An old nemesis is making a return to Australia’s V8 Supercar series. From 1990 through 1992, the Nissan Skyline GT-R dominated the Australian Touring Car Championship series, running rings around Holden and Ford V8′s. During the 1991 Bathurst 1000, the GT-R even set a top-speed record that could not be matched for nine years. Finally, in 1992, Australia’s racing body charged a weight penalty and a boost pressure reduction in an attempt to level the playing field. However, that failed to slow the GT-R down as it continued to dominate its last season before new rules that required V8 powerplants banned the GT-R’s entry.

After a decade, the Nissan GT-R once again returns to the stage under the the Supercar V8′s Car of the Future program, a new project encouraging a wider variety of automakers to join the series. What’s more, Mark Skaife, the man behind the Car of the Future program, was a former GT-R racer that won many of Nissan’s victories in Australia during the early ’90s.

In order to meet the current V8 Supercar regulations, Nissan’s race car will be forced to use a generic rear-wheel-drive, V8 drivetrain. Despite the fact that it will not be an authentic GT-R racing alongside the fire breathing Aussie V8s, we do look forward to seeing more and more automakers following Nissan’s example to freshen up the Bathurst grid. So far, four GT-R’s under Kelly Racing will be participating in the 2013 season.

Watch video of the announcement below:

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Formula 1 is the epitome of motorsport glamor and fortune and the pinnacle of automotive engineering, technology and innovation. However, if an  F1 car doesn’t have what it takes to win, then apparently it isn’t worth anything at all. Yet amid the unforgiving reality of competition, Kevin Anthony, a 47-year-old resident of Brighton, England realized that a team’s loss could be his gain.

From bits and pieces of obsolete Formula 1 components found on eBay, Anthony is building his very own race car. So far, he has purchased a damaged tub for about $5,000 produced by team BAR for the 2001 season. With a basic structure, Anthony then bought an engine cover from BMW Williams, a nose from Force India, Lucky Strike racing livery and whatever else he could muster to create his Frankencar. To date, he has spent approximately $10,000 on his project.

He enjoyed purchasing memorabilia like spark plugs from grand prix cars before staring his current project, but realized after a while that “in buying parts, I have met quite a few people who raced Formula 1 cars and were selling their old ‘rubbish’ off. That made my realize that if I bought the right ‘rubbish’, I too could have what they had and fulfill a dream that until then was out of reach, namely having my own Formula 1 car.”

Currently, Anthony believes the project is near 65 percent complete and expects to have a rolling chassis by next year. As for an engine, he’s keeping an eye out for the perfect Formula Renault or Formula Ford powerplant.

[Source: New York Times]

Increasing motorsports exposure, Honda announced its plans to enter its newly redesigned European 2012 Honda Civic into the 2012 FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC).

According to Honda CEO Takanobu Ito, this entry entails creating an all-new engine developed specifically for touring car competition. “We have made a decision to enter into the WTCC with the European Civic. We will develop a totally new engine for this project and we are all excited about starting this new challenge.” Developed alongside Mugen and J.A.S. Motorsport, Honda’s new engine is a racing 1.6 liter, direct-injection, turbo 4-cylinder engine designed within FIA Super 2000 regulations.

Racing as a two car-team managed by J.A.S. Motorsport, the inaugural rounds for the new Civic will be held when the WTCC arrives to Asia, namely races in Japan, China, and Macau. Honda also intends to compete in every race in the 2013 season.

GALLERY: WTCC 2012 Honda Civic

A grid of 58 vehicles at the 50th anniversary of the Rolex 24 at Daytona made this year’s event one of the most competitive races in the history of the franchise. It was so competitive, in fact, NASCAR star racing driver AJ Allmendinger of the Michael Shank Racing #60 Ford/Riley car only beat Starworks Motorsport’s pole-sitter Ryan Dalziel by 5.198 seconds after 24 hours of heated competition.

After Allmendinger had won the Rolex 24, he described his last stint as, “the most fun three hours of racing I’ve ever done.”

Struggling for a race win at the Rolex 24 ever since 2004, Michael Shank Racing’s remarkable victory got even sweeter when its second Daytona Prototype crossed the line to clinch third and close out the podium. However, the battle between Allmendinger and Dalziel in their last stint was so relentless that the Michael Shank No. 6 sister car driven by Felipe Nasr couldn’t stay with the battle and fell back, finishing the race almost a minute behind. The top-three finishers were all Ford/Riley prototypes.

The #60 Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley was brought to the checkered flag by A.J. Allmendinger and co-drivers Justin Wilson, John Pew and Oswaldo Negri Jr. Starwork’s impressive 2nd place finish was thanks to the valiant driving performed by Ryan Dalziel and co-drivers Enzo Potolicchio, Lucas Luhr, Allan McNish and Alex Popow. Finally, in third place, the sister Michael Shank car was driven by Felipe Nasr, Michael McDowell, Jorge Goncalvez and Gustavo Yacaman.

The genesis of the Japanese supercar, the 1967 Toyota 2000GT is the first All-Japanese limited-production sports car to gain international recognition, changing impressions of the Japanese auto industry overnight.

Without a true successor until Lexus presented its LF-A supercar more than four decades later, the 2000GT is a rare beauty and opportunities to find such a collectible are few and far between. However, Maine Line Exotics has announced that such an opportunity has risen.

The particular example being offered is serial #MF10-100001, also known as the very first production Toyota 2000GT. As one of the original three cars that Toyota delivered to Shelby American Racing,  #MF10-100001 entered the 1968 season of SCCA as #23, racing in the hands of driver Davey Jordan.

Currently, the #MF10-100001 2000GT lies in the private collection of Bob Tkacik and Peter Star of Main Line Exotics. However, that can change if you could put up $1.7 million. Head over to Maine Line Exotics for details.

[Source: Autoblog]

The Sports Car Club of America’s B-Spec class is growing in popularity as enthusiasts enjoy a relatively inexpensive entry into amateur racing while automakers are discovering B-Spec to be a great platform for grassroots motorsport marketing.  Honda, one of the early adopters to B-Spec racing, is committed to the series and hopes to gain even more fans.

Honda Performance Development, HPD General Manager Marc Sours said, “A cornerstone of our grassroots motorsports marketing initiative has been to establish a connection between Honda’s passenger cars and the racing cars that evolve from these models. The B-Spec category provides a relatively low-cost means for the prospective racer to enter the sport, and the Honda FIt offers a natural point of entry. These are inexpensive, great-handling cars that should provide both excellent competition and help grow the sport at the entry level.”

Continuing its support, Honda has announced a new line of “manufacturer-approved suspension components” for the Honda Fit that will be available via HPD on February 1, 2012. The suspension components kit includes coil-over shocks, front and rear race springs, cat-back exhaust, performance front brake pads, camber bolts, braided stainless brake lines, an air filter,  and an A/C delete belt.

Despite the thorough list of performance parts in the kit, Honda fit owners and racers will still need to be responsible for a competition roll cage, racing seats, harness and other safety equipment.

[Source: Inside Line]

Nissan Motorsports International (NISMO) has made the release of the GT3-spec GT-R official, pricing it at around $388,000 based on today’s conversion rates.

A joint project between NISMO and JR Motorsports (JRM), the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 packs a 3.8L V6, twin-turbo powerplant that is seen in the factory production model, but pumps out 523-hp. It may sound odd that it has slightly less horsepower than the factory 2013 GT-R with 545-hp, but it’s probably been tuned to GT3 regulations.

What you do get, however, is a GT-R packed with fully adjustable suspension, a gutted-out interior with a full roll cage, extra cooling ducts and an aggressive aero package. Power on the GT3 GT-R will be delivered through a six-speed, semi-automatic paddle-shift system. Those ordering the race-ready GT-R will receive support from NISMO if you’re in Japan, Asia, North or South America and Oceania, while JRM will support Europe, Russia and the Middle East.

Peugeot announced its withdrawal from Le Mans effective immediately.

While the diesel Peugeot 908 prototype won the 2009 24 hours of Le Mans outright, and has also earned 14 victories out of the 16 races in 2011, Peugeot has decided to terminate its endurance racing program in order to place greater emphasis on its sales operations amid decreasing profits and a trying European economy.

In hopes to turn things around for 2012, upcoming new model releases include the Peugeot 208, 3008 HYbrid4, RXH 508, 508, and 4008 Hybrid4, each playing a role in Peugeot’s strategy to globalize the brand and position itself upmarket.

While Peugeot’s absence from endurance racing will be missed, motorsport fans can look forward to the upcoming return of Toyota and its new LMP1 hybrid program for 2012. What’s more, Porsche engineers are hard at work developing their new prototype for Le Mans 2014.

The dominating diesels will have a fuel economy foe at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, thanks to a new hybrid race car from Toyota. Set to compete in the top-tier LMP1 class later this year, the first photos of the hybrid electric drive prototype have hit the net, thanks to a tweet by Toyota UK PR boss Scott Brownlee.

No details have yet been provided on the powertrain, but it’s expected the car will utilize a generous hybrid drivetrain that will not only add power but also supplement power through regenerative braking, allowing the car to drive further with fewer pit stops – the strategy that has allowed diesels from Audi and Peugeot to block out all the top podium spots in endurance racing.

Running the racing operation for Toyota will be ORECA Racing, a team that has been racing at Le Mans for 35 years and which has achieved a first place finish in every category it has ever competed in.

Toyota’s three-man team scheduled to pilot the new hybrid racer at this year’s endurance classic includes 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Alex Wurz, last year’s 12 Hour of Sebring winner Nicolas Lapierre and former F1 pilot Kazuki Nakajima.

GALLERY: Toyota Hybrid Le Mans Race Car

[Source: Autohebdo]

Subaru recently launched the limited edition WRX STI S206 Challenge Package model in Japan, a higher performance version of the already impressive STI. It’s existence, however, is directly related to this car, the S206 racer.

On display for the first time (as far as we know) since winning the SP3T class at last year’s Nurburgring 24 Hour race both the street and race cars share some attractive performance goodies. Along with an up-rated version of the factory 2.0-liter turbocharged boxer engine with 316 hp (not to mention a long list of suspension modifications and a retuned ECU on the street car), both vehicles get a carbon fiber roof and a massive carbon rear spoiler.

See all the pics of the racer below and check out AutoGuide’s complete 2012 Tokyo Auto Salon coverage here.

GALLERY: Subaru STI S206 Nurburgring Racer