chasing a tennis ball, sounds rorty, and its stiff but controlled chassis can get a grin or two happening. And then a wince, because the ride is very average. The manual transmission also lacks feel, losing the 595 marks.

What’s the damage?

The Turismo is $33,500 – over a grand cheaper than the EsseEsse. The Competizione is $36,500; the convertible $39,000. Add $2K to each if you want the five-speed auto. And trust us, you don’t.

Wait a second, thirty-six grand?!

Who said style was cheap! A lot of people will be drawn to the Abarth for its sheer quirkiness. But if performance is your number one worry, don’t buy an Abarth before having a crack in a Ford Fiesta ST or Renault Sport Clio.

Read the full first drive in the October issue of MOTOR, out September 4

At Nissan’s Oppama plant, there’s an innocuous red door with ‘Nissan DNA Garage’ written in bold font. It’s not a welcoming door – ‘keep out’ is plainly written next to the handle – but for Japanese car nuts it’s the equivalent of climbing through the wardrobe to Narnia.

Nissan’s DNA Garage is a giant warehouse home to the company’s most treasured possessions. Giant car companies aren’t usually very sentimental; often they’d rather crush prototypes or one-offs than find space to keep them.

Thankfully, Nissan is different, and the DNA Garage is home to one of the most jaw-dropping collections of significant cars you’re ever likely to see.

No matter what style or era you’re into, there’s almost guaranteed to be something to get you drooling. Vintage machinery? How about Nissan’s first car, the 1933 Datsun 12? Or Prince Skylines so clean you could eat your dinner off them? If the ’70s were your golden era, there’s the legendary original GT-R ‘Hakosuka’ and immaculate early Z-cars.

For the computer game generation it’s like walking into your very own Gran Turismo garage. GT-Rs of every type and iconic race cars as far as the eye can see – Group C Le Mans prototypes, historic rally cars, outrageous Group 5 Silhouette racers and more JGTC racers than you can point a Playstation controller at.

Sadly, the museum is very, very rarely open to the public, but hopefully flicking through our gallery is the next best thing. For a full list of vehicles and specs on each click here.

MAZDA is gearing up to reposition its MX-5 sports car with a more basic entry-level model priced below $40,000.

Due in 2015, the new MX-5 is being developed in conjunction with Fiat and will be the biggest change to the world’s best-selling roadster since it arrived on the scene in 1989.

Speaking to Wheels, Mazda Australia managing director Martin Benders said the company had looked at the positioning of the Toyota 86 sports car, which is priced from $29,990 (plus on-road and dealer costs) – well down on the $47,280 asked for the current Mazda MX-5.

“If 86 taught us anything it’s if you take the price down far enough you can attract some new people into that sports car segment,” said Benders.

Mazda said it wasn’t reacting directly to the pricing of the 86 – which in some months has outsold the Ford Falcon, among other volume-selling models – but that the positioning of the MX-5 was on the agenda.

“There is absolutely an opportunity to look at where the car is priced,” said Mazda Australia public relations manager Steve Maciver.

Benders said he was considering adding a manual folding roof option for the MX-5 in place of the electric folding hard-top that is a more expensive set-up.

He also gave the strongest hint yet that Australia would take the expected entry-level 1.5-litre engine as well as the flagship 2.0-litre for more expensive models.

“There are ways of packaging powertrains and so on where you could do something [to bring the price of the MX-5 down],” said Benders. “There’s a whole range of variants we can put in there that could certainly drag it down.”

Mazda has announced it will reveal its new-look MX-5 on September 4, pulling the covers off the fourth-generation roadster at simultaneous events in Japan, the US and Europe.

MAZDA Australia managing director Martin Benders is confident work is afoot to bring the legendary RX-7 back to showrooms.

But he stressed nothing has been confirmed yet from the brand’s Japanese headquarters and any return of the rotary-powered RX-7 – arguably Mazda’s most famous model and a car that hasn’t been around since 1999 – would not happen until about 2017.

“I’m hearing more noise [from people in Mazda’s Japanese headquarters] – that’s all I can tell you,” Benders said. “I don’t know if it’s real or not.

“It’s less concrete than rumours,” he cautioned. “It’s just people talking about rotary generally more than you’d expect them to be [at head office].”

Overseas speculation has suggested 2017 would make sense to revive the RX-7, a date that would coincide with the 50th anniversary of the original Mazda rotary.

The new RX-7 would get a rotary powerplant designed to meet stricter emissions targets and could be produced in both naturally aspirated and turbocharged guise.

The long-rumoured and seemingly imminent revival of the RX-7 is part of a broader push to introduce more exciting models to the Mazda lineup.

“There is certainly a push internally to get some more serious performance cars out there,” said Benders, pointing to the post-GFC return to profitability.

“Last year they [Mazda] made a record profit … basically they’ve got this thing through to March 2016 that says if they get all those ducks in a row … then all of the rest can happen.

“The stuff they’re going to launch in the next two years is still mainstream, then you’ll see them starting to fill holes after that.”

As with other senior Mazda executives, Benders said the rotary was an important technology for the Japanese brand.

“From a branding point of view it’s reasonably important,” he said.

“My theory is that rotary dictated what Mazda became. Because they developed the rotary engine they had to make cars that could handle … because it’s so small and you can put it low down you can make the cars pretty slick … and you had to make them lightweight because there wasn’t much torque.

“Everything we do today comes off the rotary.”

RIDING a sales resurgence that simply won’t quit, Fiat’s ageing but still super-cute 500 has been given a ‘Series III’ makeover that’s so subtle, Hollywood would barely notice.

In the tradition of Volkswagen’s original Beetle, Fiat intends to maintain interest in its huggable 500 with this annual model update that includes a bunch of fresh features and colours – what the Scots would call a “wee nip-and-tuck” – plus driveaway pricing across the range.

But topping the list of new stuff is a seven-inch TFT instrument screen, developed by Fiat-owned Magneti Marelli, that neatly modernises the 500’s instrument pack without detracting from its ‘retro’ vibe – except the entry-level Pop which keeps the old car’s layer-upon-layer gauges.

For ‘Series III’, the regular 500 range stays virtually the same – 51kW 1.2-litre Pop ($17,000 driveaway), 74kW 1.4-litre S ($20,000 driveaway) and 63kW Lounge ($23,000 driveaway) with Fiat’s lovable 0.9-litre twin-cylinder turbo engine.

Slick-shifting, dash-mounted manual transmissions come standard in both the Pop (five-speed) and S (a brilliant six-speed), but the Lounge is slugged exclusively with Fiat’s loathsome five-speed ‘Dualogic’ automated manual ’box.

Adding Dualogic to the Pop and S costs an extra $1500, but you’ll be paying far more than that in terms of cost to driver appeal. And if you like your Fiat 500 a little wobbly, with a breezy sky view, the 500C (starting at $21,000 driveaway for the Pop) is only available with Dualogic.

Jump 10 grand or so and you reach Fiat’s Abarth line. Split into two model variants – the $33,500 Turismo 595 and $36,500 Competizione 595, but stretching to the $41,000 Competizione convertible automated manual (none of which have driveaway pricing) – the Abarth is the 500’s tattooed, gym-pumped sibling.

Carrying over the previous Esseesse model’s 118kW/230Nm 1.4-litre turbo four, tied to five-speed transmissions, the newly badged ‘595’ 500 continues to deliver a feisty, pretty hardcore driving experience – especially the Competizione with its Monza sports exhaust and custom Sabelt racing seats.

Its dual exhaust pipes are incredibly cool, and they bark and rasp like sporty little Italian cars should. The Competizione also looks the duck’s guts, but on rural Victorian roads, its ride is borderline brutal and its sexy Sabelt seats are back-breakingly uncomfortable.

Because the Sabelt seats aren’t designed for the car, the backrest adjuster is on the door side, not inboard like on all other 500 seats, meaning anyone with arms bigger than saplings will inevitably get stuck at some point trying to lessen the pain of the rock-hard backrests.

If you want an Abarth, stick to the Turismo (with regular Abarth sports seats) and option the Monza sports exhaust ($2100, dealer-fit). Or fit your own version.

Where the 500 works best, though, is at entry level. The base Pop belies its meagre engine specification with impressively elastic driveability and a keenness to be kicked along. It bops around a bit on its short 2300mm wheelbase, but besides some road- and wind-noise intrusion, the Pop is more refined, and a lot more fun, than you’d expect. Add 2014’s new retro hue – Mint Milkshake – and you have a lot of visual and dynamic personality for $17K.

Our pick, though, is the six-speed manual 500 S. With a rorty little 1.4 that revs to 6900rpm and a terrific gearchange that encourages you to drive it hard, the S encapsulates everything the 500 does best. It’s satisfyingly tough-looking, has plenty of grunt, and its seats and ride quality are orthopedic bliss compared with the Competizione’s brutality.

At $20,000 driveaway, the 500 S isn’t quite as affordable as last year’s identically engined Sport model. But given its funky new instrument pack and the timeless appeal of its styling and interior, it’s hard to think of a more amusing way to time-attack the city.

Model: Fiat 500 S Engine: 1368cc 4cyl, dohc, 16v Max power: 74kW @ 6000rpm Max torque: 131Nm @ 4250rpm Transmission: 6-speed manual Kerb weight: 952kg 0-100km/h: 10.5sec (claimed) Price: $20,000 (driveaway) On sale: Now

THE first front-wheel-drive BMW is set to spawn some family focused siblings and more drivetrains.

Before the tradition-breaking five-door hits the roads in Australia in November, BMW engineers have already confirmed there will be a seven-seat version, all-wheel-drive models and a hybrid.

“The seven-seat will be early in 2015,” said Active Tourer chassis engineer Martin Schuster. “The xDrive will be late in 2014.”

With the 2 Series Active Tourer is focused heavily on attracting new customers to the German brand, BMW is keen to capitalise on its controversial decision to finally follow other manufacturers in producing front-wheel-drive vehicles.

The seven-seat version will be 20cm longer, with the extra length added behind the rear wheels; the wheelbase remains the same as the regular 2AT.

The xDrive all-wheel-drive model is also being readied, although, as with other xDrive models, BMW Australia has no plans to sell it locally.

But it’s the hybrid 2 Series Active Tourer that could be one of the most interesting of the spin-offs.

Schuster confirmed the 2AT Hybrid would be on sale “maybe the end of 2015” and hinted it would likely stick to the configuration used in the Concept Active Tourer show car unveiled in 2012.

That car used a three-cylinder petrol engine driving the front wheels and an electric motor driving the rear wheels. It could be recharged and driven on electricity alone for up to 30km.

“The hybrid discussion is very interesting,” said Schuster, refusing to outline the details of the production version.

But he noted BMW’s history of unveiling concept cars that are close to the models that end up in showrooms.

“You know that BMW strategy about concept cars … not totally wrong.”

Karch says there are no plans for a high-performance M version of the Active Tourer, although he left the door open.

“It’s not planned to have an M Active Tourer,” said Karch. “At the moment, the M versions [of other BMWs] just stay with rear-wheel drive.”

However, BMW product communications manager Kai Lichte suggested all-wheel drive could provide the performance and dynamics expected of a BMW M car, in much the same way as Mercedes-Benz uses AWD for high-performance AMG versions of its A-Class, CLA and GLA.

“There would not be an M version, probably not even an M Performance version of a front-wheel-drive car,” Lichte said. “It would be related to rear-wheel drive or xDrive (four-wheel drive).

“It’s a matter of physics. A car with more than 300 horsepower (220kW) to the front wheels … it wouldn’t make sense. You couldn’t bring the power to the road.”

The ultimate fang: a compact mid-engined sports car and an empty go-kart track? Well, sort of. The concept sounds better than it looks.

Using a Cayman GTS, Porsche unleashed a factory driver on an indoor go-kart track “somewhere” in Northern Italy. And despite some crafty work with opposite lock, the result is some slow driving.

The Cayman GTS is one of the sweetest handling cars in existence, but we suspect the fastest thing on a go-kart circuit would be… a go-kart. The Cayman GTS’s 250kW and 380Nm need a lot more room to gallop; you’re in Northern Italy, come on Porsche, why not oversteer it around Monza?

Watch and tell us what you think, naff advertising or pulse-raising stuff?

AGP locked in until 2020

PERHAPS encouraged by Daniel Ricciardo’s stunning Formula One season with Red Bull Racing, Victorian premier Denis Napthine’s government has shaken off strident opposition to secure the F1 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne for another five years, 2016-2020.

The positive outcome came after 12 months of negotiations involving Australian Grand Prix Corporation chairman Ron Walker and Formula One Management Limited boss Bernie Ecclestone.

Conscious of the possibility of another Aussie on top of the F1 world in the near future, the premier declared: “Within this contract we hope to see Australia’s own Daniel Ricciardo win the Australian Grand Prix and become world champion.”

Ecclestone said the signing of the new contract was well deserved by Melbourne, the world’s sporting capital, which will celebrate two decades of F1 at next year’s event. Victoria nicked the race from Adelaide, which held the race from 1985-1995.

Australia is set to host the opening round of the 2015 FIA Formula One World Championship on March 12-15.

Home triumph for Latvala

JARI-MATTI Latvala (with co-driver Miikka Anttila) snagged a massive victory over reigning world champion Sebastien Ogier in a memorable day for the Finn as, for the first time in four years, a Finnish pair triumphed in their home event in the FIA World Rally Championship.

Latvala won a thriller that went all the way to the finishing line, clinching victory for Volkswagen over French teammates Ogier/Julien Ingrassia by just 3.6 seconds.

Brit Kris Meeke fought hard throughout to take third in a Citroen.

Known as ‘Formula One in the forest’, Rally Finland was the 12th consecutive rally win for the Wolfsburg-based team, and its eighth win in the current season.

All three WRC championship titles – for the manufacturer, the driver and the co-driver – beckon. Ogier on 187 points leads Latvala on 143 in the drivers title.

With occasional Hyundai factory driver Chris Atkinson again on the sidelines, antipodean glory in the mother of all rallies was in the hands of Kiwis Hayden Paddon/John Kennard, who took their i20 WRC to eighth.

Despite early dramas, including a broken wheel and punctures, Australian Molly Taylor grittily claimed third spot in the FIA Junior WRC category in her Citroen and now sits sixth in the standings.

“It’s a dream come true to finish on the podium here,” Taylor said. “We certainly weren‘t expecting this outcome after what we went through on Friday and Saturday.

“Despite the punctures, we kept on fighting. I knew we had the potential to be in the top five on the stages and that a podium finish was possible.

“I always love driving on these roads. It’s really enjoyable to race here.”

The next WRC event will be held on the tarmac roads of Rallye Deutschland on August 21-24.

Atkinson makes his return for Hyundai on home soil in Rally Australia on the Coffs Coast, September 11-14.

Aussies on top in Indycars

SCOTT Dixon reckons he is a Kiwi, but the hospital records show he was born in Brisbane. That’s Brisbane, Queensland, AUSTRALIA! He’s one of us. Well, he is when he wins.

We quietly disowned Dixon when he qualified 22nd and last for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio yesterday, but he was ours again after 90 laps when he was atop the podium. Oi, oi, oi!

It was the fifth victory for the so-called “Master of Mid-Ohio” in the past eight years after he and the Ganassi team went for a four-stop fuel and tyre strategy. He made it to the line – just – before running out of motion lotion.

Dixon won by 5.4 seconds from pole man Sebastien Bourdais.

“Truthfully, I didn’t think it was possible,” said Dixon, who has never gone winless in 10 consecutive seasons, after taking his first win this year.

He thanked the team, Chevrolet, but not god nor his place of birth.

Fellow Queenslander Will Power finished sixth to snatch back the lead (by a mere four points) in the Indycar Series championship from Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves, who finished 19th after a stuck throttle.

In eighth was Sydney’s Ryan Briscoe, driving another Ganassi entry.

The Indycar series has been decided in the season finale the past eight years and next weekend moves on to Milwaukee, the first of three consecutive weekends of competition to close the season.

NASCAR: Marcos still hunting for 2014 win

DALE Earnhardt Jr added another Pocono win to the one he bagged earlier in the season, becoming the third three-time winner in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series this season, joining Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski.

Dale Jr led the final 14 laps and held off Kevin Harvick after a late restart to win the GoBowling.com 400.

The race was marred by a 13-car pileup in the late stages.

Tasmania’s Marcos Ambrose climbed from his 27th starting slot to 14th in his Richard Petty Ford.

Ambrose now heads into a race considered the most crucial for his 2014 season, at the Watkins Glen road course, his best shot at posting a victory that would score him a start in the championship-deciding Chase.

Frosty deflated as Jamie hits back

WHILE his leading rival Mark Winterbottom dealt with an awful weekend of racing, V8 Supercars series champ Jamie Whincup continued his stunning recent resurgence to do what cream usually does – rise to the top.

The Red Bull Holden ace, who now has his nose ahead for the first time since the opening race of the year as he chases down a record sixth title, made the most of a horror day at Queensland Raceway for rival Mark Winterbottom.

Whincup and teammate Craig Lowndes posted one-two finishes in Saturday’s two shorter races before James Courtney, driving a Holden Racing Team Commodore that has rediscovered pace, enjoyed his second win of the year in Sunday’s 200-kilometre contest.

Whincup’s revival is best exemplified by his six wins in nine races and a jump from a nowhere fifth in the standings in June to being the leader going to this month’s Sydney Motorsport Park 400.

Whincup landed only a modest sixth place on Sunday.

Frosty Winterbottom had looked good for a strong finish, only to fall back to 22nd after a puncture caused by the outside edge of a kerb soon after his final pit stop.

In the title chase, Winterbottom has dropped to second, just 15 points behind Whincup.

Series newcomers Volvo and Nissan couldn’t pull off a win across the weekend despite pole positions to each marque. James Moffat’s first V8 Supercars pole on Sunday came 30 years after his father Allan’s last pole (in a Mazda).

Whincup, typically, isn’t getting ahead of himself, reiterating his usual mantra of “there’s a long way to go”.

Brabham toughs it out in Indy Lights

ROOKIE Matthew Brabham’s current dose of bad luck continued in the two races of round 10 of the American Indy Lights Championship held at Mid-Ohio.

Driving his Andretti Autosports car (number 83, like his dad Geoff), the third-generation racer encountered gearbox selection issues during the Saturday race but held on to a fifth-place finish.

Brabham, 20, qualified third for the Sunday race and was confident of a podium, but this proved to be misplaced optimism after his left-rear tyre was cut in the usual scramble at the start, sending him into a rival and ending his day before completing a lap.

“The car was going sideways down the straight and it was moving all over the place,” recounted Brabham. “Then when I got into Turn One, as soon as I hit the brakes, the whole rear end of the car just bottomed out. It felt like I just had no grip at the rear – I just spun. I’m sorry for (collecting Luiz) Razia. My tyre was gone before I got to the corner, and I couldn’t brake the car – everything was locking up. I’m not sure what happened behind me at the start… I think we were all pretty closely bunched there. Maybe I caught a little bit of a hit from behind?”

De Pasquale sizzles at Assen

AUSTRALIA’S coming man, Anton De Pasquale, continues his stellar form in Europe, taking a win and a close second in races seven and eight of the 2014 Formula Renault 1.6 NEC Championship at Assen in the Netherlands.

The 18-year-old from Werribee in Victoria earlier romped to pole position for each of the races.

The runaway series leader, De Pasquale’s winning ways continued with victory on Saturday and then finishing a close second on Sunday.

The Formula Renault 1.6 Series runs on a bunch of iconic European circuits, and is a modern yet heavily controlled wings ‘n’ slicks racing formula, providing for a level playing field with hardware.

Using an uber-light FIA-spec carbonfibre monocoque and a 1600cc 140-horsepower Renault engine, the category is part of Renault Sport’s highly regarded European motorsport ladder, which includes 2.0-litre and 3.5-litre categories as a proven pathway to F1.

Mark Larkham’s Australian MotorSport Academy manages and mentors De Pasquale.

May 25, 2023: REVEALED! This is the new BMW i5

Way out here in the distant future of 2023, BMW has finally unveiled its new i5 electric sedan – and it looks nothing like the i3-inspired patent images shown in our 2017 story.

Even better, Australian details have also been confirmed. Get all the details at the link below.

That more powerful BMW i8 never eventuated, though.

August, 2014: BMW i5, more powerful i8 in works

BMW has admitted “five is a good number” when it comes to expanding its i car sub-brand, which also looks set to stretch to a more powerful version of the i8 supercar.

The German brand is gearing up to expand its i family of electric-powered models beyond the soon-to-go-on-sale i3 and i8.

But the expansion appears to be at least a couple of years away, with reports pointing to BMW’s centenary celebrations in 2016 as a likely year for new i-model action.

“For the near future, from our point of view it wouldn’t make sense to introduce new models,” BMW product communications manager Kai Lichte said, before giving tantalising hints about future i models.

“Five is a good number for BMW,” said Lichte. “But we really cannot say anything about this right now.”

He also confirmed engineers were looking at ways to up the power of the i8, which teams electric motors with a three-cylinder turbocharged engine to provide BMW M3/M4-beating performance.

The more powerful model could use a six-cylinder engine and be badged i9.

“Our engineers have ideas for more powerful version of the i8, but what technologies we would use for this that’s also [for the] future,” he said.

Lichte said production limitations and solid early demand for the i3 and i8 – which go on sale in Australia in November 2014 and March 2015 respectively – meant the focus was on ensuring a smooth rollout rather than rushing new i models to market.

“Our engineers have a lot of ideas for more powerful versions of the i8, but we still have accountants in the company and controllers and production limitations,” Lichte said.

The i models were developed independently of regular BMW models to ensure a clean-sheet approach was taken to the new hybrid and electric models.

The i3 and i8 have carbonfibre tubs, with BMW aiming to learn more about mass production of this difficult-to-produce lightweight material.

The i3 will be sold as a pure electric car or as a plug-in hybrid with a range-extender two-cylinder engine ($63,900 and $69,900 respectively). The i8 ($299,000) uses a plug-in hybrid system.

BMW is also expected to leverage its alliance with Toyota to develop battery and hybrid technology.

The Japanese and German giants are collaborating to develop a sports car – the Z4 in BMW’s case and a possible long-hoped replacement for the Supra for Toyota – and plan to leverage each other’s strengths to develop fuel cell systems, new-generation batteries and lightweight technologies.