Latest news with #Supercars
Top Gear
42 minutes ago
- Automotive
- Top Gear
Zenvo is working on a ‘junior hypercar' with a screaming, naturally-aspirated V10
Supercars Boss Jens Sverdrup tells TG how Zenvo will earn its place 'in the top echelons of the hypercar world' Skip 1 photos in the image carousel and continue reading A couple of weeks ago, Zenvo continued the development of its new quad-turbo V12-engined hypercar – the Aurora – with plenty of prototype runs up the hill at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. It was the first time the car had moved under its own steam in public, but chairman Jens Sverdrup clearly isn't resting on his laurels. 'It is a modular engine,' Sverdrup told TG about the new powerplant in the Aurora, which was developed in conjunction with Mahle Powertrain. 'We're already working on a V10 version for our junior hypercar.' Advertisement - Page continues below Wait, what? This is very exciting news. The V12 in the Aurora will make 1,250bhp on its own, but Zenvo will pair that with a hybrid system for a bonkers total of 1,850bhp. Good grief. So, what would a junior version look like? 'If we can, we would like to make it a screaming, naturally aspirated engine,' said Svedrup. You might like 'It doesn't have to be a hybrid. The engine was designed from day one with future-proofing in mind, so it can be naturally aspirated, it can of course run as a non-hybrid too if need be. Emissions are the real issue though. I think it will be tough to meet the next set of requirements without running a hybrid system. 'There will probably also be V8 versions, but that would be as low as we go in terms of cylinder count, because it's still a very extreme engine and very expensive obviously, so it is very much made for the hypercar world.' Advertisement - Page continues below Big plans for Zenvo. So, what does Sverdrup see for the Danish carmaker's future? 'We are a hypercar brand. There's no ambition to start doing family cars. Something like a Koenigsegg Gemera wouldn't be on our radar. But yes, we're planning a junior hypercar and hopefully we could make up to 500 of those, depending on what the brand and the market would take. 'I would love to make hypercars in new genres too, so not an SUV but a hyper off-roader.' Stay tuned… Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Look out for your regular round-up of news, reviews and offers in your inbox. Get all the latest news, reviews and exclusives, direct to your inbox.
Top Gear
a day ago
- Automotive
- Top Gear
'I hope Enzo doesn't get angry': the tricky job of running the Ferrari museum
Supercars Creating a virtual museum in The Crew Motorfest harks back to Mr Ferrari's philosophy Skip 10 photos in the image carousel and continue reading Michele Pignatti Morano's job seems straightforward, until you really consider the details. As the director of Ferrari's museums, he ultimately decides what the 860,000 yearly visitors to the prancing horse's Modena and Maranello sites see when they get there. He's hardly short of options, given the manufacturer's storied history, and the infectious fanaticism of its fans. Surely it's a matter of picking a few stone-cold classics in rosso corsa , wheeling them out, and then sitting back for an espresso break? Possibly. But to big boss Enzo, the very concept of a Ferrari museum was an oxymoron. 'His mentality was, 'I don't want to keep the old one, because the next one is best,'' Pignatti Morano told TG in a mercifully air-conditioned corner of the Maranello headquarters during an unseasonal heatwave. 'So he literally would destroy the old cars. For him, they were not worth keeping.' Advertisement - Page continues below Enzo Ferrari's contention that his cars belonged on the track and not under a spotlight in a temperature-controlled warehouse creates a bit of nuance, and even tension, to Pignatti Moreno's job. Times have changed at Ferrari, of course. You won't see anybody breaking down old Californias and heaving them into skips outside the factory, but you will indeed see numerous precious cars exhibited. Not without consideration and concessions to Enzo's vision, mind. 'I understand the philosophy and I hope he doesn't get angry,' said Pignatti Morano. 'But now we are going towards our 80th anniversary, and obviously after 80 years a car deserves occasionally to be in a museum and have a rest.' You might like And rest they do. Arranged at dramatic angles and varying heights across two museum sites, a who's who list of desirable supercars from across the decades now enjoy adulation under a spotlight. But should anyone doubt their mettle, they're also primed to prove their performance all over again at a moment's notice. ' They basically all are in working condition,' said Pignatti Morano. 'Especially the ones that come from private collections. They are in perfect working condition because the people that look after them do so in a crazy way. Advertisement - Page continues below 'Each car is a masterpiece nowadays, so it is looked after as if it was a masterpiece.' Given the company's previous proclivity for binning old stock, around 80 per cent of the museum collection comes from private collectors. That includes vehicles that served their time on the track. 'Obviously, if a car is 70 years old and it's always been on the racetrack, there will be something that is not right, but that's the nice thing," said Pignatti Morano. "We have experts that come and recognise the cars that are at the museum by chassis number. So it's not just a matter of saying, this is a 166 MM, they come and they say, 'Ah, this is chassis number 40. It's the first car imported into Portugal. It was driven by this guy, and did this race. This part should not be there, but it should be there'. Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Look out for your regular round-up of news, reviews and offers in your inbox. Get all the latest news, reviews and exclusives, direct to your inbox. "Because in the past, cars in races were crashed, then they were fixed up in a simple way. And that for me is amazing.' Recently, Ferrari found another way to honour Enzo's museum philosophy. In addition to the race-ready models lining the hallways at Modena and Maranello, you'll now find virtual versions of them – along with vignettes from Pignatti Morano himself – in The Crew Motorfest 's Season 7's 'Ferrari Supercars' playlist. In a way, it's having your cake and eating it. A means of celebrating the manufacturer's historic supercars in a rare glance backwards instead of tearing forwards towards ultimate performance, without defanging the GTO, F40, F50 and LaFerrari that all once represented the pinnacle of supercar design. A playable museum exhibit. Given that for the vast majority of those vehicles' fans, they've only ever existed as posters on our walls and pixels on our screens, a videogame feels like the most fitting place to exhibit them. ' We tried to make something in a different way,' said Pignatti Morano, 'because a museum is something old-fashioned. Not everybody visits museums, especially the young generation that play videogames. So having the opportunity to actually talk to these people in a different way, I think was an opportunity that we couldn't miss.'
News.com.au
3 days ago
- Automotive
- News.com.au
Supercars eye Bathurst 1000 rule change to shake-up the start of the iconic endurance race
A radical plan to shake-up the start of October's Bathurst 1000 is set to be assessed by the Supercars Commission for possible introduction this year. Speedcafe understands Supercars is proposing to scrap a controversial rule introduced in 2024 that stipulates primary drivers must take the start at endurance events. That rule was implemented to ensure the sport's biggest race begins with its star drivers in the cars but contributed to a lacklustre 1000km grind with little strategic variation. Under the proposal hatched by Supercars for The Bend 500 and Bathurst 1000, the top 10 cars would have to start the race with whichever driver took part in the Saturday qualifying Shootout. The remainder of the field from 11th on the grid backwards would be free to choose their starting driver. When given the choice, the top teams most often select their co-drivers to start the race due to the benefits of getting the part-timer's minimum laps out of way as early as possible. The new system would effectively make the Shootout runners have to decide between the benefits of going all-out for pole or the ability to start their co-driver. Supercars is believed to have canvassed team feedback on the idea, but it is yet to be formally debated at commission level. The category, though, believes the proposal would strike a balance between the desire to have star drivers at the front of the grid and the need for strategic variation through the field. It's thought to be the latest idea put forward by head of motorsport, Tim Edwards, who was the architect behind the new-for-2025 Supercars Finals Series. Edwards has already implemented a reduction in the fuel tank size and an increase in the minimum co-driver laps for The Bend and Bathurst in a bid to spice-up the races.
Perth Now
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Perth Now
Van Gisbergen rivals can breathe easier in Dover
Fans of other NASCAR drivers can find solace that Shane van Gisbergen, who has travelled halfway around the world to dominate the Cup Series for three of the past five weeks, likely won't make it four of six. That's because the drivers are heading to Dover Motor Speedway for Sunday's AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at the challenging, one-mile concrete venue in Dover. It follows more than a month of Down Under destruction on the road courses by New Zealand's SVG, who won three times and vaulted to third in the playoff standings with his win at Sonama. However, the Trackhouse Racing driver has only been a blip on the radar outside of road courses, recording only four finishes inside the top 20, including a pair of 20th-place showings, with a season-best 14th at Charlotte. This is the lone stop in the nation's first state. The last two-race season at Dover was in 2020 with back-to-back 311-lap events won by Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick on consecutive days to lessen travel during COVID. Now there's just one frightening visit to the track ominously called "The Monster Mile" because of its 24-degree banking, self-cleaning wrecks as cars slide down to the apron, and gruelling 400 laps, though it was an even worse 500 until Dover's second race in 1997. The past four winners in Delaware since 2020 include a pair of Chevrolet and Toyota drivers each - bowtie wheelmen Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott and Camry pilots Martin Truex Jr. and Hamlin, respectively. Bowman's 2021 triumph was historic as he led Hendrick Motorsports to a 1-2-3-4 finish, marking just the fourth time ever in NASCAR that a quartet of teammates captured the top spots. Last season in late April, after earlier winning on the Bristol and Richmond short tracks, Hamlin started sixth after seeing Kyle Busch earn the pole and beat Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson by 0.256 seconds for his 54th career win. Earlier that week on his podcast, Hamlin had basically called his shot by saying he expected to win, then went ahead and did just that. "You'd better win if you're going to open your mouth, that's for sure," the Joe Gibbs Racing driver said after leading a race-high 136 laps in his No.11. However, the victory was the last of 2024 for Hamlin as he went without checkers from May through November. The Tampa-born Hamlin is one of three drivers in Sunday's field who holds multiple Dover victories. The defending winner has won twice along with Elliott, while Busch won in 2008, 2010 and 2017. With 12 different winners possessing playoff positions, the winless Busch stepped it up last Sunday at Sonoma by finishing 10th and gaining nine points on the cut line, which has Bubba Wallace sitting in 16th. Wallace was not in contention to beat van Gisbergen, a three-time Supercars champion and Bathurst 1000 winner, at Sonoma - no one was, really - but he did gain one point on 17th-place Ryan Preece by accumulating 15 stage points as he stayed out on long runs.
West Australian
5 days ago
- Automotive
- West Australian
Blow for SVG as brakes put on Chicago Street Race
The Chicago Street Race will not be on the NASCAR calendar in 2026, in a major blow for three-time Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen. NASCAR and city officials are working towards a return to the Windy City in 2027. Van Gisbergen, a three-time winner of the Bathurst 1000, has dominated the Chicago streets. The New Zealander won the Cup Series races in 2023 and 2025 and the Xfinity races in 2024 and 2025. "Following the success of the first three years, the Chicago Street Race will hit pause in 2026 to afford us the time necessary to work collaboratively with the City of Chicago to explore a new potential date and to develop a plan that further optimises operational efficiencies, with a goal to return to the streets of Chicago in 2027," the event's social media account posted on X. "Together, we have built and grown an expanded community of fans that consists of longtime NASCAR enthusiasts and first-time racegoers from around the globe, and for that, we are immensely grateful." From 2023-25, drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series raced along a 12-turn, 2.2 mile course from Columbus Drive to DuSable Lake Shore Drive and Michigan Avenue.
