Judging by most motorsports coverage here in the US, you'd think racing was entirely limited to lapping Talladega for 500 miles and never turning the wheel the other direction. Not so. In reality, it takes little more than some gasoline, an internal combustion engine and the will to go faster than the guy (or gal) next to you to have a knock-down good time behind the wheel. Whether it's bouncing $500 beaters off each other in the 24 Hours of LeMons or skipping around a lawn mower circuit, there are plenty of forms of motorsports that are low on sanity and big on fun. These are the most outrageous of the bunch.

Fernando Alonso has warned rivals not to write off Ferrari ahead of the second half of the Formula 1 season. The two-time world champion says that Ferrari's updates for next week's European Grand Prix in Valencia are only the start of a concerted push. "We will have further developments for England and Germany," said Alonso. "Valencia is not a last-ditch effort." The Spaniard lies just 15 points - the same as a third-place finish - behind championship leader Lewis Hamilton. But Ferrari's pace has been disappointing this season since Alonso won the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix on his debut for the team. Last weekend, however, the Montreal circuit used for the Canadian GP, suited the Ferrari F10 far better, allowing Alonso to fight for the lead and eventually finish third. The Valencia city circuit has some similarities to Montreal; it has long straights and relatively slow corners, playing to the Ferrari's existing strengths of mechanical grip. But a major breakthrough on aerodynamics has excited the team, and is due to feature on the F10 for the first time in Valencia. The new development uses exhaust gases to move the airflow around the diffuser and rear beam wing more effectively. The concept is believed to be the key to the Red Bull RB6's stunning pace in fast corners this season. In his blog on Ferrari's website, Alonso said: "We will have major updates on the F10 which I hope will allow us to up our performance level. "Following on from that, we have further developments in the pipeline which should arrive for England and Germany, which is to say that the European GP is simply the ninth round of the championship, not a last-ditch effort for Ferrari, which I heard some people saying. "I don't see how they can say that given that we have not even reached the halfway point of the [19-race] season, and that after Valencia there will still be 10 Grands Prix to go. "I've said it before and I'll say it again now: this is a stage event, and the fina read more »

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MELBOURNE, Australia - Motocross star Andrew McFarlane died from serious head injuries Sunday after crashing during a practice lap at an Australian national championship meeting in Victoria State. The 33-year-old McFarlane, once the second-ranked rider in the world, was flung from his bike at the State Motorcycle Sports Complex at Broadford during the third round of the MX National Motocross championships. He died at the scene. Ambulance Victoria spokesman John Mullen said paramedics worked on McFarlane for more than an hour but were unable to revive him.Motorcycling Australia confirmed the death in a statement Sunday. “McFarlane received immediate treatment from medical staff at the track,” the statement said. “MA and Victoria Police are now both investigating the incident.” All racing Sunday was canceled after the accident. McFarlane returned to live in Australia last year after competing for nine years on the world motocross circuit in Europe and the United States. He had a career-high No. 2 ranking in 2005.

NASCAR driver Tony Stewart is sitting in his motor home, which is parked beside the Bristol Motor Speedway, a 160,000-seat auto-racing shrine in Tennessee, right in the heart of NASCAR's Southeastern birthplace. Stewart's pad looks out onto a campground. It's a Friday evening in March, two days away from the big race. Bristol is a place of pilgrimage for NASCAR gearheads. It's normally packed with RVs and beer-drinking, hot-dog-grilling fans by now. Not so this year. Bristol has become symbolic of how NASCAR has stalled. "I mean, this is a perfect example of it," Stewart says, pointing out his window as his two cats, Wylie and Wyatt, purr around his shiny RV. There's room for hundreds more haulers. "Three years ago, right now, all you'd see is motor homes on that whole hillside," Stewart says, staring at acres of empty space. "You wouldn't see a speck of grass." After enjoying years of explosive growth and transforming itself into the first sports-business phenomenon of the 21st century, NASCAR is trying to restart its engine. Last season, attendance fell some 10%, and empty seats have pockmarked this year's races in Atlanta; Fontana, Calif.; and even venerable Bristol, which saw its 55-race sellout streak, dating to 1982, end in March. Since 2005, average viewership of Sprint Cup races on network television has fallen a remarkable 25%, according to Nielsen Sports; this year's Feb. 14 Fox broadcast of the Daytona 500 was the lowest-rated Great American Race since 1991. Most sports would love to have NASCAR's problems — it still routinely draws more than 100,000 fans for races. But the economic slowdown has hit hard: corporate sponsorship, the lifeblood of every race team, has tailed off, car manufacturers have pared support, and a chunk of NASCAR's blue collar fan base can no longer afford a weekend at the track. Perhaps worse than the bad economy, NASCAR has managed to make auto racing a little boring. The feuding, aggressive drivers who gave NASCAR its read more »

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Watch out Bugatti Veyron, there’s another supercar brewing! John Hennessey has spent a lot of time over the years enhancing already fast vehicles; Dodge Vipers, Ford GTs, and Chevrolet Corvettes, but it is now time for Hennessey Performance Engineering to unleash its very own supercar, the 2011 Venom GT.The Venom GT looks to combine the look of the Lotus Exige, the proportions of the Porsche Carerra GT, and the engine of the Corvette ZR1; adding the Hennessey name. The Exige body is lowered, widened by 12-inches, and 18-inches longer. Under the hood, the Venom GT has a supercharged LS9 V8 engine, like the Corvette ZR1, which can potentially give the lightweight, 2,400 pound Venom up to 1200 horsepower.The Hennessey Venom GT can do its 0–60-miles per hour sprint in 2.4 seconds; reach 200 miles per hour in 14.3 seconds, and hit a top speed of 272 miles per hour. With all that acceleration, what about the brakes? Don’t worry, the Venom’s spoiler alone acts as a brake, helping the Venom cancel 200 miles per hour in seven seconds. All for about $600,000. Interested? Me too!

At a press conference at its ultra-modern facility in Woking, England, McLaren Automotive took the wraps off its MP4-12C supercar -- actually, it was Vodafone/Mercedes/McLaren F1 team drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button who did the honors. The two have already test-driven prototypes [see video below], and put in orders for their personal cars. Being an F1 driver has its perks. The MP4-12C will be the first McLaren-branded road car since the legendary F1 (produced from 1993 to 1998); more recently, the company produced the Mercedes-McLaren SLR. The production car's appearance is essentially unchanged from the prototype we saw last fall -- in fact, it's even the same color: what McLaren executive chairman Ron Dennis refers to as "our traditional launch prototype color of orange." Home-grown mechanicals The mid-engine 2-seater will use a compact, twin-turbo V-8 that McLaren designed together with Ricardo; it will be built by Ricardo in England. At 3.8 liters, the engine revs to 8500 rpm and spins out 600 hp and 443 lb-ft of torque. A 90-degree V angle and dry-sump lubrication allow for a low engine height and thus make for a lower center of gravity in the car. The only transmission offering will be a 7-speed dual clutch automatic. The rear-wheel-drive car uses a system McLaren calls Brake Steer, which brakes the inside rear wheel to aid turn-in. A system dubbed Proactive Chassis Control allows the control-arm, coil-sprung suspension to function without anti-roll bars; the adaptive dampers with three firmness settings are connected hydraulically. Ceramic rotors are optional; there's also an airbrake, as seen on the F1 and the Mercedes-McLaren SLR, that automatically extends under hard braking. The airbrake also can be deployed by the driver to create additional downforce. Obsessing about weight McLaren engineers speak almost obsessively about minimizing weight. Given the MP4-12C's estimated curb weight of 3000 pounds (more than 200 pounds lighter than a Ferr read more »

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Bring on the electric prancing horse. Ferrari is taking its promise to introduce its first green car literally and its fans are trying their best to adjust. The car that’s synonymous with speed, style and red has rolled out a prototype hybrid at the Geneva Auto Show that’s clean and green. “Are we excited about the possibility of an electrified Ferrari? In a word, no,” opines U.S. car bible Car and Driver. “If it sells well enough to help fund the development of real Ferraris, we’ll begrudgingly accept the hybrid.” The Ferrari 599 GTB lacks the car’s trademark starting roar but does go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 3.5 seconds.“The world’s most iconic sports car marque, known for screaming V-8s and V-12s, is playing around with the gas-electric technology epitomized by the Toyota Prius,” says Automobile mag’s Eric Tingwall. Then he sighs, “Hybridization or electrification of the Prancing Horse is inevitable.” It does indeed, as rumoured, integrate technology from Ferrari’s Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS), which was developed for the 2009 Formula 1 season. The future is three to five years away, but the bravado has already arrived. “We absolutely think ahead of everybody in technology research,” Matteo Sardi, a Ferrari North America spokesman, was quoted as saying in the New York Times. “Attitudes are changing and we build cars for customers,” said Ferrari chief executive Amedeo Felisa. Not to mention European Union car emissions standards. Ferrari has also had to confront the competition. Tesla Motors two years ago introduced its all-electric Roadster sports car which now, in its Sport version, boasts a 0-to-60 time of 3.7 seconds. As HIS Global Insight analyst Aaron Bragman said, “Tesla proves electric cars are going to be a blast to drive.” For the moment, Ferrari fans seems more concerned about the paint than the power. read more »

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Tomorrow in Geneva, Porsche will unveil a new plug-in hybrid concept called 918 Spyder. This is not your average hybrid like Toyota Prius or Honda Insight. 918 Spyder plug-in hybrid concept is powered by a V8 that develops more than 500 horsepower and electric motors on the front and rear axle with an output of 218 horsepower. Combined power output is an impressive 708 horsepower! Purely on electric power it has a range of up to 25 km (16 miles). As the engine is positioned mid-ship, in front of the rear axle, it gives the car excellent balance and the right set-up for supreme performance on the race track. 0-100 km/h comes in just 3.2 seconds, top speed is 320 km/h (198 mph), and a lap time on the Nürburgring is less than 7:30 making it faster than the Porsche Carrera GT. What really impresses, is the fuel economy! Average fuel economy is just three liters per 100 kilometers (78 mpg) and the car emits just 70 grams of CO2 per kilometer. Will we ever see it in production? Very likely yes as Porsche is well known for taking their concepts into reality!

Development of the McLaren MP4-12C supercar is entering its final phase. The bespoke high-performance sports car is due to launch in 2011. Right now the latest Experimental Prototype (XP) 12Cs are undergoing intensive appraisal at a number of test locations around the world. One such site is Spain's Applus IDIADA facility, the most comprehensive independent proving ground in Europe. The XP Beta test cars feature significant technological advancements that take the 12C nearer to production. Indicative performance figures generated by the XP Beta cars are expected to be announced in March. A core team of 20-25 Vehicle Technicians travel with the XP Beta cars and are on hand 24 hours a day, seven days a week to support a test programme that mirrors the intensity of developing a Formula 1 car. Meanwhile, a further 12 Vehicle Development Engineers are responsible for specific technologies and systems being appraised while out on test. Mark Vinnels, McLaren Automotive Programme Director, is leading the engineering team and reported: "The benchmark competitor vehicles we have tested become nervous and twitchy at higher speed. "But the 12C feels more stable than anything I have driven. Because the bump rejection is so good, the ride is smooth and the steering is solid." He continued, "Between now and production the vehicles and the team are working flat out. "We expect to delight future McLaren customers."

A female spectator was struck and killed by a tire that flew off Antron Brown's top fuel dragster when he crashed at the NHRA Arizona Nationals Sunday at Firebird International Raceway in suburban Phoenix. The woman was pronounced dead at Good Samaritan Hospital Sunday evening, the NHRA reported. Earlier reports indicated the woman had been killed instantly. In any event, the sanctioning body did not make the death announcement until hours after the incident occurred. Brown was not injured in the fiery crash of his dragster. "The entire NHRA community is deeply saddened by today's incident and sends its thoughts and prayers to the woman's family and friends," the association said in an e-mailed statement. The victim was not immediately identified, but USA Today reported that she was associated with a Nostalgia Funny Car team at the event. After the woman was airlifted from the track and a rain delay ended, the event resumed. But deteriorating weather conditions and approaching darkness prompted NHRA to postpone the finals of the Top Fuel and Funny Car classes to Monday at 10 a.m. MT (Noon ET). Doug Kalitta will face Cory McClenathan in the Top Fuel final, while John Force will face Jack Beckman in the Funny Car final. Late Sunday, in an unusual move, NHRA officials announced that the Pro Stock class, which was only able to complete one round Sunday, will resume its quarterfinal eliminations for the Arizona Nationals in two weeks during the Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla. The Top Fuel and Funny Car finals will go on as planned for Monday at PIR. The accident occurred during the first round of the event. Brown had qualified fourth in his Matco Tools dragster. He reportedly crashed just after leaving the start line after losing a cylinder and then losing the left rear tire. The tire rocketed down the track and apparently bounced into an area that included spectators. The first report with details appeared at www.vintagefuel.com, which said Nostalgia Mot read more »

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The 2011 Ford Mustang GT is getting some major upgrades this year, including a new 5.0-liter 412-horsepower engine, and that's enough to make it the pick for the pace car of the 2010 Daytona 500. It is the first Ford car picked to pace the race in 40 years. The last Ford car to pace the Daytona 500 was the 1970 Ford Torino GT convertible. The 2011 Mustang GT is also the first Mustang to get the honor. But what does all this historical trivia mean to you? It means that there will be a special limited-edition run of 50 pace cars built and sold to the public. The actual pace car itself is going to be up for sale, too, going under the hammer at the 39th Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Collector Car auction on January 23--and Richard Petty will be alongside the car to help it sell. Not that it'll need the help. On top of the 2011 Mustang GT's already impressive spec sheet, the pace car gets a special Daytona 500 paint theme, Ford Racing suspension, upgraded strut tower brace and mufflers, unique painted wheels and a special interior look with unique sill plates denoting its Daytona heritage. The 2010 Daytona 500 will run on February 14th at the Daytona International Speedway.

Honda's new enthusiasm-free corporate policy killed the new NSX, but it'll still be racing in Japanese SuperGT under the Honda HSV-010 GT name. HSV stands for "Honda Sports Velocity" in Japan and "Hybrids Sans Velocity" in the U.S.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Considered the most dangerous race on the planet, the Dakar Rally starts Saturday with 378 drivers taking part in the second edition staged in South America because of security concerns. Dunes, desert, mountains and other hostile terrain lie in wait for 138 cars, 161 motorbikes, 29 quads and 50 trucks in the 16-stage race that covers 9,030 kilometers across Argentina and Chile before finishing Jan. 16 in Buenos Aires. Last year's winner, Ginield De Villiers of South Africa, leads the favorites. The 2009 champions in other categories also return: Spanish motorbike rider Marc Coma, Czech quad driver Josef Machacek and Russian truck driver Firdaus Kabirov. The symbolic start of the race will take place Friday, with a 349-kilometer drive from emblematic Buenos Aires monument, the Obelisk, to the city of Colon. Racing begins the following day from Colon with a 684-kilometer first stage to Cordoba. Drivers then head to La Rioja and Fiambala in Argentina before going to Copiapo on Jan. 5, the first Chilean city to host the Dakar, followed by Antofogasta, Iquique, La Serena and Santiago. The race returns to Argentina, passing through San Juan, San Rafael, Santa Rosa and finally Buenos Aires. The only rest day in the 32nd edition of the Dakar Rally will be Jan. 9. Teams from Volkswagen and BMW are the favorites. Volkswagen boasts De Villiers, as well as former world rally champion Carlos Sainz from Spain and Qatari driver Al Attiyah. BMW will have French driver Stephane Peterhansel behind the wheel, a six-time champion on motorbikes and three-time winner in cars of the Dakar Rally in Africa, plus Nani Roma of Spain. "The Dakar is the hardest race in the world, you have to work hard and suffer a lot," said Roma, the 2006 winner. "But when you get to be champion, it's worth it." Sainz, meanwhile, will be looking for revenge after leading the race in 2009 before being forced to retire following an accident, apparently due to an read more »
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