As the Formula 1 dust settles at the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona after last weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix I’ve been thinking back to a couple of weeks ago when I was at that very track. It was my first visit to the circuit, courtesy of the Spirit Of Montjuïc classic racing festival, and as [...]
Ayrton Senna, Formula 1 and Donington Park: three things that go naturally together. Ayrton’s career was intertwined with this track, from his formative years racing in British F3 through his first Formula 1 tests and then on to that European Grand Prix. He even referred to it as his ‘best UK circuit’. Donington already had a [...]
Take examples of almost 75 years’ worth of the classiest, most exotic, fastest and just generally most drop-dead beautiful Mercedes that have been built, and you have the Mercedes-Benz World collection at Brooklands in the UK. Putting age as well as beauty first, I’ll start off in true VIP style with the epitome of chic: [...]
The best place to be at any Formula One race is the paddock, which is where the drivers are most of the time if they aren’t on the track fighting each other wheel to wheel. You never know when the drivers will appear so I spent a good amount of time in the paddock waiting [...]
The name gives it away. After all, you don’t name your company after two-time Formula 1 World Champion Alberto Ascari for nothing. Soon after producing their first exotic supercar in 1998, the company was bought out by Dutch millionaire and passionate racer Klaas Zwart. This was a man who wasn’t satisfied by just racing other [...]
For this article we’re heading back to Zakspeed Racing in Germany, pioneers of extreme reinterpretations of Ford’s finest during the 1970s such as the awesome Ford Capri Turbo. But Zakspeed’s renown stretched well past that decade and continues right up to the present day. A further connection with Ford in the shape of their sports [...]
We’re deep into the F1 launches for the season ahead, and all but four cars have now been released into the wild. As the cars are rolled out, the teams are also highlighting the work behind the scenes with videos like this one from Red Bull about the manufacture of the 2013 RB9. There’s even an ironic tip of the hat to flexible wings, showing that Red Bull do have a sense of humour…
More...Following on from our introduction, this montage shows off some perfect video examples of the cars in question: on the edge, over the edge. Dust, fire, snow, smoke, cheering. Wings and bodywork barely held on. Battling oversteer, barriers, the elements, the crowd.
If you want to see just how dangerous Group B was, go to 1m20 in and the Lancia 037 jumping over a crest and into a sea of people, who organically open up as the car lands before closing in behind. Or at 2m36s when the T16′s tail drift causes fans to nonchalantly jump out of the way. It was expected! You’re up front for the best view, you take your chances.
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The Autosport International show at the Birmingham NEC in the UK is one of the biggest shows of its kind in the world, dedicated to competition cars and the plethora of industries that support them. It’s a show that isn’t specifically directed at the public: that comes more as a convenient cherry on top of [...]
The Brooklands oval in the UK was home to the fastest cars on earth for the 32 years it was open, and the modern Brooklands Museum celebrates this fact with an impressive collection of cars from both the track’s glory period and the post-war years following the circuit’s closure. This means the chance to see [...]
Next up in the Speedhunters Awards for 2012 is the opportunity to vote for your favourite competition car of the year. We have a selection of old and new to choose from which are competing around the globe, though all are pushing the boundaries of their respective series. The fastest, the meanest, the most revolutionary [...]
As the dust settles after the dramatic ending to the 2012 Formula 1 season, it’s time to celebrate the amazing achievement of Sebastian Vettel: three-time World Champion – the youngest triple champion and only the third driver to win the title in consecutive years. He joins Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher for the latter [...]
Like most people I’m sure, I really enjoyed the inaugural US Grand Prix at the Circuit Of The Americas this weekend: there was plenty of action and overtaking, and the perfect result to set up next week’s finale in Brazil. Watching a Formula 1 car is always a raw, visceral experience, and Red Bull are masters of releasing promotional videos involving their cars and drivers. They recently released this video, showing Sébastien Buemi turning some demo laps around a national circuit in Scandinavia. So far, so usual…
But two things make this video stand head and shoulders above regular releases: one, the demonstration was at our favourite Norwegian track, the Rudskogen Motorsenter, which means a double-speed, white-knuckle ride around this amazing rollercoaster circuit.
Secondly? The video is in full spherical 360 degrees! Yes, you can scroll all round the car during the entire demo, meaning you can really live the drive, tipping the camera into apexes, looking at the crowd – or even aiming the view directly down onto the car below. Check it out – turn up the quality and take control!
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The Brooklands Autumn festival wasn’t called Motorsport Day for nothing: the sounds of competition engines echoed off the banking and buildings of the 100-year-old oval track. And what better sound than the scream of a Formula 1 Benetton taking to the Mercedes-Benz World test track in the middle of the oval? It was enough to [...]
Working with Speedhunters has been a life changing experience. I often wake up smiling, thinking how did I get so lucky to end up with my dream job straight out of college. It can however be an intimidating experience too. Sometimes the notion of writing a story that you’re not 100% confident in can be [...]
