Over the past weekend the German Touring Car championship (DTM) visited the Dutch sea-side track of Zandvoort. It was the seventh round of a ten-round fight between Mercedes Benz and Audi. Although leading the championship, Audi arrived at the track with just one victory. Both manufacturers fielded ten cars, driven by a nice mix of highly experienced racers like Mika Hakkinen, Bernd Schneider and Tom Kristensen, and young talents like Alexandre Premat, Mike Rockenfeller and Bruno Spengler. They faced difficult circumstances, which did not make the already tricky Zandvoort circuit any easier to conquer. Fortunately most of the predicted rain stayed far away from the track. This meant the drivers could fight for victory in the one-hour race on a completely dry track. Unfortunately team tactics spoiled the finish of the race.
Joined by over 75,000 spectators, who were not deterred by the dismal weather predictions, Ultimatecarpage.com's editor/photographer visited his home track for the first time in many years. His thoughts and photographs are captured in a full report and a 110-shot slideshow packed with flames, slides and several kitty-litter excursions.

The Group C era of sports car racing in the 1980s and early 1990s is very fondly remembered by motorsports enthusiasts. And rightly so as it was one of the last times that multiple Works teams faced off in the World Championship and at Le Mans. The likes of Porsche, Jaguar, Aston Martin, Lancia, Toyota, Nissan, Peugeot and Mazda all had a go at, many of them with at least some success. One of the Group C regulations that the FIA should look into again is the fuel limit imposed for every race. This made for a great equalizer between the variety of cars and also challenged manufacturers to build fuel efficient engines. That would make even more sense in this day and age, but I guess the teams are too busy planting trees to compensate for their CO2 emissions.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Group C, we today look at three of the most successful racers of the class' final five years. One of the most successful manufacturers of the Group C era was Jaguar. The TWR-built racing cars won Le Mans twice and scored many wins in the World Championships. The second Le Mans win was scored in 1990 with the XJR-12. The Swiss / German alliance of Sauber Mercedes had won the 1989 Le Mans with the C9 and subsequently built one of the advanced Group C cars; the completely carbon fibre C11. With that 'Silver Arrow' they won the 1990 World Championship with great ease.
The previously mentioned cars were built to the original Group C regulations, which were drastically changed in the early 1990s. The F1-inspired regulations were intended to draw the many manufacturers to Formula 1; within a few years the Group C was killed off. The most successful of these second generation Group C cars was the Peugeot 905 Evo 1, which won the Championship once and Le Mans twice.

After almost fifteen years, the much coveted Pikes Peak Hillclimb record has finally been bettered yesterday. The now six time winner Nobuhiro 'Monster' Tajima broke the 1994 record with his 1000 bhp Suzuki XL7. He broke the record of New Zealander Rod Millen, who last month entertained the crowd at Goodwood with his Toyota Tacoma 'Pikes Peak' Special. There was more motorsport news from Japan where Toyota took the first major victory with a hybrid engined racer in the Tokashi 24-Hours race with the Toyota Supra HV-R.
Many enthusiasts most fondly remember the 1960s sportscars that combined staggering performance with equally impressive looks. Of those the Ferrari 330 P3 is considered one of the very best lookers. It had to face the might of Ford, but still several victories were scored in 1966 and 1967. Also taking a victory in 1967 was the Chaparral 2F, which debuted aerodynamics in the World Championships. Sadly it was not as reliable as it was fast and managed to finish only one race, victoriously though.
After Spyker, Holland is set to sprout a second supercar manufacturer; Hansen. Dubbed the Hansen GT-R, the mid-engined machine combines a powerful engine and a lightweight chassis.
The Isotta Fraschini KM4 is quite different from the other cars in the update, but not any less interesting. Powered by a massive sixteen valve, four cylinder engine, it was one of the very first cars to sport brakes all around. Dressed in a spectacular 'Torpedo' body, the featured example is one of very survivors.

Last week we reported on all the excitement and magnificent atmosphere surrounding the Porto WTCC round and now it�s hard to find the right words to express how magical the ambience at the Boavista Circuit was this past weekend. Under the same blue skies and next to the same calm sea, the track was open to some of the most significant cars of motor racing history. From the fragile Pre-War machinery to the rawness of the 70�s F1 cars, all sorts of exciting cars were on track, repeating the great show from 2 years ago when the circuit was revived.
The Boavista Circuit once hosted the Formula 1 championship back in the 60�s, along with some supporting races. All the most significant names of that era once drove here, flat out between walls and over tram tracks and cobbles, with only straw bales between them and the limits of a street circuit. The circuit security has improved a lot since those days, but yet driving some of those historic cars there is not for the faint of heart.
Ultimatecarpage.com's local photographers were trackside the entire weekend and have captured all the action in full report and a spectacular 110-shot slideshow complete with flames and sliding 917s.

Hot on the heels of the new Porsche 911 GT2, Ferrari released the first details of the F430 Scuderia. To be unveiled in Frankfurt by seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher, the 'Scuderia' completes the F430 line-up. It follows in the footsteps of the 360 Challenge Stradale and as such is considerably lighter than the standard F430 coupe. In addition the performance is further hiked thanks to a horsepower increase of 510 bhp over the original 483 bhp. The electronics controlling the suspension and gearbox have also been upgraded for even better handling characteristics. Externally the car can be identified by a large badge on the rear 'Challenge' grille and, at least on the car in the media pictures, by large gold wheels and distinctive striping. If the Challenge Stradale is anything to go by, the F430 Scuderia could very well set new benchmarks.

Today Porsche announced the most powerful production 911 to date; the 530 bhp 997 GT2. With its twin-turbo engine, carbon-ceramic brakes and a Nurburgring developed chassis, there are few cars that can rival the GT2. The German company has come a long way since they introduced a turbo-engined 911 over thirty years ago. There is no doubt that racing has greatly helped in developing the forced induction 911s and this week we take a look at one of these early racers; the 935/78. The featured example was the first twin-turbo 935 available for customers and served the likes of Toine Hezemans and John Fitzpatrick very well, scoring several World Championship victories in 1978, including the Daytona 24 Hours race. Late last week news hit our desk about an American version of the familiar Noble: the Rossion Q1. Powered by a 450 bhp twin-turbo V6 engine, it should hit the showrooms later this year.
One of the most amazing cars to hit the tracks in the last decade was no doubt the Toyota GT-One TS020, which was raced at Le Mans at 1998 and 1999. Although it never won a race, its ground breaking design by Andre de Cortanze has inspired every sports racing car designer since.
In the formative years of motoring, the various royal families in Europe were among the most prominent customers of luxurious vehicles. One of them was King Alphonso XIII of Spain, after whom Hispona Suiza even named a model after. He also owned the featured H6 Duvivier Tourer, which was the very first of the legendary Hispano Suiza H6 model delivered to a customer.

In the last decades street circuits have been abandoned one by one, with a few notable exceptions like Monaco and Macau. Fortunately, some of these often tight and treacherous tracks have been resurrected. The FIA has been brave enough to visit two of these tracks this season with their highly competitive World Touring Car Championship. Earlier this season they were in the French city of Pau and this past weekend flogged the streets of Porto in the north of Portugal. The local Circuito da Boavista was revived two years ago for a meeting for historic racing cars, which was very well received by the crowd and competitors alike. As at Pau, the WTCC drivers struggled to keep out of the barriers, which made for some very exciting racing, complete with a number of very daring overtaking manouvres.
Ultimatecarpage.com was fortunate to have local photographers Hugo Reis and David Guimar�es trackside to capture all the action. We are proud their first contribution, complete with a beautiful 60-shot slideshow.
They will man the concrete barriers again this coming weekend for the historic races of which you can see a full report next week.

There are several ways to build a high performance machine. Mercedes Benz / AMG have long since adapted the method of shoving in the largest engine possible. The most recent addition to that range is the C63 AMG. It uses the quad-cam V8 engine, down-tuned to 'just' 457 bhp for this application. With their GTBO 70 Acabion have taken the opposite route, as Colin Chapman once put it: "Add less weight". Using a tiny hybrid engine and an aircraft like fuselage body, the Swiss company claims a top speed of 550 km/h could be reached in the future. BMW have always tried to achieve a balance between these two extremes, but with the new 135i Coupe, they might have gone a little too far down the Mercedes route.
Earlier this year we reported on the brave Markland Racing effort to develop a new GT2 racer based off the Z06 Corvette. The team did not make the best of starts. At the Nurburgring however we discovered they made great progress with their Corvette Z06 GT2, which certainly warrants a second look.
Immediately after the Goodwood Festival of Speed, we looked at the new releases that took part in the supercar run and now it's time to highlight some of the finest racing cars that went up the hill. Little known, the Duesenberg 183 Grand Prix was the very first American car to win a European Grand Prix and also went on to win the Indy 500 twice. Of similar vintage is the exceptionally rare Bugatti Type 39, built specifically for the voiturette class of the 1925 Monza Grand Prix. Not quite as successful was the Lotus 40; the last of the Lotus sports prototype racers. It was once described as a Lotus 30 with ten more mistakes by one of the drivers. Also present at Goodwood was the 1973 CanAm winning Porsche 917/30; the fastest and one of the most powerful racing cars ever constructed.

While most eyes were on either the 24 Hours of Le Mans or the Indy Grand Prix, an altogether different and more intimate automotive event was held on Father's Day; EyesOn Design. It was the 20th running and yet another unique theme was presented, once again drawing in over 200 quality entries in 15 categories to the picturesque Edsel & Eleanor Ford Estate in Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan. Held annually on Father�s Day for the past several years, this car show is like no other. Multi-million dollar restored Ferraris and Talbot Teardrops aren�t the usual highlights at this show since the cars aren�t judged on their rarity, famous lineage or restoration value but instead on their overall design and impact on the automotive world and the chosen exhibition theme. Take for instance last year�s Best in Show winner; a moderately restored Oldsmobile Toronado.
A set fixture on his calendar for the three years now, Rob Clements celebrated Father's Day with his father at EyesOn Design. Fortunately he did not only share the experience with his father, but also snapped up all the interesting machines and the various winners for you to enjoy. His excellent work can be admired in a detailed report and a 80-shot slideshow.

Less than two weeks after Le Mans, the endurance racing community in Europe sprung back to action for this weekend's Nurburgring round of the Le Mans Series. Despite the very short time to prepare the machines, only one team was missing. Nevertheless the entry list sported fifty names, making it the largest field ever for the Le Mans Series. Rain was in the air the entire weekend, but fortunately it stayed there until thirty minutes after the race. A highlight of the support program was the Classic Endurance Racing one hour race. It brought forty four 1960s and 1970s GT and prototypes to the track on Saturday afternoon, including five BMW M1s and an equal number of Chevron B16s. The race was a thriller with some of the cars crossing the finish line side by side.
Sunday afternoon was reserved for the modern racers, who put on an interesting, but not overly entertaining show. What was highly impressive was the very low number of retirements; quite a contrast to the massacre that was Le Mans. Barely recovered from Le Mans and Goodwood, our photographers ventured out to the legendary site. They have returned with a full report and a spectacular 150-shot slideshow.