This is footage from the Gorilla Run in Hot Springs Arkansas. This course was cut specifically for this competition. 11 drivers showed up and drew numbers to see what order they would get to attack the hill. The first driver to get his rig to the top took home almost 10 grand in cash and prizes. This is Tim Cameron. He drew #1.
BMW Canada recreated high speed bullet footage on a much larger scale using the new twin turbo 552 horsepower M5. The water balloons breaking are especially awesome.
I normally don’t like to post these Shakedown videos of the guys just sitting and chatting, but this one has a lot of interesting news that’s relevant to what we’re about here at Flux Auto. This episode revolves around the 2012 Le Mans 24 hour race that just finished up. Leo talks about how the Toyota TS030 and Audi E-Tron Quattro did as well as the future of the Nissan DeltaWing which was knocked out of the race by a driver who claimed he couldn’t see it in his mirrors. There’s also news about engine restrictions, energy consumption and hybrid drive trains for the race next year. The last part is an interesting bit of news regarding Mazda’s announcement that they were producing Skyactiv diesel engines for P2 cars next year as well. I’m glad to see that the movement to develop fuel efficient performance cars in racing is so strong. Racing breeds strong innovation.
Maxxis Tires and Ryan Tuerck have gotten into a tradition of doing walk through videos of all of the Formula D competition courses. Round 3 of the 2012 season was in Palm Beach, Florida. The course is short, but really exciting.
Best Motoring is a Japanese organization that puts out DVD’s where they review both factory and aftermarket tuned cars. Their roster of drivers and presenters consists almost exclusively of world class professional drivers that compete in the Japanese Grand Touring Championship (JGTC). One of the reasons I enjoy their DVD’s so much is that they test everything through wheel to wheel racing. The car lineups are always varied and interesting with themes like Turbo vs. NA, Lightweight vs. Power, AWD vs. 2WD and VTEC club battles to name a few. One of their favorite races to set up is Japan vs. the World. It works just like it sounds. They’ll take the fastest car that the Japanese automakers have to offer and put their oldest and craziest drivers behind the wheel. The rest of the guys will fall in with the latest and greatest from Europe and America. For many years, the Japanese cars were handicapped by the gentlemen’s agreement between all of their automakers that limited power output to 280hp. During this period, the Japanese had to try and hold their own against powerful European super cars with chassis balance since power wasn’t an option. Being represented by the driver most willing to take risks on track didn’t hurt, either. This Super Battle at the Twin Ring Motegi is the best example of one of these Japan vs. The World races that I can find: