Car FYI

Photo Credit: Drew Gibson via Zacharie Robichon's Instagram This weekend, 62 of some of the finest sports cars and competitors challenge themselves on a famous race track in Le Mans, France for some of the most meaningful 24 hours in motorsports. Venturing to the Circuit de la Sarthe vying for honour in Hypercar, LMP2 or LMGT3 competition categories, the historic mechanical and physical torture test attracts the usual mosaic of cars, teams and drivers. For the 2024 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a Canadian will be competing in each of the three classes. Their competition in the 24 hour race comes on the centennial for when John Duff (Canada's only overall winner at Le Mans) co-drove a Bentley to victory. For 2024, each of these three motoring athletes wearing a maple leaf has their own unique racing story that they hope to write the latest, greatest page with glory in the classic endurance event.   Antonio Serravalle Photo Credit: Penske Entertainment/Chris Owens Team:...

Photo Credit: Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. untitled A companion to the NTT IndyCar Series finale weekend on the streets of Long Beach, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship staged a 26-car race on Saturday consisting of DPi, GTLM and GTD class machines. With the conclusion of the 1-hour, 40-minute Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach sports car event, the overall winner was the #31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac shared by the driving duo of Felipe Nasr and Pipo Derani. The victory was a decisive weekend for the Whelen Engineering Racing team that had scored the pole position and went on to take the checkered flag with a 10.95-second gap over the #01 Cadillac fielded by Chip Ganassi Racing with Kevin Magnussen and Renger van der Zande. Corvette Racing enjoyed a dominant outing in the GTLM category. Nick Tandy and Tommy Milner in the #4 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R beat the #3 car shared by Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor. Only three GTLM class vehicles ran at Long Be...

Photo Credit: Cadillac untitled   Two days after the completion of the 2021 24 Hours of Le Mans where the World Endurance Championship (WEC) sports car series’ Hypercar class made its first run at the Circuit de la Sarthe , a major player provided confirmation for their intentions to produce a challenger for the North American equivalent of the competitive racing class. Competing as a manufacturer in the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) Weathertech SportsCar Championship since 2017, Cadillac is looking forward into 2023 with a new car for an eagerly awaited LMDh category. Providing only a single image of their successor to their DPi-V.R race car, Cadillac has pledged to work with race car chassis developer Dallara as well as IMSA competitors Chip Ganassi Racing and Action Express Racing in having a new vehicle ready to take the grid for the 2023 Rolex 24 at Daytona. The Cadillac LMDh-V.R. prototype features an aggressive body shape that contai...

Photo Credit: Toyota Motor Corporation untitled For the 89 th time, auto racing’s pinnacle event testing the endurance of machinery as well as human being over 24 hours was held in Le Mans, France. Running for the second time in August as opposed to its traditional June date to allow for spectators to attend, the 2021 24 Hours of Le Mans instantly presented the added difficulty of a wet race track that resulted in the first two laps taking place behind a safety car. Conditions changed between dry, then wet, then dry against during the running of the daylong race on the 13.626-kilometer (8.467-mile) Circuit de la Sarthe. With 61 cars starting among four main classes on the Circuit de la Sarthe, the highest honour in 24 Hours of Le Mans to be the overall winner. At the conclusion of the 2021 edition of the great endurance event, the Toyota Gazoo Racing team stood in the coveted top spot of the podium. The #7 Toyota GR010 Hypercar driven by Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayas...

Photo Credit: Chris Owens/IndyCar untitled NASCAR Cup Series: Kyle Larson Fends Off Elliott For Watkins Glen Win                        The premier event of NASCAR’s triple-header at the Watkins Glen International road course in the state of New York featured the NASCAR Cup Series competing for 90 laps on the 2.45-mile track. Sunday’s running of the Go Bowling at The Glen started with Penske Racing teammate at the front with Brad Keselowski on pole position alongside Joey Logano. Keselowski led the opening nine laps but lost the lead in dramatic fashion when his #2 Wabash National Ford Mustang spun entering turn 10 on the 10 th lap. Apparent brake issues complicated Brad Keselowski’s race and a similar loss of control occurred entering turn 1 on lap 56 with his car colliding with Logano’s #22 car. After Joey Logano took the first stage and M...

Photo Credit: Aston Martin The Americas NASCAR Cup Series: Darkened New Hampshire Track Source Of Light For Almirola Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series’ Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 was intended to be a relatively quick summer event on the 1.058-mile New Hampshire Motor Speedway but a rain shower pushed the duration between the green flag and the checkered flag to almost five hours. Due to daylight being lost on a track with no lighting system, only 293 laps would run (eight laps fewer than the advertised distance). Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. led the field to green but would also become the victims when rain began to soak the race track. Entering turn one on lap seven, Busch’s #18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry slid and backed into the retaining wall ending the race for the two-time 2021 season race winner. Truex’s #19 Resers car sustained less damage and would complete the event in 12 th place. Denny Hamlin’s #11 ...

Sterling Moss' #1 Lotus 19 at the 1961 Player's 200 (Photo Credit: Unknown Photographer) untitled Sixty years ago on this day (June 24th), motorsports in Canada officially christened a grand, new stage for racing. The roaring engines, peeling rubber and the sight of the era’s most sensational pieces of high-speed machinery being handled by brave competitors became a fixture constructed close to Bowmanville, Ontario. Mosport Park or now known as Canadian Tire Motorsport Park opened in 1961 with its first major event held on June 24 th on windy, overcast early summer weekend. Estimated to cost between $600,000 and $650,000 (roughly between $5,250,000 and $5,687,500 in 2021) Mosport Park raceway opened as a much-needed permanent, purpose-built home for sports car and major motorsports in Ontario as well as Canada. In 1961, the only other significant race track operating was Westwood Racing Circuit in British Columbia. Westwood opened in 1959 but would close afte...

Photo Credit: Mazda North American Operations While some races of the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship schedule have yet to see a green flag, spectacular news items during July have pumped-up enthusiasm for the 2018 season. Before the month has ended, next season’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship promises two all-new, heavy-hitting DPi efforts guaranteeing to kick the level of sports car racing competition to new heights. Last week, rumours were confirmed when heavy motorsport player Team Penske broadcasted plans to rejoin sports car racing in association with Honda’s luxury brand Acura in time for next year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona. Team Penske’s more than five decades of operations is notably celebrated by 16 Indianapolis 500 wins but also possesses success through previous sports car ventures including a 1969 victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. As impressive as a single win in the ultimate French endurance classic can be, Reinhold Joest’s race team perfecte...

Photo Credit: Toyota Great Britain Everybody loves a winner! The familiar title of a William Bell song of the 1970s, the words would imply Japanese auto giant Toyota attracts a great deal of affection. Residing either at the top or around the top for the world’s leading automobile seller, the company’s reputation is also bolstered by efforts in the competitive test of auto racing. Once again, Toyota turns focus towards the French town of Le Mans and the Circuit de la Sarthe in an effort to find love at a famous daylong sports car racing event. With a fleet of three TS050 Hybrid prototype race cars, Toyota looked to capture their highly-sought first overall win at the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans. Victors two big American races, the Indianapolis 500 and Daytona 500, Toyota’s racing credentials over the years are included past successes in rally car racing and desert off-road racing. Sports car racing also is an avenue of competition where the Japanese brand enjoyed triumphs. A col...

Photo Credit: General Motors This weekend kicks off the official start of the auto racing season in North America for 2017. The 12-turn, 3.56-mile road course within the Florida motorsport complex called Daytona International Speedway hosts a large field of teams and drivers competing for a once around the clock event. The debut race of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the 2017 Rolex 24 at Daytona is a fresh opportunity to ring in a new year on a highest note. For 2017, big changes to the Prototype and GT Daytona class for the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will create some new sights to behold for race fans. Thanks to a series of rules designed to make competition vehicles comply closer to the regulations of international racing sanctioning bodies such as the ACO and FIA, some new pieces of motoring technology are incorporated within the grid. Debuting in the top class for the 2017 Rolex 24 at Daytona, DPi (Daytona Prototype international) features race cars sh...