Motorsports

Seeing the unveiling of the new 2010 Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid, at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show, has me looking at hybrid technology in a new and much more positive way. I believe hybrids are good for the planet, and spending less money on gas - usually used for mundane errands - is a good thing. But the current hybrids available are boring. Well I'm happy to report that this is not your art teacher's Prius. And of course it's not, it's a GT3 race car built by Porsche, which will be competing in the upcoming 24 Hours of Nurburgring.

Like the developing F1 systems, it has regenerative braking, and the extra electric power (up to 120kW) can be used in 6-8 second bursts. What's new about this system is that instead of carrying heavy batteries, it has a generator that rides shotgun to the driver. The energy is sent from the flywheel to the motor and saved as potential energy. Two electic motors then deliver power to the front axles.

The Honda HSV-010 GT has been in the works for quite some time and along the way we've seen an official teaser, various spy shots and some video footage of the company's latest racer. The car weights in at only 2,425 pounds and will be powered by a 3.4-liter V8 engine pumping out "500 or more" horsepower, and "392 or more" Nm of torque. Power is delivered to the rear wheels via a six-speed sequential gearbox.

A total of ten drivers will pilot 5 Honda HSV-010 GT race cars in the Super GT Series which kicks off in Japan in May. HSV stands for Honda Velocity Series, and judging by the name and the specs it should be quite a contender in the GT500 class. The car will get its next real test at the Suzuka Circuit on March 21st.

The name Westfield Sportscars may not immediately ring a bell but the Lotus 7 should. The same British company responsible for producing various stellar replica Sevens is now working on a full-on electric sportcar, known as the iRacer, with aspirations to compete in the EV Cup.

The iRacer weighs a super light 1,300 pounds, of which 440 pounds comes by way of lithium phosphate batteries mounted inside and underneath its tubular chassis. The design is flexible enough to allow for additional batteries to be mounted at the front of the vehicle as well.  

The PS3 has awesome graphics and a growing library, the XBOX360 has the hot titles and a fantastic online experience, and the Wii has an active fun factor times 10. But what none of these systems can duplicate is the thrill of real racing. Sure, playing GranTurismo 5 and Forza 3 are a blast but they may just not be immersive enough for some folks. Even though Formula1 2009 on the Wii allows for a bit more involvement, turning a steering wheel in the air and screaming at everyone won't cut it for the real enthusiast.

What you need to do is man-up and cop the Cruden Hexatech IV racing simulator, a massive sit-in video game that delivers the complete exhilaration of whipping around  myriad courses at hyper-speeds. It even gives you convincing steering-wheel feedback and allows you to get a taste of actual G-Force.

You knew Ken Block was going to close out 2009 with something special, and something special has cometh. The DC Shoes marketing squad has unleashed four new videos to dazzle, delight and disrupt your brain cycles. Both the Gymkhana 2 Director's Cut and Block vs Pastrana: Game of Suck Highlights are entertaining rehashes of content we've seen before, but they are just as exciting as the first go-round. While the 2008 Season Highlights video is pretty captivating, we would have liked to have seen some more recent footage, except Ken Block didn't compete too much in 2009.

But the real coup d’état here is the psychedelic, tripped out ride he takes us on in the Artist Remix of Gymkhana Two. No spoilers here, but if you want to throw on the Grateful Dead and pop a tab before you hit play you won't be disappointed. There are quite a few product placements intimately woven into the 6:40 clip, along with some second rate movie special effects and enough randomness to have you scratching your head a few times, but somehow it just works. Check out all four videos out after the jump:

Just last week it was all over the newswires that Danica Patrick had finalized a multi-year agreement to race in IndyCar for the newly restructured Andretti Autosport team. Now, it seems that reporting was erroneous as it appears that Danica may be moving to NASCAR afterall. Sporting News has information that a deal with Dale Earnhardt Jr's NASCAR National Series Team has been inked for 2010 and that an official announcement will be made tomorrow in Phoenix. GoDaddy will be the official sponsor of the stock car. 

It looks like part-time Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Danica Patrick will run an abreviated schedule of the Nationwide series but participate in all 18 races in the IndyCar series. She is expected to make her NASCAR debut in the season-opener on February 13th at Daytona Beach, Florida. It's also possible she will be seen racing in the ARCA series for preparation. Driving for JR Motorsports, Danica should have access to one of the best cars in the game as Hendrick Motorsports builds their cars. This constructor has been absolutely dominant in NASCAR and there is no reason that their run shouldn't continue. Stay tuned as we'll have an update tomorrow...

We love rally crash compilations and this is one of the best we've come across this year. This video is set deep in the forests of Finland, where crazy drivers go all out on curvy gravel and dirt roads weaving through thick brush. Finnish rally teams are always top contenders if not all out champions and now we see why - they have so much practice crashing that nothing scares these guy. They go harder and choose more treacherous and faster lines because they are fearless!

In any case, here is over ten minutes of amazing rally-car wreck footage from the 1990s through the present, culled from various sources on the net. Check out the video after the jump.

Veteran BMW driver Franz Engstler had a nice surprise when he rounded the corner outside of pit row at FIA World Touring Car Championship at Pau 2009. The safety vehicle decided to veer outside of the exit lane, cross the white line and drive directly into the path of race cars turning the bend at high speeds. Obviously, the safety car driver missed the part of the pre-race meeting where it was strongly encouraged that ALL vehicles stay within the white lines. Check out the video after the jump.