Happy Birthday, Ayrton Senna! If he were still alive, Ayrton Senna da Silva, who many consider to be the greatest driver in the history of racing, would be 53 years old. In honor of our favorite Brazilian driver’s birthday, we’ve compiled a great collection of Senna videos for you to watch… (more…)
Yesterday, the automotive world lost one of its international legends – Carroll Shelby, the 89 year old creator of the world famous Shelby Cobra 427, and the Ford GT40 that beat Ferrari at Le Mans.
Shelby is one of those names in the automotive industry that everyone knows, but it’s possible that some of our readers aren’t familiar with his long and storied history, from his days in Formula One, Le Mans, and even land speed racing at Bonneville. Rather than quickly writing up a story about Carroll Shelby from the media center at the American Le Mans race at Laguna Seca, I think I’ll just provide a link to a couple good articles on Shelby that I saw in the New York Times and USA Today before I have to get back to shooting on the track. (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…)
Seventeen years ago today, at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Italy, the racing world lost the legendary F1 driver Ayrton Senna, who many racing fans consider to be the best Formula One driver of all time. The death of the three-time Formula One World Champion on May 1, 1994 occurred as a result of his car crashing into a concrete barrier while he was leading the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.
Because of today’s date, I felt it was appropriate to post the trailer to the Working Title Pictures documentary film, SENNA, which will be distributed by Universal Pictures and released in US theaters later this year. The documentary film was actually produced by passionate Brazilians (rightfully so), and was released as a test in Japan, before it went on to win at the Sundance Film Festival. (more…)
This past weekend, the Toyota Grand Prix took over the streets of Long Beach, CA. This annual three-day festival of speed consisted of the Izod IndyCar Series, the American Le Mans Series, Firestone Indy Lights, Toyota Pro Celebrity Race, SCCA Pro World Challenge Championship, and a team tandem competition from Formula Drift. We don't normally cover open wheel racing on Motor Mavens, but since we were all in Long Beach two weeks ago for Round 1 of the Formula Drift series, we thought it would be pretty interesting to experience the annual Long Beach Grand Prix to show a little bit of contrast on the site.
Britain's Mike Conway(above) emerged as the winner of the IZOD IndyCar race. Last year, Conway fractured a vertebrae and broke his leg during the Indianapolis 500. An injury like that would spell the end of a racing career for some people, but Conway was able to overcome that incredible setback and take his first IndyCar win at Long Beach. What a way to make a comeback! Read more...
