It's such a beautiful day here in Long Beach at the first round of the 2012 Formula Drift Championship season! The sun is shining, with a cool ocean breeze blowing the clouds of tire smoke. The loud roar of race engines at full throttle somehow mixes harmoniously with the squealing sounds of tires being decimated on the pavement. Not a bad way to spend a Good Friday. Read more...
Just what is BFGoodrich AWESOMECROSS? I asked that very question last month as I found myself wrapped up in a whirlwind of a night-time autocross event out at El Toro Field. Part autocross, part science experiment, part movie set… AWESOMECROSS definitely lived up to it’s name. Also living up to it’s name was the new BFGoodrich g-Force™ Sport COMP-2™. (more…)
Most of our readers already know that @MotorMavens Crew doesn't normally do coverage of stock car racing. However, when we got the official invite and media passes to the NASCAR Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway (California Speedway) in Fontana this past weekend, we decided it might be interesting to experience NASCAR through the eyes of an outsider.
I was unsure of what to expect. A lot of people portray the NASCAR crowd to be a certain demographic - yielding confederate flags and trucker caps with flames on the bill, screaming "Yee-haw!" but that stereotype couldn't be more incorrect, at least at the Fontana event. Read more...
After Walker Wilkerson finished 18th overall in the 2011 Formula D season and barely missed the Rookie of the Year finish, Walker knew he had to step up his game for the 2012 season. Being in the Top 20 wasn't good enough for him! He told me about how much he has learned as a driver and mechanic to keep his car maintained for each event. Which led him into big changes for the 2012 season.
While talking to Walker about his future plans, he revealed that he realized he would have to ditch the SR20DET and go V8 to be even more competitive. I was shocked but I knew that this could help him out in the long run. However, I (and many others) will miss the sound of a stroked SR20 coming out of his exhaust. Read more...
On Tuesday, March 21st, 2012, Sonoma Drift attempted to break the world record for the most donuts at one time. The event started off with everyone warming up by drifting on Infineon Raceway's famous Turn 11, which is also used in NASCAR and IndyCar racing. Read more...
First impressions are lasting impressions, and my first impression about the Nurburgring is that it's absolutely unreal. As you make your way into the Eifel Mountain region of western Germany, it becomes more and more difficult to comprehend that something like the Nordschleife exists. The cascading mountains covered in dense forest, although the perfect place for your dream course or a video game, don't seem a feasible locale for a high speed, high stakes race track. I would liken the feeling to going to an amusement park as a kid and trying to fathom that so much awesome could be in one place. In today's world of rules, regulations, and protocol, this place should not happen (at least not easily and with lots of paperwork). However, the automotive dreamland that is the Nurburgring was conceived in a time when they only cared about one thing: racing. Read more...
The first time that I was introduced to this car was during the Targa Trophy event this past year. However, the car was dressed in white and had a unique theme that might have been reminiscent of a Storm Trooper. Over the course of the past year, owner Jamie Liu has been adding modifications in an effort to gain a top position at events such as Hot Import Nights, SEMA and Autofashion 2011. Words alone cannot justify the brilliance of this build so let's look further into Jamie's amazing Mercedes-Benz R230 SL55 AMG. Read more...
We’ve seen the new McLaren MP4-12C before here on MotorMavens with Antonio’s coverage of the Beverly Hills McLaren Event and it was unveiled back in September of 2009 as the first production car to be completely designed and built by McLaren since the McLaren F1, but it’s still rare (and beautiful) enough to cause minor disturbances as it weaves sleekly through more mundane traffic.
This video chronicles the MP4-12C’s invasion of North America – with a cameo appearance by a certain McLaren Formula One racing phenom who was arrested in Australia in 2010 for “deliberately losing traction” whereupon he was dubbed a “Hoon” by the Australian Magistrate. We couldn’t possibly make this stuff up! (more…)
