EWC :Qatar back as EWC finale in 2014 / le Qatar de nouveau au calendrier en 2014

The final round of motorcycling’s 2014 Endurance World Championship will take teams to Qatar in November.

La finale du Championnat du monde d’Endurance (EWC) 2014 aura lieu au Qatar en novembre 2014.

Although it didn’t feature on this year’s EWC menu, Losail (Doha) returns to the championship on November 15-16, 2014, when it will be the fifth and final round of next year’s series.

Qatar had hosted the last round every November since 2007, but that tradition was broken in 2012 when the country held round two of the EWC in the scorching heat of June.

It is not yet known whether it will be a six- or eight-hour race, but it will stand in for the round initially planned at Navarra, Spain, in May or June.

The 2014 Endurance World Championship will feature five rounds.

Absent du calendrier cette année, le circuit de Losail (Doha) recevra de nouveau le championnat du monde d’Endurance les 15 et 16 novembre 2014 pour la cinquième et ultime épreuve de la saison. Le Qatar accueillait depuis 2007 la dernière manche du championnat  en novembre. En 2012, le circuit qatari a rompu avec la tradition en organisant la deuxième course de la saison au mois de juin sous une très forte chaleur.

Pour l’heure, on ne connaît pas encore la durée de l’épreuve, 6 heures, 8 heures ou plus. Le Qatar remplace l’épreuve initialement prévue en Espagne sur le circuit de Navarra au mois de mai ou juin. Le Championnat du monde d’Endurance compte désormais cinq épreuves.

Calendrier du Championnat du monde d’Endurance 2014 :

Samedi 26 et dimanche 27 avril France Bol d’Or (24 h) à Magny-Cours

Dimanche 27 juillet Japon 8 Heures de Suzuka

Samedi 16 août Allemagne 8 Heures d’Oschersleben

Samedi 20 et dimanche 21 septembre France 24 H Moto au Mans

Dimanche 16 novembre : Qatar

1967 TOYOTA 2000GT

The Toyota 2000GT is one of those interesting cars from history that’s often forgotten as a result of the fact that only 351 were ever made. The design influences from both the Jaguar E-Type and Porsche 911 are both clearly visible in the shape of the 2000GT however the car possesses its own character and personality that set it apart when it was first shown in 1965 at the Tokyo Auto Show.

Up until the release of the 2000GT, Japanese cars had been seen as economical, reliable automobiles that lacked the styling and spirit of their European and American counterparts. The 2000GT was set to change all of that forever.

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Originally a Datsun/Yamaha joint effort, the styling for the car was kept top secret and dubbed “Project Z”. It was designed by Albrecht Goertz (a protege of stylist Raymond Loewy) and it showed enormous promise, sadly the project fell through though and in true Japanese fashion, the reason for the project’s failure was never made public.

Shortly after Yamaha and Datsun walked away from the concept, Yamaha approached Toyota with Project Z and the two companies set to work tweaking the design into what we now know as the Toyota 2000GT (despite the fact that the cars were largely built by Yamaha).

The chaps at Datsun were rumoured to be understandably annoyed at this development and so they took their own direction with the Project Z design, creating the car that would go onto be known as the Datsun 240Z.

The surviving Toyota 2000GTs are now worth well in excess of $1,000,000 USD, their rarity coupled with their striking good-looks and impeccable drivability have made them the most expensive and collectible Japanese car of all time. If you’d like to bid on the original, unrestored example you see here you can click here to visit RM Auctions and view the full lot listing.

Photo Credits: Michael Furman ©2013 Courtesy of RM Auctions

via SILODROME

Baja Chic: Ivan ‘Ironman’ Stewart’s ’94 Toyota PPI Trophy Truck is Awesome and You Can Buy It

This ’94 Toyota PPI Trophy Truck was driven by Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Famer Ivan Stewart, known for tackling and wining entire desert races without a navigator or relief driver, as well as accumulating enough records and wins to fill the deserts he so deftly crossed, in a golden era of Toyota off road motorsport. And it’s up for sale at RKMCCA’s Charlotte Auction, to be held over October 31 to November 3.

In this car, chassis 015, Stewart and Precision Preparation, Inc. (PPI) took four Baja 500 wins and a Baja 1000 win.

At its heart is an aluminum 302 cubic inch V8 comprised almost entirely of custom bits, and which spits out over 550 horsepower via eight EFI throttle bodies. The power makes its way to the road via a custom PPI transaxle and 5-speed Hewland VGC 200 gear selection box. Making sure the wheels are touching the ground and able to deliver the grunt is a double A-arm suspension set up with custom PPI coil-overs and a mighty 22 inches of travel. If you do ever decide to slow down PPI rotors, Brembo calipers and Tilton master will make short work of your requests.

The car’s been freshly restored by the team at TM1 Motorsports, comprising many of the same people who built the car in the first place, thoroughly documented and reviewed, and the car was even tested by Ivan Stewart himself when the build was completed.

Head to RKMCCA’s website here for more info on this significant, race-ready and awesome machine, and for the full details of their Charlotte Auction.

Via RKMCCA

Images via RKMCCA

via http://www.motorsportretro.com

The EarthCruisers We Can't Have in the US

If you haven’t noticed, Australia has an almost unfair amount of cool stuff. I’m not just talking about kangaroos, didgeridoos, or places like Coober Pedy. I’m talking about cool vehicles like the latest rigs from EarthCruiser. Last month they announced three new models, all built on Iveco platforms. They are––incredible. Officially, the three models are the Iveco Dual Cab, the 440T Single Cab, and the 360T Single Cab. All powered by Iveco’s 170 hp 3.0 liter 4-cylinder turbo diesel, they offer four wheel drive performance with maximum fuel efficiency. If the Iveco chassis doesn’t do it four you, earlier this summer they released their new FUSO Dual Cab. It would be nice to get those options here in the US, wouldn’t it?







http://www.earthcruiser.com.au