μια νέα εμφάνιση στα S2000

Proton to enter S2000 WRC next year



Proton will enter next year's Super 2000 World Rally Championship, starting its programme with P-G Andersson and Giandomenico Basso driving on the Monte Carlo Rally.

In addition to its maiden SWRC entry, the Malaysian firm has also confirmed it will defend its multiple Asia-Pacific Rally Championship titles with Andersson and APRC champion driver Alister McRae. The British driver is also expected to play a part in Proton's SWRC assault.

McRae, who is preparing for next year's Dakar, admitted he was delighted to be staying with the British-based Proton Motorsports team.

"The car really came on very well last year," said McRae. "There was a gap between a couple of the APRC rounds when I was out of the car and when I went back to it, it was obvious how hard the team had been working. There's more development to come from the car, but it's got great potential.

"Winning the APRC title was a big thing for me and the chance to go back and defend the championship is great news. I'm looking forward to being back in the car and competing at a very high level again."

After Monte Carlo, Proton will also tackle Sweden, New Zealand, Finland, Spain, France and Britain. Its APRC campaign gets underway in Malaysia in the spring.

Proton team principal Chris Mellors said he was looking forward to another busy season with the Satria Neo S2000s.

"Two cars in SWRC and APRC is a very good programme for 2012," said Mellors. "We enjoyed a lot of success in APRC last year and we learned a great deal to take forward into this year. It's going to be an exciting time for the team."

Mellors added that he hoped to see Proton represented in the IRC again.

"Proton is moving in a different direction for next season," he said, "which means we won't be in the IRC. We are working on some possible options which would mean private cars in that championship. I have to thank Eurosport and IRC for a great series: we had some tremendous competition there."

Lotus Exige R-GT Rally gets first track test

After making its world premiere at the Frankfurt Motor Show this past September, Lotus Motorsport has taken the Exige R-GT, the Rally version of the new Exige S, out of the nest so it can spread it wings for the first time.

Dressed in full rally specification the test occurred just north if Turin, Italy with perfect results. Testing will continue just after the new year ahead of the start of the 2012 FIA World Rally Championship season where the Exige R-GT will contend the FIA GT category on asphalt at events in Monte Carlo, Tour de Corse and San Remo.

Group Lotus Director of Motorsport Claudio Berro said, "When you consider that we've only began working on this car in July, I think what we've achieved in that time has been incredible. For me the Exige S makes the perfect GT rally car, it has an awesome 3.5-litre, supercharged engine, and we've managed to balance the weight perfectly to meet the minimum weight regulations. The shakedown today (23rd December) has only made us even more excited to show off the car in true race form early next year - I think we're doing the Lotus motorsport pedigree proud."

The Exige R-GT is powered by the same 3.5 liter supercharged V6 unit from the Exige S and Evora S producing 350 PS (257 kW / 345 hp) but with changes to the gearbox and restrictions placed on the engine in order to control output and meet FIA GT requirements.

Meanwhile, within a span of 24 hours of the Exige R-GT test Lotus also fired up for the first time the new IndyCar engine at Dallara headquarters in Palma, Italy. Pleased with the overall results, the team have now prepared the engine and car for shipment to the US where full testing will begin in January.

Berro also commented, "The fire up in the car went really well, there were no nasty surprises and I think our partners are going to be very happy with the results. It was only October last year that we announced that we would become an IndyCar engine supplier and just 12 months on, we had an all new Lotus engine and three teams signed up - Bryan Herta Autosport, Dreyer and Reinbold Racing, and HVM Racing. We've still got a lot of work to do ahead of the start of the 2012 IZOD IndyCar season but so far I'm very encouraged by what I see."













Read more: http://www.worldcarfans.com/11112283930 ... z1hqdylaFf

WRC: Με ένα αυτοκίνητο η Mini

Και ενώ όλα έδειχναν ότι η Mini θα ακολουθούσε ολόκληρο το πρόγραμμα του 2012 με δύο οδηγούς, η αβεβαιότητα που υπάρχει αυτή τη στιγμή στο σπορ, μετά τα προβλήματα που έχει η εταιρία CSI του Vladimir Antonov, η οποία και κατέχει το πλειοψηφικό πακέτο της North One Sport (global promoter του WRC), εν τέλει θα συμμετάσχει και στους 13 αγώνες, αλλά με έναν οδηγό και χωρίς το μανδύα της εργοστασιακής ομάδας. Έτσι, ο Ισπανός Dani Sordo θα είναι αυτός που θα οδηγήσει το αυτοκίνητο, με τον Kris Meeke να τίθεται εκτός. Ο Βρετανός θα μείνει εκτός στο Ράλλυ Μόντε Κάρλο, με τον Γάλλο Pierre Campana να παίρνει τη θέση του. Σύμφωνα με πληροφορίες, η Mini προσπάθησε να εξασφαλίσει χορηγούς για ένα τρίτο αυτοκίνητο, έτσι ώστε να συμμετάσχει και ο Meeke, αλλά εν τέλει αυτό δεν στάθηκε δυνατό. Βέβαια, μέσα από την Prodrive, η οποία και έχει την ευθύνη προετοιμασίας των Mini και της εκπροσώπησης της ομάδας, αναφέρουν ότι ο Meeke παραμένει μέλος της ομάδας: «Ο Kris είναι ένας εξαιρετικός οδηγός και μέλος της ομάδας. Θέλουμε να τον δούμε τη νέα χρονιά σε όσους περισσότερους αγώνες γίνεται».

Ουσιαστικά, ο Sordo θα συμμετάσχει σε όλους τους αγώνες ως εργοστασιακή συμμετοχή, ενώ δίπλα του θα εναλάσσονται διάφοροι οδηγοί με ισχυρούς χορηγούς, ουσιαστικά αγοράζοντας τη θέση. Με αυτόν τον τρόπο, ο David Richards θα προσπαθήσει να συνεχίσει την εξέλιξη του αυτοκινήτου, συγκεντρώνοντας τον απαραίτητο προϋπολογισμό «νοικιάζοντας» το δεύτερο εργοστασιακό Mini. Από εκεί και πέρα, ο Meeke θα κάνει την εμφάνιση του σε ένα τρίτο αυτοκίνητο, όποτε αυτό είναι δυνατό._Π.Τ.

PORSCHE CUP ΣΤΟ WRC



Η γερμανική εταιρεία Porsche μπαίνει στο WRC με την δημιουργία του Porsche cup. Το νέο αυτό κύπελλο γίνεται μια άριστη πύλη για το πρωτάθλημα όπου η προώθηση των μέσων μαζικής ενημέρωσης και κυρίως της τηλεόρασης είναι εξασφαλισμένη. Οι συμμετέχοντες θα οδηγούν Porsche 911 GT3 έναντι του ποσού των 400.000 ευρώ. Το κύπελλο θα λάβει μέρος σε 7 αγώνες ξεκινώντας με τον αγώνα του Μέξικο στις 8 Μαρτίου.

πηγη: http://www.racing-news.gr