Posted by admin on Jan 25, 2009
Darren Law and the pole-winning Porsche Riley Daytona Prototype were out front Sunday as the clock wound down in one of the closest races in the 47-year history of the Rolex 24.
With five hours remaining in the twice-around-the-clock sports car endurance race, four cars remained on the lead lap, including one of the Lexus Riley’s hoping to give Chip Ganassi Racing its unprecedented fourth straight win in the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway.
“The pace has just been incredible,” Law said before jumping into the lead car. “And there’s still such a long way to go that anything can happen. We’re keeping an eye on the water temperature, but everything looks good.”
Law is co-driving the car with pole winner David Donohue, Antonio Garcia and Indy 500 winner Buddy Rice.
Just seconds behind was the defending race champion Lexus of seven-time Daytona winner Scott Pruett, NASCAR’s Juan Pablo Montoya and Memo Rojas, three of the four drivers who combined for Ganassi’s third straight victory a year ago.
“Those Porsches are really fast,” Pruett said. “We lack a little top end speed, but we’re hanging in there pretty good.”
The Ford Dallara of Max Angelelli, Brad Frisselle, Pedro Lamy and Jeff Ward was third, followed by the Porsche Riley of six-time Daytona winner Hurley Haywood, J.C. France, son of NASCAR board member Jim France, Joao Barbosa and Terry Borcheller.
The second Ganassi entry, co-driven by IndyCar stars Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti — the fourth member of last year’s winning team — and Alex Lloyd, had problems in the early morning hours and fell to fifth, four laps behind the leaders.
With Franchitti at the wheel, the brakes failed and the 2007 IndyCar champion and Indianapolis 500 winner was penalized a 30-second stop for driving past the chicane on the backstretch of the 3.56-mile road circuit. After he gave up the seat to Dixon, the hood of the Lexus inexplicably flew off, costing the team more laps.
Roger Penske’s Porsche Riley, making its Rolex Grand-Am Series debut with Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Ryan Briscoe co-driving, led several times in the early going, but fell to sixth, 13 laps off the pace after having to replace a broken rear end.
“We thought we had everything covered pretty well, but you never know what’s going to jump up and bite you in this race,” said Penske Racing president Tim Cindric. “We’ve still got a fast car, so we’ll just try to make up some laps and get a good finish.”
Jimmie Johnson, the three-time reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup champion whose team finished second here a year ago, had some bad luck early in the Pontiac Riley he shares with former CART champion Jimmy Vasser and Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty. Johnson stopped Saturday night to have a broken tail light replaced and wound up having the gearbox replaced after he broke the transmission trying to get the car in gear. The team was seventh, 22 laps behind at the 19-hour mark.
With plenty of attrition, the leading GT class car, a Porsche GT3 driven by Jorg Bergmeister, Andy Lally, Patrick Long and Justin Marks, was eighth overall, just one lap ahead of the GT3 of Kevin Roush, Dominik Farnbacher, Eric Lux and Matthew Marsh.
Tags:
Daytona,
Dominik Farnbacher,
Eric Lux,
Four-way battle at Daytona,
Kevin Roush,
Matthew Marsh,
NASCAR
Posted by admin on Jan 10, 2009
Ferrari
Automobile sales and the economy have skidded into a ditch, but auctioneers in town next week to sell seven-figure collector cars are not hitting the panic button.
Buyers might be less flamboyant about paying $5 million for a 1960 Ferrari 250 GT, if that’s possible. But the high-rolling collectors are still likely to spend well over $100 million on 1,700 cars at four prestigious auctions.
That includes the “big dog” Barrett-Jackson auction starting Sunday and smaller niche players, including Russo and Steele, Gooding and Co., and RM Auctions.
I’ve had a bit of sense from people that they don’t want to be seen flaunting (their wealth),” said Craig Jackson, Barrett-Jackson Auction Co. chairman. “If you had to lay people off and then you’re seen buying a million-dollar car, that’s kind of heartless.”
Unemployment and economic woes aside, there is still strong demand and a limited supply of the best-of-the-best collector cars, according to the auction houses and other observers. They are anxious to see what happens next week in the exclusive world of the collector-car market. Most expect stable prices except in a few categories where there could be some decline.
“There is no market that is immune from economic realities, whether it’s real estate, art, boats or you name it,” said McKeel Hagerty, whose company, Hagerty Insurance Agency, sells collector-car insurance. “Collector cars are a little more insulated.”
In most cases, collectors pay cash for cars they are passionate about owning and there is not a lot of speculative buys, he said.
David Gooding, president of Gooding and Co., said car guys are more likely to sell a second home or a boat before they sell their automobiles.
Last year’s inaugural Gooding auction in Scottsdale tallied $21 million in sales for 70 cars. That included a 1959 Ferrari 250 GT California Spider that sold for $3.3 million, topping all auction sales that week.
This year, Gooding is bringing a highly sought 1960 Ferrari sports car that it estimates could sell for more than $7 million.
Russo and Steele did $20 million in business for about 500 cars last year and expects similar sales this year.
Company President Drew Alcazar said that the industry’s growth in past years has created unrealistic expectations.
“We’ve painted ourselves into a corner if we’re saying that if Barrett-Jackson doesn’t do $100 million, then the market must be in the toilet,” he said.
In its 38th year, Barrett-Jackson sold $88 million worth of cars last year at WestWorld, down from $111 million the previous year.
This year, the Scottsdale auction company has accepted about 10 percent fewer cars for its busy auction block.
But the overall event will be larger with more entertainment and space for other sales and events, Jackson said.
“In this economy, I wouldn’t want to be relying on just the auction block,” he said. “Just like the Super Bowl is not just about the game, Barrett-Jackson is about the week in Scottsdale, the parties and everything else that goes with it.”
Still, it is the cars that drive these high-horsepower auctions.
Anything can happen, Jackson said, when you have “two people lining up against each other who really want a car.”
Tags:
Car auctions revvin' up in weak economy
Posted by admin on Jan 10, 2009
On the heels of Audiovox’s announcement of an automotive version of the MediaFlo TV service for cell phones, AT&T has revealed plans for its own robust, satellite-based in-car TV service. AT&T Cruisecast, slated to launch this spring, promises 22 channels of satellite TV at launch and 20 more of satellite radio-but will cost serious money: $1299 for the system, and $28 a month for the satellite TV service (developed in conjunction with satellite industry veteran RaySat).
A final channel lineup is still being developed, but AT&T says it will include lots of family-friendly entertainment, including Disney Channel, Disney XD, Discovery Kids, Animal Planet, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network Mobile, USA, COMEDY CENTRAL, MSNBC, CNN Mobile Live and CNBC.
The system requires installation of a 3-pound, 11.3-by-10.3-by-4.3-inch antenna on the roof of your vehicle. AT&T describes this as “not particularly noticeable,” but I’d take that observation with a grain of salt: Check out the rooftop image, above.
AT&T says its technology addresses shortcomings of other in-car entertainment systems. For example, the company says, its breakthrough buffering technology keeps the show going even when you’re under a tunnel or other line-of-site obstacle.
Avis and Budget car rental services have announced plans to make the Cruisecast service available in rental cars at some locations for $9 a day or $63 a week.
Tags:
AT&T To Launch In-Car Satellite TV Service
Posted by admin on Jan 10, 2009
Jaguar has all but confirmed speculation that a new XJ is due to go into market as early as June 2009 according to statements by Jaguar executives. The XJ was spied in testing several times during 2008. Jaguar MD Mike O’Driscoll said of the car that it ‘takes, we believe, the luxury saloon to new heights in terms of its technical enhancements’. That was during an event previewing the brand’s upcoming new engines.
The vehicle will be a radical design departure for the XJ label, promising to look more like a four-door coupe than a big sedan
. Currently Jaguar’s superstar car is the XF and Chief Designer Ian Callum had intended for it to take on coupe-like looks even as a four-door sedan. This was achieved partly by getting the rear roofline to slope towards the back more like an XK than a saloon. Similar-looking cars include the Porsche Panamera, Aston Martin Rapide and the Mercedes-Benz CLS. With the XJ that philosophy will be taken to the next level.
Tags:
aston martin rapide,
BMW 7-Series,
Ian Callum,
Jaguar Preparing New XJ Sedan,
JaguarXf,
JaguarXj,
JaguarXk,
Mercedes Benz,
Porsche Panamera
Posted by admin on Jan 10, 2009
Assuming the 2010 Chevy Camaro ever makes it to production, Hennessey is ready with a stonkin’ 705 HP supercharged upgrade kit ready to hoover up $109,000 of your dollars.
No matter how the new Camaro ends up, that’s a huge pile of tithing for a mullet-mobile. If you’re happy with a monster supercharged mill, carbon brakes, carbon fiber bits and pieces and epic badassery, it may be worth it, but otherwise, wow.
Tags:
$109,
000 Price Tag,
2010 chevy camaro,
2010 Hennessey Camaro Boasts 705 HP Credentials,
Camaro,
Carbon Fiber,
Chevrolet,
chevrolet camaro,
Ford GT,
Muscle car,
sports car