Dakar Rally 2012

The Dakar Rally no longer runs from Paris to Dakar, Senegal; in fact, it’s entirely swapped continents due to the instability of its homeland, but for me, the underpublicized endurance race remains one of the toughest tests of man and machine in modern motorsport. Traversing three countries, the route writhes through deserts and mountains as the riders and drivers battle from Mar del Plata in south-east Argentina, through Chile, finishing in the Peruvian capital, Lima.

France’s Stephane Peterhansel took the 2012 crown after the final stage on January 15^th, driving a heavily modified Mini Countryman. An impressive fourth car class win for the Frenchman gave him his tenth victory in the Dakar after six motorcycle titles in the Nineties. The two-wheeled honours this year went to Peterhansel’s countryman Red Bull's Cyril Despres on his KTM machine. Recognising his achievement, Depres admitted: “This is my fourth Dakar title and I’ve enjoyed every single one of them, but this one seems even more special than the rest. This race really came down to the wire and the result was not decided until the very last minute.”

Meanwhile, the mighty truck class, open to monsters weighing over 3,500kg, was comfortably won by Dutchman Gerrard De Rooy in his 900 horsepower Iveco.

2012’s Dakar was not without controversy - American driver Robby Gordon’s indignation at questions over his Hummer’s legality provoked this response: “I just proved that Minis are for girls, because we beat them by twenty minutes [on one stage]...”
Be sure to keep a close eye on Red Bull's official Dakar site for more Dakar 2012 reactions and exclusives. It reports on all the action on and off the road and you'll find exclusive videos, blogs and vidoes on this gruelling endurance event.

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EXCLUSIVE: Big Mac WILL Beat Big Bug (..?)

I've a mate, a thoroughly nice petrolhead mate, who now works for McLaren Automotive. He was in my year at school, and now he works on the MP4-12C assembly line in Woking. Jealousy abound.

Anyhow, after a chance meeting on New Year's Eve, I got to talking with him about his fantastic job, and tried, via the dirty trick of buying several too many rounds for us, to get him to spill the beans on some upcoming McLaren projects. Dishonourable and downright dastardly I know, but journalism is my priority. What with work commitments around the festive period, I've only just got round to sharing this on TyreRoar.

To be fair to the chap in question, he was steadfast in his silence. I wasn't able to prise anything out of him about the MP4-12C 'Superlegerra Scuderia' style model - the powered up, lightened version that'll no doubt be on the way towards the end of this year. Thankfully, a helpful video popped up on YouTube this week appearing to show a 12C 'HS' (High Sport) with a dealer-confirmed 675bhp and GT3 aping aero. Tantalising stuff.

A grainy shot says the soft top will be a hard top - eh?

My jovial interrogation also failed to bear fruit on the 12C convertible subject. Will the car have a folding carbon fibre or aluminium panel, a targa or a cloth roof? Will it be at Frankfurt or Geneva this year? Not a sausage was let on. And of course, Formula One titbits were a dead end too. The Offical Secrets Act has got nothing on Ron's minions.

I did get something though. It might be complete bobbins, a red herring to throw me off the scent or satisfy my pestering, or it could be rumour mill speculation from inside McLaren itself, but what I was told is this. The super, mega-McLaren, the F1-successor hypercar in development currently, will be faster, in terms of acceleration and top speed, than the Bugatti Veyron - while producing less power.

This is far less clear cut than it initially appears. Although the mega-McLaren will apparently accelerate faster, we don't know in what discipline this is. 0-60? Will it be slower to 60mph but faster to 100, or 125? And unless McLaren go for all-wheel drive, how are they going to transmit such power onto the road to gain a sub 2.5 0-60 dash? Very trick launch control, and KERS? The lightweight route also beckons - with a Veyron being the porky side of two tonnes, beating the bulge could be half the battle won.

And so to top speed top trumps. A Bugatti Veyron (notice we're not talking SuperSport here, I was explicitly referred to the 'standard' Veyron 16.4 by the lad) tops out at 253mph. As we know, going incrementally faster at very high speeds requires exponentially more oomph, hence why a SuperSport gets 196bhp more than a normal Veyron, to achieve a further 15mph. But as I've said, I was told the halo McLaren will produce less brake horsepower than the Veyron. Surely then, given mass is a negligible factor at double ton speeds, a ridiculously slippery body shape is the only way to achieve such high velocity? And how will such a design mesh with McLaren's legendary packaging, usability and downforce requirements? I'm baffled.

I suspect the reason that I'm baffled is that my tipsy mate got thoroughly fed up of me badgering him for a story on what Macca are up to, and said something ludicrous enough to make me think, but far enough away from the truth to protect Ron Dennis' brainchild.

Just remember, if the Big Mac does see off the Bugatti, you know where you heard it first.


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Touchdown In The Enzo-ne

Here's a little something which didn't really fit in with my required pieces for CarThrottle.com or Gridlock Magazine, that I wanted to share here.

Driving a heavily laden but healthy Ka to Birmingham for the spring uni semester yesterday morning, I was joined at some traffic lights just outside Kettering, by this:

Please excuse the poor picture. I was rather excited, fumbling with a camera phone while trying to take a subtle photograph and watch the lights. Simultaneously my other hand was fumbling for the electric window switches and the radio off button. I wanted to hear this.

I've loved the Ferrari Enzo since it first emerged in 2002. (yes it's 'Enzo Ferrari' strictly, but for simplicity's sake, I'll address it a s a car, not a man here.) I've always been a huge fan of the dramatic, angular F1-styling, the unique noise, and its 'definitiveness'. Its 650bhp has been well surpassed now by Pagani, Lamborghini, and Bugatti, but the Enzo remains for me my favourite supercar, and the definitve Ferrari flagship. In my opinion, the 288 GTO is the finest-looking car ever created, the F40 also an undoubted legend. But Enzo is king.

I took these pictures at the 2006 British Motor Show, the first time I'd ever seen one in the carbon fibre, a solitary encounter until Sunday 9th January 2012.

I first clocked the pointed snout of ENZ6 in the rear view mirror. It then lined up alongside as the traffic lights ahead mercifully halted our progress. A curt nod from the Oakley-shaded driver acknowledged my enthusiasm for his vehicle. On this quiet Sunday morning, there we were, two chaps, in two wildly varying cars, sat feet apart, waiting for the lights to flick to green. The entire 30 second episode is burned into my memory.

Predictably, the traffic light grand prix wasn't a close one. My colleague in the Enzo gamely let me gain a twenty yard lead when the green bulb illuminated. I took off as swiftly as I dared, trying to preserve my slightly whiny clutch and not appear a complete moron in seriously challenging a halo Ferrari. Then he did the decent thing and nailed the Fandango.

I should really have videoed what happened next, but maintaining steady filming was beyond my multitasking talents; changing gear manually and steering a shopping trolley away from a £650,000 exotic charging hard three feet away was more of a priority. What can I put into words? The fullness and power of the sound, of induction howl from within the engine bay, mixed with a furious row exiting the exhaust pipes was pretty astounding. The sound rose to a familiar crescendo I'd heard in a thousand YouTube clips, but in person the sound pierces the ear, burrowing into the brain and resonating, with enormous volume while maintaining a tuneful pitch. I'm not sure if ENZ6 has had the poplar Tubi Style exhaust conversion, but from where I was perched, this was not a silenced machine.

Equally impressive was the speed the Enzo carried, with the merest suggestion of nose dive and body roll, into the roundabout ahead, before diving off at the first left and turning third gear into a dollop of orchestral carbon dioxide once again. I suppose it's easy to forget these poster cars aren't just supermodels, the Enzo is still a very serious piece of dynamic kit, with outrageous mechanical and aerodynamic grip.

***

I sometimes have doubts about the motoring journalism targets I've set myself. I'm all too aware I've directed my education, time and resources towards a career in which there are very many willing applicants for a tiny handful of nationwide jobs. With an impending mountain of student debt and the onrush of 'The Real World' come summer graduation, I often wonder if forfeiting writing in return for some long division ability while at school might have afforded me better long term prospects. I worry.

Thirty second encounters like the one I was lucky enough to enjoy yesterday reaffirm my love for all cars, my resolute joy in writing about them, and my determination to succeed in combining the two, long term. I hope you'll follow that with interest.

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Tyre Roar joins Car Throttle

I haven't entirely forgotten about this blog! In fact, to an extent it has served its purpose, allowing my motoring writing to become noticed online and getting me bigger, better, professional gigs. The latest avenue this has opened up for me is becoming a News Editor for CarThrottle.com.

Do head over and check out the site, it's regularly updated by its team of young motoring writers, based across three continents and brimming with video and written reviews, news, and opinion, especially directed at younger drivers. If that sounds like your brand of vodka, have a read through, and to stay really on top of the game, follow @CarThrottle on Twitter.

Obviously, what with juggling a final year university degree, writing for CarThrottle, and Gridlock Magazine, the blog has had to take a bit of a back seat, but it'll still be kept going, with the posts that are maybe too controversial for elsewhere, and any chances I get to snoop round machinery laid on by Ben Barry of Car Magazine.

In the meantime, switch over to CarThrottle.com and have a look what we're up to. All comments welcome.

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Fading Light, Ropey Camera - Action

As promised, here's a bit of a special edition Tyre Roar post. Some of you may remember my lucky snoop around a BMW 1 Series M Coupe in this post a few weeks ago, courtesy of Ben Barry of Car Magazine. Well, recently I was at it again, dashing round the corner on a reliable tip off from my father : "that writer chap's got some new 911 Porsche parked up."

Cheers, Dad. Turns out the weekend wheels for Mr Barry were a Carrera White Porsche Cayman R, the very one you can see featured in my impromptu videos below.

Here's my disclaimer. Having again been allowed free reign to delve into a special car, I thought it a decent opportunity to record some thought on video for the blog. I'm well aware the end results are not of Top Gear sheen or Chris Harris quality, and that turfing a lad who owns a 14 year old Ford into a contender for one of the cars of 2011 does lead to much tongue-twisting and finding oneself getting carried away. This particular example incidentally, via intensive research on the Porsche configurator, works out somewhere in the region of £57k, from what I could spot.

Anyway, check them out, enjoy, and comment back.





And if you want to see this very car in action, alongside the very same 1M also featured in Tyre Roar (in a far more professional video, it must be said) then do check out this official Car Magazine clip presented by Mr Generous himself, Car's road test editor Ben Barry, right this way...


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Ten Thousand Thank You's

A quick scroll down to the bottom of the page will show you that Tyre Roar recently soared past 10,000 worldwide hits.

This is nothing more than a quick post to say cheers to everyone who has dropped by, and thanks to those who keep coming back to sift through my inane motoring ramblings. Tyre Roar has reached every populated continent on the planet, which is rather humbling, and very impressive. The internet truly is what you make of it.

There's a rather special edition post to celebrate 10k coming in the next couple of days, and there's a little clue of the star of the show, as it were, on the right for you.

Please leave your comments or hit me up on Twitter if you'd like to take me to task on anything about the site, I'd love to hear from any readers. I know you're out there, the site counts you for me, (he said, going all George Orwell.) Do get in touch!

Here's to the next ten thousand, and after that, fifty, and a hundred...watch this space.


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Red Bull: Gives You Wins

Ironically, Sebastian Vettel managed to not win the Japanese Grand Prix last weekend. That honour went to McLaren's Jenson Button, the only man who stood a chance of foiling Vettel's title hopes in the latter stages of this year.

Win F1 title. Receive free trainers. That's the life.

Button may have gallantly done everything he needed to do, playing his part in getting the win, and getting one over Vettel for the contentious barge he received off the line, but it was a hollow victory, a case of winning the Suzuka battle, but losing the championship war.

So how do we analyse Seb's record back-to-back world titles, aged just 24? Taking nothing away from the chap himself, who has proved vastly more mature and consistent than last year, the season has been rendered something of an anticlimax.

To Vettel's side of the Red Bull garage, that matters not one iota. Their best-case scenario is to put the championship to bed as soon as possible. Having seen off the pesky McLaren, Red Bull can pour resources into next year's car, allowing aero deity Adrian Newey to knuckle down way in advance of the winter break, and set about manipulating air to do his bidding in a way that no other team seems to have a hope of replicating. The smart money must be on Red Bull to make it a hat trick next year. Mine is.

But has the season been an anti-climax for fans? In part yes, as it's been wrapped up with 4 rounds still to go, just like in the bad old days when Schumacher was a dot on the horizon and television audiences were leaving in their droves. And in truth, the result hasn't really been in doubt since late spring, such has been the dominance of the young German, able in 2011 to convert scintillating qualifying pace into race wins, an absent trait which was very nearly his downfall in 2010.

We've been spoiled in recent years with photo finishes for the driver's title. Hamilton taking it from a celebratory Massa on the penultimate corner, of the final lap, of the final race, of 2008. Button doing just enough to get Brawn past the post, also at Interlagos, in 2009. And then Vettel coolly taken his maiden world title under the lights of Abu Dhabi less than 12 months ago.

Lewis imagines facing Felipe in a boxing ring...

So, (he said bitterly) we've been robbed of a Hollywood conclusion to what has been a fine season, but therein lies the real point.

...and that's the most overtaking a HRT has done this year.

Despite one German leading the rest of the field on a merry chase like the Pied Piper, this has still been a great spectator's season for the viewer. Hamilton's shares in bodywork repair, ill-advised Sasha Baron Cohen quotes in interviews, Massa and Maldonado's pantomime dislike of the aforementioned, some spectacular accidents, KERS, and DRS; every race, with the possible exception of the European GP at the god-awful Valencia circuit, has had intrigue, controversy, and entertainment. For that, Formula One should be proud.

(It should also bloody well stay on BBC, but that's another can of energy drink entirely...)

Therefore, let's not begrudge Vettel his one fingered salute to being the best of the best. I may have preferred one of the chaps in the silver Woking machines to swipe it from under his nose, just as Button did so brilliantly in Canada, but Sebastian Vettel is undeniably a fabulous driving talent, a sporting gentleman, a mature young man, a credit to the sport, and a bright (and rather terrifying) prospect for the future. Well done Mr Vettel.

Give 'Kinky Kylie' a kiss from Tyre Roar.

There'll be a full F1 in 2011 review, with the best funnies from year, up on Tyre Roar once the season is over, so stay tuned for that...

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