• New Renault Mégane R.S. Trophy-R prices start at £51,140 OTR
• Standard features include Öhlins dampers, Akrapovič lightweight titanium exhaust, R.S. Monitor, carbon composite bonnet with NACA duct and carbon rear diffuser
• Option of special £63,140 Carbon Wheel and £72,140 Nürburgring Record versions
• Mégane R.S. Trophy-R has broken the front-wheel drive production car lap record at the Nürburgring and Spa Francorchamps
• Exclusive high-performance model with just 500 examples globally
• 32 cars coming to the UK

Renault has announced UK pricing of its high-performance Renault Mégane R.S. Trophy-R, which has recently broken the front-wheel drive lap records at both the tortuous Nürburgring in Germany and the sensationally fast Spa Francorchamps in Belgium. Limited to just 500 examples globally, with 32 coming to the UK, and fitted with many bespoke, lightweight parts, prices for the Mégane R.S. Trophy-R start at £51,140 OTR. In addition, Renault has also revealed optional Carbon Wheel and Nürburgring Record packs, which bring a host of upgrades aimed at further enhancing the Mégane R.S. Trophy-R’s already scintillating performance.
Powered by a 300PS turbocharged 1.8-litre engine with a six-speed manual gearbox, all versions of the Mégane R.S. Trophy-R feature bespoke performance parts engineered in cooperation with key partners, including Akrapovič for the exhaust system, Brembo for the brakes, Bridgestone for the tyres, Öhlins for the shock absorbers and Sabelt for the lightweight bucket seats. With a reduced weight of 130kg over the standard R.S. 300 Trophy, the Trophy-R is identified by its unique mother-of-pearl paint finish and red highlights as well as carbon composite bonnet, carbon rear diffuser and Fuji Light 19’’ alloy wheels wrapped in Bridgestone Potenza S007 tyres developed specifically for Renault Sport.
Inside is a stripped-out interior that features a pair of composite Sabelt one-piece seats, an Alcantara covered steering wheel and 7-inch R-LINK 2 infotainment complete with R.S. Monitor, which allows in-depth access to performance data and telemetry. The removal of the rear seats means the addition of a special luggage retention net that’s secured to the strengthening strut between the rear suspension towers. Under the skin is a totally bespoke suspension system featuring revised geometry and Ohlins adjustable dampers, bi-material front brakes and an Akrapovič titanium exhaust.
The £63,140 Carbon Wheel pack vehicle adds four Carbon Revolution 19-inch wheels in addition to the standard Fuji Light rims. A world first in this sector, these special rims save an extra 2kg per wheel in unsprung mass. Secured in tailored storage bags and stored in a special cradle behind the front seats, these wheels have been designed to unlock even greater on track potential.
For the ultimate Mégane R.S. Trophy-R experience, the £72,140 Nürburgring Record Pack version brings the car up to the same specification as that driven by Renault Sport test driver Laurent Hurgon on his record-breaking laps. In addition to the carbon wheels, customers also get a carbon ceramic front braking system - another first in this class. Featuring larger 390mm discs and gold finished Brembo calipers this set-up provides unrivalled stopping power. On top of this, there’s the dynamic air intake, which replaces the R.S. Vision 4 lighting in the lower bumper. Not only does this unit save 2kg in weight, it provides both better cooling and breathing for the engine.
All versions of the Mégane R.S. Trophy-R can additionally be specified with several R.S. Performance upgrades, including a lightweight lithium-ion battery that saves 4.5kg, six-point harnesses for the Sabelt seats and an accessory ducting pipe for the dynamic air intake that feeds straight into the engine’s intake system.

Ford press release

Ford Reveals Special Edition Mustang55 5.0-litre V8 Anniversary Model and Revised Mustang 2.3-litre EcoBoost
 

• Marking the iconic Mustang’s 55th anniversary, new special edition Ford Mustang55 5.0‑litre V8 for Europe delivers bespoke exterior styling and high-specification interior

 

• Mustang 2.3-litre EcoBoost revised with Shelby-inspired exterior details and standard Active Valve Performance Exhaust. Bold new colours include Twister Orange and Grabber Lime

 

• Ford Mustang BULLITT production to continue for a second year owing to popular demand for the 460PS special edition model celebrating the legendary Warner Bros. film

 

• Available in fastback and convertible body styles, Mustang was the world’s best-selling sports coupe last year for the fourth year in a row

New rules for the top tier Hypercar category were released to day by the WEC and are summarised below.

TOP-TIER CARS
While governed by one rulebook, manufacturers may choose between:

• Designing a prototype in the style of a hypercar
• Developing a racing machine based on a road-going hypercar (a minimum of 20 road models must be produced over a two-year period)

The ACO and FIA have drawn up the following principles to guarantee the competitiveness of all cars in order to :

• Weight : 1100 kg
• Powertrain average total output: 550 kW (750 hp)
• Performance level: 3:30, average lap time at Le Mans in race conditions
• Single tyre supplier

THE 2020 HYPERCAR
Aerodynamics

• Free design of body and underbody
• Imposed aerodynamic safety criteri

Hybrid systems are not mandatory

• Maximum hybrid system output is 200 kW (270 hp)
• This system drives the front wheels on the prototype, whereas the position is identical to the street-legal model for road-going hypercars

Combustion engine

• For prototypes: bespoke racing design or modified hypercar engine
• For road-going hypercars: based on the original car or an engine made by the same manufacturer
• Regulated power curve
• Single fuel

THE TECHNOLOGY
The goal
What is the aim of these regulations? To create a top class with a level playing field and limited impact of the budget on the performance to encourage teams to run two cars in a full FIA WEC season over a five-year campaign.
Regulations
Performance will be less reliant on the amount invested. High budget expenditure will not imply performance advantage.
Homologation
Chassis based on original cars will be subject to similar safety criteria as the prototypes. For prototypes, specifications and safety criteria remain unchanged compared to the current LMP1 class. Homologation is valid for five years. 
Hybrid system
An energy restitution threshold for the front wheels has been defined, to contain the advantages of a front-wheel hybrid system (4 wheel drive) and ensure that 2-wheel drive cars can compete.

• 120 kph with slicks
• Between 140 and 160 kph (a fix value will be defined) with wet-weather tyres

THE HYPER SPORT CATEGORY
In order to level playing field between the two types of cars, prototypes and road car going hypercars, the principles of balancing performance are as follows: 

• The performance windows established and confirmed at the time of homologation will ensure cars have comparable performance levels.
• With two types of cars (prototypes and hypercars) in the same class, a system of balance of performance will be introduced. It will be largely based on the  automatic BoP currently and successfully used in LMGTE Pro.

Toyota Gazoo Racing will continue its participation in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) beyond 2020 following the confirmation of new technical regulations.
The team already announced its participation in the 2019-2020 season, the final campaign with the current-specification LMP1 regulations, and today confirms it will be present on the grid when the new generation of top-class endurance race cars make their WEC debut in autumn 2020.
Earlier today in Le Mans, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest revealed final details of the new technical regulations following detailed discussions with several stakeholders, including newly-crowned World Champions Toyota Gazoo Racing.
As a result, Toyota Gazoo Racing is delighted to confirm it will participate in the 2020-2021 season with a hybrid-powered prototype based on the GR Super Sport road car. Both road and race car are undergoing design and intensive development at the company’s technical centres in Toyota City, Higashi-Fuji and Cologne.
Toyota Gazoo Racing enthusiastically welcomes the future challenge of competing against other sportscar manufacturers in the new top category of WEC and the Le Mans 24 Hours and is confident in an exciting, successful period for endurance racing.
Track testing of the new race car, the name of which will be revealed at a later date, will begin next year prior to the start of the 2020-2021 season while further details of the GR Super Sport road car will be issued by Toyota Gazoo Racing in due course.

Emma Kimilainen, 29, from Finland, has been advised by Hintsa Performance, W Series’ contracted health and wellbeing experts, not to drive at Misano, Italy, this coming Friday and Saturday.



Both W Series’ reserve drivers – Sarah Bovy, 29, from Belgium, and Vivien Keszthelyi, 18, from Hungary – will drive on both days, completing a line-up of 19 entrants.
Emma Kimilainen said:
“I’m very disappointed not to be able to race at Misano this weekend, but I understand the advice I’ve been given and I’ll abide by it.
“I feel I’ve been on top of the W Series car in the practice sessions and qualifying sessions I completed at Hockenheim and Zolder, and it’s obviously a great pity that, through no fault of my own, I didn’t get a chance to translate that pace into race results.
“But my hope is now to be fully fit for Norisring in early July, so that I can finish the W Series season with three strong performances at Norisring, at Assen and at Brands Hatch.”
Dave Ryan, W Series Racing Director, said:
“We’re disappointed for Emma, who has been competent and quick whenever she’s driven the W Series car, but of course we look forward to welcoming her back as and when she’s fit enough to compete again.

The new chapter in Ferrari’s history was launched on 29th May 2019 with the introduction of the SF90 Stradale PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle).
The new model delivers 1000cv from a new mixed power source and a weight to power of 1.57 kg/cv. This now top of the range model produces 390 kg downforce at 250 km/h and places a V8 at the top of the range for the first time.
The new car references the 90th anniversary of Scuderia Ferrari and achieves a strong link between race and road car production.
The car is powered by a 4 litre 90° V8 twin turbo producing 780cv and a max engine rpm of 8000, with the extra 220cv delivered by 3 electric motors. The third motor known as the MGUK (Motor Generator Unit, Kinetic) is placed between the engine and the gearbox
The other two motors are fitted to the front axle and make this the first Ferrari sportscar to be fitted with 4WD
All this power is electronically controlled using 4 modes through an 8 speed gearbox and producing a 0-100km/h of 2.5 sec and 0-200km/h of 6.7 seconds.
The car controls are fully digital and almost all aspects of the car can be controlled by just using your thumbs on haptic buttons on the steering wheel.

Race Red love reporting on Hennessey and their power machines

The Lister Motor Company, manufacturers of the LFT-666, LFP, LFT-C and a range of continuation models, has produced a film showing the road-legal Lister Knobbly continuation being constructed, and driven, at the Lister factory in Cambridgeshire.
All Knobbly continuation models are built to the very same specification as the original 1958 Knobbly racers, using the late Brian Lister’s original drawings and manufacturing jigs, but the car featured in this film has a very interesting story behind it.
The Lister Motor Company was acquired by the Whittaker family in 2013, a purchase that came about thanks to Andrew Whittaker buying the Lister Knobbly you see in the film, registration number 324 JTD.
The Whittaker family has a passion for cars, and it was long an ambition of Andrew to own an original Lister Knobbly. When a suitable car was offered for sale in 2011 a deal was struck, but the Knobbly he purchased was far from complete, in fact what Whittaker now owned was barely more than a Knobbly body and a few boxes of parts.
On the hunt for the items needed to complete the car, a call was made to Brian Lister Engineering in Cambridgeshire to enquire if they could assist with some hard to find Knobbly mechanicals.
As result of that call, Andrew and Lawrence Whittaker received an invite to visit the factory to view a number of spare parts which resided in an old wooden container, untouched since Lister cars stopped being manufactured in Cambridge many years previously.
Not only did that container yield some much needed parts, it also contained some incredible Lister history, including technical drawings, blueprints, photos and styling bucks…in fact, all that was needed to create Lister Knobbly and Costin models. It was then that the Whittaker’s realised that Lister could be reborn.
Following that chance visit to Cambridge, and the arduous collection of meetings, exploration due diligence and negotiations that followed, in 2013 the Whittaker family finally became owners of five limited companies that now sit correctly under the group company, The Lister Motor Company Limited.
Long before the LFT-666 supercar was launched, the first Whittaker Lister was the Knobbly Continuation, built at the Cambridge factory by the same team who had built the Knobbly under Brian Lister, coaxed out of retirement by Andrew & Lawrence Whittaker, who helped a new, younger Lister team.
It was 324 JTD that was used to develop the continuation cars, providing a rolling chassis to ensure the drawings and blueprints were accurate and as a prototype to evaluate on the road. That car has long-since been completed, and features in the film launched today.
All Lister Knobbly Continuation cars can be built to FIA specification and still be road legal, making them one of a small number of new cars you can drive to the circuit, race and drive home again. Despite following an original design laid out more than 60 years ago, the reborn Knobbly can accelerate from 0-60mph in 4.3 seconds and hit a top speed of 181mph.
A new Lister Knobbly Continuation can still be purchased today, priced at £315,000.
Lister Motor Company owner Lawrence Whittaker said: “Every Lister Knobbly is special, be it an original or a factory approved continuation, but 324 JTD will always be regarded as the car that reignited Lister. This car, and the subsequent search for parts, led to car building restarting in Cambridge, the launch of the LFT-666, LFP and LFT-C and the opening of a new £5m Lister Headquarters in Blackburn.”
“This film captures the evocative nature of the Knobbly and showcases the Cambridgeshire factory and the glorious surroundings in which it is based. It’s a special film, featuring a special car, and we hope you enjoy watching it.”

Unfortunately for 3rd place Ilott, his car lost power at the start and he ended his race in the pits.
This gave Schumacher a clear run down to the first corner, but he had a poor start and ended up in 4th. De Vries quickly took control of the race and increased his lead each lap.
At the bottom of the field, Raghunathan was upsetting everyone by how slow he was.
Aitken chose to pit first, but really got something wrong - coming out behind the very slow Raguhanathan and getting held up for several laps. Bad pit strategy caused this, not Raguhanathan. 
Schumacher, following his pit stop, ended up behind Calderon, and in a bold move, if generated by Calderon’s wide swing into rascasse but never going anywhere, took out Calderon himself, and stopped the race. Red flag with the track completely blocked.
The initial thoughts were, most of the cars below 9th place had stopped for tyres and the rest still needed a pit stop. Rules allowed tyre changes while in the pits but these did not count for the compulsory pit stop. Everyone above 9thneeded to stop again. This looked like putting several of the back markers, including Schumacher into very good, if not podium positions.
The race was stopped for 30 minutes and all cars where pushed back to the pits where several changed tyres. The race restarted under safety car and then it all went crazy. Everyone below 9th were showing a lap down on the leaders, Schumacher was given a 5 second penalty for track limits, followed by a drive-through for causing an accident. These were not the only penalties during the race. Lap one track limits and gaining an advantage produced 10 second penalties each for Boschung, Aleisi, Calderon and Markelov.
Towards the very end, Raghunathan caused more outrage by taking out Aitken while being lapped. Correa crashed on the same lap and bought out the safety car again.
Championship leader Latifi came under fire several times for his poor driving, crashing into Schumacher and then taking out Gelael.
Announced just before the end of the race, ‘Race Suspension’ under investigation after the race.
These are the final results, posted by F2 one hour after the race. Check back later for any updates.
Deletraz managed to get pole for Sunday’s sprint race in the reverse order grid, despite Markelov dropping 3 places just before the end to try and secure this.
First F2 and it’s confusing and crazy.

• The inaugural Motoring at the Manor (MATM), being staged within the stunning surroundings of the Celtic Manor Resort, near Newport, South Wales, is shaping-up to be a ‘must attend’ event for all motoring aficionados and enthusiasts
• Being held on Sunday 16th June – Father’s Day – MATM will offer something for all ages and tastes with an exceptional celebration of motoring speed, style and elegance
• MATM will combine sport and speed with style, offering exciting dynamic action on Celtic Manor’s challenging internal road system, along with an alluring Concours d’Elegance and mouth-watering displays of supercars, classic cars, competition cars and the finest rallying machines
• MATM at the acclaimed Celtic Manor Resort is within quick and easy reach of a large catchment area, just off the now toll-free Severn Bridge across the South Wales border
• MATM advance tickets and tempting hospitality packages on sale now

 
Motoring at The Manor (MATM) is a brand new and exciting celebration of automotive culture, being held within the scenic and award-winning Celtic Manor Resort, located near the now-toll free Severn Bridge in Newport, South Wales; quickly and easily accessible for a large proportion of the British population, with London typically just 90 minutes away by car, for example.
 
The inaugural MATM, being held on Father’s Day - Sunday 16th June - will be a gala of speed, elegance, motoring excellence and performance. This new feast for all the senses at the breath-taking Celtic Manor Resort will see exciting action with a series of competition, road and rally cars tackling the Manor’s twisting and challenging internal road network – including its distinctive landmark bridge over the River Usk – with these magnificent machines being driven to new heights and testing the limits by some leading drivers.
 
Away from the dynamic action of the Celtic Manor track, MATM will also offer visitors the chance to get up close and personal with an extensive displays of static vehicles, plus an extensive array of other attractions and entertainment, including interviews with motor racing and rally personalities, as well as competitions and live music, to create a luxurious and memorable summer garden party atmosphere, surrounded by the beautiful rolling valleys of the Vale of Usk.

Dedicated vehicle displays will include zones to admire jaw-dropping supercars and hypercars, as well as a broad selection of classic cars and car clubs, plus an extensive array of rally cars and circuit competition racers, with demonstration drives available to MATM visitors.
 
A comprehensive range of rally cars will include early-era classics such as Mini Coopers, Ford Escorts and Saab 96s, through to a 1970s Lancia Stratos, Datsun 240Z, Alpine A110 Berlinette and Ford Escort RS1800s, via fearsome 1980s Group B Audi Quattro, Mazda RX-7 and MG Metro 6R4s, and on to exciting modern rally weapons, including Subaru Imprezas, Mitsubishi Lancer EVO X and Ford Fiestas.
 
Various disciplines of tarmac-munching competition cars at MATM will include single-seater racers, plus Formula 1, Touring Cars, Can Am, historic competition cars and mighty Group C endurance racers, including Le Mans legends, the latter to coincide with the fabled race coming to a head during MATM, which will be screened live at the Celtic Manor during the event for spectators to enjoy whilst enjoying an alfresco feast on the tranquil Welsh lawns. 
 
An impressive gathering of supercars and hypercars looks set to include ultimate exotica by Pagani, Aston Martin, Ferrari, Maserati, Porsche and others, whilst classic cars will make MATM visitors nostalgic with a rich pallet older Aston Martins, MGs, Fords, Rolls-Royce, Jaguar, Bentley, Lotus, Triumph and so on.

​Qualifying looked to be interesting and generally followed practice with a wet session.
Jamie Chadwick topped the sessions all weekend and produced a clear pole with a 1:58.894 and nearly 2 seconds faster than second place Fabienne Wohlwend.