#motorsorts

Things are already getting interesting in the sport compact motorsports world, and it isn’t even the off season yet. The rumor mill is churning on Redline Time Attack’s plans for 2011, but one thing has already been confirmed: the Pacific Tuner Car Championship Series is a reality.

The Mercedes SLS AMG is a stunning looking machine, and a serious performer. Better yet is the FIA regulation GT3 mode l, which debuted at the New York Auto Show earlier this year. Up until now we’ve only seen this vehicle in a pristine racing white, but now Mercedes has rolled out an all-chrome version of the racing machine, in association with Laureus.

Rumors that MINI will enter the World Rally Championship have been swirling for almost a year now, but that could all end later this week. According to the most recent reports, MINI will confirm its intentions to join the WRC series later this week with renowned British racing firm Prodrive set to take over operations of the team.

Mercedes has officially revealed the new SLS AMG GT3 race car, powered by the street car’s 6.2-liter AMG V8 engine. Thanks to a special six-speed sequential racing transmission and ultra-low curb weight, the GT3 can rocket to 60 mph in just 3.5 seconds. Mercedes says 3.7 seconds in its press release, but announced the two tenths faster time at the car’s unveiling in New York.

In its first outing at the season opener for the Nürburgring Long Distance Championship race, Porsche’s new GT3 R Hybrid placed an impressive sixth overall, raising speculation that there may be a future for hybrid sports cars.

With some big changes coming to the Australian V8 Supercars series, Mercedes-Benz may be looking to get in on the action. Starting in 2012, the Australian NASCAR-meets-Touring Car series will follow after the U.S. stock car series by introducing a Car of the Future platform, essentially making the championship more of a spec series.

With the start of the 2010 American Le Mans Series (ALMS) just around the corner, Corvette Racing has announced a new 12-part video series that will take an in-depth look at the new car, while following the team’s season this year.

While Porsche’s new 918 Spyder hybrid concept is little more than a show-piece, the German automaker also used the Geneva Auto Show to officially debut the 911 GT3 R Hybrid race car. Set to compete on the track in the near future, it is based on the GT3 chassis and is powered by a traditional 4.0-liter flat-six engine making 480-hp at the rear wheels. In addition, two electric motors will be used to power the front wheels, with 60 kW of power going to each axle. The driver will be able to call up this extra power on-demand, giving the GT3 R a temporary all-wheel drive setup as well. The power surge is expected to last between 6 and 8 seconds.

Nissan’s NISMO motorsports department has finally announced full details on the 2010 FIA GT1-spec GT-R race car and along with some expected changes, there’s also a big surprise. Under the hood you won’t find Nissan’s twin-turbo V6, but rather a naturally aspirated 5.6-liter V8 engine that produces 600-hp and 480 ft-lbs of torque. That’s sure to motivate the GT-R rather briskly, thanks to a curb weight that has been reduced to just 2,756 lbs.

Modified Nissan GT-Rs are surprisingly few at the 2009 SEMA Show, but the ones that are in attendance are impressive machines. With the GT-R’s impressive Nürburgring lap time it was only time before tuners and race shops got started on tuning the GT-R to fulfill its motorsports calling.

As a brand, Hummer’s time in the spotlight is pretty much over, although if there is something that can save the brand it might be a core group of enthusiasts and a strong motorsports background. While Hummers are best known for being excessive street machines, unlike a lot of SUVs, they are actually incredibly capable off-roaders.

Kia appears to be readying an announcement that for 2010 it will launch a motorsports initiative using the Forte Koup.