Saturday, December 22, 2007
F1 Car Ownership: Now a Step Closer
http://www.classicdriver.com/uk/magazine/3300.asp?id=13632
Owning and running an F1 car has always been exclusive to the super-rich – until now, and the launch of PF1. “The idea is that we’re going to provide motorsport enthusiasts with the opportunity to own and run a late-model F1 car, without any of the associated problems,” said Paul Osborn of Cars International, the road and race car dealership which has set up PF1 in partnership with Cosworth. “A lot of our customers are people who buy Lamborghini and Ferrari road cars and they often express the desire to have a go in a race car. Sometimes they actually do it. They usually start off doing track days and end up in something like a GT2 Porsche, because cars like that are relatively easy and cheap to run.”
While PF1 brings F1 car ownership a step closer, it still requires – unsurprisingly – a major investment. Paul Osborn continues: “The cost of purchasing a post-2000 Formula 1 car starts from £300,000 and there will be a nominal fee of £2500 for membership to Club PF1, which will enable members to run their car at four events per year, at top circuits around Europe.
“When you consider that our customers will own a Formula 1 car, complete with engine, and can sell the car on if they so desire, it starts to become a lot more affordable. It’s also worth noting that PF1 cars are only half the price of a Ferrari Enzo road car.”
The new venture was launched at Silverstone on 12 December, when Martin Brundle put the PF1-liveried 2004 Jaguar R5 through its paces, to the vocal accompaniment of the refitted 2006 Cosworth TJ engine, retuned to produce up to 875bhp. Said Brundle, “The Cosworth V10 power and torque, along with the grippy and driver-friendly Avon racing slicks, was a fast and confidence-inspiring combination. I’m extremely impressed. The car gave me enormous confidence, and everything worked absolutely perfectly.”
PF1 has already acquired a fleet of recent-model Jordans, Jaguars and Super Aguris, while Mark Hynes, who has trained some of the biggest names in Formula 1 (including Raikkonen and Hamilton), will be heading up the driver training element of the programme. PF1 will host exclusive events at circuits such as Silverstone and Spa, with each customer benefiting from training sessions in a PF1-owned F3000 Lola before jumping behind the wheel of their own Formula 1 Car.
For further information, see www.carsinternational.com.
F1 Car Ownership: Now a Step Closer
http://www.classicdriver.com/uk/magazine/3300.asp?id=13632
Owning and running an F1 car has always been exclusive to the super-rich – until now, and the launch of PF1. “The idea is that we’re going to provide motorsport enthusiasts with the opportunity to own and run a late-model F1 car, without any of the associated problems,” said Paul Osborn of Cars International, the road and race car dealership which has set up PF1 in partnership with Cosworth. “A lot of our customers are people who buy Lamborghini and Ferrari road cars and they often express the desire to have a go in a race car. Sometimes they actually do it. They usually start off doing track days and end up in something like a GT2 Porsche, because cars like that are relatively easy and cheap to run.”
While PF1 brings F1 car ownership a step closer, it still requires – unsurprisingly – a major investment. Paul Osborn continues: “The cost of purchasing a post-2000 Formula 1 car starts from £300,000 and there will be a nominal fee of £2500 for membership to Club PF1, which will enable members to run their car at four events per year, at top circuits around Europe.
“When you consider that our customers will own a Formula 1 car, complete with engine, and can sell the car on if they so desire, it starts to become a lot more affordable. It’s also worth noting that PF1 cars are only half the price of a Ferrari Enzo road car.”
The new venture was launched at Silverstone on 12 December, when Martin Brundle put the PF1-liveried 2004 Jaguar R5 through its paces, to the vocal accompaniment of the refitted 2006 Cosworth TJ engine, retuned to produce up to 875bhp. Said Brundle, “The Cosworth V10 power and torque, along with the grippy and driver-friendly Avon racing slicks, was a fast and confidence-inspiring combination. I’m extremely impressed. The car gave me enormous confidence, and everything worked absolutely perfectly.”
PF1 has already acquired a fleet of recent-model Jordans, Jaguars and Super Aguris, while Mark Hynes, who has trained some of the biggest names in Formula 1 (including Raikkonen and Hamilton), will be heading up the driver training element of the programme. PF1 will host exclusive events at circuits such as Silverstone and Spa, with each customer benefiting from training sessions in a PF1-owned F3000 Lola before jumping behind the wheel of their own Formula 1 Car.
For further information, see www.carsinternational.com.
Police catch up with speeding F1 ace
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=29&art_id=vn20071219051956901C336947
Reims - Formula One star Lewis Hamilton has been banned from driving in France after speeding, a police spokesperson has confirmed.
The 22-year-old Briton, who was runner-up in the world drivers' championship in his debut season this year, has been banned for a month.
He was caught speeding at 196km/h in a Mercedes-Benz on Sunday night. He was stopped by police on a freeway near the northern town of Laon.
The speed limit on French freeways is 130km/h.
"Hamilton admitted the offence immediately and was really very polite," a police spokesperson said on Tuesday.
He added that Hamilton had said in his defence that the road was "very clear" at the time.
"It's a section of motorway that is used regularly by foreigners who have a tendency to speed," the spokesperson said.
The McLaren team driver was also ordered to pay a fine of €600 (about R6 000).
He is scheduled to appear in a court in Laon next month.
Hamilton's car was impounded immediately by the police and then collected on Monday by a friend.
"(Hamilton's team) McLaren were made aware that Lewis was stopped for speeding in France while he was driving in a private capacity," said a spokesperson for the British team, based in Woking, south of London.
"We understand he has received a mandatory fine and suspension from driving in France for one month," the team spokesperson added.
Hamilton finished the racing season one point behind Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen. - Sapa-AFP
Violence in Rosarito Beach keep OC folks home.
http://www.ocregister.com/news/police-attack-rosarito-1947503-city-chief
Vacationers are concerned about terrorism in the Baja, Mexico, region.
The Orange County Register
Comments | Recommend The mayor of Rosarito Beach has asked for additional state and federal troops to deal with escalating violence there that culminated most recently in a paramilitary attack Tuesday on the town's police station, apparently an attempt to assassinate the police chief, a spokesman said today.
Tuesday’s commando-style attack killed one of the police chief’s bodyguards and injured four other people. It was only the latest in a string of violent commando assaults on police in Baja California, apparently by drug cartels.
“I definitely have concerns about going down there” said P.J. Schramel, who lives in San Juan Capistrano and has been vacationing on the scenic peninsula since 1969. “I have instituted my own personal boycott of Baja while all this is going down.”
Rosarito Beach, about 20 miles from the U.S. border, and the surrounding areas have been vacation and retirement destinations for Southern Californians for many years. The escalating violence has left some officials concerned, though tourism officials said people should not be unduly alarmed.
“We believe the police chief was the main target of the attack,” said Ron Raposa, city spokesman.
“Basically, we would say this attack is targeted to law enforcement because of increasing enforcement on organized crime. It is not going to have an effect on the average person; for the most part they will not even be aware of the situation.”
According to published reports in Mexican newspapers and the San Diego Union-Tribune, military police surrounded the police station Thursday while repairs were under way on the exterior damaged in the attack.
A funeral was being planned for the slain bodyguard; another is recovering from his injuries.
The city’s police chief, Public Security Director Jorge Eduardo Montero Alvarez, took office on Dec. 1 as part of a new city administration. He intends to continue to vigorously pursue “cracking down on the problems,” Raposa said.
During the attack, the mayor of Rosarito Beach was attending a meeting in Mexico City about security problems on the peninsula.
After the attack, the City Council issued a press release blaming the attacks on forces opposed to a crime cleanup launched by the new city administration.
“To the people of Rosarito, we want to express that these violent acts are the result of the job that is being done in Public Security areas, in coordination with the State and Federal Government, and which will not stop until we all live in a secure city,” the release states. “These actions will not stop measures undertaken by the government in Playas de Rosarito.”
The owner of Baja Safari, a tour and travel agency based in San Diego, said he canceled several tours this week in the wake of the attack, only one in a series he said was under way by drug cartels trying to “tell the government who’s in charge.”
“Their way of doing this is to go into public buildings in the middle of the day, break out their large-caliber weapons and shoot them up,” owner Mike Overcast said.
“We are recommending to the general public and our membership to avoid all travel to the Tijuana and Ensenada region for the next 30 days,” Overcast said.
George Perez, who works for the Irvine-based Corazon de Vida charity that provides food and shelter for 700 children in 14 orphanages in Baja, said he hopes the violence won’t discourage Americans from visiting the children’s homes they support and helping the youngsters, who receive no government funding and would otherwise be homeless.
“We’re just concerned about the children,” Perez said.
The U.S. Department of State has a travel advisory for Mexico that includes border towns and warns about increasing violence including daytime shootouts related to drug trafficking in cities such as Tijuana.
“Criminals, armed with an impressive array of weapons, know there is little chance they will be caught and punished,” according to the advisory.
“In some cases, assailants have been wearing full or partial police uniforms and have used vehicles that resemble police vehicles, indicating some elements of the police might be involved.”
Contact the writer: 714-796-7994 or mfisher@ocregister.com
Team HUMMER 4th Quarter Insider
Good Evening:
Follow the link below to the 4th quarter Team HUMMER "Insider". In it you will find all the details of the Baja 1000 and the Henderson 400, which saw Team HUMMER's Rod and Chad Hall each wrap up series points championships as the team concluded another very successful year.
Although the link will take you to a PDF file on our website, you will still need Acrobat Reader to view it. A free download of Acrobat Reader is available at www.adobe.com.
If there are any questions or comments or if you need high resolution photos, please contact me after Christmas, when I'll be back in the office preparing for the 2008 racing season.
On behalf of Rod Hall and everyone associated with Team HUMMER, we thank you for your continued support and wish everyone a healthy and happy holiday season and we'll see you at the Laughlin Desert Challenge, Jan.25-27, in Laughlin, NV.
Regards,
Team HUMMER
grt@rodhallracing.com
(661) 823-0454
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Assault on police station leaves one officer dead
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/tijuana/20071219-9999-1m19pubsafe.html
UNION-TRIBUNE
December 19, 2007
TIJUANA: A group of armed men opened fire inside Rosarito Beach's police station yesterday afternoon in an attack that left one officer dead and another wounded, Baja California authorities said. Two unidentified civilians were also wounded during the assault at 12:40 p.m., according to a news release from the state Attorney General's Office.
The officers worked as bodyguards for the city's public security director, state authorities said. The director wasn't in the building during the attack.
The dead bodyguard was identified as Guillermo Castro Corona, 35. The wounded bodyguard was identified as Leonel Pizaña Trip.
Authorities later found four abandoned cars believed to have been used by the assailants. – Anna Cearley
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Formula 1 Hamilton banned from driving in France for speeding
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90779/91340/6323642.html
World famous Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton has been banned from driving in France for speeding, confirmed a French police spokesman Wednesday.
The 22-year-old driver was allegedly clocked travelling at 122mph (196kmh) in a Mercedes near Laon, in the north of France, on Sunday. Police stopped him, detained the car and fined him 600 euros (about 860 U.S. dollars).
The police gave Hamilton a lift to his hotel in their police car. His Mercedes was later collected by a friend.
A spokesman for McLaren, for that he drives, said: "(We) were made aware that Lewis was stopped for speeding in France whilst driving in a private capacity. We understand he has received a mandatory fine and suspension from driving in France for one month."
He added that the incident would not affect Hamilton's professional driving career.
The police spokesman said Hamilton was "very polite and co-operative" when he was pulled over.
Hamilton was asked to appear before a court in Laon in January.
It marks an embarrassing climax to an extraordinary year for the racer, who was signed on to McLaren's young driver program when he was 13 years old.
Hamilton finished runner-up in his rookie season to Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 world championship.
Experts have predicted the Stevenage-born Hamilton, Formula 1's first black racing driver, could go on to be bigger than David Beckham and become Britain's highest paid sports star.
Source: China Daily/Agencies
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
KTM NORTH AMERICA NAMED “OFFICIAL MOTORCYCLE” of BITD
Las Vegas , Nevada
Casey Folks, Director of Best in the Desert, is pleased to announce that KTM North America has been named as the “Official Motorcycle” of the Best in the Desert series. Folks made the announcement after solidifying a bright partnership with KTM.
Folks said, “I am excited to announce this Sponsorship with KTM and their industry-leading line of World Championship Motorcycles.” Casey added, “We’re also real excited to have KTM debut their new awesome line of 2008 ATVs at our races as well. The Best in the Desert Series is an ideal venue for KTM to showcase their motorcycles and ATVs; and take advantage of the stature this series has reached.” Best in the Desert is the only major promoter of long distance off-road desert racing in the
Jeff Konicke, KTM North America Regional Sales Manager, commented, “KTM is excited to be a part of Best in the Desert, and we look forward to a great year with them in 2008!”.
Folks continued, “We welcome KTM and Jeff on-board to join our other major sponsors, and look forward to a great relationship.” For 2008 season, there a seven points races on the Best in the Desert schedule for the motorcycles classes, including the famed 560 mile long “Vegas to
For full details on the entire line of KTM motorcycles, visit:
Off-Road Racing’s Best-Run Series … Best In The Desert!
Further information available from:
email: bitd@lasvegas.net, phone: (702) 457-5775
MEDIA CONTACT:
www.fallads.com/bitd, email: mediabitd@fallads.com
TOTALLY OFF ROAD RADIO Wednesday 12/19/07 plus SD premiere of Riviera Racing 3!
Don't miss TOTALLY OFF ROAD RADIO This Wednesday where we will also be hosting the San Diego premiere of Riviera Racing 3 "Above the Law"
TOTALLY OFF ROAD RADIO along with SINISTER FILMS will be hosting the San Diego premiere of Riviera Racing 3 “Above The Law" on Wednesday Dec 19 at Finnegans Pub & Grill in Carlsbad.
We will be doing the TORR radio show LIVE from 6-8pm and then the Premiere of Riviera Racing 3 “Above The Law" will follow immediately after.
Our guests will include Jim Cook with Sinister Films,Jet Ski Hall of Famer
Mike (mauler) Yellich and TORR Driver of the Year Rob MacCachren calling in plus more!
The festivities will go from 5pm till whenever.
Finnegans Pub & Grill is located at 1818 Marron Rd in Carlsbad at Hwy 78 & Jefferson exit.
*Food & Drink Specials
* Giveaways
* The TORR Girls
* Racers
* Teams
* You "The Fans"
Don't miss this Great Time!
As always, We want to hear from you
with any question,comments or stories you might have!
There are 2 ways to do this.
1) You can call in. The station call in number is 760-720-5236
2) You can text us questions on our forum section at www.totallyoffroadradio.com
where you also find our Bonus Track Interviews and much,Much More!
It's going to be another great night and we can't wait to see you all there!
If you can't make it out, You can listen to the show live on AM 1000 in San Diego or
go to our website www.totallyoffroadradio.com and Click on LISTEN LIVE!
We truly appreciate all the support,See you all there!
Monday, December 17, 2007
Dirt Addicitions 2 - Review
Dirt Addictions 2 9.5/10
I would have givin it a 10 if it was formatted in 16:9 and filmed on higher quality cameras like BF3 was.
Best footage of them all, even the menu footage is great
Formatted in 4:3 letterbox, gay gay gay
If I wanted to show off the sport to someone who was not familiar with this is the vid I would show them.
Chopper cam! and lots of it. Several shots from a chopper following a TT with another copper on the other side maybe 10-15 off the deck, fucking nuts
Good level on music, you can really hear the motors. Great song choices too
Song credits at the end, good stuff
Some very ballsy shots very very close to the course. Im impressed
Seeing the camera guy hit at Ojos at the 06 1k in full res is amazing
They even made Terribles Cup look exciting
Mostly 06 footage but still great.
Bajaflo 3 - Review
Bajaflo 3 9/10
Entire move in 16:9 widescreen. YES!
Very nice opening graphics
The whole thing has a very professional look to it
Beginning and end truck medlies you cant hear trucks at all
Music level down to hear the trucks more in other scenes
The super zoom in small areas of the trucks was not for me
Bj in the TK on 2 wheels being chased by security is one of the funniest things I have seen. Fucking great
Anyone else think he look about 10 without the beard?
Durka Durka shirt in the Cobra Kai fight scene!
I liked the grainy film look for the mexico medly. Gave a nice atmosphere to the scene
Very good music that matches the scenes and speed of the action
Having all song credits at the end was a plus
RPM - Review
7/10
First I know its a small thing but its something that always bugs me. 16:9 or 4:3. Pick one and stay with it. Swapping back and forth drives me nuts. I either dont use the full TV the way it should or scenes get stretched and look messed up.
Filtec ad at the beginning is lame. Make it a seperate track or put it at the end. BTW is it a truck or a buggy they dont even seem to know.
Editing in the first few minutes is real choppy and does not make sense to me.
I like that you list who each in car driver is and what each race is consistantly thoughout.
Were you guys wearing belts for the incar with Sourapas? Wish there was more footage of the truck in action.
Music levels need to be lower. Cant hear the motors and cars.
Long pass at night at the More race is a realy cool shot.
Too many of the same shot with different cars back to back to back. Ie rockpile at more race.
Great footage of the truck rolling on the buggy incar
I like that all the wads went to a slow mo shot repeat right after. Saves me from having to do it with my dvd player
I really like the suspension cam on the Lenk car, use more of it
It was cool to see vid footage of delmar since I pretty much watched the whole thing frame by frame in stills. Very cool lap around the track cutting in the diffrent cars.
Great silt bed footage at V2R
I also liked the launch and landing cams at the Wall
Where is the rest of the CORR footage? Lots of cool stuff could have been added
Crash at the very end is fucking awesome.
Cover photo is really boring. Especially knowing you have some amazing photos.
Overall very good first effort but has room to improve.
Riviera Racing 3 - Above the Law - Review
Sinister Films has just released Riviera Racing 3: Above the Law. This DVD has set the new standard for desert racing DVDs.
Riviera Racing 3 9/10
This DVD is packed with fantastic footage and great tunes. One thing that stood out to me was the professional narration many other off road DVDs are missing. The native 16:9 format was a pleasant change and something other filmmakers need to incorporate. On board camera usage was unique and plentiful, I think I counted 5 or 6 different on board cameras used on TT#3.
Top notch editing that was smooth and seamless.
The only thing I can think of to be improved is to release it on Bluray HD. Great job Jimmy.
Backflip in a truck?
Red Bull driver Rhys Millen will attempt to complete a backflip in a truck on Dec 31ast, 2007 at the Rio in Las Vegas. The event will be broadcast live on ESPN. Click here for more info.
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