The Archive. Always Garaged

Porsche on pole at Le Mans 2015

It can’t get much better for Porsche at Le Mans, taking the first three grid positions for today’s race. The trio of turbo/hybrid V4 919’s have shown incredible pace during each qualifying session, hopefully this pace is also reliable enough to be sustained over the full race distance.

To put their relative speed into perspective:

It is the fastest pole lap set at Le Mans since the introduction of the chicanes on the Mulsanne Straight, and the sixth fastest in history in terms of laptime regardless of configuration.

It is also the first Porsche to take pole at Le Mans since Michele Alboreto in the Joest WSC 95 in 1997.

~ 2015-06-13

Jay Leno x Nissan GT-R LM Nismo

Jay Leno spends some time in his studio with Zack Eakin, Chief Engineer for Nissan’s LMP program, pouring over the details of their 2015 Le Mans challenger, the radical Nissan GT-R LM Nismo.

Don’t miss the behind the scenes clip by NISMO TV.

~ 2015-06-12

Porsche at Le Mans: The Definitive History

Published in the lead-up to Porsche’s return to the top flight LMP1 category at Le Mans in 2014, XCAR takes a detailed look at the history of Porsche at Le Mans.

~ 2015-06-12

Ford set to announce their return to Le Mans

Strong rumours suggest that Ford will shortly announce thir return to factory sportscar racing in 2016 with a GTE-spec version of their 2015 Ford GT concept car.

According to Autosport:

Ford’s return to Le Mans has been timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first of its four consecutive victories in the 24 Hours from 1966.

~ 2015-06-12

motorsport

2015 24 Hours of Le Mans Couch Kit

Reilly Brennan presents his ‘24 Hours of Le Mans Couch Kit’ for this weekend’s festivities. Tonnes of resources and tips for following the all the action online and from afar.

~ 2015-06-11

Martini Porsche 936 flat out around Le Mans

Goodwood Road & Racing share a fantastic lap of the classic – and chicane free – Le Mans circuit, onboard Jurgen Barth’s 1977 race-winning Martini Porsche 936.

~ 2015-06-11

Why is the GT-R LM Nismo FWD?

Team principal and technical director for Nissan/NISMO’s 2015 Le Mans tilt, Ben Bowlby, tells us why their GT-R LM NISMO is front-wheel drive and why this makes them a hot contender for outright victory at La Sarthe this weekend.

~ 2015-06-11

Mazda RX-3 stars at the 1972 Fuji 250km race

Epic footage of ‘The Fuji Masters Super Touring Race, 10th October 1972’ featuring the Mazda RX-3 vs Nissan Skyline GT-R.

Don’t miss Part Two.

(via)

~ 2015-06-08

for sale

Under the Hammer: Sir Stirling Moss' 1961 Porsche RS 61

Sir Stirling Moss has listed his personal Porsche 718 RS 61 ‘718.070’ through Bonhams at their upcoming Goodwood Festival of Speed Sale on June 26.

While not the actual car he shared for the 1961 World Sportscar Championship, this particular example has nonetheless been campaigned by Moss at numerous historic events throughout his ‘retirement’ from professional racing.

Sale estimate is listed as AU$3.4 to AU$4m.

via Motorsport Retro

UPDATE: Sold for £1,905,500 (source)

~ 2015-06-03

An all-terrain buggy for the road or a sports car you can take offroad

Henry Catchpole for evo magazine scoops a first drive of one of the most intriguing cars released this year, the Ariel Nomad.

You have to get used to the car rolling around and moving on the suspension.

As you go into a corner and turn in can feel a little odd because you’ve got all that lean on the front suspension to cope with, as well as trying to get the all-terrain tyres to turn in.

But when you’re used to it, it’s just brilliant fun. The feeling as the car moves around and watching the weight balance… It’s a totally different sort of sports car.

~ 2015-05-20

A Sea of French Racing Blue at the Matra Museum

The town of Romorantin south of Paris is home of Matra, Formula 1 World Champions back in 1969 and three time Le Mans winners with their iconic blue machines.

Jonathan Moore for Speedhunters takes us to the Musée Automobiles Matra for an inside look at the cars the forged Matra’s motorsport legacy.

~ 2015-05-16

1971 Nürburgring 1000km: A Porsche clean sweep

A ten minute review of the 1971 Nürburgring 1000km, where the mighty Porsche 908/3 finished 1-2-3 beating the fancied Ferrari 312s and Alfa-Romeo T33s.

~ 2015-05-16