Toyota Motorsport and former Volkswagen factory Dakar Rally winner Giniel de Villiers team up for 2012 Dakar Rally. De Villiers, a former South African touring car and off-road racing champion, South Africa’s only Dakar Rally winner, will be paired with German co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz, who navigated the 39-year-old Stellenbosch resident to his historic Dakar victory in 2009. (Volkswagen Motorsport retired from Dakar Rally Raid racing, winning the Dakar 3 times to allocate development resources to their new WRC program for 2012) The 42-year-old from Karlshof is a multiple German motorcycle enduro champion and was rookie of the year on a KTM in the 1997 Dakar Rally. They will compete with Toyota Motorsport Read More→
Volaris Grand Prix La Paz, Baja California Sur last race Probaja Desert Series 2011 with a bang. Pre-entry counts for the race at “Circuit Bronco Race Park” are up with 153 off-road racer intent to participate in that off-road race. The previous record was held by the Dos Mares 500 2010 with 142 participants entered. The Circuit Bronco is a closed racetrack at the eastern outskirts of La Paz at an area called “Cajocito”. Closed course racing is popular with the race fans in Baja Sur and a sizable crowd can be expected for this race. Read More→
Maserati SUV to be built in Detroit unveiled. A new Maserati vehicle in the sport luxury SUV segment was presented at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show yesterday which Maserati says is a natural progression for its product range. Fiat’s Maserati Kubang, the SUV that Chrylser-owner Fiat plans to “import from Detroit.” The Porsche-Cayenne fighter is to be built alongside Jeep Grand Cherokees and Dodge Durangos at Chrysler’s Jefferson North assembly plant in Detroit. Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said last December that a Maserati SUV based on the same platform, but with a “fundamentally Ferrari-based” powertrain, will be made in Detroit in 2012. Marchionne wants to expand Fiat’s Maserati and Alfa Romeo brands by drawing on Fiat and Chrysler’s combined size to boost profit. Read More→
Rock ‘n Roll for Rob MacCachren at the inaugural Tecate SCORE Challenge of Champions in San Felipe round 4 of the 2011 SCORE Desert Series. Using experience and talent to pilot his 800plus horsepower Mastercraft-Jimco #20 Trophy-Truck, Las Vegas’ Rob MacCachren topped a reduced field of challengers (multiple so called “top names” in the TT class skipped the race) Saturday as he overcame soaring heat and a challenging course to capture the overall victory in the inaugural Tecate SCORE San Felipe Challenge of Champions desert race. Attacking the 252.09-mile desert race course that covered much of the northern part of the Baja California peninsula and assembled the 2011 San Felipe 250 racecourse as first starter in the No. 20 MasterCraft Racing Ford F-150 SCORE Trophy-Truck, “Rockstar Rob” completed the course in four hours, 12 minutes, 21 seconds, averaging 59.94 miles per hour. (Results data here) So rock he did – the roll he left for a fellow competitor! Read More→
Flying Dutchmen Racing partner with BF Goodrich Tires and TrailReady Wheels for SCORE Challenge of Champions. The Flying Dutchmen Racing team will again be bringing the #84 “got milk?” Trophy Truck with its distinctive black & white dairy cow paint scheme to Baja to challenge the best that the sport of desert racing and the Baja terrain have in pursuit of an overall win. New for this race will be the special 42” BF Goodrich racing tires mounted on 20” TrailReady beadlock wheels. Read More→
For months now the offroad scene has eagerly awaited the premiere of the AGM-Jimco X6 SCORE Trophy Truck. Now it’s all go: In late September the new desert monster will be presented in Germany, with which rally ace Armin Schwarz and the All German Motorsports team tackle the US SCORE Championship. Here are the first impressions and technical description of the vehicle for those who simply can’t wait any longer. Team boss Martin Christensen and his crew are working flat out round the clock on the new vehicle. All German Motorsports assemble the Trophy Truck in the USA in close collaboration with Jimco, the most experienced and best chassis manufacturer in the international offroad scene. Jimco is responsible for the chassis and the construction of the vehicle. Read More→
The Monster Energy X-raid Team started the 2011 Silk Way Rally in Moscow’s Red Square on Saturday. The French duo of Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret opened the starting ceremony in their MINI All4 Racing and were the first crew on the podium between the Kremlin and the famous basilica in Red Square. Thousands of spectators were present and also witnessed the X-raid duo of Krzysztof Holowczyc/Jean-Marc Fortin (POL/BEL) and the Russian pairing of Alexander Mironenko/Sergey Lebedev take the start in their BMW X3CCs.
After technical scrutineering of the three cars and service vehicles in the Luzhniki Stadium – the venue for the 1980 Olympics – crews took part in the podium ceremony in Red Square. Read More→
SCORE Announces New September Race Will Be Tecate SCORE San Felipe Challenge Of Champions. Insurance issues cause SCORE to move Primm race South of the Border. Tecate SCORE San Felipe Challenge of Champions desert race to be held in San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico. SCORE International confirmed today that the next race of five-race 2011 SCORE Desert Series will be the new Tecate SCORE San Felipe Challenge of Champions to be held September 9-11 in San Felipe, Baja, California, Mexico. The race replaces the Primm 300 race that was cancelled this year because of insurmountable insurance issues.
The new race, for 17 Pro and 2 Sportsman classes for cars and trucks, will run over the same course that was recently used for this year’s MasterCraft Safety Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 in March of approximately 250 miles. Read More→
Monster Energy MINI All4 Racing and two BMW X3CCs are entered for Silkway Rally, which starts in the Russian capital’s famous Red Square. The French duo of Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret form the crew for the MINI All4 Racing. Poland’s Krzysztof Holowczyc and Belgian co-driver Jean-Marc Fortin drive the first of the two BMW X3CCs and the Russian duo of Alexander Mironenko and Sergey Lebedev join the X-raid line-up for the first time in a second BMW X3 CC. Read More→
