1970 Ferrari F312B2 (I believe) entering turn 11 at Circuit of the Americas during qualifying for the Historic GP support race at the 2012 USGP.
Probably one of my favorite pictures I took at the track that weekend, but unfortunately I’m no photographer.
(Source: hhahaahyea)
(Source: black-eclipse)
Ok California
(Source: mostuffsthlm)
Zakspeed Capri Turbo | DRM Championship, 1978 – 1981 | 1.4L – 495bhp
For the 1978 season of the German DRM Championship, Ford of Cologne appointed Zakspeed to develop a purpose built racer based on the new Capri. The DRM Championship had recently adapted Group 5 regulations to their series, with two classes of cars: Division 1 for over displacements exceeding 2 liters and Division 2 for cars with engines smaller than 2 liters. The Zakspeed Capri was developed for Division two and was indeed based on the production Capri, but very few parts made it into the race car.
The roofline, glass and radiator grill were the only parts that were used from the original Capri. Eighty meters of aluminum tubing were used to build a space frame chassis that included built in air jacks. The engineers made use of composites and alloys throughout the car and used kevlar for the body panels to keep the weight under an impressive 800kg (1764lbs).
The brakes, front McPherson struts and solid rear axle were based on the proven, German-built Ford Capri RS3100 racer. Further borrowing from the RS3100, the radiators were relocated to the front of the rear wheel wells, angled and bent for fitment and surface area maximization. The Zakspeed Capri had 4 piston cockpit-adjustable vented discs at all four corners. The brakes were surrounded by stunning BBS wheels, 16x10 in the front and 19x12.5 in the rear, wrapped in Goodyear rubber.
The 4-cylinder engine, although only displacing 1.426L, put out an astonishing 495 brake horsepower by 1981 after continued development. That’s a staggering 347 bhp per liter, and the engine also made nearly 300 ft lbs of torque at 7500rpm. The power was fed through a Getrag 5-speed manual transmission and applied to the wheels through a live axle. Even with the distinctive aero, massive front splitter and rear wing the Zakspeed Capri could reach a top speed of 186 miles per hour.
In it’s debut at the Hockenheim circuit in 1978 driver Hans Heyer put the car on pole position. However, reliability woes plagued the car and it did not see a victory until the final race of the season at Nürburgring. The Zakspeed Capris saw great success in 1980 and in 1981 driver Klaus Ludwig absolutely dominated the grid. Ludwig took an amazing 13 out of 13 pole positions, 10 wins and a second place finish with 2 retires due to mechanical failure. The Capri was raced against newer prototypes for a couple more years amidst division changes and didn’t see the type of success it achieved in the 1981 season. However, the car endures as one of the most formidable GT racers ever built. Recently, an original Zakspeed Capri has been meticulously restored by Zakspeed and was featured at the 2012 Goodwood Festival of speed, piloted by Klaus Ludwig himself, as pictured above.
(Sources: SpeedHunters, UltimateCarPage, racing65.com)
UPS came today. After reading the first few pages from a pdf I found I had to buy the real book. It’s a really good read, if you’re into this sort of thing I’d strongly suggest looking into it. This is the first book that’s held my interest in ages haha. Thanks for the recommendation Amir.
Part of the ROFGO Gulf Collection owned by Roald Gothe. Of the 25 cars in the collection, seven plus a big truck were chosen for this photo shoot for Motorsport magazine.
They are…
1965 Ford GT40
1971 Porsche 908
1971 Porsche 917
1975 Mirage GR8
1997 McLaren F1 GTR Longtail
2008 Aston Martin DBR9
2009 Lola Aston Martin LMP1
and the truck, a 1967 Mercedes 0317 Transporter.
wow
(Source: definemotorsports)
