Racing

Six-Time 2008 IndyCar Series Race Winner Joins Acura ARX-01b Prototype Lineup

INDIANAPOLIS, Aug. 19, 2008 -- Indianapolis 500 champion Scott Dixon will drive for de Ferran Motorsports in the team's No. 66 Panasonic ELS Surround Acura ARX-01b prototype sports car in the October 4 Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in the 10th round of the 2008 American Le Mans Series.

Dixon, the 27-year-old driver from New Zealand, is enjoying one of the most successful open-wheel racing seasons in the past decade with six victories, including the Indy 500, in the 2008 IndyCar Series at the controls of the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Dallara Honda. Dixon won the Meijer Indy 300 at Kentucky Speedway in the most recent IndyCar Series race on Aug. 9.

08/18/2008 -- Reinvigorated after the brief summer break, the BMW Sauber F1 Team is looking forward to the Formula One debut in the Mediterranean port of Valencia, the first of two street circuit premieres this season. The second is the night race in Singapore at the end of September.

Despite strong lap times at the end of the race, Dahlgren finished fifth and Rustad sixth after an unfortunate pit stop

Aug. 18, 2008 -- This years eight race at Karlskoga looked like being Volvos weekend. Drivers Robert Dahlgren and Tommy Rustad were fastest and next fastest on both the test session and the preliminary qualification. During super pole, the Volvo drivers were even more impressive. Dahlgren claimed pole one tenth ahead of his team mate Rustad who in turn was five tenths faster than third placed Thed Björk.

8/17/2008 -- The 7th ADAC Rallye Deutschland finished at lunchtime in front of an enthusiastic crowd that had gathered to cheer on their heroes from every category. The fifth round of the Junior World Rally Championship proved to be extremely positive for the Citroen C2 Super 1600s, which were classified first, second and fourth at the end of the event. Weather conditions were a lot less fickle than usual throughout the rally, with sunshine and dry roads characterising the 352.63 competitive kilometres.

London, Great Britain, August 18, 2008 – A1GP World Cup of Motorsport has always prided itself in the fact that its cars are some of the safest on the world’s race tracks. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the season four A1GP Powered by Ferrari car has undergone and passed some of the most stringent crash tests possible.

The car firstly underwent FIA chassis squeeze tests, as opposed to a sudden impact test, with pressure applied to key parts of the car to ensure the necessary strength. Following this there have been roll-hoop load tests, front and rear impact and side impact tests.

1-2 victory for Audi at Road America

Ingolstadt/Elkhart Lake, Aug 10, 2008 -- Audi has clinched the second consecutive 1-2 victory in the American Le Mans Series. At Road America in Wisconsin, the German duo Lucas Luhr and Marco Werner celebrated their sixth victory of the season thus taking a further step towards the title. Marcel Fässler completed the Audi triumph in his first race with the Audi R10 TDI alongside Emanuele Pirro.

Highlights:
- Sixth victory of the season for Lucas Luhr and Marco Werner
- Strong début for Marcel Fässler with the Audi R10 TDI

London, Great Britain, 11 August 2008 – The pressure will be even greater for the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport national teams when they go to Mugello, Italy for the start of season four in September. An extra mandatory pit stop is among the changes to the series’ Sporting Regulations planned to make the racing even more exciting with the extra stop having to be taken in the A1GP Sprint Race between laps four and eight.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Returns to ESPN with Allstate 400 at the Brickyard

July 21, 2008 -- The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returns to ESPN with live, flag-to-flag coverage of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard from Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 27, at 1 p.m. ET. The Allstate 400 at the Brickyard is the first of 17 NASCAR Sprint Cup events on the ESPN networks to close out the 2008 NASCAR season. The first six air on ESPN, with the final 11 on ABC, including all 10 races in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Munich, July 21, 2008 -- With two rounds being contested at the Brands Hatch Circuit, the FIA World Touring Car Championship this weekend moves into the second half of its current season. For the BMW national teams the event provides an opportunity to reduce their points’ gaps to the leaders of the Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ Championships respectively. That such an exercise is possible was recently proven by BMW Team UK’s Andy Priaulx (GB) in Estoril (PT). There the triple world champion was able to claw back nine points on leader Gabriele Tarquini to move up to fourth in the classification, having reduced his deficit to just 15 points.

London, Great Britain, 21 July 2008 -- Michelin is to become the exclusive tyre partner to A1GP World Cup of Motorsport starting with the 2008/09 season. The French company which has a vast motorsport heritage has signed a three year deal to provide tyres for the new A1GP Powered by Ferrari car.

Michelin tyre technicians have been working hard with the A1GP technical personnel to provide the best possible rubber for the series. Since the Powered by Ferrari car had its first run in Fiorano in late May it has been using the company's tyres and has clocked up over 4,000 kilometres on tracks in Italy and Spain.

Robert Dahlgren returns to his old training ground, driving Volvo's new C30 Green Racer

July 17, 2008 -- Volvo Car Corporation has decided to enter its new ethanol powered Volvo C30 racer in the WTCC (World Touring Car Championship) at Brands Hatch on the 26-27th of July.

Volvo C30 Green Racer

The car, which is in its first year on track, races in the Swedish Touring Car Championship (STCC) as the only ethanol E85 powered car in that series. In STCC, the car has so far secured three out of seven pole positions and has lead close to half of all laps driven.

Now Volvo wants to evaluate the car against the strongest of competition on the circuit at legendary Brands Hatch, Kent, England.

Tokyo, July 16, 2008 — Mitsubishi Motors Corporation has developed a new competition car, the Mitsubishi Racing Lancer (MRX09), whose mission will be to target victory on next year's Dakar which breaks new ground in 2009 with a switch from Africa to South America. For Mitsubishi Motors, not only does the Dakar serve as a platform for the sales and marketing of the Pajero/Montero but it also provides a unique proving ground for powertrains and 4WD transmission systems.

Mitsubishi 'Racing Lancer' for 2009 Dakar Rally

Patrón Highcroft And Lowe's Fernandez Acura ARX-01b Cars Make The Podium

LEXINGTON, Ohio, 07/19/2008 -- Saturday's Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course was setting up to be another David Brabham highlight reel, just like last week's wild Lime Rock Park overall victory, when he grabbed the lead with 90 seconds left in the race.

The popular Aussie racer diced his way through heavy late-race traffic with his bright green, blue and black No. 9 Patrón Highcroft Acura ARX-01b prototype sports car and pressured Romain Dumas for the last 15 minutes of the two-hour, 45-minute feature event at the picturesque 2.25-mile road course near Mansfield, Ohio.

DEARBORN, Mich., July 15, 2008 – Thanks to Ford Motor Company’s sponsorship of the 2008 Kohler International Challenge with Brian Redman at Road America, an official factory racing team from Shelby Automobiles, a wholly owned subsidiary of Carroll Shelby International Inc., (CSBI.PK) will once again roar onto the track. Four authentic Shelby 427 Cobras will compete in the races in Elkhart Lake, Wisc., beginning July 17 through 20, 2008. This is the first factory race initiative from Shelby Autos and Ford Motor Company since 1969.

Highlights:
• Ford’s sponsorship of the 2008 Kohler International Challenge made it possible for the Shelby Automobiles Racing Team to return.

Munich/Hockenheim, 07/17/2008 -- During the German Formula 1 Grand Prix, BMW will be paying very special homage to the legendary pop artist Andy Warhol. To mark the 30th anniversary of the BMW M1, Warhol's BMW Art Car (1979) will again be taking to the starting grid. The setting for the celebration is the revival of the most spectacular stable trophy in racing history - the BMW M1 Procar series.

Andy Warhol, Art Car, 1979 - BMW M1 group 4 racing version

July 6, 2008 -- This was a day to remember for the Jetalliance crew: the first one-two victory in the history of the still-young team from Lower Austria, the 14th FIA GT win (the second this year) for Wendlinger – and the first FIA GT podium for team owner Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer. But this was also a vital race for the championship, as the four top teams are all within just three points.

Sensational One-Two Victory for Jetalliance Racing at FIA GT in Oschersleben

London, Great Britain, 07 July 2008 -- A total of 3,500 kilometres, the equivalent of over half a season's mileage, is the distance covered to date by the new A1GP World Cup of Motorsport Powered by Ferrari car. The latest series of tests for the car were in Spain with five days at the Guadix Circuit near Granada followed by three days at Jerez.

07/03/2008 -- Formula BMW America drivers will be among the first to compete on the newly revised Lime Rock Park racetrack when they arrive for the Northeast Grand Prix
and Rounds 7, 8 and 9 of the 2008 Formula BMW Americas Championship on July 11-12.

The classic 1.53-mile, 7-turn Lime Rock Park circuit has been repaved and the Uphill and West Bend corners have been modified so that the new track measures 1.51-miles, now incorporating 10 turns.

Cologne, July 3, 2008 – All eyes are on the Ford muscle cars competing this weekend in the next round of the FIA GT3 European Championship and the FIA GT4 European Cup racing series at Oschersleben circuit in Germany.

After an excellent start to the season, Ford cars lead both championships and all standings for drivers and teams, despite the torrential rain that dominated the last round in Monza on May 18.

In GT3, the Matech GT Racing team leads the European Teams Championship with 49 points thanks to the success of the Ford GTs driven by Ian Khan/Thomas Mutsch, and Bradley Ellis/Alex Mortimer.

NASCAR Nationwide Series Live in Prime Time from Daytona on ESPN2

June 30, 2008 -- ESPN2 continues its season-long coverage of the NASCAR Nationwide Series with a live, prime-time telecast of the 250-mile race at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway Friday, July 4, beginning at 7 p.m. ET with NASCAR Countdown. The telecast from the 2.5-mile superspeedway also airs in high definition on ESPN2 HD.