Things to Avoid, Especially in Enduros...

This accident happened during the first hour of the 12 hours of Zandvoort.

The organization running the event issued the following statement after the accident:

After checks in the medical centre:

* The driver of car #9 (Ferrari 458 GT3 -- Scuderia Praha) has been released without injury.
* The driver of car #47 (Renault Clio Sport RS -- DK Racing Event) has been transported to the hospital for further medical checks.
* The driver of car #105 (Ginetta G50 -- Speedworks Motorsport) has been transported to the hospital fur further medical checks.

All drivers were in a responsive and conscious condition. All three cars involved in the accident have retired from the race.

Great Way to Kick Off Your Weekend!

Kick off your weekend with this awesome visual and aural feast 

onboard the Mazda 767B at the 2014 Spa Classic.

Name That Caption (No. 91)

I swear it's on real tight!

BMW CCA Boston at NHMS, May 27, 2014

Quiet session in the instructor group at NHMS with BMW CCA Boston, May 27, 2014 with commentary

One Wicked Fast Smart

That's one very fast Smart but I really want to see it do some cartwheels...

A Good Day To Buy A Lottery Ticket?

Source: carthrottle.com

This might be the perfect day for this Audi S3 driver to buy a lottery ticket!

Onboard Audi R8 e-tron Electric for A Fast Nurburgring Lap

Not bad at all for an all-electric car!
How long will it before we see the first pro EV racing series?

To Track Or To Street...

To Track Or To Street,

That Is The Question!

Nordschleife Tourist Trips Gone Bad

Hat Tip to Gary R.

This is douchebaggery at its worst! And Porsche drivers put BMW drivers to shame for once.

Butt Dyno for Sale!

Maybe you have a friend or two that would be very interested:

Butt Dyno
$529.95
Just install a great mod like a cold air intake? Electric supercharger? Big Muffler? Magnetic fuel line ionizer? Awesome wing? Are you getting no respect from your friends for your newly found power? As we all know, these are high end and sophisticated modifications. Some may be TOO sophisticated to actually show up on a traditional dyno. So here we have: The Butt Dyno. Simply place it in the seat, and drive fast, weaving in and out of traffic. (On a race course, of course.) Now you can tell your friends with confidence "That oil-saturated air filter gave me 20 horses!"

Source: www.kalecoauto.com

Rough Landing at Flugplatz

The crash itself was pretty scary but staring at the oncoming traffic fly by at that speed was terrifying!

Now That's A Scary Crash!

Holy crap!! If my Polish is good enough, the YouTube comments say the driver is OK.
You've got to hope he had a HANS device. 

The Brake Ducts I Want!

Turner Motorsport's Z4 GTD: so fast, one brake duct wouldn't be enough!

A Caterham Crashfest

Watching this video, I think there are 3 possibilities:

1. Caterhams are a PITA to drive.
2. All Caterham drivers suck big time.
3. Everyone in Pastor Maldonado's extended family owns a Caterham.

What do you guys think?

Top 10 Prettiest Racetracks in the World?!

Source: Jalopnik

No Watkins Glen, Tremblant, Road America, VIR or even Monticello, are you kidding me?! I love the serenety at Lime Rock but c'mon - "prettiest track in North America"?! I think not...

A Driving Event That You'd Be Advised to Skip

It's funny how it seems that it's always the same 4 or 5 cars going off. Some people will never get it but why the hell are the stewards not bringing them in?? These drivers are a menace to the rest of the cars on track.

Hunt vs. Lauda, The Next Generation

Source: thrillofdriving.com

These sons have some really big shoes to fill in. Not surprisingly, Lauda's son is a more accomplished racer and Hunt's son is, well, maybe living life to the fullest like his dad. Either way, it will be very cool to see a Hunt and Lauda in the same score sheet.

I Think I Need a Bigger Wing...

Love the wing! It reminded me of the Godzilla Taco Bell ad, which happens to be one of my all-time favorite!

First Laps Around Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park

These are the first laps on the finished pavement at Thompson Motorsport Park in Mark DaVia's 5-time winning OLOA Porsche 996 Turbo. Not that you need more than 40 HP for this speed but it's pretty cool to think that Mark took this awesome car to the new track. 

I have mixed feelings about the track and some concerns about its safety features (check the concrete wall on the inside of the bridge turn entering the old oval section at 1:49). But hey -- nothing beats having a track within an hour of Boston!

Also check this comprehensive write-up on Thompson. I will be driving the track in a month and will have a detailed review with onboard footage of fast laps. And at least one very hot lap...

Cameraman "Catches" a Loose Tire

Source: petapixel.com

Great footage! It goes to show the car is not always to most interesting thing to shoot...

A New Challenge: 24 Hours of LeMons!

My performance driving recipe for the past 12 years has been delicious: hit NHMS, Watkins Glen, and Tremblant every year, rotate between Calabogie and Lime Rock, sprinkle 10 autocross events throughout the season and crash in an occasional karting event.

Fun as it is, it’s easy to fall into a rut and drive the same tracks year after year. Driving Laguna Seca for the first time at the BMW CCA Oktoberfest event last year reminded me of how much I really enjoy new tracks. So when a friend asked me if I’d like to join his LeMons team for the NJMP event, I was giddy: I get to drive a new track AND race! Yes, I’ve never been more excited to drive a $500 POS Buick Regal. We are talking about the brand that endured a transition from a car for doctors to a car for doctors’ patients here!

I promptly signed up for the race and received the following welcome letter from the organizers:

C/D News: CT joins terrible race team

Ann Arbor MI -- Today Car and Driver reported that CT, against the advice of mental-health professionals, will compete in the 24 Hours of LeMons -- a wheel-to-wheel car race for heaps that cost $500 or less. CT's team -- the unpromisingly named "Park Bench RacingTeam (PBRT)" -- hits your local track on 05/10/2014 to 05/11/2014, where therapists and junkyard operators are already standing by. 

One relative, on condition of anonymity, described CT's family as "...saddened but unsurprised" by the news. "Unfortunately, we've come to expect such lapses in judgment," the source told C/D.

Friends, coworkers, and relatives interested in staging an intervention and/or watching CT do something incredibly embarrassing can find more information at Car and Driver's LeMons minisite or LeMons' race info page. 

Based on LeMons rules, the car must cost no more than $500, excluding safety equipment. Now you begin to understand why ours does not have even two matching body panels and it uses coffee cans for exhaust tips. I've always been a BMW guy and I love my cars' 50:50 weight distribution. The FWD Buick has two fundamental problems: it packs a lot of weight in the front and it has poor aerodynamics. Our team had the ingenuity to tackle both issues with one bold solution: weld a real park bench to the trunk! Now the weight is much more evenly distributed and the airflow is optimized.

Simple solution to complex problems: an authentic park bench!

SportsCar Championship Race - Episode 3 from Laguna Seca

Congratulations to the Turner Motorsport Z4 GTD team for making a great comeback after being spun out by the Viper and losing 6 positions. Love watching the Z4 and Audi R8 battle it out!

Funniest Race Crashes!

These are some of the funniest racing incidents I've seen in a while. 

Where else can you see all 4 cars in a race crash in Turn 1 as the commentators go wild?!

Name That Caption (No. 90)

They do call it Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca 

but that doesn't mean Mazdas get to drive all over the place, does it?!

Name That Caption (No. 89)

Well, both have two doors and the color is similar...

"More Money Than Talent" Defined

Scratching my head trying to comprehend how stupid you have to be to do that...

Remembering Senna...

161 races, 41 wins, 65 pole positions!