It is no secret that I am a huge fan-boy of Leo Parente's series; aptly named "Shakedown". In this episode, Leo travels to Germany as a spectator to the world renowned Nurburgring 24hr race. Entailing both the new 'Grand Prix' circuit as well as the much loved and much famed classic track, the race pits the gentleman driver versus the seasoned professional with a variety of challenges.

There are many videos about the Nurburgring and even more specifically the 24hr race, but none come close to capturing the essence that eminates from both on track and in the stands. Enjoy.

P.S. Don't forget to leave your feedback!


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Today marks the thirteenth year of Canadian Indycar driver, Greg Moore's fatal accident at Fontana Speedway. Taken too soon from the motor racing and wider world alike, Greg was an up and coming star with plenty more potential to unlock. At the age of twenty-four he had already accrued an Indy-Lights drivers championship (winning ten out of twelve races in 1995), five CART wins, seventeen podiums and four pole positions. He will be missed.

Below is a three part series on his life and racing career as told by his family, friends, colleagues and competitors.

Vale Greg Moore

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  We have all seen or heard of Hollywood's interpretation of NASCAR racing, the aptly named; Days of Thunder. Starring Tom Cruise, it portrays a young American open-wheeler driver by the name of Cole Trickle, who has lot his drive and endeavours to 'make it big' in America's most popular series. Whilst the story-line seems a little far-fetched and overall quite boiler-plate, it is in actual fact, loosely based on the career of the hugely talented driver, Tim Richmond. Read More

Back in the early 70's, when the "privateer" in Formula One still had a chance to be competitive, came a team that was the epitomy of this label. Connew was the brainchild of Peter Connew, an ex-Surtees F1 employee. Peter had never attended a F1 race or had any remote interest in motorsport until he visited the Monza GP at the age of 24. Almost immediately after his first viewing, Peter set out to build his own car to compete in a World Championship race with the help of some loyal friends. Whilst it may not have been deemed a success, it is certainly an inspirational story. Below is a video narrated by one of one of the team members, Barry Boor.

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   When you think Porsche, the first model that generally comes to mind is the all conquering 911. Whilst the 911 was and still is a superb car both on and off the track, it was the Porsche 917 sports prototype that paved the way to a string of wins at Le Mans and sportscar races worldwide. It took Porsche from a class winner, to an outright threat. The 917 also elevated the careers of such legendary drives as Derek Bell, Frank Gardner, Mark Donohue and Brian Redman. Read More

Just watch.

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If you haven't heard of the YouTube sensation, Antti Kalhola, you've either been hiding under a rock or under your car for way too long! Basically he is a one man show, dedicating all his spare time to capturing the essence of motorsport competition. An eclectic combination of music, narration and footage, some of it rare, bring out the emotions of fans around the world. Read More

Firstly, we'd like to thank you for your patience. I know updated blog entries have been non-existant over the last two months and I apologise. I was overseas, living it up in North America and had little to no internet access the whole time. Thankfully, some of it was car/motorsport related and I will share it with you all at a later date.

Following on from our story about the current wave of step-nosed Formula One cars and their "ugly" predecessors, I give you this video. A tribute to the nurturing of aerodynamic wings and their evolution stretching from the late 1960s to the mid 70's. It is fascinating to see, how even then with basically next to no wind-tunnel testing and certainly zero computer aided development, this new almost black art was pioneered and slowly perfected.

F1 was slow to pickup on wings. Jim Hall was possibly the first known person to utilise them on his Can-Am race cars stateside. However, once the advantage was apparent, there was no stopping the maturation. Comparing these cars to the creations of today, you can see just how far the technology has come in the past forty years.

Top Tip: Turn your speakers up to '11' if you enjoy the roar of Cosworth DFV's and Flat-12's.
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The late Michele Alboreto was another driver that had an extended career in Formula One. However, being in the wrong car at the wrong time certainly hampered his chances of becoming World Champion. The five F1 victories accredited to his name do not do his skill and determination justice. Considering two of them were in the underfunded Tyrrell in 1982 and 1983, you could quite rightly say that he had that little bit extra. Even after retiring from F1 in 1994, he continued to have success in Sports Cars both Stateside and in Europe.

The following video is of his determined drive in the 1985 Monaco GP. At the height of the turbo-engined era, it took a cool head and a confident right foot to tame these sometimes up to 1200hp beasts! Battling with the likes of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost in a car that wasn't producing the same pace as the other front runners, he unquestionably took them to school on the day.


Ciao Michele

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The Porsche 917 is arguably the most well-known and loved Prototype race car ever to leave the factory doors of Stuttgart. Great sportscar drivers such as Derek Bell, Richard Attwood, Brian Redman, Pedro Rodriguez and Mark Donohue all drove this conquering machine, albeit in difference guises. It ruled the circuits of Europe and the United States from the late 60's to the mid 70's and even made a brief appearance in the early 80's at Le Mans.

The video below is of the car and marque's most well known driver, Derek Bell, who gives a brief rundown on what it was like to tame one of these beasts. The sound of the flat-12 cylinder motor in my opinion, rivals that of Maranello's finest at the time. Whilst the Porsche 956/962's of the 80's and 90's were much more successful, it was this car that truly launched the Porsche name as a force to be reckoned on the racetrack. This blog entry is just a little bit of a warmup, there will be more to follow over the next week...  Read More