Former F1 world champion Kimi Raikkonen will join NASCAR, in a surprise move, a departure from his previous endeavors in Formula 1 and rally racing. A Finnish newspaper, cited by Autosport, claims that Raikkonen will start out in the Truck series before moving on to both the Nationwide and Sprint cup car series. No start…
Known for pulling wild stunts behind the wheel of his Ford Fiesta rally car, Ken Block had zero intention of rolling the high-powered machine five times. But that’s just what happened during a shakedown of the car ahead of the Rally of Portugal event this weekend. Block, and co-pilot Alex Gelsomino were both admitted to…
One obvious sign of economies returning to full steam is increased involvement by automakers in the incredibly expensive field of motorsports. A valuable R&D experience regardless of the outcome, the marketing aspect depends solely on if you win. With a Charlie Sheen obsession for “winning”, Volkswagen aims to get involved directly with the prestigious World…
Robert Kubica, one of Formula-One’s finest drivers, suffered a terrible crash over the weekend, when his Skoda Fabia rally-car slid off the road and hit a church wall. The crash took place just 4-miles from the start of the Ronde di Andora rally in Italy. The 26 year-old Polish star has suffered massive injury to…
After teasing us with a hopped-up version at the Paris Auto Show, MINI has now revealed the official race-prepped Countryman WRC machine. Unveiled in Monte Carlo, MINI brought out drivers Dani Sordo and Kris Meeke, as well as the 1967 Monte Carlo Rally winning Mini Cooper and drivers Rauno Aaltonen and Paddy Hopkirk to celebrate….
With a huge gulf existing between the road-going version of the MINI Countryman and the WRC-ready version, a halo version that could bridge the gap between urban crossover and full-blown race car could be an asset for MINI, and help them leverage some of the image boost that their rally program will provide, especially in…
Ken Block’s Gymkhana videos are a lot of sound and fury but ultimately signify nothing. A combination of great editing, a specially prepared car and an unrivaled hype machine has propelled Block to the top of the Youtube heap. But his newest video, barely 2 minutes in length, is genuinely awesome. Piloting a 1978 Ford…
German firm X-Raid is already preparing a MINI Countryman, a vehicle that’s been on sale for less than a month, for competition in the upcoming Dakar rally. While most of the photos show a finished product, the vehicle prep shots show a pretty thorough re-working of the biggest MINI, as well as a gorgeous custom…
Recently Ford announced that it would be retiring the Focus from WRC racing duty as new rules will see the switch to using the Fiesta and a smaller 1.6-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder. To celebrate the car and honor its legacy Ford of Europe has put together a 5 minute tribute video, packed full of jumps, crashes…
It’s not unheard of for tuner-type wannabes to refer to their modified sport compact as a “race car” – but what if you really could buy a suite of parts that would turn your econobox into a real, full blown rally racer? Ford is doing just that with their new R2 rally kit for their…
Bill Caswell, who famously campaigned a $500 BMW 318i in an FIA-sanctioned rally event, will be bringing his car to SEMA – and turning it into a Baja style off road racer. The build will take place over the course of the SEMA show, with the roll cage on day 1,the suspension on day 2,…
As part of our coverage of the Paris Auto Show, we decided to throw in some bonus galleries of cars we thought were cool but didn’t quite fit with the rest of our coverage. Paris was the site for a lot of important competition cars from French manufacturers, like the Peugeot HDi LeMans car, the…
MINI‘s long awaited WRC entry debuted at the Paris Auto Show Thursday as the MINI Countryman WRC, flanked by rally heroes such as David Richards (founder of Prodrive) and Jean Todt, president of the FIA, flanked the car as it revved its engine for all to hear. The sounds of a rally-built 4-cylinder filled the…
Ford’s new challenger for the 2011 FIA World Rally Championship, the all-new Fiesta RS World Rally Car, made its first global public appearance at the Paris Motor Show today. The Fiesta RS WRC will make its competition debut in Rally Sweden, the opening round of the 2011 FIA World Rally Championship, on 10 – 13…
With the huge success of their C4 rally car, Citroen has a lot to prove with their DS3 successor. Having already claimed three driver’s championships and two manufacturer’s championships in four quick years, the DS3 will have a ton to live up to. Obviously the playing field is a tad different with the new 2011…
MINI will officially debut the new Countryman WRC rally car at the Paris Auto Show later this week. A selection of spy photos and videos of the car have already surfaced online, but MINI has been quick to clarify that the car was not wearing its official WRC bodywork. Joining the WRC car will be…
Rhys Millen, pilot of the Hyundai Genesis Coupe Formula D car, will drive a Hyundai Accent WRC car at the U.S. Rallycross Championship in New Jersey on October 2-3 and November 6-7. “We’ve really benefited from our Genesis Coupe Formula Drift partnership with Rhys, and so we’ve decided to expand on that with this move…
Last week we reported that MINI’s new Countryman WRC had completed its initial shakedown, and now we’ve got a trio of videos to prove it. The Prodrive-developed WRC car has been testing out in Portugal with Markko Märtin behind the wheel. As we mentioned before, the aerodynamics seen on the MINI Countryman WRC currently won’t…
As part of Ford’s latest Fiesta promotion, Ford is enlisting the help of NASCAR stars Richard Petty and A.J. Allmendinger as well as newly minted rally legend Ken Block. The contest, called “43 Fiestas“, has Ford giving away 43 flat screen TVs, 43 ticket-and-hotel packages to the Ford NASCAR 400 Sprint Cup race and one…
MINI‘s new Countryman WRC car has just completed its initial “shakedown” by Prodrive, the incredibly successful motorsports company that is building the rally car. More importantly, however, we’ve been provided with the first glimpse at the rally version of the MINI crossover, with a massive rear spoiler, big off-road tires and a significantly lowered suspension….
Saab is reportedly considering a return to the World Rally Championship. News of this exciting development comes after executives at Saab’s new parent company (Dutch sports car maker Spyker) recently met with WRC bosses in private. Not having competed in the world’s premiere rally car series since 1979, the Swedish automaker is believed to be…
Subaru has teamed up with famed rally car builder Vermont SportsCar to prepare two rally cars for their X-Games drivers, Travis Pastrana, Dave Mirra and Sverre Isachsen. Starting with a 2011 WRX STI, the Vermont SportsCar crew stripped everything out of the interior and did the requisite rollcage and seam welding jobs needed to make…
Now that Ford has wrestled Ken Block away from the clutches of Subaru, the company is looking to leverage their alliance with the internet superstar beyond their collaboration with the new Fiesta and the upcoming rally car based off the compact hatchback. In an interview with radio station KROQ, Block was asked about a special…
MINI has officially announced that it will enter the World Rally Championship (WRC) next year, teaming up with Prodrive and running a Countryman crossover. The MINI Countryman WRC is being developed by the legendary Prodrive race team (which helped Subaru win six championships) to run part of the 2011 season as it prepares for a…
